PRINCE CHARMING: A Stepbrother Secret Baby Romance(72)

Ashton: See you here around eight. You need me to pick you up?

Jen: Yeah. Same place. See you then. Kisses!

I remembered the last party I went to with Jen. We had kissed but nothing else. She had blonde hair, and though I wasn’t usually into blondes, I had to admit she was smoking hot. Her blue eyes and curly hair certainly made up for the hair color. At the end of the day, hair was just hair, anyway. It was the body that really counted, and boy, did she have a nice body.

I looked at my car, deciding I’d had enough for today. I threw my gloves down and took a swig of water. I bounded up the steps. When I opened the door, I saw Amy sitting with her mom and Dad. They were having lunch. My eyes met hers for a moment, and she averted hers quickly. I felt a pang of annoyance; she still couldn’t look at me. What the hell was her problem?

“Hi Ashton! Would you like a sandwich?” Emma asked.

“I’ll take one to go. Have plans tonight I have to get ready for,” I replied, grabbing a salami and Swiss.

“With a girl?” Dad asked.

“Yeah, actually. Jen. She’s coming over. We’re going to play video games,” I said.

Amy’s head snapped up as soon as I said Jen’s name. She looked at me, pure hatred in her eyes. I was taken aback by her intense response. She really was shocked and hurt that I was going to hang out with another girl.

“Very nice,” Emma said, “have fun.”

“I...I will,” I stuttered nervously

No one had ever made me so nervous before, nervous in the sense that I couldn’t handle her negativity towards me. I turned and left, trying to get the image of her hurt expression out of my mind. She shouldn’t be hurt, anyway.

She’s the one who asked for this. It’s not my fucking fault.

I grabbed my coat off the coat rack and took my car keys. I needed to get the smoking stuff for tonight and get as far away from Amy as possible. It wasn’t fair of her to make me feel like I was doing something wrong. Besides, she didn’t even like to smoke! It’s not like I could invite her or anything. It was too awkward.

I would never love my Honda Civic as much as my old car, because my old car had too many perfect memories. This car was nice, though; it was red and had a powerful bass. I blasted my music, enjoying the hum of it. It rattled my eardrums as I shot down the driveway and into the afternoon. I rolled the windows down, feeling the air on my face. I felt free again, free from the pain of abandonment I promised myself I would never feel again. At the light downtown, I saw my friend Ryan walking across the street. I rolled the window down and beeped my horn.

“Hey, asshole!” I yelled.

Ryan took off his sunglasses and gave me the finger, smiling. At the green light, I made a left and pulled into a spot nearest him.

“What you doing?” I asked.

“Nothing. Just fucking around.”

“Wanna come to the smoke shop with me? I gotta get shit for a date tonight.”

“Sweet, bro. And fuck, yeah. Let’s head over,” Ryan said.

Ryan got in the passenger side. He was stoned, as usual. I wanted to be stoned, too. I sighed and looked at the mirror, waiting until I could back out of the parking spot.

“So what’s up, man? You never date,” he commented.

“Not usually, but I’m trying to get over this other girl I met. She’s really sweet, beautiful…But I can’t be with her.”

“Why?”

I pulled out of the spot and headed for the smoke shop. “It’s complicated,” I said honestly.

“That blows, man, but the only thing you can do is try to get it on with someone else. That’s the only way to get over it.”

“You think so, man?”

“No shit. Hook up with your date tonight, and you’ll be over it in no time.”

“I hope you’re right. I really do,” I said thoughtfully.

“Who is your date, by the way?” Ryan asked.

“Jen.”

“Ha!” Ryan said, slapping his thigh. “I knew she wanted you. And she’s a hottie. Nice one, man.”

I smiled, trying to convince myself I was happy and excited. My thoughts lingered on Amy a bit longer before my pride took over. I slammed on the gas to get to the smoke shop sooner. I hoped tonight would help me forget about her.





AMY


“A girl! He’s having a girl over,” I cried to Sarah, my shaking hand barely able to hold the phone.

“This is a good thing.”

“Good thing? How? The guy I lost my virginity to is having another girl over!” I bellowed.

“It’s good because you’re trying to get over him! What better way than him hanging out with someone! It’ll be fine,” she said, trying to comfort me.

“They’re playing ‘video games,’ or something. That basically means sex.”

“Not necessarily. They could be drinking or doing something else they’re not supposed to be doing. You can’t make assumptions,” Sarah pointed out, her logic making sense.

“I have to figure out who she is.” I pulled out my computer and put Sarah on speaker so my hands would be free to pry into Ash’s personal life.

Sarah sighed. “You know that doesn’t make anything better.”

“Her name is Jen…I’m checking his social media,” I informed Sarah. I looked at his wall; recently, a girl named Jen H. had left a comment.