AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Man, this pot roast sure is amazing,” O’Shea said with a snicker, stuffing his mouth with food. Savannah shrugged.
“I don't know. It’s just a rumor that goes around,” she said.
O’Shea laughed and shook his head. “I don’t know anything about that, so I couldn’t tell you,” he said.
My mother nodded. “Well. Your sister isn't in a wheelchair, so apparently it must not be true—”
“Maybe she hasn't slept with him yet,” Savannah said and looked at me.
“Oh God, kill me now,” I muttered to myself.
My mother clapped her hands. “Okay, enough about wheelchairs and penises. Let’s focus on dinner, okay?”
“Whatever,” Savannah muttered. I kept my eyes on my plate, silently wishing the dining room floor would open up and swallow me whole.
As my family continued to talk to O’Shea, my mind went back to what happened in the loft. He’d started to tell me something, but what? Even though I’d heard the dinner bell, I could’ve waited a few minutes before I actually came down. But the look in his eyes and the tone of his voice made me nervous. I didn’t want him to remind me that he wasn’t ready or that he wasn’t looking for anything. I wanted to hold onto Alex’s words and hope that time would change his mind, but how would I know? I couldn’t admit it to him, at least not yet. I hadn’t even known the man for two months yet. What kind of clingy fool would I come off as to approach him and tell him that I was falling for him?
“Ashton,” my dad called out. I blinked and looked at him. “Can you pass the pepper?”
“Oh, sure. Sorry,” I mumbled, grabbing the pepper shaker and passing it to O’Shea, who passed it to my father.
We'd spent the rest of the evening chatting about different things, O'Shea’s family, Dad's car collection, and things going on with Savannah at school. I'd noticed how my mom would watch O'Shea and I, a small grin on her face as if she could see what was going on between us. I wasn't doing anything in particular, but the way O'Shea looked at me or when he smiled definitely revealed a lot more than he probably thought he was.
"So Ashton, I've been thinking a little while and your father and I came up with an idea," my mom suddenly said.
"What's that?" I asked, biting into a biscuit. I had to stop myself from the moan that was bound to come from my lips as the flaky, buttery bread excited my taste buds.
"So I remember how you used to love helping me decorate when you were younger."
"Yeah, I remember that, too."
"Why don't you go into interior design? You were always so good at it," she said. The bread now felt like cement in my throat as I tried to swallow.
"Um..." I started. Things kind of derailed after high school. Steve went off to college and I had no idea what I was going to do back then. It seemed like my life was consumed with drama of questioning him about the girls in his dorm room or all the parties he went to, so much so that I was more focused on him than myself. I'd put my own goals to the side, opting to support him and make him happy. I thought about taking some kind of course for interior designing, but after that whole situation with Steve, I had no idea how I'd even get clients in this town.
"Well?" my mother asked.
"I don't know. I’d been thinking about it lately because of my job situation, but I don't have the extra money to invest in training," I admitted softly.
"I think you'd be good at it," O'Shea added, scooping a spoonful of vegetables into his mouth. "You decorated the apartment nicely."
"She decorated my room. It's so dope," Savannah quipped.
"Thanks, sissy," I said, giving her a small smile across the table.
"And if you're anything like your mother, you'll definitely be successful, honey," my dad added.
"But I wouldn't know who to work for—"
"Yourself," my mother interrupted with a smile. I looked at her with a raised brow. Did they forget about my money situation? I was struggling to pay my bills; there was no way I could add business expenses on top of that.
"Mom, businesses take start up money and all that. I'm really not in a position to shell out money at the moment."
"Oh right," she said with a slight frown, but quickly recovered. "Is your credit decent? Maybe you could apply for a business loan."
"Business loans have to be paid back. I'm already trying to pay off Steve."
“Well, it doesn't hurt to try, honey.” She snapped her fingers. "Speaking of Steve, I saw him the other day at the grocery store. It looked like the man had been in a terrible accident!"
