26. Ashton
ASHTON
I was expecting his house, so I’m surprised when he pulls up to a deserted parking lot at the beach.
Griffin jogs around the front of the car and opens the passenger door for me. I barely have enough time to finish unbuckling my seatbelt before he slips his hands under my thighs and lifts me from the car.
“What are you doing?” I shriek.
“It’s dark. We’re walking on uneven sand. The last thing I want is for you to sprain your other ankle. Now, let me be a gentleman.”
I laugh. “Okay.”
With the moon full, the late evening air chilly, and a light breeze off the ocean, I’m grateful to be carried. I absorb his body heat, nuzzling closer, inhaling his soft cedar scent. Griffin’s steps are steady and sure, like he’s traveled this path at night hundreds of times.
“Have you been here before?”
“Yeah. Sometimes after a long day of filming, I come here at night.” He chuckles a bitter laugh. “You’d think after shooting on the beach day after day, I’d get tired of being out here, but there’s just something about the peace the ocean gives me.”
I shift, wrapping my arm tighter around his neck.
“This is where I like to clear my head. I thought maybe you’d like it too.”
“Thank you,” I whisper, squeezing his bicep.
He stops walking and places me gently on the sand. He sweeps off his jacket and wraps it around my shoulders before settling next to me.
“Comfortable?”
“Yes. Thank you for this.” I adjust his jacket.
We sit in the quiet, watching the waves crash against the rocky shore. The moon’s reflection plays on the surface of the ocean, warping into different shapes.
Griffin clears his throat. “So…are you okay? I mean, back there—” He lifts his shoulder. “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to…”
I adjust my legs, pulling them tighter, guarding myself.
“You had me worried back there.”
I pull the jacket tighter, clutching it at my middle. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.” I swallow, not sure how to explain my overreaction to seeing my mom. I feel silly about it now.
He wraps an arm around my shoulder and rubs his hand up and down my arm. “There’s nothing to be sorry about.” He leans forward, tilting his head toward me, his forehead resting against mine. “I just want to make sure you’re okay.”
I nod, biting my lower lip. “It’s just stupid.”
“I doubt that.”
He continues the rhythm of his slow caress along my arm, waiting patiently for me to open up.
“My relationship with my mom is complicated.”
“I understand complicated parental relationships.”
“My family had the reality TV show, right?”
“Yeah?”
“We started filming when I was ten. Just clips here and there for a YouTube channel my mom started. It didn’t take long before it grew in popularity. Along with that came more cameras, more lighting, and eventually, hiring a camera crew. Our entire lives captured on film.”
He nods, encouraging me to continue, yet also allowing me to take my time.
I inhale a big breath. “I hated it. Hated the cameras. Hated trying to portray some perfect, happy life that never existed. When the cameras weren’t on, my mom rarely acknowledged my existence.
I purely served as entertainment for the world.
The only time I had her private attention was when I wasn’t doing something right for the footage. ”
I dip my fingers in the sand, drawing a swirling pattern.
“Tonight’s party pricked at an old wound.
Mom threw me a similar massive, elaborate thirteenth birthday party.
It caught enough viewers that it drew producers to our door, vying for a contract deal for television.
Even then, I wanted out, but I was a minor under my mom’s guidance. What could I do?”
“Sounds awful.”
“It was. But it wasn’t until I was seventeen that I hit my tipping point.”
“What do you mean?”
“I wasn’t exactly popular, not like my older sister, Cecily. She was perfect. Navigated social circumstances better than anyone I knew. I, however, was the awkward duckling, the black sheep, the unwanted one.”
“Impossible.”
I look at his face, seeing his sincerity.
“I was. I didn’t like the same things as my mom and sister.
My sister did everything my mom asked and more.
She was the star. I was just the second daughter she was stuck with.
I often escaped to my room, usually to read or do my homework.
By sixteen, I was already dreaming of a completely different life than the so-called perfect one my mom had curated. ”
“Let me guess…no mansion, no fame, no paparazzi, no…cameras. I can see why my lifestyle might not exactly appeal to you.”
I nod, avoiding his gaze, fisting a handful of sand and letting it seep through my fingers.
“Just before my eighteenth birthday, a guy from my senior class started to pay attention to me.
It began with casual conversations that morphed into notes between classes and then texting. Eventually, he asked me on a date.
“This guy was popular and gorgeous. His name was Tanner. He never once brought up our family’s reality show.
I thought for once I’d found a guy who either didn’t pay attention to that stuff or didn’t care.
That alone was enough to spark my interest in him, but then he also looked at me like I was beautiful… special.”
Griffin places his hand over mine on top of the sand and weaves his fingers over mine. “You are.”
“For some stupid reason, I believed him. I trusted him. One night, he invited me to this party.” I squeeze my eyes tight, the memory still stinging.
Griffin turns my hand over and clasps it in his. “Hey, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
Tears build in my eyes. “It’s okay. I want to. It’s just that I’ve only ever told one other person this story.”
“Lynn?”
“Yes.” I lean into him. “We went to this party at his friend’s house.
I met him there. I thought it was a bit strange that he didn’t pick me up, but I was so excited to have a date that I didn’t question it too much.
I showed up, and the party was in full swing, but he waited for me at the entrance of the house.
He wrapped his arm around me like we were a real couple and navigated me inside.
