He widens his eyes, shocked. “You haven’t had sex with anyone since Ashley?”
“Nope,” I reply with a shake of my head.
“Why not?”
I shrug. “Nobody’s doing it for me.”
“Is that a record for you?”
I nod. “Yep. Biggest dry spell since I started having sex.”
His eyes hold mine. “What’s going on with you and Ashley, anyway?”
I run my fingers through my two-day growth. “I don’t know. I think she tolerates me.”
“Does that bother you?”
“Fucking truth it does.”
“I thought you were getting along?”
I shrug. “She’s being nice to me for Owen’s sake. Although, last weekend was a little different.”
“What happened last weekend?”
“I was sick and she came to my house and looked after me for the weekend.”
He listens as he watches me.
“I think I’ve officially been friend-zoned for the first time in my life.” I widen my eyes as I sip my beer.
He chuckles and shakes his head. “You didn’t make her clean up your vomit, did you?”
I laugh. “Practically.” I shake my head. “Fuck. It was mortifying.”
“What are you going to do about it?”
“There’s nothing I can do.”
He thinks for a moment. “Look, I don’t know how it is with you, and you know mine and Tash’s story, I loved her from afar for years… But nobody could fill the void that she left.”
I blow out a sad breath. “That’s what I’m afraid of. What if I never feel the way she makes me feel with anyone else? What if I was supposed to be with Ashley for real and I fucked it all up?”
He watches me for a moment, silent.
“She doesn’t trust me.” I pause and shrug. “And why would she?”
“But you didn’t know her then. You were trying to do what was best for your son.”
“We know that, but she doesn’t.”
He frowns as he thinks.
“And the worse thing is, what if I push for her to forgive me and she can’t?” I ask.
“What do you mean?”
“What if I just end up pushing her further away?” I shrug. “At the moment, I would rather be in a room with Ashley while she ignores me than be in a bed with three of the hottest chicks in this party. Another woman is not even an option. I can’t think of anything worse.”
He purses his lips and stares at me.
I shake my head in disgust. “I seriously messed up so bad and I have no idea how to fix it.” I sigh. “If I make a move, I’m fucked. If I don’t make a move, I’m fucked.”
“Have you tried to talk to her?” He frowns.
“Yep. She shuts me down every time, and it’s only since I stopped trying that she has even given me the time of day.”
“Fuck.” He exhales deeply. “I don’t know, man.”
I sip my beer. “Maybe I just need to screw her out of my system. Be happy with co-parenting with her while banging everyone else?”
Joshua nods. “Maybe? What about when she meets someone else? Could you watch her go on and marry someone else and have kids with him?”
I frown as the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. “I couldn’t bear it,” I whisper.
He shakes his head in disgust. “Then get your fucking game on and get her back,” he barks.
“It’s complicated. There’s a kid… a kid of ours. I can’t wreck the friendship. I can’t even risk wrecking the friendship. It’s taken her two months just to make eye contact with me.”
“There is nothing complicated about it. Either you want her or you don’t. Simple as that.”
I watch him.
“She’s gorgeous, Cam. Another fuckwit is going to swoop in and steal her from right under your nose.”
I clench my jaw in anger at the very thought.
Fuck… I couldn’t stand it.
“She’s with Natasha and Adrian now, you know,” he mutters.
I frown. “What? She’s out tonight? With them?”
“Yes.” He smiles and nods at someone walking past us. “I’m meeting them in an hour.”
I watch him as my mind begins to tick.
“So, as I see it, you kinda have two choices,” he continues.
“Which are?”
“You can stay here and fuck some random hot chick.”
I raise my eyebrows at option one.
“Or you come with me and fight for the woman you really want.”
My eyes hold his as I contemplate his two choices.
“What’s it going to be?”
Ashley
The sound of the sexy beat echoes through the bar, and I glance at the security that line the wall. What must it be like to be Natasha or Adrian and constantly be followed by security? It’s Saturday night and Adrian, Tash and I have just had a nice Italian meal and are now in a cocktail bar.
“I’m just telling you this.” Natasha smiles tipsily at me as she sips her Margarita. “You need to get back on the horse and start dating again.”
I roll my eyes. “I’m off men forever.” I glance at Adrian. “No offence, Adrian, but you don’t count.” I smirk.
He smirks and clinks our glasses. “I know, I’m like the anti-man man.”
I giggle into my drink. I’ve just told them that Seb has been asking me out and they are urging me to go on a date with him.
I shake my head in disgust. I’m probably way too drunk to be having this conversation. “Cameron has ruined me for life. How can I ever trust another man?”
Natasha cringes. “Cameron is a good man. He’s just a strong man who doesn’t back down.”
I roll my eyes as I sip my drink.
“If he and Joshua honestly think they’re in the right, they will fight to the death to prove it,” she adds.
“Remember that time you and Cameron had that big fall out?” Adrian asks Natasha.
I frown, confused. Cameron and Natasha always seem so tight, I can’t ever imagine that happening.
“We did.” She nods. “We’ve had lots of arguments in the past. He didn’t speak to me for a long time because of the way I treated Joshua.”
“How did you treat Joshua?”
She widens her eyes and exhales deeply. “God, where do I start? Joshua and I had the most unconventional start to our relationship, and he was a dominating ass.”
“Like Cameron,” I mutter dryly.
“Yes.” She raises her glass. “Exactly like Cameron. Anyway, we broke up and Joshua was heartbroken. Cameron took exception to it and decided he was against me, too.”
I frown.
“The thing is with these two, Ash, is that they’ll be loyal to each other till the death. You couldn’t get two brothers closer than they are. Unfortunately for us, they are also strong, dominant men.”
I sip my drink as I watch her.
“If they think with all of their hearts that they’re right, they won’t give up. They’ll fight to get what they want, and God help the person who stands in their way.”
“How is taking my child the right thing to do?” I ask with a shake of my head.
“Well, they didn’t really know you.” Adrian frowns. “Cameron had said that if something ever happened to Owen and he had been neglectful, he would never have been able to forgive himself.”
“Why didn’t he just ask me if I was alright?”
Natasha narrows her eyes as she thinks. “They have a big trigger with paternity.”
“Why?” I frown.
She shrugs. “Ask Cameron about it, it’s not my place to say. But when it all came out that you’d lied about Owen’s paternity, it set alarm bells ringing for the two of them. You’re not completely innocent in this, either.”
“And don’t forget about TC,” Adrian adds.
“Oh God, yes.” Natasha shakes her head in disgust. “Joshua was bribed once with footage of him and a prostitute for millions of dollars.”
My eyes widen. “What?” I shriek.