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I cringed at that thought. I didn’t want to leave him. I didn’t know how to leave hm. Maybe I was the crazy one anyway. That was what he said, and everyone who knew him couldn’t understand why I wouldn’t love him. And I did love him. Fuck. Around and around and around in circles.
Mia?
Fuck, I shouldn’t answer that question. But why was he texting me? He’d stopped months ago.
I’m home. Why?
But then I didn’t get a response from him. The fuck, Ash?
I had too much to do tonight. I couldn’t figure out what his game was.
I grabbed the box of samples and dropped the thing on the kitchen table. Material fell out in a wave. All the beautiful colors I was working on for the summer launch. Colors that I couldn’t wait to get to, but tonight, I had little inspiration for it.
When the coffee was finished, I poured the entire thing into a mug with some cream and sugar and took a long sip. I needed to get some pep in my step. I probably needed … assistant designers. That thought had been racing through my mind too. While Mark and I were falling apart, the business was thriving. Summer was looking to be the biggest summer ever. And it made me wonder if my dream of building an empire might actually happen. Mom would certainly appreciate me opening another location in Charleston. Maybe I could escape there. Maybe that would be safe.
Then, the doorbell rang.
I wrinkled my nose in confusion. No one else was supposed to be here. Mark was gone tonight.
I set my coffee down by my samples and went to the front door. I glanced through the peephole to make sure it wasn’t a solicitor and almost fell over at the sight of Ash Talmadge on my front step. I yanked the door open.
“What are you doing here?” I blurted before I could stop myself.
Then, I got a good look at him. His shirt was rumpled. He’d lost his suit jacket, but he still wore the navy pants. His hair wasn’t gelled, and it looked like he’d been running his hands through it. His eyes were red and face a mask of distress.
“Ash, are you okay?”
“Can I come in?” he croaked.
“Of course,” I said, pulling the door wide.
Ash stepped inside my house. He caught one glimpse of the table full of brightly colored material and frowned. “Am I interrupting?”
“It’s fine. I was planning to work all night. Try to figure out my summer designs. What’s going on?”
He finally met my eyes. “My dad had a heart attack.”
“Oh my God,” I gasped, my hands going to my mouth. “Is he okay?”
“He’s in the hospital. They have to do surgery. I don’t know what the fuck to do. I don’t know if he’s going to make it.”
“Fuck, Ash. Sit down.” I directed him toward the couch, where he fell into the cushions. “Let me get you a drink.”
I busied myself in the kitchen and came back out a few minutes later with some scotch in a glass. He took it but didn’t drink. Just stared down into the liquid, as if it had the answers to his problems.
I took the seat next to him and put my hand on his back, rubbing easy circles there.
“I’m sorry,” he said finally. “I shouldn’t have barged in on you like this.”
“You shouldn’t be alone.”
“Yeah, but … I know Mark hates me.”
I hadn’t even thought about Mark. He was the last thing on my mind with this going on. “He … does,” I said, unable to argue. “But I don’t hate you.”
He looked up at me with surprise. “After everything, I deserve your hate, Mia.”
“Let’s not do this right now. That’s not why you’re here. I’ve known you my entire life. I can be here for you for this. We don’t have to solve our issues tonight.”
I didn’t know if we even could solve our issues. All that mattered was that Ash was one of my oldest friends and he was in pain. It wasn’t about us. It didn’t need to be for me to be here for him.
“What do you need from me?”
Ash shook his head. “Just being here is better.”
“Okay. How about I order us some dinner? You can just sit here.” I glanced at the clock.
Mark wouldn’t be out of work until at least midnight. When he got deep into work, I never saw him. I probably should tell him that Ash Talmadge was here, but I didn’t want that fight. It wasn’t sexual. It was just about our friendship. His dad was sick. He needed someone.
“All right,” Ash said, and then he finally took a sip of the drink.
I ordered pizza and turned on the latest Marvel TV show. My samples were long forgotten as we sat on the couch together and ate pizza, like old times. I even managed to get a smile from him. We paused the show at one point when he got a call from his mom about his father’s surgery.
