Page 52 of Don't Love Me
13
Ash’s Birthday
Marc
I rangthe doorbell at the front door of the house. It felt weird. But I wasn’t taking any chances if Landen was around, although I didn’t think he was since George was gone. Which meant Landen was mostly likely in the city.
It seemed like forever, but finally the door opened, and there she was. I hadn’t seen her in months because of the whole prom mix-up. Really thinking about it, it had almost been a year. Since last August.
She hadn’t changed much. White blond hair that fell in soft curls around her shoulders. She was wearing a hint of makeup but not much. She looked completely smoking hot in the white, spaghetti-strap dress that fell to her ankles. Like some modern-day hippie chick who should have flowers in her hair.
She pretty much looked like Ash. The girl I’d grown up with.
Except my reaction to her now was different. I’d known she was hot. When she walked around in those barely-there bikinis, she could totally make my dick hard.
But I’d never realized how fucking beautiful she was. How absolutely fucking beautiful.
“You’re beautiful,” I muttered. Like I couldn’t keep the words inside me.
Her face lit up. “You’ve never said that to me before.”
No, I wouldn’t have. Stroking Ash’s ego was never my thing. If anything, I did the opposite. Standing here now, seeing her as the adult she’d grown into, there was no point in denying it.
“You are stunning. I’m sorry I never told you before.”
Her cheeks turned pink and she looked away. “You’re doing the whole making-up-for-the-prom thing pretty well.”
She wasn’t wrong. Part of this night out had been about coaxing her into coming back, but mostly it was to make up for what I’d done. I had a plan.
I was going to be charming. It wasn’t like I didn’t know how; I’d simply never been charming with Ashleigh.
I was going to be attentive, a good listener and even a little flirty.
What I hadn’t expected, what I wasn’t prepared for, I think I was also going to be a little smitten by her, too.
I held out my hand. “Ready to go?”
“We get to hold hands?”
“We get to hold hands,” I said. “I’m also taking you someplace to dance after dinner.”
She beamed at me, and I knew that if I did this right, if I did absolutely everything right, she would only ever remember this night and not her prom night.
* * *
Harborview restaurant
Marc
We were sitting outside because the weather was so perfect. We were at a new French restaurant that had opened up in town. There was no candlelight but there were fairy lights draped over the awning that covered us.
Le Baiser. The Kiss. A little corny, but she loved it because she spoke French. Fluently. As did our waiter.
I let her order our meal because she knew everything I liked, and I enjoyed sitting back watching her do her thing. The way the words fell off her tongue, the way she quickly replied to everything the waiter said.
Not going to lie. Ash speaking French was hot.
We sipped on sparkling water as we waited for our food, but it was strange. For the first time since I’d known Ash, she was quiet. Usually she was all about asking me questions and trying to pull stuff out of me about my life. Stuff I would very reluctantly give her.
