Chapter 24
Twenty-Four
Thankfully, on the journey into town, I manage to keep space between LJ and me. I could’ve done without seeing my brother and his girlfriend cuddled up together, but I’ll take what I can get.
Christie is giddy when we enter the ice-creamery. The idea of a double date blurring how obvious it should be that LJ and I aren’t a real couple.
We move along the display and LJ stands too close for comfort. “Do you know what you’ll choose, sweetheart?”
My jaw tenses. “Can you lay off using that nickname?”
LJ sniggers and brushes the hair off my shoulder. “I could try, but it rolls off the tongue when I see you.”
Despite the fact Dax told him I hate hearing the nickname, it’s like talking to a brick wall. When the server approaches, I quickly ask for a scoop of butterscotch cream with a scoop of toffee chocolate swirl, and move to a nearby table as the other three order.
I plonk down on a chair and let my head fall into my hands. I’m such an idiot. Being here doesn’t feel worth it.
LJ pulls out the adjacent chair. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?”
Again with the nickname?
Ugh!
I lift my head and straighten up. “Nothing, I’m fine.”
Ash pulls out a chair for Christie and smirks at me. “You’re not bailing already, are you? You’re the reason we’re all here.”
“I’m not bailing,” I reply as he sits opposite me. “I just had a sudden headache, that’s all. But it’s gone now.”
His smug smile doesn’t budge. “Good, because I’d hate for you to fail your epic plan.”
“Ice-cream is delicious,” Christie says, “but I’d hardly call this epic.”
I smile at her ignorance of the real plan.
“I bet it’s all that talk about the gala.” LJ squeezes my shoulder. “It can’t be easy organizing society events when differing opinions come at you.”
“It definitely isn’t,” Christie replies for me. “That’s why Mom and I sat out this round.”
“One of the smartest things you could do,” I reply.
Ash’s chest rises as he gives me an unimpressed look.
“What?” I blurt. “I’m being serious. If I could get away from all those women, I’d take the out too.”
Christie places a hand on Ash’s arm. “It’s okay,” she murmurs. “She wasn’t being mean.”
Ash’s gruff temperament softens from the positive effect of Christie’s touch.
A server brings over our orders and they’re an array of colorful creamy goodness.
LJ drives the conversation forward, no matter if anyone wants to hear or not.
I slide my spoon in and around the ice-cream I don’t particularly want.
I’ve come here so often after dinner with the girls.
The conversations always circle around gossip: who’s dating who, and who committed a social faux-pas and needed to be taught a lesson.
If I were a cynical person, I’d say my influence is the only thing my friends think I’m good for. If someone has a grudge or a crush, I can manipulate things at school to their advantage. It doesn’t matter if it is positive or negative. I do it for them.
Hence my search for karma. I’m giving over my time at St. Mark’s to counteract my social crimes. The universe rewarded me by bringing Dax into my life. And what do I do? Leave him in the pool house and spend my time with LJ.
Seriously, what’s wrong with me?
As LJ drones on about my father’s business like he has any impact on it, Ash’s eyes glaze over. No wonder Mom bargained with him about getting out of business engagements. It’s obvious how much Ash doesn’t want to be involved.
Everything about this night is predictable. We could’ve just stayed home and said this all happened.
I side-eye LJ.
Is this a good time for him? Is he really satisfied with every aspect of his life playing out beat by beat with no surprises?
And here I am, playing into it. I sit here, letting him touch me and call me sweetheart. Why am I allowing him to think he has a shot? All because my mother said she’d help me avoid him. I’m so paranoid about what my mother has up her sleeve, I’m letting LJ believe he has the greenlight.
A throaty laugh hums out of LJ, and he snakes his hand around my lower back. “I’m not boring you, am I?”
His hand anchors on my hip, making me shudder.
“No, I’m used to tuning out work talk,” I reply, keeping my hands in my lap.
LJ nestles his face by mine. “Good, because this will be the rest of our lives.”
Christie giggles, leaning her head on Ash’s shoulder. “Aww, you two are so stinkin’ cute together.”
Is she really buying this?
LJ’s hand plays in my hair. His face gets so close, and his breath tickles my ear. “What can I say? I just can’t get enough of her.”
Okay, I need the abort button.
LJ turns my face toward him, and his eyelids grow heavy. His lips pucker and edge closer to mine.
