Eight
Justin
"Dude, what the hell is wrong with you? You've been moping around ever since we went on vacation." Trace asks, plopping down next to me on the couch.
I bring the beer up to my lips and take a long swig before I answer him, "Nothing."
He sighs loudly and rolls his eyes, "Something went down and Lish tells me that I was too drunk to remember. What the fuck happened?"
"Trace, nothing happened okay? I'm fine, I swear."
"You're lying to me."
"I am not."
"You are too. Did you and Kim have a fight or something? She's been acting goofy too."
"No, we did not have a fight. Back off of me man." I say standing and walking into the kitchen.
Marty looks up at me from his spot on the floor and slowly rises, following me into the kitchen. When I lean up again the counter, he sits next to me and yelps softly. My hand instinctively starts scratching behind his ears and he stops whining. Trace walks in behind us and sits on the opposite counter, "Tell me."
I close my eyes and rub them harshly. If you haven't noticed, nobody had told Trace that we ran into Ashlynn. I haven't had the heart, Elisha doesn't want to cause any drama and Kim is just plain pissed about the situation. I gotta tell him know because he can't keep his big ass nose in his own business and I don't want him bugging Elisha to death.
"We ran into Ashlynn that first night on the beach. You were shit-faced, that's why you don't remember."
I don't open my eyes until a few seconds after the words leave my mouth because I'm really not in the mood for him to go crazy on me. After you few seconds and not hearing his mouth, I look him in the eye and he's staring back at me but nothing is happening.
"Did you hear what I said?" I ask.
"Yeah, I heard you."
I look away from him quickly and then look back at him, clearly confused as to what is going through his head, "You... you don't have anything to say?" I ask.
"Uhh, not really. Weird huh?" He says, looking confused himself.
I let out a laugh, "Are you serious? I mean, I didn't tell you because I was damn sure that you would loose your mind but this; I never expected this from you."
He shakes his head in agreement, "I know but, I really don't have anything to say. I mean, that explains why you've been acting all down and shit. It must have been weird."
"She has a new boyfriend."
"Oh shit." He says more to himself than to me, "Major weird."
"Yeah."
"But, you're not considering leaving Kim or anything right? I mean, nothing happened between you and Ashlynn right?"
I shake my head, "No, we only saw each other for like ten minutes and I didn't see her again." I lie.
"Okay then. So, everything's okay?"
"Yeah, everything's... good."
It grows silent between us, I know something is going through Trace's head but I don't want to know, "So, that's why Kim has been so-"
"They had a fight on the beach."
"Oh man. Was it bad?"
"Uh, she called Ashlynn a cunt."
Trace puts his hand to his mouth to muffle the 'oooh' sound coming from his throat, "Yeah, and then Kim got all crazy and accused me of defending Ashlynn and then she told me that she didn't want me in the room so I went to a hotel. She's been pissed ever since."
"Damn, have you tried talking to her?"
I shrug my shoulders and let out a heavy breath, "Not really." I really don't want to talk to her. I want to track down Ashlynn and tell her to leave that jack off Chris and run away with me but do I say that? No.
"Well," Trace says, jumping down off of the counter, "Just try and talk to her, you guys can work through this."
"I hear you."
He starts to laugh and jams his hands into his pockets, "This is not the reason that I came over here. I don't give a damn about your problems."
I laugh along with him and cross my arms across my chest, "What did you come over here for then hoe, to get something to eat?"
"Fuck you man. I think we need to get some more advertising done, maybe change up the logo and stuff."
I shake my head to agree, "I've kinda been thinking that too. What do you have in mind."
"Well, I was looking through the paper today and some of the competition have some pretty nifty ads. I also saw a billboard on the highway that really caught my attention and guess what the common factor was? Creative, Inc."
He throws down some pamphlets and information on the company and I pick them up as he continues to talk, "They do everything, they have an art department that works on the logo's and colors. Then, you get like you're own agent that gets the ads in the paper, online and on billboards. They just got a new head of the art department and I hear that she's the shit."
I flip through the papers, skimming the information, "Sounds good man, I think we should do it."
"Yeah?" He says.
"Yeah, it sounds pretty good. We should set up an appointment and see what they can do for us."
