Chapter 12

Ash

O ne day turned into a full weekend in which I hadn't left Soren's condo.

I skipped school on Friday and told Mom I was with friends. Because I never caused any trouble, she had no reason to suspect anything and told me to have fun. And I did, by staying with Soren until I had to leave for school this morning.

What a weekend it was.

On Friday morning, after taking me for breakfast in his favorite place, we went shopping. Soren bought me clothes I knew were too expensive, but he'd insisted on paying, saying he wanted to spoil me. Over the weekend, we did all kinds of stuff. He took me to an art show, lunch, and a tennis match. We even rode horses again. And while I enjoyed being out with him, my favorite times were when we were home. He had to take some breaks for work and studying, and when he did, I just chilled around his place.

It turned out there was a swimming pool, a Jacuzzi, and a gym where he lived, and I took advantage of them. One evening, when Soren had to study, I went to the gym. He probably finished his work early because he came down and watched me work out. The intensity of his stare as he observed me from the side pumped me with so much energy that this was the strongest I had ever hit the gym.

The only downside of this magical weekend was the hard case of blue balls it left me with. While we kissed several times, Soren always cut it off right before reaching the good parts, leaving me to wonder if I had done something wrong. He promised me that it wasn't the case, but it was still not enough. My dick was dying for him, and I was running out of patience. Maybe I should be more obvious? Who was I kidding. I would never know how to be bold or seductive enough to seduce a man like Soren. Or anyone , for that matter, as I lacked the sexy bone in my body.

Grunting, I shoved my head into my open locker and tried to chase away those thoughts before pulling out my backpack. School was probably the last place I should be thinking about sex, especially with how horny I constantly was. I swear to God, my dick was now getting hard just with the mere thought of Soren's masculine arms, amazing abs, and how sexy his pelvis was when he walked around the house with nothing but a pair of thin sweats that showed the outline of his— shit .

I slammed my locker, tossed my bag over one shoulder, and began walking down the hall. Thankfully, classes were done for today, and I had a bit of time before my shift at Rob's. After stepping out of the building, the bright sun blinded me, so I shaded my face with my hand. It was a good day for surfing. Maybe Aiden would want to catch some waves after I finished work. Pulling out my phone, I was about to shoot the old man a text when someone elbowed me.

"Zoe." My voice came out high, probably because of my surprise.

"Yeah, that's my name." She smiled. "Why are you acting like you just saw a ghost?"

Running my fingers through my hair, I shrugged. "Sorry, I just didn't expect to see you here…"

"Ah." She straightened up, placing her hands on her waist. "So you spoke to Kai."

After a slight hesitation, I nodded. "I did. H-How are you?" Is that what you're supposed to ask a pregnant girl?

"Well, the situation sucks, but that's life. You know—" She paused when a group of our classmates passed us. After exchanging quick hugs with them, it was once again just the two of us.

"Got some time to sit down?"

Since my shift wouldn't start until an hour from now, I had enough time to talk.

"Yeah, of course."

"So, how are you dealing with the whole thing ?" I asked after we sat on our regular bench underneath the old oak tree.

"At first, I was freaking out, but over the weekend, things changed."

"How so?" Curiosity took over me.

"I thought Kai didn't want the baby and that he'd break up with me, but on Friday morning, he came over and said we should get married," she said with a faint smile on her lips while stroking her flat stomach.

Apparently, a weekend with Soren was still not enough to make me move on because, just then, Zoe's words felt like a knife to the gut.

"On Friday?"

She hummed a yes.

A night before proposing to his pregnant girlfriend, Kai took out all his anger on me. First, he spat hateful slurs at me, then he rubbed his dick between my thighs until he came all over my ass, and to finish it off, he punched me to the ground. Now, I learned that after doing all that, he drove over to her? Not only did he not care about hurting me, but he asked her to get married right after?

How could he do this to me?

"Oh shit." Zoe suddenly jerked up and looked at me. "Wasn't your birthday last week?"

With a throat too sore to speak, I nodded. I already understood my relationship with Kai was over, so why was it still so hard to digest? To accept the fact that he was no longer mine.

He was never mine to begin with.

"How are your families with the whole thing?" I asked after finding my voice.

"You know how strict our parents are, so at first, mine were furious. But Kai's proposal relieved them because God forbid their church hears I had a baby out of wedlock at seventeen."

"And Kai's?" Since he hadn't told me, perhaps Zoe would.

I knew it wasn't good when her face fell, and she slumped her shoulders.

"His dad beat him up, real bad."

My stomach flipped, and I was struck by a strong urge to see Kai. To check how he was doing and steal him away from his awful parents. But it was cut short when Zoe continued.

"But I think that now, with the proposal and all, things will get better," she said, her eyes full of hope.

Things will get better ? Kai was walking down a lane that didn't fit him. He was struggling, but instead of helping their son, his parents only pushed him to walk further down the gallows they considered an aisle.

"Speaking of beating, what on earth happened to you?" Zoe's eyes studied my bruised face and bandaged wrist.

Should I tell her the one responsible for it was my ex-best friend and her soon-to-be husband?