Oh my gosh! No! Someone help!
“Oh my gosh, look who’s out on a date,” Hope’s voice booms.
LJ backs off, and I snap my neck to the left, seeing Hope and her boyfriend Luke walking our way.
“Oh, hi Hope,” I say, waving.
I’ve never seen Hope more delighted, waving to us with her phone in her hand.
“Where was our invite? This is so cute, a little double date.”
Ash looks at Christie and then back at Hope. “You two can take our places.”
My heart leaps into my throat. I’ll drown with Hope and Luke. Ash is my life raft when I’m stuck with LJ.
Ash catches the desperation in my eyes and sits back down. He takes Christie's hand and says, “Although, maybe you want another scoop?”
Christie shakes her head. “Ah, nope. Brain-freeze.”
Ash laughs. “It won’t stop you from looking for a midnight snack tonight.”
She blushes, smiling at him. “You know me too well.”
“If you two need to get back home,” I interrupt, leaning forward, “I’m happy to go back with you.”
“We won’t ruin your night,” Christie replies.
Ash grins at me. “Yeah. Stay out with LJ as long as you want.”
I give him a look that screams for an escape.
Hope nudges her boyfriend. “Get us some chairs so we can join their table.”
I quickly stand before Luke takes a step. “No, really, we should be getting back.”
“Oh, come on,” Hope says. “Your mother can’t keep you on such a tight leash. Shouldn’t your parents be loaded with cocktails by now?”
LJ latches onto my hand, interlacing our fingers. “Sit back down, sweetheart. Your parents know you’re with me. They won’t care what time I get home because they trust me.”
My skin crawls. I recall staying out all night under the stars with Dax. It was so magical. Right now I feel slimy and cheap.
I rub my thumb on the heel of LJ’s palm to placate him. His grip loosens, and I take the opportunity to free my hand. His face drops with surprise, and I back away from the table.
“Ash,” my voice squeaks. “I really have to get home.”
Christie stands as fast as Ash. She watches me with concern, not understanding my sudden mood change.
Ash steps around the table, beckoning me over. “Bye, Hope and Luke,” he says with a wave. “You guys can give LJ a ride home?”
Luke nods. “Yeah, man.”
LJ’s face contorts with confusion. “Okay, goodbye, I guess.”
I move away without giving anyone a chance to reel me back in. The three of us make it to the sidewalk, and our black limousine awaits.
“Christie, will you give us a minute?” Ash asks.
She nods and leaves for the limousine.
With his girlfriend out of sight, Ash shoves me away. “Don’t use me like that again.”
I struggle to find my footing, shocked by his aggressive outburst.
“It’s bad enough I’m ping-ponging between our parents,” he snaps. “I don’t need your games either.”
I clasp my hands over my chest. “I wasn’t using you.”
Ash lifts a hand, turning away from me. “Save it.”
I stamp my foot. “Ash.”
He doesn’t look back and disappears into the limousine.
My stomach twists in on itself. This will be a fun ride back to Ashworth Estate.
Completely fried after a series of heinous events, I wander into the pool house, ready to crash. Dax reclines on the couch with my laptop propped against his thighs.
“Oh, hey,” he says, sliding the laptop beside him. “I was just passing some time. Hope that’s okay.”
“Oh, yeah, it’s fine,” I say, plonking down.
“You seem down,” he says, scooting across to me. “Were your family members being too hard to deal with?”
I hunch over, rubbing my temples.
“You’re later than you said you’d be.”
“We went into town.”
“What? Why?”
“I didn’t know what my mother was up to.” My voice is jittery. “I swear she was on the cusp of telling everyone you were out here.”
“Are you serious?”
“But it didn’t make any sense for her to blow that. I mean, I’m keeping her secret too.”
“So, what happened?”
“She kept hinting to LJ’s parents that I didn’t want to go to the gala with him.”
“And, you don’t, right?”
I pause, staring at him.
His stare is pointed. “Vanessa?”
“Of course not.” I sigh. “But they wanted to know who I was going with, and I couldn’t work out my mother’s angle.”
Dax sits back. “But if I’m going with you, does it matter if they know?”
“It didn’t before my mother came back.”
“Okay…” he draws out the word. “Why did you leave the manor?”
“I needed to spend time with LJ to show my mother she didn’t have a hold over me.”
“You’re not making any sense.”
