“Is he here for you?” Mom asks, directly and with such revulsion.
“Of course he is. Look how he is staring over here. Fucking hell, Allison. What are you doing?”
“You promised me,” Mom says, and I hold up my hands to calm them down, but it would take a tranquilizer to do that. “I am very disappointed.”
I groan loudly. “I get it, and no apology will help, but I need some closure.”
And to feel something other than jealousy over Asher.
My mom knows the reason and purses her lips. My dad, though, he is pissed. He throws some twenties on the table and glares over at me. “I will never forgive that asshole for what he wanted you to do. You deserve better, Allison, and I refuse to sit here and watch you get closure.” His words are like jabs in my heart. He turns his attention to my mom. “Either you’re with me, or you’re getting an Uber.”
She gives him a dry look. “Like you’d let me get an Uber.”
He shrugs. “I wanted to sound like a badass.”
“Eh, more like a dick,” she says, draining her wine.
He pulls her to his side, still very much pissed, but even more in love with my mom. “Forgive me?”
“Yeah, we’ll both just be pissed at her.”
They look at me, and I feel like I’m four again when I ate a whole basket of cinnamon rolls. “Good plan,” he agrees, and I roll my eyes.
“I’m twenty—”
“Allison,” my dad says, stopping my words. “You can be a hundred and four, and I will still tell you that you deserve the world. That asshole is not it.”
He starts to walk away, but my mom’s gaze stays on me. “That is not going to heal the pain in your heart. Honesty will, though.”
And then she walks away.
I exhale loudly and almost follow them out, but then I see Asher looking at me, perplexed. I push my shoulders back and send him a grin before standing up. As I gather my things, I know I am making a mistake, but the other option scares the shit out of me. I head toward Taco, and his brown eyes light up. I love how they make me feel. But then my gaze falls to where Asher is watching me. His gray eyes narrow, and it’s like I’m being drowned by a wave.
And like always, I wish I were walking toward Asher instead of Taco.
Chapter Seven
Asher
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”
I’m sure my date is confused, but my attention is on Ally as she walks right toward that excited asshat, Taco. He’s all for it, grinning from ear to ear as he holds his arms open to her. I know Ally’s body language, and she’s uncomfortable as she goes in for the hug. He tries to kiss her, but she turns her cheek with almost a cringe on her face. What the hell is she doing? If she doesn’t want to be with the dude, why is she? My first instinct is to go save her, but she made this choice. She didn’t have to meet up with him, and she sure as hell didn’t have to speak to him, but she is. For what reason, I have no fucking clue, but it pisses me the hell off.
“Sorry?”
I tear my gaze from Ally and TacoFuck and back to the gorgeous Angie. When she came up to me after the game, I was stunned by her beauty. I remember her growing up, and she’s always been cute, but now, she’s pretty fucking stunning. Her eyes are this amazing green that reminds me of emeralds. Her dark hair is down, framing her glowing face. She has an awesome Cupid’s bow top lip, and her lips appear super kissable. She looks incredible in a tight green dress that makes it real hard to concentrate on anything but getting her out of it, but the fact that Ally is here with Taco has my mind reeling.
It’s unfair, but it comes with the territory of being a best friend.
I reach over, squeezing Angie’s hand. “My bad, Ally’s ex is here and she’s talking to him, and I don’t know why.”
Angie looks past me and shrugs. “She’s been talking to him for a while. I think they’re getting back together.”
Over my dead fucking body.
“Yeah, no.”
Her brows come in. “Why does it matter? Do you like her or something?”