Page 87 of Wish You Were Mine

Ashley.

Footsteps tapped along the pavement behind me. I looked ahead. I was almost at the clinic. Perhaps if I power-walked, I’d arrive before she caught up to me. I stayed facing forward, feigning deafness as she called my name again.

Unfortunately, when she grabbed my elbow, I could no longer pretend not to notice her. I turned slowly, wondering what she wanted. When we’d met up for coffee, she’d spent the whole time low key flirting, even when I’d told her I wasn’t interested. There didn’t seem to be anything else to say.

She twirled her hair around her finger and smiled coyly, as though she hadn’t just sprinted down the sidewalk to catch up to me.

“It’s Thirsty Thursday. Want to get a drink at Drunken Destiny?” she asked.

“I have other plans,” I said honestly. Seeing Summer was a much more enticing prospect than spending time with a woman who’d already dumped me once before and whose motives I didn’t understand.

She ran her hand down my arm. I yanked it away.

She blinked wide eyes at me like a kicked puppy. “Are those plans really better than getting properly reacquainted?”

“Yes.” One hundred percent. No hesitation.

She huffed. “I can’t believe I have to spell this out for you. I’m offering sex.”

“And I said no.” I folded my arms over my chest. Perhaps it was my turn to spell things out to her. “I’m not a player. I’m only interested in one woman, and I’m sorry, but that isn’t you.”

Her face fell, and for a moment, I felt a pang of sympathy for her. After all, I had cared about her once. But it hadn’t worked out, and there was a reason for that. Now, I had a woman who accepted how I was, and I wouldn’t do anything to risk losing her.

She looked down at her hands, blinking rapidly, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. “I know you’re not a player. That’s why I wanted to try again with you. You wouldn’t do to me what… Anyway,”—she shook her head, apparently determined not to finish her earlier thought—“we were good together, weren’t we? Not perfect, but good. Isn’t it worth seeing if we could be like that again?”

The rigidity seeped out of my spine.

“I’m sorry, Ash,” I said quietly. “For whatever happened to hurt you. But we weren’t truly happy together. You were lonely with me, and it was like nothing I did was good enough.”

She looked miserable. “I made a mistake when I ended it with you.”

“No, you didn’t.”

At that moment, Summer wrapped her arm around my waist and rested her head against my shoulder. I hadn’t sensed her coming and wondered how much of our conversation she’d overheard.

“You were right to end it,” I told Ashley, holding Summer to my side. “You and I weren’t well-suited, but Summer and I might be, so please don’t do this again.”

Ashley raised her chin, her lower lip quivering. “If you two are so serious, then why haven’t you told anyone?”

“We will soon,” Summer said, more gently than I’d have expected. “We’ve been building a solid foundation first.”

Ashley met my gaze imploringly. “But you and I already have a foundation. We could skip that step and pick up where we left off. I’ll be less demanding, and maybe you could drop a few hours, and it would work out.”

I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from snapping at her. She was in a bad place and making poor choices. She wasn’t trying to drive me crazy.

“Maybe we had a solid foundation once,” I allowed, “but it’s rotted away.”

Summer’s arm tightened around me. “I’m sorry if you’re hurting,” she said to Ashley. “I know how it feels to want Asher and see him with someone else. It’s awful. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. But you have to accept it and let him go.”

Her words, intended to comfort Ashley, sliced through me like a knife. I’d done that to her. I’d caused her pain. She’d had to watch as I dated others because I was too cowardly to man up and be with her. I hated the thought that I’d made her feel even a shred of discomfort, but there was no denying I had.

Now, it was up to me to do better. To be a man she could proudly call her own. Who wasn’t afraid to stand by her side, no matter who disapproved. Someone willing to take risks for her.

Ashley nodded at Summer, although her glazed eyes made me think she might not have heard everything she’d said. Then she slunk away.

I turned to Summer and gripped her chin. “I will never hurt you like that again.”

I kissed her. Right there, in public. On the side of the street, where anyone could see.

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