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“Sure,” he says, taking one.
I can’t help myself. I glance at Ash. He’s looking right at me, though he’s still holding a conversation with Eric. I look back at Lincoln. “So what’s been up?”
“You mean since I saw you like, a few hours ago?” he says, popping the fried pickle in his mouth. Oh man, this is perfect. Ash actually stops talking mid-sentence. He swallows and I see his Adam’s apple bob in the corner of my vision before he stammers out a reply to Eric about Team Yamaha’s suspension work.
“Yeah, I guess,” I say, punching him in the arm. “I’m just trying to be nice, you hater.”
I’m not trying to be the kind of ex-girlfriend who tries to make her ex jealous. But with Shelby’s words hanging in the back of my mind, I have to do something to see if Ash still has any feelings at all for me.
Lincoln laughs and rubs his arm. “You’re always nice. You can afford to be mean every now and then.”
Our waitress returns with our food. She sets Lincoln’s food down in front of him as well. “Figured you’d want this here instead of over there getting cold,” she says, and he thanks her.
“Oh come on, man,” Eric says, shaking his head. “You ditched us for the girls? I see how it is.”
Lincoln grabs his burger in one hand and nods. “Sorry, man. They’re better company.”
I can practically feel the waves of anger pour off Ash, raising the temperature by ten degrees. His hands bend into fists on either side of his untouched food. He focuses on the sesame seeds on his bun. Shelby kicks me under the table. I look over at her and her eyes flick to Ash and then back, a sneaky smile spreading across her face. “Told you,” she mouths.
Behind us, the band begins to play their set. They’re a group of middle-aged country guys with big cowboy hats and tight dark jeans. The sudden smell of cigarettes fills the air as a few of their groupies shuffle up to watch from in front of the stage. Ash takes a bite of a fry and looks at his sister. “Have you changed your mind about letting me pay for college yet?”
She shakes her head. “No, Ash. I can’t let you do that.”
“Why not?” He takes another bite. “I can afford it.”
“Because, it’s your money. Mom and Dad are helping me pay for it and I have a few small scholarships plus some student aid, so I’ll be fine.”
He looks like he’s about to argue again, and I cut him off. “Student aid helps a lot,” I say, knowing that Shelby is completely opposed to taking his money for college. “But if you want to give her a college present, you can trick out our dorm room since we’ll be roommates next year.”
“I could do that,” he says, peering at me through his dreadlocked bangs. “But ya’ll better invite me to your wild dorm parties.”
Shelby snorts. “I’m sure we’ll be studying too much to party.”
“There’s always time to party,” Lincoln says. “College is like, ninety percent partying, five percent studying and ten percent sitting through boring ass classes.”
“That’s a hundred and five percent,” I say, raising an eyebrow.
He smirks. “What can I say? I’m not a math major.”
“Have you settled on a major yet, Shell?” Ash asks.
She shakes her head. “No. I’m just doing core classes for now. I’ll figure it out eventually, I’m sure.”
“What about you?”
It takes me a second to realize he’s talking to me. “What about me?”
“Did you finalize your major yet?” Ash pulls the top bun off his burger and peels off the two pickles, then puts them on my plate. The simple gesture is like muscle memory—Ash always gives me his pickles.
“I’m sticking with business administration for now,” I say, ignoring the pang that rises in my chest as I stare at the pickles on my plate. “I keep thinking about accounting, but I don’t know if I’d be any good at it. It’s a lot of math and stuff.”
“You can’t think like that,” Ash says, his eyes sparkling under the bright patio lights. On stage, the guitarist strums a country melody that sounds achingly familiar. “You’ll be good at anything you do.”
Sure I will, I think as I stare at my food. I’m good at anything except dating you.
Chapter 11
Seven months ago – November
