“I never thought about how much change you had to deal with. I mean, my dad booted out my mom, and you and Crystal moved in. Then the news about Riley. That was almost too much for me. I can’t imagine if I’d had to move houses and schools on top of that.”
“It was a lot.” He squeezed my hand, then gently tugged it free so he could put both hands on the wheel. “Switching schools was the hardest. I’d been at Alcott Prep since kindergarten, and suddenly I not only had to switch schools but had to go to public school as well.”
“You say that the way some people saygo to the dentist.” I snickered.
“When you’re a fifteen-year-old moron who grew up with a silver spoon in his mouth, public school really is like the dentist.” He smiled to take the sting out of his words.
“How rich is your dad?”
“Like what’s his net worth?” He glanced at me.
“Yeah.”
“No clue. But he has two swimming pools in his house. One outside and one inside.”
“You have a poolinsideyour house?”
“Not my house.” He flipped on his signal light. “He moved a few years after the divorce. I think I’ve been in his new place five, maybe six times since I turned eighteen.”
I couldn’t imagine what it must have been like for Ash. My dad was an asshole, and I was going to hate him until the day I died for what he did to Mom, but at least he didn’t act like my very existence made me a burden. We weren’t close, but he was my dad. I had good memories of him taking me to my little league games, teaching me to ride a bike, and even letting me have my first beer with him when I was sixteen. That was when I’d discovered that beer was gross, so the whole forbidden aspect of underage drinking had never appealed to me.
Ash hadn’t had that. From what I’d gleaned from our conversations and my observations over the years, Ash had been raised by a nanny. When he’d gotten old enough to be self-sufficient, his parents had been completely hands off with him, especially his dad.
I could remember several weekends when Ash would be ready to go to his dad’s for visitation, and he’d cancel at the last minute. Teenage me used to revel in his pain, thinking it was his due for how awful he treated me. For being Crystal’s kid.
Twenty-one-year-old me felt like dogshit for how horrible I’d acted. I’d been so caught up in my own misery that it had never occurred to me that Ash was acting out because he was hurting too.
Bzzzz.
“For fuck’s sake. Can you get that?” Ash nodded to his leg.
“Sure.”
I dug into his pocket and fished out his phone.
“Who texted?” He didn’t take his eyes off the road as he navigated off the main drag and toward our neighborhood.
“Darren. He said Hannah and Evie are going to be at the party tonight.”
“Whatever you’re thinking, don’t.” He side-eyed me.
“It’s fine. I mean, you’re allowed to see your friends. Even if they have boobs and lots of money and can do things for you I can’t.”
“There’s nothing I want that you can’t give me, babe. I’m not interested in boobs or money, not when I have you.”
“You called me babe.” I smiled.
“Well, it’s a little more family-friendly thanslut.” He winked, and my cheeks flushed hot.
“You haven’t called me that in a while.”
“We haven’t had that kind of sex in a while.”
“Don’t you want to anymore?”
“Oh, I want to.” His eyes were filled with heat as he looked at me. “Don’t you worry about that.”
“Is it because of what happened? Is that why you’ve been different?”