Why hadn’t I realized just how fucked up that was?
I had zero sympathy for Crystal. If you’re feeling neglected by your partner, you leave. You end it. Then you look for another single person to be with. You don’t hook up with someone who has his own family and destroy their lives just because you can’t keep your skirt down.
Not that my dad was some innocent victim. Hell no. He was just as responsible as she was.
He’d made the choice to cheat on Mom, to leave her, and to break her because he was a selfish asshole who only thought with his dick.
“Jules?”
I jumped, shaking my head to clear it, and the room came back into focus.
“You call me Jules now,” I said stupidly, not wanting Ash to know about the spiral I’d fallen into.
“You’ve been calling me Ash for a month.”
I flushed hot. “Yeah. I don’t even remember when you switched from Asher to Ash in my head.”
“This is weird, right?”
“What do you mean?” I straightened up and crossed my arms over my chest.
“This. Us chilling.”
“It’s a bit weird. But the really weird part is how I don’t want to throat punch you.”
He burst out laughing. “What?”
“I swear I couldn’t spend more than ten minutes in the same room with you without wanting to throat punch you. Or kick you in the shins.”
“Not the nuts?” He flicked his gaze to me.
“I know bro code.” I grinned. “I reserve nut shots for the gravest of offenses.”
“Hard same.” He crossed his arms, mirroring me. “I would be lying if I told you I hadn’t thought about drop-kicking you across the room a few times.”
“Puleeeze. You couldn’t drop-kick me.”
“You’re tiny.”
“I’m wiry!”
“Tiny.”
“I’m not. I’m big and tough.” I puffed out my chest, smiling when he laughed.
I liked happy Ash.
His smile lit up his face, crinkling his eyes in a way that was both sexy and cute. It made him look younger, more carefree.
I also liked that I was the one who’d made him smile. And that was a problem.
We might be getting along, but I needed to get over this silly crush and be happy with the fact that we no longer wanted to murder each other.
“You’re a kitten.”
“And you’re a… a…”
“A what?” He quirked his eyebrow. “Cat got your tongue?”