"Surfing accident." I flashed her a big, fake smile that she seemed to buy.

"That sucks."

"Yeah."

An awkward silence fell between us until she nudged my shoulder with hers. "I'm sorry things between you two aren't the best. But I'm sure you'll work it out eventually."

If only she knew…

"You know how much he cares for you, Chief."

Apparently, not as much as you'd think.

Zoe had no clue what she was talking about. I never liked her too much, simply because I always saw her as competition. And despite my dislike for her, she wasn't some evil bitch, just a girl who loved the same guy I did. Now, I couldn't help but feel sorry for her because she was absolutely clueless. Kai didn't suddenly change his mind about her or that baby she was carrying inside of her. He was simply a coward. A coward who couldn't accept his true feelings and instead chose to get shit-faced and beat me up. He was nothing like Soren, who was confident with himself and, above all, honest.

The pettiness I felt thus far was suddenly replaced with a sense of pride because why should I stay hung up on a guy who clearly wasn't worth it? It was also the first time I was able to admit that to myself.

"I'm seeing someone," I said, then turned to look at Zoe. "And I like him very much."

Since Zoe already knew I held feelings for Kai, it wasn't as if I just came out to her, but it was still not easy to say it out loud. But once Soren's face crossed my mind, all shame that my sexuality might be wrong washed away.

"That's amazing, Chief." She pressed her palms together. "Who is he? Does he go to school with us?"

I shook my head. "No, he's… he's a bit older."

Zoe narrowed her eyes at me while nudging my side with her elbow. "Aren't you naughty?"

I chuckled, rubbing the back of my neck. "Yeah, sure." My cheeks heated up, and she quickly caught up on it.

"Look at you blushing!" She giggled. "Our sweet little Chief is fucking a hot older guy?" She leaned closer, and I pushed her away.

"No one's fucking anyone."

"What do you mean?"

Zoe wasn't my first pick to have this conversation with, but currently, she was my only option. Since I had no plans to ever share my sex life with Mom or Aiden, and Kai was out of the picture, talking to her wouldn't be that bad.

"We haven't had sex yet."

"Because you don't want to?" she asked, one brow raised.

"Don't want to?" I snorted. "I'm about to explode with how much I want to, but Soren's taking his time. He says we better wait."

She huffed. "Well, is waiting so bad? Look at me, seventeen and preggo."

I had no idea if Zoe was actually okay with the whole thing or if she was just faking it, but she sure knew how to make fun of herself.

"Zoe."

"Nah, don't give me that look." She pointed her finger at the pity on my face. "I know it's crazy, but I'm not seeing this as the end of the world. Sure, this isn't an ideal situation, but I'm sure Kai and I could make it work."

Not knowing how to respond, because I highly doubted Kai shared her positivity, I smiled. But then again, perhaps after telling me how I'd managed to ruin his life, Kai had come around and realized Zoe was the one. At this point, Kai was acting so out of character that who knew? I certainly didn't.

Pulling out my phone, I noticed the time. "I need to go, Zo. I've got work."

"Cool, let me walk with you back to your car."

On our way to the parking lot, I told her a bit more about Soren. What he studied and where he lived; I even mentioned his photo wall and felt bad right after because maybe it was a secret?

"Oh, Chief." Zoe came to a sudden stop.

"What is it?"

"We're going to have a wedding. It will be very small, but still."

A breeze blew between us and scattered her curls in the air, and I focused on them instead of the bitterness filling my gut.

A wedding, huh?

There were a few times where I pictured my own wedding. It would be held on the same cliff my parents got married on, and "Can't Help Falling in Love" by Elvis would be playing because it was my favorite song in the world. There would be no walking down the aisle or reception, no cocktails, just me and him. Although, the idea of me getting married felt so unreal and faraway that I couldn't even bring myself to picture the face of the man I'd want to marry. Would he be like Kai? Young and spontaneous? Or maybe like Soren, calculated and serious. Yeah, right. Keep on dreaming, Ash.

"Will you come?" Zoe asked, bursting my fantasy without even trying.

I looked down at the ground and bit my lip. "Of course I'll come." Forcing myself to smile, I met her eyes. I knew I didn't fool her and that she quickly detected my pain, but she said nothing, and I appreciated it.

"Thank you." She moved to wrap her arm around mine as we started walking again. "I missed you, you know?"

I was about to answer her when something caught my attention.

Someone .

"I-I'll speak to you later," I told Zoe before brushing her off me and walking straight toward Soren, who was waiting for me with his back leaning against his car. The closer I got to him, the faster my heart beat until my chest grew tight and my throat went dry.

Finally reaching him, I stopped with my hand gripping the straps of my backpack.

"So it's true," he said, pushing back from his car. "You really are in high school."

Since he wore sunglasses, I couldn't see his eyes, but I didn't need to see them to know he was angry.

"I-I can explain." Looking over my shoulder, I saw Zoe was still where I'd left her, watching us. "But can we do it somewhere else?"

Soren studied me carefully, the muscle in his jaw tensed before he tilted his head toward his car.

"Get inside."