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Chapter 23
Danny
“Get fucked.”
Me:How’s it going?
Me:Why do plants hate math? Because it gives them square roots!
Me:I just found some paint I missed behind my knee. We might need to take another shower when you get home. *winky face*
Me:Hello? Is this thing on? Now look what you’ve done. You’ve got me telling dad jokes! Seriously, is everything okay?
Me:All right, now I’m starting to get worried. Where are you?
“Stop checking your phone. Dinner probably just ran late,” Melanie orders as I set my phone down on the diner counter at The Barge with a sigh.
“It’s been four hours. Why hasn’t he replied to any of my texts?” I prompt. Melanie holds up a carafe of coffee in her hand and raises her eyebrows, and I quickly shake my head. “No more coffee. I’m already seeing sounds and hearing colors.”
I don’t even remember how many cups of coffee I’ve inhaled in the last hour, but I know it’s probably an unhealthy amount, considering how fast my heart is racing. After my third text to Ryan that went unanswered, I decided pacing around the cottage wasn’t healthy either, so I came up to see Melanie so she could convince me I’m worrying for nothing.
Too bad it’s not working.
“I’m sure everything is fine. He’s probably been sitting at his father’s house in a catatonic state after the sex painting excitement and you being all mushy and shit.”
I laugh, but something still doesn’t feel right. Ryan was happy, and he was confident, and he was full of hope and excitement when I kissed him goodbye before he left for dinner, and he told me he’d keep me posted. I wasn’t worried at all that he’d be able to handle things. Even with the shock of his father finding out he didn’t want to be mayor, I had all the confidence in the world that Ryan would be able to work things out with him and make him understand.
I look down at the screen of my phone again when Melanie walks a few seats down and tops off someone else’s coffee, wishing this knot of worry in my stomach would go away. It’s not like Ryan to ignore my texts. He texts me back in the middle of class, or during his bowling matches, even when I’m sitting right there a few feet away watching him.
“So this is where you’ve been hiding out.”
That knot of worry in my stomach turns into full-blown dread when I hear a voice behind me that actually makes me physically ill. Slowly turning around on my stool in complete shock, my hope that maybe I’m hearing things, or that someone bashed a rock against my skull and I’m concussed, or I fell asleep at the counter and am currently in the middle of a nightmare is quickly dashed.
“What in the actualfuckare you doing here?”
Asher just smiles that stupid, cocky smile at me, slipping his hands into the front pockets of his suit pants and rocking back on his loafers. A year without seeing his stupid, smug face wasn’t nearly long enough to remove the impulse of wanting to gag every time I see him. It makes me wish for the hundredth time that I never would have tried to get my father to love me by dating someone he approved of. There’s no way Ryan not answering my texts and Asher suddenly showing up on the island aren’t related, and that pit of dread gets so large that my stomach rolls with nausea.
“Just wanted to check out my competition. Although I wouldn’t exactly call him competition.” Asher snorts. “His khakis were adorable though.”
“What did you do?” I can barely get the words out my throat is so tight with emotion and worry, but I won’t give this asshole the satisfaction of letting him see he’s getting to me at just the idea that he was anywhere near Ryan.
“You mean, what didyoudo,” Asher sneers at me, taking a step closer until I have to lean away and shove my back into the edge of the counter behind me just so I don’t have to breathe the same air as him. “You fucked me over when you left, Tinsley.”
“Are you kidding me right now? You’re stalking me, because I dumped you and your ego is bruised? Get a life and move on, Asher.”
He just shakes his head and chuckles. “Don’t flatter yourself. You’re trash now. I would actually be embarrassed to take you out in public.”
His words don’t even bother me. Asher’s favorite pastime is putting people down so he can feel better about himself. This is nothing new, and I’m immune to it at this point.
But I know someone who might not be.
It’s fine. Ryan is fine. There’s no way if Asher was anywhere near him that Ryan let this idiot get in his head.
“I put in the time, dammit! I kissed your father’s ass, I kissed your ass, and I even played nice with your moronic brother, and you fucked me over. That company should have beenmine. I worked hard for it, and I deserved it. A third of that company is still yours, and if you hadn’t gotten all bent out of shape about a few random women, it would have been mine. You owe me.”
“Oh my God! You really are a narcissistic prick.” I shake my head at him in disbelief, my worry for Ryan put on hold. I don’t know why I’m even surprised in the least he only dated me because he wanted Brewster Development,orthat he’s admitting it. “You should have done your homework a little better. My father made me sign away my shares the day I quit. I have absolutely nothing to give you. Maybe go try fucking my brother for his portion instead. He’s a little dumb. He’d probably go for it, and you two could live happily ever after, running Brewster Development together.”
“And then be unsatisfied bytwoBrewster offspring? No, thank you.” He smirks.
