“And you’re together now?”
“Yeah,” I say softly. “We are.”
Drew nods. “That’s good. I’m happy for you.” He clears his throat, then looks around me at Ashton. “I know you regret what you did. I saw it in your eyes all week. The way you sulked halfway to depression over what happened. But what you didn’t see… what she didn’t let you see was how badly you hurt her.”
“Drew,” I start.
“No. He needs to hear this.” Drew turns his attention back to Ashton. “You didn’t see her refusing to eat all week. You didn’t see her crying to the point I thought she was going to pass out from exhaustion. I know you love her, and I don’t doubt right now you think you have it all figured out, but I’m warning you right now, if you fucking hurt her again, I will kick your ass.”
“Drew,” I repeat harshly. “Stop.”
“No, MiMi,” Ashton says. “He’s right. I hurt you. I saw it last night when I brought you home wasted. I felt it when I held you. You’ve lost weight… because of me. And if I hurt her again,” he says to Drew, “you have my permission to kick my ass.”
“I don’t need your permission,” Drew volleys. “Let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that.”
“It won’t. He won’t hurt me again,” I say, even though deep down I’m scared of exactly that. Ashton may have the best of intentions, he may love me, and I may be everything to him, but what if I’m still not enough?
“You know I’m here, right?” Drew says to me.
“I know, but I don’t want it to be like this…” I don’t want to lose Drew in order to be with Ashton. We’ve become close and I care about him. “Come to the swim meet with us,” I blurt out. “Please.”
Drew opens his mouth, most likely to say no, but Ashton speaks first. “Don’t even think about saying no. I told you this before. What MiMi wants, MiMi gets. It’s a home meet, too, so you don’t have to travel far.”
Drew groans. “Fine, but I need to shower first.”
“Yay!” I jump into Drew’s arms. “Thank you for everything,” I murmur softly. “I couldn’t have gotten through this week without you.”
Ashton clears his throat and I pull back. “The food’s getting cold.”
“I’ll meet you guys at the pool,” Drew says before retreating.
“You and Drew have gotten close,” Ashton observes once he’s gone. He averts his eyes, grabbing a piece of pancake and dragging it through the bowl of syrup.
“Hey.” I tip his chin up. “He was there when I needed a friend… But that’s all he is, a friend.”
Ashton nods then brings the drenched pancake piece to my mouth. I take a bite and flinch at how sweet it is. Typical Ashton, a little pancake and a lot of syrup. I’m actually surprised he didn’t throw some candy in there while he was at it.
“Good?” he asks, his eyes homing in on my lips, which are now sticky from the syrup.
“Why don’t you come over here and find out?” I taunt, licking my lips.
Ashton growls and reaches across the tray of food—the plate clatters and the cups spill—but neither of us pays it any mind as his mouth crashes against mine. His tongue darts out, licking across the seam of my lips before he pushes through, tangling his tongue with my own. “Mmm…” he murmurs against my mouth. “Delicious.”
“So, how are you really doing?” Drew asks. We’re sitting in the bottom row of the bleachers, watching the different events. Up until now, we’ve been watching in silence, neither of us sure what to say to each other. Ashton is on the other side of the pool with his team, looking the most focused I’ve ever seen him.
“I’m good. It’s cool to see Ashton in his element.”
On our way over, Ashton explained to me that a swim meet has several events, but each swimmer can only participate in four max, and today he’ll be swimming in four different events. He mentioned the names, but all I can remember is free and butterfly—not sure how much that will help me. He also said last year he held the record in three different events. It was interesting to see how animated he got while talking about swimming. Since I only met him this summer, and that asshole Travis got him removed from the first swim meet, I’ve yet to actually see him compete. So far, he’s swum in two events, winning both of them.
“I mean with everything that’s—”
“What are you guys doing here?” a voice says, cutting off Drew. I glance up and find Brayden, dressed in a pair of jeans and an Ice Hawks hoodie, with a beanie on his head, standing in front of us. My heart pitter-patters in my chest at the sight of him, and I have to close my eyes to shut those thoughts down. I’m with Ashton… I love Ashton… but seeing Brayden for the first time since he hurt me makes me realize you can’t just will your feelings to go away. Brayden and I connected on a deeper level and those feelings are still there.
“We’re here to watch Ashton,” Drew says, speaking up, since my voice wouldn’t work quick enough. “You?”
Brayden flinches but quickly schools his features. “Same. I had to submit an essay online, so I’m a little late.”
My first thought is, why is he here? Since when does Brayden support Ashton? The last I checked they hated each other—until I caught them kissing. Then it hits me that he had to submit an essay, and I feel bad that I haven’t been around to tutor him all week. I committed to help him and I’ve let him down. But at the same time, he let me down too.
“I didn’t know you and Ashton were close.” Drew voices my own thoughts.
“We, uh…” He averts his eyes. “We’ve been hanging out this week.”
A sharp pain lances through my heart. Ashton and Brayden kissed. Now they’re hanging out. The two men I care about and hurt me found comfort in each other. I shake the thought away. Ashton is with me now. He wants me. He said I’m enough.
When Drew doesn’t say anything in response, Brayden’s face falls slightly, and my stomach knots. Instinctually I want to go to him, hug him and tell him it’s going to be okay, but I refrain. That’s not my place—not anymore. But just because it didn’t work out between us, doesn’t mean I can’t still care about him, and if I can forgive Ashton, I can forgive Brayden.
“Why don’t you sit with us?” I offer, moving away from Drew so Brayden can sit between us. “Ashton still has two more events.”
Brayden’s eyes widen slightly and dart over to Drew. It takes a couple awkward seconds, but Drew nods once and edges slightly over as well.
“I’m a little shocked to see you here,” Brayden says carefully, once he’s seated. “When I saw Ashton before I left yesterday he was still acting like a growly, pouting little shit.”
I laugh softly, able to imagine Ashton just as Brayden described. “We made up…” I can’t say what I need to say next while looking at him, so I turn my attention to the pool as Ashton and several other swimmers prepare for their race. “We’re, um…” I clear my throat. “We’re together now.”