It wasn’t until later that I realized he never really introduced me to anyone.
Just gave high-fives and bro-slaps to his buddies.
Little did I know, he was guiding me to a specific spot for a specific purpose. ”
Griffin tenses.
“His friend lived by the beach. Tanner set up an elaborate date for us in a gazebo at the edge of the property. It was decorated with twinkle lights, a blanket surrounded by candles, and snacks for two. I thought it was the most romantic thing I’d ever seen.
No one had done such a thing for me before.
So later that night, when he leaned in to kiss me, I let him.
But a sweet peck turned into him attacking my mouth and plastering his body to mine.
It all happened so fast. I barely had time to react.
“The next thing I knew, cameras were everywhere—flashes blinding me. Spotlights from video cameras beamed on us. Multiple people shouted questions from every direction.
“I couldn’t process it. Tanner acted just as surprised.
Before I even left the party, our photos were plastered all over social media.
The video clips aired on TMZ within a few hours.
But that wasn’t even the worst part. Turns out, Tanner had been dating my sister for a while.
I had no idea. All the articles painted me as the villain.
When I was the victim.” My voice cracks. A tear spills down my cheek.
“Come here.” Griffin spreads his legs and pulls me to him, cradling me.
“I went home crying, of course. Mom told me to quit being such a baby—that I’d made great content for our show. For once, I’d made her proud. Imagine that.
“I’d disliked my family’s reality show for years, but it wasn’t until that night that I loathed it. I wanted out . I packed a bag, left my house, and never went back. I haven’t spoken to my mom since.”
“Where’d you go?”
“For a while, I drove aimlessly around town. I don’t have any extended family—all my grandparents passed years ago, and my parents were only children. I had no plan. I just drove until I could come up with one. That was when I found Teddy.”
“What do you mean?”
“I sat at a stoplight, asking God what I should do. Out of nowhere, I saw this dog wandering the streets alone. I pulled into the closest parking lot, got out of the car, and called the dog. He came right to me.” I laugh, wiping my nose.
“Even then, before any training, Teddy was so obedient. So good. So eager to please. He was filthy but otherwise seemed healthy. I drove to a twenty-four-hour supermarket and bought some dog food and a water bowl with the cash I had on me. We spent the night in my car together. The next morning, I drove him to the nearest shelter. I hated to give him up, but I wanted to make sure he didn’t already have a family looking for him.
That’s when I met Lynn.” I smile at the memory of her.
“This is where your passion for rescuing dogs comes from?”
“Yeah. It was like I found my purpose. He gave me a goal and something to work for. Within a span of a few days, I emptied my savings account, started a new one, quit school, applied to get my GED, and emancipated myself. Lynn gave me a job at the shelter and a place to live, and the rest is history, I guess.”
“Well, that explains a lot. And just for the record, I kind of hate your mom now too.”
“I’m sorry I ditched you with her. I just couldn’t face her. I wasn’t prepared to see her there. A week ago, I had lunch with my sister. I hadn’t talked to her since the night I left. She told me that night was a setup.”
“By Tanner, right?”
“No, by my mom. She’d recruited Tanner to date both of us, giving him his five minutes of fame to make our show juicier. I’m sure she secretly gave him some kind of payout, too.”
“How could someone do that to their own child?”
I shrug. “I’m not surprised. She’d used me my whole life.”
Griffin’s arms wrap around me tighter. “I’m sorry she did that to you. I should have run after you the moment you took off. I wanted to, but Scarlet stopped me.”
I tense, my chest prickling with jealousy at the mention of her name.
He shifts my body, draping my legs over his, my shoulder pressing into him. “I told her about us.”
“ Us ?”
He nuzzles my temple with his nose. “Yes, us. I told her I only wanted to be friends with her. That I want the chance to see where things go between you and me.”
Delight races through my veins. “How’d she take it?”
“Okay, I think. She’s the one who told me to go after you.”
“She did?”
“She’s a bigger person than I gave her credit for. I told her I’d stick to our contract, but only as friends.”
“So, we’re seeing where things go, huh?” I tease.
His fingers grasp a strand of hair blowing across my face. He cradles my jaw in his palm. “I’ve made it quite clear I like you. So yes, I’d like to see if there’s more between us.”
Oh, I know there is—my body thrums with it.
“But you’ll have to be willing to trust me…given your background. I know my lifestyle isn’t exactly prime real estate to you.” His thumb travels across my lower lip.
I tilt my head, leaning into the warmth of his touch. My hands move to his chest, feeling his heart thump. I rest my forehead against his, our noses touching. I push apprehension to the back of my mind, leading with my instincts instead. “I’m willing to take a chance.”
His cheek lifts in a lopsided smile. Torturously slow, he moves his face next to mine and places a light kiss on my cheek next to my earlobe. “Well, then,” he whispers, then repeats the motion on the other side. “I’m all yours.”
I touch his scruff with my fingertips. I savor his scent, his presence, the very essence of his being. My eyes are heavy, my lips tingling with desire.
His eyes dip to my lips for a millisecond.
I close the gap between us.
His soft, warm lips infiltrate the chill in my body, eradicating it, insulating it with warmth and happiness. With each press and withdrawal, he sews together every ache, wound, and crack in my heart. With each gentle kiss, he heals a piece of me.