I rushed up the basement stairs, Asher quickly on my tail.
Asher’s phone rang in his grasp and I used the opportunity to slip on a pair of boots and grab my keys.
“Don’t go, Addison,” he shouted as I stepped through the front door, the rain immediately soaking through my sweatshirt and jeans.
“I just need some time, please.”
“Fuck,” he said as I slammed the door and ran through the rain to my car. Bessie decided she wasn’t on my side when the door refused to open. Luckily a few knocks of my fist cajoled her into opening.
As I started the car, I saw Asher standing at the front entrance, frantically speaking on the phone and tugging at his hair. He was clad in only a pair of basketball shorts and the cold fall rain was smattering his skin.
“Don’t look back, Addison. Think about what he did,” I mumbled to myself as I backed out of the driveway. The windshield was hard to see out of, but I wasn’t sure if it was from the rain or the water building in my eyes.
Somehow I made it back to my parent’s cabin. It felt more like a year since I’d been here last, not a week.
I had left the garage opener inside the house, so I parked out front. My clothes were soaked through, so I didn’t care if I got wet.
I took my time getting to the front door, my chilled body no longer feeling the effects of the cold. My heart was breaking inside because despite what we agreed to, I had fallen in love with Asher. I was already halfway there, so I shouldn’t have been surprised. That knowledge was what made his duplicity all the more upsetting.
My key slid into the lock as I twisted the knob and I walked into the house like a zombie. I stepped into the expansive living area along the back of the house and stopped in my tracks.
“Mom?”
“You have a lot of explaining to do, Addison Marie Jackson.”
For some reason, the way Mom used my full name broke something inside me. I rushed toward her and wrapped my arms around her waist. I needed her comfort. I needed her to tell me everything was going to be okay. I needed her to tell me that I wasn’t being stupid.
“Oh, sweetie. What happened?”
I could sense my father before I saw him. He was large and an impending force of nature.
“I just. . .he messed it all up.”
“What? Who?” my dad asked as Mom stroked my hair. I knew I’d have to explain everything to them, but I needed to wallow in my misery.
“Addison, are you here?” The front door squeaked as it opened and then slammed shut. “Addison!” Asher shouted and my body stiffened. God, it took all my strength to leave him. I was going to be a mess when I faced him. “Baby, please talk to me.”
I peeked out from beneath my mother’s arms and saw my father harden just as Asher stepped into the kitchen.
“What the fuck is going on here?” my father bellowed.
“Daddy,” I said, pulling away from my mother and walking to my Dad. “It’s not what you think it is.”
“So, you’re not going to tell me that my best friend is fucking my little girl?”
“Language, Harlan,” my mother said with a sigh, but we knew there wasn’t much she could do at the moment.
“It’s not like that, sir.”
My head spun so fast that I felt like I got whiplash. Did Asher just call my father, sir?
“Then tell me how it is right now, Asher, or I swear to God I will bury your body out back if I find out you’ve been messing with my little girl behind my back.”
“I’m in love with her.” He said the words so simply as if it was like ordering a cup of coffee at the little shop in town we’d visited. My body immediately responded, warming like a flower in the midday sun. Off in the distance, I heard my mother’s romantic sigh.
Asher wasn’t looking at my father, instead, his gaze was pinned on me like he was gauging my reaction.
“I love her,” he said again and despite my anger toward him earlier, I couldn’t fight back my smile.
“Ah, fuck. I’m going to have to kill you now.”