“Already? I was hoping to join you for a bite,” Sasha said.
“Too bad I never invited you to,” Ash said.
He stood up and walked around her, then held his hand out to Kallie. She took it, but he felt how limp her grasp was.
“Always a pleasure,” Sasha said as her eyes fell onto Kallie.
“Wish I could say the same. If you want something, you can take a seat and charge it to my card. You still do that, right? Live off other’s money?” Ash asked.
Sasha’s smile stayed plastered on her face, but her eyes hardened.
“See you around,” Sasha said.
And he didn’t like the tone of voice she said it in.
Ash turned around and guided Kallie away from the table, but he should’ve known Sasha wouldn’t let him go that easily. He heard her quick footfalls behind him and he knew the ploy that was coming. Sasha never changed and always used the same tactics to get what she wanted.
He turned around before she could tap him on the shoulder and he put on his best smile.
“What?” Ash asked.
“I just remembered—”
“I’m sure you did,” Ash said.
Sasha smiled at him before she cleared her throat.
“I just remembered that my birthday party is next weekend. Oh, you do have to come. Everyone will enjoy seeing you.”
Sasha latched onto his free arm, threading her grip around the crook of it.
“Uh-huh. I’m sure you wouldn’t forget a party in honor of your birth,” Ash said.
“Do come. Promise me. It’ll be the greatest birthday present.”
“I’ll see what I’ve got on my schedule.”
“Oh, Ash. Don’t be like that. You know you love a good party. Remember all those shots we used to throw back? What’s your drink of choice? I’ll have it flown in and stocked.”
“Goodbye, Sasha.”
Ash pulled away from the woman’s grasp and quickly ushered Kallie to the stairs.
“Call me!” Sasha called out.
Fuck. She couldn’t have appeared at a worse time. And Kallie looked pale in the face. Her stare was far-off. Her grip on his hand was loose. Her footfalls were heavier. Ash wanted to apologize. To explain what had just happened and who that woman was. But he wanted to get her out of the crowded restaurant first. He could hear Sasha still calling after him and he eyed his friend at the front. He nodded his head and stepped in between the two of them, distracting Sasha long enough to make their way back to the park.
If Sasha had ruined his chance at trying to win Kallie back, he would never forgive her.
More than that, he would make sure she paid for her sins.
Chapter 11
Kallie
Kallie walked alongside Ash in the park, but she wasn’t holding his hand. He tried to take it every now and again, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. In fact, she really didn’t want to be in the park with him any longer. She kept replaying their encounter with that woman in her head over and over again. Like a bad movie with terrible takes every single time.
“Could we head back inside?” she asked.
“Is that what you want?” Ash asked.
“Yeah. I’m getting a bit tired.”
She felt Ash try to put his hand on the small of her back, but she rushed in front of him. Walked across the street without giving him a chance to catch up. The walk back to his apartment was silent, and all Kallie wanted to do was crawl into bed and go back to sleep. Something about that woman cheapened their day. Cheapened the time they were spending together.
“Kallie, I can explain,” Ash said as he shut the door behind them.
“Who was she?”
Kallie turned around and her eyes filled with tears. She hated crying in front of people. She hated feeling so bombarded with all of these emotions. She had genuinely been excited about the idea of spending the day with Ash, and then this woman popped out of nowhere and started talking about all of those memories.
And half of those memories were like her memories.
“Sasha Benson is ... an old family friend,” Ash said.
“Who you go to the island with?” Kallie asked.
“Her and her family have a bungalow at the resort, yes. She spends a lot of time there, as I’m sure you could judge by her tan. Her family is stationed here like mine is, but she pretty much flies around and parties on her family’s dime. She’s everything I can’t stand about that kind of community, and sometimes she’ll try to track me dow—”