"Sweet. Now you can't say that I don't do any work asshole." He says, taking his keys out of his pocket.
"Okay, so you've accomplished one damn thing."
"My ass," He pulls me into a quick hug, "I gotta go man, Elisha has some family in town that we have to entertain. I'll call you when I set up the appointment."
"Alright dude, try not to scare the future in laws."
He flips me off and on his way out of the kitchen, I hear him say hi to Kim. I close my eyes and turn around to grab a cup from the cupboard. Her heels click against the hardwood floors and I start to feel her eyes burning a hole into my back.
"Hey." She says quietly.
"Hey." I say, not turning around as I take a sip of water.
"How was your day?" She asks.
I shrug, "Not bad, yours?"
"Same."
It grows silent between us for a few minutes and then I hear her sigh, "What's going on with us Justin? Why has it been so tense?"
"You're the reason it's been so tense, you've gone out of your way to avoid me." I say, turning around and facing her.
Her pretty face has stress and pain written all over it. She rubs her forehead and pushes her blond hair over her shoulder, "That's not true."
"It is true. Ever since we ran into Ashlynn-"
"Please don't say her name." She says, raising her hand.
I let out a sarcastic laugh, "You see? That's why it's tense around here."
I start to walk out of the kitchen but she grabs my arm, "Don't walk away Justin. Excuse me for not wanting to hear her name."
"She's in my past Kim, she's was apart of my life, I can't help that. I can't erase her out of my life."
"I know that but I don't want to hear about her 24 hours a day." She says.
"I don't even talk about her Kim, not at all."
She looks away, "But I think about her all the time. You never told me she was so pretty." She says quietly.
I sigh and run my hands through my hair, "Come here."
When she doesn't move, I pull her into my chest and tighten my grip around her, "You don't have to worry Kimmy, I'm not going anywhere." I whisper.
Her small hands grip my shirt tightly and she pulls back to look up at me, "I'm sorry for acting so crazy baby."
I pull her back into my chest and kiss the top of her head, "Don't worry about it honey. Let's go get in the bath, your muscles are tense."
She shakes her head and we head upstairs and into the bathroom. I start the water as she undresses, I watch her out of the corner of my eye. When the water is ready, I help her step into the tub, making sure she's comfortable before I let her hand go and undress myself. I step in behind her and she lays her head against my chest. I wrap my arms around her and kiss the side of her face. She giggles lightly and for the first time in weeks, I relax.
"This feels good." She says.
"It does, doesn't it baby?"
She laughs again and I feel her relax a little more against me, "Babe, I'm sorry for everything."
"Kim, it's okay, don't worry about it."
"No, I can't. I really like you and I felt a little threatened when I saw her. I didn't expect her to be so... put together. And she is absolutely beautiful. I didn't want you to fall for her again..." She trails off.
"I didn't want you to fall for her again because... I- I'm in love with you."
My breath was literally sucked out of my body when she said that. What? My body tenses up and I try to hide my discomfort but she turns around to face me, "It's okay baby, you don't have to say anything. I just, I just wanted you to know what I'm feeling and how I feel about you."
I shake my head and force a little smile. She smiles back at me and put her hand to my cheek, "Don't look so freaked, it's okay. I'm not going to go insane because you can't tell me that you love me yet. Breathe Justin."
I let out a breath and try to keep myself from passing out, "I'm sorry baby, you just... caught me off guard with that."
"I know. I just want you know that she's not the only one that's capable of giving you what you want." She says, still stroking the side of my now red face.
Hours later, Kim is fast asleep in my arms, snoring lightly. But I can't sleep, I've got to much on my mind. Fuck, I have to forget Ashlynn. I can't hurt Kim, she... she told me she's in love with me tonight. I didn't say anything back and she was okay with that but I wanted to run right out of the room. I'm trapped now, you see? I can't hurt Kim now, she has a lot invested into this relationship and I can't throw that away for nothing.
The truth of the matter is, I'll probably never see Ashlynn again. There is no use in me getting all upset and thinking about her all the time and wanting to track her down and shit. I mean, that's the entire reason that I got with Kim in the first place right? To forget and move on. I have to fall in love with Kim and that's exactly what I'm going to do.
This will be the last time I think about you, Ashlynn.
The absolute last time.
Goodbye.
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