“At least someone is,” Kallie said bitterly.
Ash’s laugh was just at bitter and it turned her stomach.
“You really expect me to believe that?” Ash asked.
“I would,” Stanley said as he sipped his drink.
“I don’t give a damn what you do and do not believe, Ash Worthington. Because you don’t mean anything to me any longer,” Kallie said.
She watched Ash’s face drop and she stalked off before he could say another word. His bitterness was overwhelming, and she no longer had a passion to talk with Stanley. Of course the boy with the glasses would be the second richest fucker in the place. Of course that would be the man who approached her. Kallie wanted to leave. To get out of the party and head back to Jeremy’s place. She looked all around for her friend. She went upstairs and was met with why Stanley had made the comment about ditching her to go upstairs.
Every couple in each room sounded like they were getting in their last hoorah with their summer crushes.
Sighing heavily, Kallie went back downstairs. She stuck to the corners of all the rooms, trying desperately to find her friend. But when she finally came across them, all she wanted to do was leave by herself. Jeremy wasn’t doing any sort of promotion for his club. At least, not any longer. Instead, his hands were all over her best friend and Eris was straddling his lap. They were practically screwing each other drunkenly in a corner. It was gross, and Kallie wanted nothing more to do with this party.
But she didn’t want to bring her friend down either.
Throwing back the rest of her drink, Kallie tossed the plastic cup into a trash can. She made her way out the front door and took a left, following the path Jeremy had driven to Sasha’s mansion on the beach. The drive had only been four or five minutes, so his place couldn’t be more than three miles away. Her feet hit the pavement and her legs carried her away from the house as the moonlight lit her path.
The noise slowly fell behind her, and then all went silent. The waves lapping along the shoreline down at the beach filled her ears as she walked underneath the stars. The moon was bright and it reminded her of how she felt. Distant and alone, with no hope of ever recovering. Tears welled in her eyes and she didn’t attempt to fight them this time. Instead, Kallie let them fall in the droves in which they appeared. Down her cheeks. Flooding her neck. Trickling down her chest. Her breaths were broken and ragged and her skin felt clammy in the humidity pouring off the ocean waves.
And in her saddened state, a terrifying thought crossed her mind.
James won.
Ash had approached her twice. Two times he couldn't stay away from her long before he had to come assault her character. And she meant what she said to him. At least, she partially meant it. She didn’t give a damn about Ash if he was going to keep acting this way. If he was going to keep approaching her and accosting her the way he was. She couldn't believe what he actually thought of her. After all they had shared and all they had experienced and all of the opening up she had done to him. She couldn't believe he could take all of that and toss it out the window over some interview on television.
But she had no way to prove herself to him, and it made her angry.
Whatever James’s motive was behind all this, he succeeded. Whether it was to destroy her or mangle her or simply get revenge, he succeeded. The one man she wanted was nothing but a bitter, scarred, ghostly resemblance of the man in her dreams. The man she remembered and the man she had been taken by. The wind picked up and Kallie wrapped her arms around herself, walking past beautiful homes she would never be able to afford in her wildest dreams.
Yes. James had won.
James had succeeded in ruining her world.
Chapter 6
Ash
Her words felt like a punch to his gut. She didn’t care about him any longer? Who the fuck was she to no longer care? She was supposed to care! He was the one that wasn’t supposed to care! Ash looked over at Stanley and he shrugged his shoulders, then his friend patted him on the back.
“You’re wrong, dude. Sorry to say it, but you’re wrong.”
He watched Stanley walk off as his words rattled around in his head. Was it possible that Ash had somehow gotten this wrong? Stanley Edwards was a great judge of character. And seeing him talking with Kallie had made him so irate. Sometimes, he thought Stanley was a clueless college kid, until he exerted a wisdom beyond his years.
But he couldn't possibly be right about Kallie.
Nope. He got it wrong this time.
And Ash had saved him from a world of hurt.
He stalked off to get himself another drink, pouring it down his throat. He was getting pretty good at that. Scarily good at it, really. He shoved his glass to the bartender to take care of, then he went in search of his friend Jeremy. He didn’t know where Kallie had gone off to and he didn’t care. All he knew was that his friend from college was in town with a team of gold diggers. And he had to save him. He searched throughout the rooms, making a point to avoid Sasha and her wandering hands at all costs.
And when he finally found his friend, Kallie’s half-dressed best friend was grinding on his lap.
He reached his hand out and yanked his friend up by his elbow. Eris went stumbling to the floor and Jeremy immediately dipped down to help her. Ash struggled to get him away from the girl and the scuffle caused a great deal of attention. The room fell silent and Eris’s face was on fire with anger, and even his friend Jeremy was looking at him as if he’d lost his mind.
“The fuck, Ash?” Jeremy asked. “What the hell did you do that for?”