“When all the warriors were coming down the cliffs to fight the Nazis and you believed they were evenly matched. That was epic!”
I rolled my eyes. “It was okay. I’m not saying it was a bad movie. I’m just saying it was not the greatest movie of all time.”
“You need to appreciate that women are going to run the world someday,” Ash said confidently even as she scooped up her own mashed potatoes. “But don’t worry, Marc. I’ll go easy on you.”
I snorted. There were times Ash could be a trip. Arguing with her shouldn’t be as fun as it was. I had to give myself a mental shake, reminding myself of the conversation I’d had with Landen last week. I needed to put more distance between us.
A hard knock sounded on the door. The house was an open concept layout so all I had to do was lean a little from where we were sitting at the table to see through the glass pane that ran along the side of the door.
“It’s Mr. Landen,” George said, standing immediately. “I’ll get it.”
“He wasn’t supposed to be back tonight,” Ash whispered. I glanced over and saw her expression. She was nervous. “He told me I wasn’t supposed to eat dinner here anymore. But…he wasn’t supposed to be back tonight.”
George opened the door and immediately Landen stepped inside like it was his house. I supposed it was. Yes, he’d given me the warning, too, about staying away from Ash, but surely this didn’t count. Not when George was with us. We’d all been having dinner together for years.
“Ashleigh,” Landen barked. “Now. Let’s go.”
She rushed to his side and I could see his face was flushed. With anger? Or something else, because I thought I smelled alcohol.
He grabbed her by the arm, a little harshly I thought, and slammed the door behind him as they left without another word.
I looked at George. “Is she in trouble?”
“He’ll send her to her room. He likes to send her to her room a lot,” he said, obviously bothered by the events. “But that’s all. She’ll be fine.”
“I smelled booze,” I said.
“Hmmm,” was George’s only comment.
We sat and tried to finish our dinner, but it wasn’t the same without Ash.
* * *
Later that night
Marc
I made my way into the main house. It was after midnight and I’d seen Landen’s bedroom light go out. Ash’s light, however, was still on. I felt a little ridiculous creeping through the house like I was a damn thief, and not someone who lived on the property. I knew where her room was from the countless times when she would ask me to play with her when we were kids.
That was the problem, I thought. The reason why Landen had spoken to me. We weren’t kids anymore and Landen knew it. Well, she was. But at seventeen, I wasn’t.
I knocked on her door quietly and heard her bounce off her bed. Surprised when she opened the door to me.
She pulled me inside and closed the door behind me quietly.
“I just wanted to check on you.”
“You could get in trouble,” she said, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth.
“You okay?” I asked, ignoring that. I thought about Landen’s threats by the pool the other day regarding Princeton. Had he really meant it? Or was it all just bluster to scare me?
She nodded. “Some client of his dropped him off and Dad wanted to introduce me to him. When he couldn’t find me, his client left. Dad was drinking so it just made things worse. But I’m fine.”
“I’ll leave then.”
Except I didn’t. Instead, I looked around the room I hadn’t seen in a while. Gone were her more girlish decorations, a variety of stuffed animals, replaced by things more interesting to a teenager. A band poster—I knew she didn’t get at a concert, because her father wouldn’t let her go. AWonder Woman poster, because she thought it was the greatest movie of all time. Outfits she’d laid out on hangers around the room, probably planning for the first day of school.
It reminded me she was going to be there with me. Where I didn’t want her. I scowled.
