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My brain decided to be silent, however, and right there in front of my mom and dad, I dove forward and smashed my mouth against his.
His body went rigid against mine as Dad shouted in protest. That was when the world stopped spinning long enough to comprehend what I was doing. After he’d abandoned me, then ignored my confession of love, I was kissing him?
What the fuck is wrong with me?
I jerked my body away and my hand flew up, smashing across his cheek before he could stop reeling.
A low, gravelly chuckle erupted from his chest as he rubbed the pinkening spot on his cheek where my palm had whacked him.
“Freya!” Mom called again, looking shocked as hell.
She wasn’t the only one.
I avoided turning Dad’s way, knowing he’d be so angry and disappointed. Instead, I took the cowardly way out and turned tail, running out of there.
There was intense arguing coming from where I left them all as I closed the front door behind me.
God, I’d made a mistake coming. I should’ve listened to Mom and stayed away. They’d uninvited me for a reason. Now the pain was renewed in my chest and the ache was fresh. Again.
It felt like I’d never learn my lesson with him. What a mess…
The door behind me opened and closed, but I kept going, not wanting Mom or Dad to stop my flight, and not trusting myself to hope it might have been Ashton.
I got to the car before a hand wrapped around my arm, turning me until I was pressed back against the car door. My eyes sealed closed as denial blew through me, a sob wanting to escape, but I refused to let it.
“Frey,” he breathed, hand on my cheek as his forehead pressed against mine.
Don’t cry.
No crying Freya!
It didn’t work. Those tears started leaking out of my shut eyes and my shoulders shook with each wracking sob.
“Shh, shh,” he hushed, that thumb of his started rubbing my tears away.
“I can’t,” I blurted. “I can’t do this, Ash. This is breaking me!”
He let out a long sigh before pulling back, putting space between us.
More tears fell unhindered as my eyes finally opened, lifting to meet his. He was handsome as ever, but looked like hell. There were deep bags under his eyes, and the frown lines on the corners of his mouth were even deeper than the last time I saw him.
“I’m sorry,” he offered, bulky arms crossed in front of his chest.
Was it just me, or was he even bigger than the last time I’d seen him? He’d been pure muscle, yes, but now the lean, muscular figure was bulkier and the sleeves at his biceps cut in at the bulge.
God, I needed to stop looking at his body.
“Sorry for what?” I demanded. “You said that over the phone, and you couldn’t tell me why you were sorry, just that you were.”
“I just am,” he grumbled. “I don’t want you to cry.”
I scoffed, wrapping my arms around myself in a fruitless attempt to comfort myself.
“Cry? You have no fucking idea of how many tears I’ve cried because of what you did to me.”
I watched his eyes close, pain slamming over his face as my words settled over him.
“That’s not what I want,” he whispered. “That’s not what I meant to do.”
