Page 90 of The Pact

I’m almost thankful when I get pulled out of my own reverie by the voice of an older woman.

I immediately recognize the voice as Ashton’s mom’s from the few times I spoke to her on the phone to update her on her son’s condition.

“Ash, darling. Don’t be rude and make the introductions to your beautiful guest. Even though she and I have spoken on the phone a few times.”

Even if I hadn’t recognized the voice, I would’ve seen the resemblance between Ash and his mom. They have the exact same gray eyes and Ashton has also inherited his mother’s high cheekbones and soft, heart shaped lips.

Ash immediately straightens his back, briefly taking his mom’s hand in his and kissing her cheek. “Mom, this is my girl Ausra. Ausra, this is my mom, Edith Reynolds.”

I don’t have time to analyze his definition of me. “My girl” isn’t quite my girlfriend but it isn’t even “my friend.” This is getting more confusing and dangerous every day but all I can do right now is to shake the delicate hand I’m offered and exchange pleasantries with his mother. “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Reynolds.”

The woman’s smile reaches her eyes and there’s no heat in her gentle scolding. “I hope you’ll agree that Mrs. Reynolds is my mother-in-law, Ausra. I’d prefer Edith, if you don’t mind.”

Ashton seems pleased by his mother’s attempt to put me at ease and his smile is bright when Edith thanks me for taking care of him when he injured himself.

“It was nothing, Mrs. Rey—Edith. Ash would’ve done exactly the same for me if the roles had been reversed.”

Ashton wraps his arm around my waist again. “You can bet your sexy ass that I’d take care of you if you got hurt,” he murmurs into my ear.

I feel heat rise to my face again but I don’t have a chance to say anything because a man that could only be Ashton’s father approaches us.

Like I could see the resemblance between Ash and his mom, there could never be any doubt that Ashton and this man are closely related. Where he has his mom’s same eyes and lips, Ashton inherited his father’s tall, strong build, his dark hair and his perfect, square jaw.

“Hey, son.” The man claps him on one shoulder and his smile is identical to the one I’ve grown to love on my date’s face. “Nice of you to join us tonight. And this must be the famous Ausra, I keep hearing about. Jeremy Reynolds.” He offers me a firm handshake. “Nice to meet you, Ausra. I don’t want to sound insulting in any way, because I’m sure this young lady is as smart as she’s beautiful, but now that I see her, I’m not surprised that you boys didn’t want to interview anyone for that team manager position.”

What is this guy talking about? My confusion must show on my face because the guy chuckles, looking at his son. “Why do I have the feeling that I put my foot right into my mouth?”

Ash tightens his arm around me, shaking his head at his father. “You could say that, Dad. In reality, we didn’t have a chance to talk to Ausra about this. We wanted to make sure that everything was in place before we approached her. The guys and I were going to tell her next weekend. But since everything is sorted ...”

I keep looking between the two men as you’d watch a tennis match but nothing they’re saying makes any sense to me. “Ash,” I finally ask. “I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.”

He smiles. “Ok. The others will kick my ass for not waiting for them to tell you, but since Dad is the biggest sponsor of our team, I can totally blame it on him. But just so you know, I can’t take credit for the initial idea. That was all Bode. I just helped a lot with the execution.”

I’m still clueless as to what he’s talking about and normally I’d show a lot more frustration but his parents’ presence helps me rein in my natural impatience. “Ok. What is it? You’re making me nervous now.”

When he explains, I can’t hide my shock.

“Remember when I came to pick you up after work at the library?”

How could I ever forget? It was the day after that first party on the beach. The day when they asked me to play. I nod, cautiously.

“Your boss, Bobbie, told me how you were trying to save for college. I admired you a lot for that and I told the guys. After a while, Bode had the idea. We’ve been wanting a team manager for a while. Someone who’ll curate our social media, do all the admin work with our personal sponsors, help keep us organized when we go away for competitions. We’ve been waiting to hire someone because our team was tied to the high school and there wasn’t enough funding. Even though we went to a fancy prep school, most of the money went to football and basketball. Anyway, college is a little different. Bridgeport wants to be really competitive in windsurfing and that’s why we got offered full athletic scholarships.”

I know all that. He still isn’t making any sense but I wait to see where this is going.

“So when the new academic year starts, we’ll race under the college insignia. We wouldn’t really need them because financially we have enough sponsorships to keep us running but if we want a chance to be picked for the Olympics, racing for a school is our best shot. We asked the athletic department if we could hire a team manager but obviously since we’ll be a part of their sports program, anyone who works for us would have to be accredited. For example, Holden is now officially employed by the school. As you can imagine, money was an issue and that’s where we involved Dad.”

I still don’t get it and I tell him. “What does all this have to do with me?”

Ashton’s smile widens. “Dad secured a deal with the athletic department where he’ll provide the funds. So we’re allowed to hire a team manager. You. If you’ll accept it.”

“Me?” I know, I know. I’m not exactly proud of my fish out of the water expression but cut me some slack. This is crazy.

“Yeah, Ausra. You. And this is the kicker. Since you’ll be formally a Bridgeport employee, you’ll get a ninety percent discount on all tuition fees. So now you can afford Bridgeport and they’re going to waive the normal deadlines for registering because you’re working there.”

Did I say fish out of water? Yeah, my mouth is now definitely hanging open.

Ashton looks at me with a bright smile. “That’s if you want the position, obviously.”

---