“I’ll go,” I say.
“Damn right you will,” Audrey’s mom says.
Audrey opens her mouth and for a second I think she’ll stop me, that she’ll tell her mother to shut up.
But she doesn’t. Instead, she says, “Ash, I think you’d better go.”
Yeah.
I shrug and leave, letting the door slam behind me. Fuck hope. Fuck believing in something better. I never learn, do I? Well, I’ll be busy tonight.
Looks like I have a fight to prepare for, after all.
Chapter Thirteen
Audrey
Seeing Ash leave, his body hunched over as if in pain, threatens to breaks my heart. He came to talk to me, he made the effort, found the trust, and all I can do is watch him go. I want to stop him, but I have to hash this out with my mom first.
I walk into the kitchenette to face her. “Mom, how could you say those things to him?” The same things I told him. The realization stings. “You were harsh.”
My mom sighs. “I know, but seriously, Audie, what were you thinking? Of all boys, why him?”
“Ash is a great guy.”
“Great guy? You told me he kept getting into fights. Did he even finish high school? Besides, you told me you couldn’t stand him.”
Oh god, I really did say all those things. “That was then. This is now.”
She looks at me hard. “You can do so much better than him.”
“Much better? What am I, a princess?” I huff. “He’s been nice to me.”
“His father...” Her voice breaks, and my chest tightens.
“I know. But that’s his dad, not Ash.”
“Audie...” Her voice softens. “Apples don’t fall far from the tree.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Anger is building inside me. I understand why she’s so angry with Ash—hell, I was, too. But I’ll make her see how wrong she is, like Ash has done with me.
“You should stay away from him. His father’s a drunk and a violent man, and so is Asher.”
“They’re not the same,” I say. “You can’t judge him by what his father did.”
“God, girl.” She leans against the counter. “Asher’s father had to stop boxing because he almost killed a man once, and it’s no secret he drinks. As for Asher, don’t you remember how he got suspended from school all the time, how he kept getting into fights? He walked around bruised on most days, and his brother wasn’t any better.”
“Ash isn’t violent.” He’s so gentle with me, always concerned he might hurt me. God, it’s all I can do not to run after him. “You don’t know him.”
“And you do? He isn’t the boy you used to play with.”
“And that’s his father’s fault.”
“How do you mean?”
I bite my lip. It isn’t my place to spill Ash’s secret when he’s kept it from mostly everyone. Not yet, anyway. “Just take my word for it.”
She seems to struggle with something. She draws a deep breath.