Chapter 92 Eleven years
Daxton
I could feel the color drain from my face, feel Verena’s eyes burning it. Ashley Delavine? My best friend until she decided to ruin what we had, break our friendship eleven years ago because of her demands.
Memories of her going berserk came back to me. Her slitting her wrist. Blood on the floor. Her being lifted to the gurney as strings of curses left her mouth while I held my own bleeding head.
The same Ashley Delavine?
She still looked the same. Not a single thing had changed about her. I could feel the knots in my stomach tighten. She was the last person I had expected to meet here in Seattle.
I averted my gaze, staring at the girl who was still smiling at me. This was her daughter? “I’m not your dad,” the words came out harsher than I’d intended for it to be.
The smile dropped from the girl’s face while Ashley gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. “You called him your dad!” The girl ran to her while she crouched down and brushed the confetti off her face.
“But, I repeated what you told me,”
Ashley let out a breathy laugh and shook her head. “You heard wrong, Simona,” She pressed a kiss to her forehead and stood straight, smiling. “My daughter is autistic and loves to call everyone her dad. I’m sorry if she made you uncomfortable,”
I didn't smile. Didn't even know how to feel. All I did was just stare at her—numb.
“I only repeated what you…” Her daughter winced and I caught how she tightened her grip around her wrist.
The last time I remembered, she was in Spain getting married to some rich Spanish architect.
“Simona, please go play with the other kids—”
“Yes mum,”
I watched Simona bounce off, jaw hardening as my eyes flickered back to Ashley who was still smiling until something hit me—
Verena was here. Still standing here.
I could feel the tension releasing from my jaw as I fixed my eyes on Verena who stared at me with an expression that broke me. Eyes that demanded answers.
I reached for Verena’s wrist and pulled her close to me. “This is Ashley. A friend from school. And this is Verena, my woman”
The smile on Ashley’s face cracked—so brief that I almost missed it. “Your Woman?” She dragged each syllable as if it haunted her before her face broke into a smile.
“Nice. I am Ashley Delavine. His classmate from school—” She held out her hand.
Verena didn't take it, instead she turned to look at me with uncertainty in her eyes.
Ashley dropped her hand, tucked her hair behind my ear. “You two look good together. I’m just surprised seeing you here after so many years,”
I swung a hand over Verena’s shoulder, pulled her tightly to my side. “Yeah…” I said coldly, hoping she would take the hint and leave.
“You heard about our class reunion?”
My eyes snapped to hers and after so many years, she still managed to rile me up. “No. I exited the group already. Couldn't stand the messages,”
She chuckled. “Well, you should attend the reunion. It will be fun. You can come with this lady…”
I interrupted. “Her name is Verena. Not this lady.”
Ashley bobbed her head. “My apologies,”
“I won’t be coming to the reunion…”
Verena cut in, removing my hand from her shoulder. “We will be coming. I need the location. The date.”
My head spun. No, we wouldn't be attending. What was Verena doing?
Ashley's brows lifted, a smile curling her mouth. “I should give you my contact then,”
“No, I would rather you send it to my email,”
“Very well. What’s your email address?”
Verena
I stormed away.
Those two had history. Not the pretty kind. The one that had scarred each other in the past. Something intimate and destructive.
And the worst part was the more I stared at that woman, the more familiar she looked. Like I had seen her somewhere but I couldn't just place where.
She made me feel weird.
The way they both looked at each other made my stomach churn.
I could hear Daxton’s footsteps behind me, my blood rushing into my ears until he grabbed me by the shoulder and spun me around until I faced him.
“Who is she?” I said before the words could leave his mouth.
“Her? She’s just an old friend. We had a fall-out, and it was just weird seeing her again,”
I searched through his eyes for answers. “She is not an ex-girlfriend or anything?”
“No. I have never gone exclusive with anyone except for you. The thing with Ashley and me is just complicated. I haven't seen her in eleven years,”
Eleven years—that was the reminder it took for me to calm down.
The lingering look, ‘the dad thing’ and just the vibes I got from her set me off.
The moment Lisa came and requested Daxton’s help, I removed my phone and searched for the name. ‘Ashley Delavine’
Nothing concrete came up, except for the link that led to Daxton’s high-school website.
I clicked on the link.
Impatience tugged at me as the page loaded slowly and before I could gnaw on my fingers, rows of thumbnails finally appeared.
And when I scrolled down to a picture of Daxton blowing a kiss to someone, that was when it clicked. This was where I had first seen her.
My heart coiled in my chest at the picture of her. She looked younger and happier.
There was a picture captured of her doing a high-jump—her blue poms-poms lifted in the air. They were more pictures of them together—his hand swung over her shoulder, him doing a thumbs up while she gazed up at him affectionately.
In group pictures where they stood apart from each other—she was always smiling and stealing glances at him.
The more I scrolled through the school’s websites, the more the tightness in my chest worsened.
I groaned. I had to be crazy, letting myself be affected by something that had happened years back.
But that woman, something about her didn't just sit right with me.
I swallowed, sending a text to Atlas. “I met this woman called Ashley Delavine at Lisa’s party. Who is she? Tell me everything you know about her.”