SEVEN

“What do you want to do?”

Her forehead creased at the question Dave asked her. “What do mean what do I want to do? Get out of here of course. You think I want my ex-husband to catch me in his room that I just trashed? He could sue me or something.”

Dave whispered back, “You are just being ridiculous. How would he sue you for such a thing?”

“I will assume you are being funny at the moment.” Ashley pushed gently, his body which was still a bit glued to hers. “There is a window in my parent’s room that leads outside, we can leave through there.”

“Okay. Let’s hurry before this crazy ex of yours walks in on us.”
Ashley could already picture the smug look that would be on Kevin’s face if he actually did walk in. And after that would come a distraught face once he sees the chaos she had made of his precious room.

Pulling Dave along, she made for the suggested room. A part of Ashley wished that she would see something, anything that would remind her of the home she grew up in.

She was disappointed. Instead, she met heartbreaking evidence that said that her father’s presence had been thoroughly wiped from the house.

As though he sensed her hesitation, Dave tugged at her arm, bringing her out of the sadness she was about to delve into. “Come on, let’s go. Which window is it?”

Her eyes tore away from the picture frames of her mother and Kevin holding each other and Ashley and Dave soon found themselves jumping out of the window.

Once outside and close to Dave’s car, Dave pulled her arm, causing her to stop walking. As she stared at him with query, she could not help but remember the short heated moment they had earlier.

True, she has never felt that way. Yes, she loved it. But that made the situation more dangerous. She was a woman who was still trying to heal from a pain that is still being inflicted to her dismay, she was still delicate at heart.

And Ashley was not sure that she could trust her heart not to fall for the man as her body has seemed to. If there was something she did not want happening, it is having increased heartache.

Ashley had to find a way to make sure that whatever happened in that room does not happen again. It was for the best.

“Earth to Ashley. What on earth are you thinking of?”

Her mouth formed a short scrunch, “Dave, whatever happened back there…”

“Let’s not talk about that now.” The look that grazed his face before he interrupted caused a short pull on her chest. Did he regret kissing her or what? “We have to focus on making you feel better.”

Ashley nodded, tears at the tip of her tongue. As she swallowed them, she chastised herself for giving herself up to be explored so easily. He probably thought she was cheap or something. Or maybe he saw her as some desperate divorcee.

Gosh, she was such an idiot.

As she entered his car, Ashley made up her mind to stick with her earlier decision of not letting their make out earlier happen again.

~

“This is where we part for the day.” Ashley nodded quietly, her hand on the door handle, her mentally tired self eager to jump into her car, drive home and drink a few glass of wine. “Hey, look at me.”

She refused to be moved by the gentleness his voice carried. It was all pretence to her. That was her conclusion after the look she had seen on his face earlier.

“Good bye Dave.”

“Ashley, is this about the kiss?” She was tempted to reply him, her hand was beginning to leave the handle. But she was too tired to even have more drama happen at that moment.

The door was so close to opening when he stopped her by grabbing on to her free hand. “It is about the kiss, isn’t it? I…”

“What? What do you want to say? That you regret it? I don’t care what you want to say.” Ashley could hear how silly she was being. She sounded like a crazy, deprived teenage girlfriend, but she was so frustrated.

After his response refused to come after minutes, Ashley curiously turned her head to face him. His eyes were narrowed at her as though he were studying her.
“If you have nothing to say, I have to go.”

“I don’t regret kissing you,” his confession came quietly, Ashley felt this instant relief within her, she prayed it did not show all over her. “Damn it Ashley Steve, I am attracted to you, I am not going to lie.”

His words were the exact reason why she should stay away from him. The way his eyes danced as he said such words could make her fall in love with him within a second. But at the same time, his words filled a ditch in her broken heart. He made it so hard to run away from him.

*‘Gosh, didn’t I just meet this man?’*

“I don’t regret kissing you. I just shouldn’t have done it at that moment. I should have held myself. You are going through a difficult moment, we should be focusing on making you feel better about yourself. If we go about making out at every opportunity, I am afraid there will be more damage done at the end of the day.”

“What are you saying then?” She quietly asked, her wide eyes beaming, her thoughts hoping that his suggestion would contradict her initial decision.

He brought her hand to his lip. The warmth that came with it was soothing for Ashley. “Let’s just focus on fixing you. Hopefully other things fall in place.”

*Hopefully.*

Her eyes watching him carefully, she said, “I am sorry for lashing out earlier, that was a stupid thing to do.”

“Ashley,” he smiled, she almost did. So, much for not allowing him affect her. “,you just came back from a house that reminded you a lot why you are in this position. I understand if you want to shout crazy stupid things. Besides isn’t life sometimes about being stupid and doing reckless things once in a while?”

She shrugged. Now, she did not want to leave. And she did not. Sitting back more comfortably, her head went on to lean on the headrest.

“How do you feel?”

“What do you mean?”

“After what you did today, how do you feel?”

Ashley sighed as she recalled the amount of anger she had released. “Before you came along, I always felt like there were a lot of creatures inside my heart, making it heavier by the second. After today, I felt some of them leave. They left for good.”

“I like good reviews.” She returned his smile.

“I need to go, I guess.”

“See you tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow, uh? See you tomorrow then.”
As she drove home, her lips maintained a smile she couldn’t wash off. She was eager for the next day to come.