I sigh, avoiding his eyes. “I had to go on a date with LJ to stop whatever my mother had planned.”
His jaw drops. “You did what?”
“I had to. I couldn’t risk you being kicked out.”
“So you thought going on a date with LJ would solve that?”
“It wasn’t a real date. I was just taking control away from my mother.”
“Am I supposed to be cool with this? I thought you couldn’t stand the guy.”
“I can’t. Can you really not see why I did this?”
“I thought you were inside, having dinner with your family. You never gave me a heads up you were leaving with him.”
“I wasn’t just with him. I was with my brother and his…”
“Are you trying to justify this?”
“It’s not like I enjoyed any part of it.”
“Man, I’m such a chump. I don’t expect to spend every minute with you, but I also don’t expect you to go out with another guy.”
“It was fake. Okay, LJ didn’t know that, but my brother did.”
Dax groans. “You Ashworths and your games.”
My eyes water, and I blink it away. “Look, my brother already told me off, so I get it. I’m an idiot.”
Dax sighs, sliding closer again. “I never said that. I just don’t understand what was going through your head.”
I bite the inside of my cheek. “My mother riled me up. It was an impulse reaction.”
There’s hesitancy as he asks, “So, where did you go?”
“To get ice-cream.”
He smirks. “How quaint.”
I nudge him. “It’s no smoothie bar.”
My purse sits beside me and vibrates against my hip. I want to ignore it, but the buzzing continues on a loop.
“What the heck?” I dig my phone out of my purse. “Why am I getting so many notifications?”
My screen is a mess with mentions, comments, and reposts.
I click into the app and am taken to Hope’s page.
There’s a photo of me and LJ at the ice-creamery.
This is the moment before Hope and her boyfriend joined our table.
My tongue clicks as I remember her walking over to us with her phone in her hand.
The photo is pasted beside an image of Dax and me outside the country club. Hope must’ve taken it when approaching us before the Saturday evening meeting.
Dax’s jaw rocks, and his face reddens. “Why does he look like he’s about to kiss you?”
In the picture, LJ leans over me with his eyes closing and lips parting.
My grip on the phone intensifies. On top of the side-by-side images, a crude poll asks, “Who dated her best?” with two options: “Prince LJ” or “Biker Boy.”
I grind my teeth together. She’s having people vote on who I should date?
“Who does she think she is!” I shriek and reach for my laptop. “That’s it!”
“What are you doing?”
My fingers furiously tap at the keys. I open up the student portal and log-on to Hope’s dashboard. “Hope’s about to get real honest with Mr. Riley about her crush on him.”
Dax leans forward, snatching the laptop from my grip. “Sass, stop.”
“Give it back,” I snap.
Dax shuts the laptop and tucks it under his arm. “What will it solve?”
“Just let me do it.”
He places the laptop on the armrest and grabs my shoulders. “Hope’s not the one you need to focus on.”
I point at my phone. “Did you not see what she did?”
“Yeah, but remember the reason you were there? You were getting back at your mother. She’s the one you need to have it out with.”
“Hope can’t get away with this.”
“Just let it go,” Dax says calmly. “What does it matter what random people on the internet think? We’re together, aren’t we?”
I swallow roughly. “Yes.”
“And your mother knows. Why don’t you talk to her about staying out of your love life? Then you won’t have to play these games.”
“You think I’m being stupid?”
He tucks a piece of hair behind my ear. “I would never call you stupid.”
I smirk. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
He kisses my forehead. “Just take a breath. Redirect your anger where it belongs.”
I huff. “Would you talk it out with your dad?”
“I don’t have to. He’s already out of the picture.”
“Doesn’t he tell Boscoe and McCoy how to act from jail?”
“If he does, they don’t act on it. Lance runs the show, and there’s no talking to Lance.”
I shudder at the thought. “Okay, I won’t retaliate against Hope. You’re right. Her posting the photo happened because I wanted to one-up my mother. I guess I need to handle this stuff differently.”
He brushes my cheek. “Remember, you've got me to lean on.”
I smile, falling into his stormy eyes. “I am stupid. I gave up an evening with you and spent it with LJ. I need to be committed.”
Dax laughs, hugging an arm around me. “That’s a bit extreme. How about you don’t see him again?”
“Is that an order?”
He shrugs. “It’s a suggestion.”