Page 87 of The Pact

I don’t look at her. “I won’t be home tomorrow night. Ashton invited me to this party his parents are throwing.”

Mc tilts her head interrogatively. “Oh? Are you meeting his parents? I thought you said you and the guys were just fuck buddies?”

“We are. His mom called last night and personally invited me. I think they’re just grateful that I looked after Ash when he got injured. They were in London and they couldn’t cut their business trip short.”

She disagrees. “Forgive me but I call bullshit on this. Right, his mom might’ve invited you because you helped. But what did he say? How did he react to the invitation? Was he all casual, like ‘whatevs’ or did he seem like he really wanted you to go?”

I don’t meet her eyes. “He said he was going to invite me anyway. But it’s just because he gets bored around his parents’ friends and business partners. The guys aren’t allowed after last year Shep had too much to drink and he started flirting with the wife of this guy Ash’s dad was trying to close a deal with and—”

Her expression stops me in my tracks. “Bull-motherfucking-shit. That sounds like a date and you’ll be meeting his parents. That’s firmly in girlfriend territory. And you are already in that kind of territory with Bode. Going shopping together, hanging with Skye and me for dinner—”

“Stop!” I don’t even want to go there. “I know the guys are being nice to me but it’s because of the game. We’re doing ‘stuff’ together and eventually they’ll all sleep with me, so we’re spending a lot of time together. But it’s just because of the game. I guess they aren’t the huge assholes I thought they were at school.”

Mc doesn’t look convinced but I refuse to see their behavior as anything else. It would be too dangerous to let myself believe that there’s more to it when none of them has ever even hinted at it.

My sister shakes her head. “Sure. Be in denial all you want. I think you have four boyfriends and you don’t even know it. Regardless, have you seen Ashton’s house? That won’t be a BBQ in the backyard, Ausra. Have you thought about what to wear?”

I sigh. “I’ll go for that little black dress you got me for my birthday. It’s the dressiest thing I have.”

She doesn’t look convinced. “It might not be enough. I wish one of us had got to go to Prom. At least we’d have more dress options.”

“The black dress will have to do, Mc. We don’t have any money to spare for a dress I’ll wear just once in my life.”

She still doesn’t look happy. “Yeah, but there might be a lot of attention on you. As his girlfriend—”

“I’m not his girlfriend!” I huff, exasperated.

She looks at me with a shit eating grin. “Right. One day you’ll learn that McKayla is always fucking right.”

I open my mouth to retort but I’m stopped by Skye’s crying. “Uck ... iiiing!”

She’s sweating again and her cheeks are red. “I can’t wait for this teething thing to be over. She’s running a fever more days than not. But the doctor keeps saying it’s normal.”

I shake my head. “Maybe you want to get her checked again? Just to be sure she’s fine. Anyway, Mc, you were right that we have to watch our language around her. I think my niece was trying to drop her first F-bomb.”

***

Ausra

“HEY CUTIE!”

Ashton opens the passenger door to his Porsche and touches his lips to mine before helping me into the car.

Bode and Kelley did something similar when I rode with them, I haven’t seen Shep drive yet.

I buckle up telling myself to stop overthinking everything they do and to stop listening to Mc. We’re just hanging out and having a lot of fun. There’s nothing more to it and I better remember it if I don’t want my heart shattered into pieces at the end of the summer.

Ashton seems nervous but in a good way. More excited rather than anxious and his easygoing chatter helps me feel a little less tense about meeting his parents.

“I’m so excited that you’ll be coming to LA with us. I’ll just need to win my race, so you won’t think that I’m a loser. Especially compared to Bode and Kelley. They never lose one race.”

I smile. “I’m sure you’ll do great, Ash.”

“I’ll do my best. I worked really hard on condition and on my agility. And this time I really want to win because I’ll have you to celebrate with at the end.”

The glint in his eyes is something I recognize. From what Ash told me about his family, his parents always push him to do better, to perform at his best. I understand the kind of pressure they must be putting on him because it was the same with my parents.

I had to excel at academics but my job was also to embody my father’s teachings. I had none of the freedom that Ashton has. It was suffocating and once McKayla moved out, also lonely.

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