Ashton took my face in his hands, placing the sweetest, softest kiss ever on my lips. “Okay. Let’s go.” He took my hand and walked me back to our seats. I could see the tension in his shoulders, but knew he was trying to hide it—for me.
The second we sat down, Ashton pulled out his phone. His fingers flew across the keys as he sent text after text. A few minutes later, he put it away and sighed.
“We’re getting you self-defense lessons.”
I thought about arguing, but it couldn’t hurt. Even if I never had to use the skills I’d learn, knowing that I’d be able to overpower Dominic if he ever came at me again would give me some comfort. Ashton wouldn’t be around forever. It was the smart thing to do.
I nodded and Ashton turned his head back to the game.
There was only one inning left so it ended pretty quickly. Since it had been such a close game, people stayed all the way through, it took longer to get out of there. Once we reached the exit gate, I noticed Brock standing there waiting for us.
“Ashton. Elena. I hear you had some trouble tonight.”
“A bit,” I answered.
“Brock will drive us home. In case we have to deal with Dominic again, I don’t want you left alone.”
All of it sounded so possessive and protective. Ashton and I climbed into the backseat of the car and waited for Brock to pull out of the lot. Ashton sat so rigidly that it made me want to scream in frustration. I couldn’t let my problems ruin an absolutely wonderful day. I knew talking wouldn’t solve anything, but there was one thing that would help ease the tension.
I ran my hand up his leg, knee to thigh, my palm coming to rest over his zipper. His sharp intake of breath told me I was doing something right and I let my fingers slide down his other leg, then retraced my path. His hand covered mine.
“If you keep that up, we’ll give Brock a show,” he whispered in my ear.
The heat rose to my cheeks but was quickly forgotten as Ashton cupped my jaw and took possession of my lips. Opening my mouth, he slid his tongue inside, tasting every square inch. Absorbed in the kiss, I didn’t notice when we pulled up in front of the house until Ashton released my seatbelt and lifted me out of the car.
We made our way into the house and up the stairs. Heat blazed in his eyes when he finally set me down and I knew I’d succeeded in making him forget about Dominic, if only for the moment. Ashton’s mouth returned to mine as he lowered me to the bed.
The perfect end to the perfect day.
CHAPTER 23
Elena
Ashton made sure to come out and show me to the table himself, and it was obvious it was the best table in the house. Secluded for private conversation, but still in the midst of everything. I looked down at my watch.
Fifteen minutes.
Fifteen minutes until Gretchen arrived.
I was excited to finally see her again. We’d exchanged text messages after Ashton got me the phone, but neither replaced the face-to-face conversations we used to have. So many things had changed since I last saw her; some good, while others . . . well, let’s just say the jury was still out on those.
“Elena.” Her voice was so loud, almost every head in the restaurant turned to stare. Thank God it was only the lunch crowd.
“Gretchen.” I waved, hoping to calm her until she got to the table.
But that was Gretchen. She didn’t apologize for who she was. It was often said that opposites attract, and this was true in the sense the Gretchen was everything I wished I could be. She was strong to my weak, confident to my cowardice. In the past, when she’d spoken about me leaving Dominic, she’d made it sound so easy, and every time I left after one of those conversations, I’d be full of good intentions; wanting to head home and let him know how unhappy I was, and ask him to change. Then I see him and all my fire would die. Yet, even though this to and fro happened often, she never despaired of me. She was always there in the background helping me, keeping me sane. And for that I’d be forever grateful.
Ashton was nowhere in sight, then again, I had a feeling he wasn’t faraway because he’d promised to come over and meet Gretchen at some point during lunch, and help set her mind at ease.
“Oh my God.”
Suddenly I was yanked from my seat into a crushing embrace, squeezed to the point where I couldn’t draw breath. “I missed you so much, you had me so worried.”
“I text you all the time,” I forced out.
She let go. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to squish you.”
“It’s okay,” I laughed. My stomach settled and I felt myself relax.
“I was just so worried,” she rambled, taking her seat. “You sent me texts but anyone could have the phone, claiming they’re you. And you could have been tied up in some creepy basement dungeon with whips and canes and God only knows what else.”
A throat cleared behind me. Gretchen’s eyes snapped up and her mouth dropped open. Then a warm hand curled over my shoulder and blood rushed to my face.
“Elena.” There was a hint of amusement in his voice. Oh God, how much of that had he heard?
“Ashton.”
He squeezed my shoulder then stepped into view. Reaching out, he offered his hand.
“And you must be Gretchen.” Slowly, she lifted her hand and took his. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“It’s a . . . a . . . a—” Gretchen swallowed hard. “Nice to meet you too.”
He brought her hand to his lips and her cheeks went pink.
“Excuse me, ladies, I need to take care of something, but I’ll be back. I just wanted to introduce myself.”
He placed a soft kiss to my lips and stepped away. Gretchen sat there, nodding dumbly. I snapped my fingers in her face, trying to get her attention. When her eyes returned to mine, I couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped my lips.
Her expression. Not often was Gretchen speechless. Her eyes were practically popping out of her head when she looked back at me.
“That’s him?”
“Yeah, that’s Ashton.”
She gave her head a quick shake. “Holy shit. It’s about time you found someone like him.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m glad you approve, but he’s not exactly mine.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.” She watched me for a moment. “Although, I’m kinda liking this new snarky attitude you’ve got going on.”
Watching my finger trace patterns on the tablecloth, I said, “I’ve learned a lot in the last two months.”
“Hey.” I looked up into soft, understanding eyes. “It’s never easy to see what’s wrong when we want it to be right.”
Tears blurred my vision. “I’m so sorry I didn’t listen to you.”
She shook her head. “It’s not your fault. That jerk had your mind so warped and twisted with his bullshit and lies that you couldn’t see what I was saying. What matters now is that you finally see the truth.”
“I do. Ashton helped.”
Gretchen peeked over at him and smiled. “Now I’ve seen for myself that he’s not abusing you in some underground room of pain, I want to know what you’ve been up to. You have so much time now that you don’t have to take shifts at the diner—what do you do all day?”
I hadn’t thought about those early mornings in a long while. For the longest time, the only thing that kept me going was my routine. Not that I didn’t still have a routine; this one was just markedly different. The corners of my mouth lifted.
“Actually, Ashton got me an audition for the new musical opening up in the theater district in a few weeks.”
Her head tilted to the side. “An audition?”
“I guess I never told you what I went to college for.”
“I didn’t even know you’d been to college.”
“Dominic and I got married right after graduation. Up until then, I wanted to sing on Broadway.”