Chapter Three
“Would you hold still?” I asked Asher a half hour later, holding his wounded hand in my grip. “If you refuse to go to the emergency room then I have to get the needle position just right.”
Asher leaned forward, so close his breathing brushed against my cheek. “What happens if you don’t?”
I pulled back and set the needle and thread on the kitchen table. “Then you risk the chance of causing a virus or infection and they might end up having to chop your fingertips off.”
“Ugh,” Asher looked disgusted.
“Come on, start taking this serious, I mean it.”
“Okay, okay, miss big shot nurse.” He laid his land flat. “I’m ready for you.”
I picked up the needle again and held his hand steadily in mine, working the thread in and out of his hand. He didn’t even flinch at the pain, his eyes on my face the entire time.
Somehow we had ended up back at Asher’s parent's house.
We sat in the kitchen now, the same wooden table laid out in front of us from when we were kids. The situation reminded me of how I used to feel when I was younger; being here was just another day back then. Of course, back then I wouldn’t have been disinfecting his hand against the advice of my medical morals. And back then; Asher would have been wearing a shirt.
Which he wasn’t; still. Wearing a shirt, I mean.
His muscles looked even better in the light. Tan and full, glistening naturally like someone had just rubbed oil all over him. I inhaled and let my gaze shift up to his right peck. So defined and toned. So…
“Careful,” Asher said, pulling his hand back an inch.
I looked down, seeing the small puncher wound of where I had gone out of the line of the stitch for a brief moment. “Sorry.” I blushed and pulled him back into me. “I’m almost done.”
“I was sorry to hear about your pop,” he told me now.
The statement startled me, just like so much had from the rest of the night, and I almost jabbed the needle into his hand again. “I guess it only makes sense that everyone’s already talking about it, no one could ever keep a secret in this town.”
“People are only talking about it because they care.”
“Well, maybe they should mind their own business.” I picked up the scissors and snipped the thread, leaning back down to push the end into his skin. “My dad isn’t really anyone else’s problem.”
“If you knew anything about this town at all anymore you would know that’s not true, Bella.” His tone wasn’t clipped or annoyed, just soft and real like he was trying to get through to me.
It pissed me off. “You need to clean it twice a day and change the bandage anytime you get it wet, get in touch with your doctor right away if you feel any pain or it starts to change color, a little swelling is normal.” I stood up and walked across the kitchen toward the hanging phone on the wall. “Do you care if I use your phone to call a cab? Some crazy man broke mine.”
“How are you handling it?” He stood up and leaned against the counter, crossing his arms over one another as he studied my body language. If he heard me ask about the phone, he didn’t acknowledge it.
“Handling what?”
“Everything with your dad.”
I swung around to face him. He was so frustrating. He hadn’t seen me in how long? And now he wanted to stand her and act like he cared about how I was feeling? He wanted to act like he gave a fuck about how my father was doing? The idea was laughable considering what had happened between us the last time I had been face-to-face with him.
“So, we’re going to do this now? Stand here and act like you give a fuck about how I’m feeling or my how my dads doing?” I threw my hands up in the air. “News flash, Asher, we aren’t friends, we haven’t been in a really long time.”
Asher ran his long tongue over his lips. “You just have me all figured out, don’t you? Same old Bella, so assured and too stubborn to realize that someone might actually really give a fuck about her.”
I laughed sarcastically. “Let me guess… you still live at home with your parents, right Asher? Still stuck on the dream that, maybe, somehow, someway, you can make something of yourself in this town that no one ever seems to be able to get the hell out of, right? Still hooking up with all the locals whenever you can, looking forward to the summer when the good looking tourists flock in? Because we all know the great Asher Dawson can’t be tied down to one woman.” I took a step closer to him. “Fell free to stop me anytime.”
Asher didn’t say anything, letting an empty look come across his face instead. The silence was exhausting and so deep that I could have heard a pin drop.
How had I ended up here in the first place? How could I have been stupid enough to follow him back here? Sure, I had no phone and we had to get out of there but I could have asked him to drop me back off at my dad’s house. It was the exact thing I had been trying to avoid; falling back into that type of control he had over me. Asher Dawson hadn’t changed at all and every second I wasted thinking he had was another one I would end up disappointed.
I had to get out of here.
I had to get out of here now.
I turned away from Asher’s judging eyes and rounded the corner, crashing smack into a hard surface. Whoever I had hit let out a small screech and I jumped back, startled.
I could feel my feet giving out from under me, unable to regain their balance when Asher was clutching me by the back of my elbows, pulling me back up to my feet. “Easy, mom, you know she was never good on her feet.”
The feeling of Asher’s breath on my neck made my knees buckle and I fell forward again. He pulled me back, forcing me into his rock hard chest, and setting me gently on my feet again. “Jesus, Bella.”
I cleared my throat and smoothed down the front of my shirt before moving a few steps over from him. The sooner I put some distance between the two of us the better.
Mrs. Dawson was a tiny woman with long blonde hair and the nicest complexion I had ever seen. She was just as beautiful now as she had been five years ago, it wasn’t hard to understand where Asher got his good looks.
She rushed forward now, grabbing me in a hug and pulling me close to her small frame. She finally released me after a few seconds, still holding my hands in hers as she let her gaze travel up and down my frame. “Oh, Bella, it’s so good to see you! Just look at you! Oh, you’re so beautiful! Isn’t she just so beautiful, Asher?”
That was the thing about Mary Dawson; she was just as kind as she was beautiful.
Asher didn’t say anything, letting out an exhausted sigh instead.
I smiled. “It’s really great to see you again, Mrs. Dawson.”
She waved me off. “Oh, please, don’t Mrs. Dawson me, you’ll make me feel old. I’m so glad you’re here, I figured you’d be back in town soon enough. Did Asher tell you we’re having a bake sale down at the church for your father? Because we are, I organized the whole thing myself.”
I shifted uncomfortably. “Thank you, that’s really nice of you guys, really.”
I wasn’t trying to be awkward; I just didn’t know how to act around her anymore. What had Asher told his parents about our friendship? Did they know how he had rejected me or did they just think I was some bitch who forgot about him when I went off to college?
They probably thought I thought I was too good for this place now.
Don’t you? A nagging voice asked me internally.
The smile faded just a little bit from her face. “Well, let’s get the guest room made up for you then. Asher, go ahead and get some clean sheets from the lining closet.”
“What? Oh no, really I couldn’t…”
“Nonsense,” she said, waving me off and starting to pull me down the hall after her. “Of course you’ll stay the night here! Why your father would kill me if I let you go off all by yourself in the middle of the night.”
“No, really, I should…” I started to protest again.
Mrs. Dawson stopped suddenly, her eyes locked on Asher’s arm. “What happened to you?” She dropped my arm and moved closer to her son, her tone laced with worry. “What’s wrong with your arm?”
Asher locked eyes with me over her head and gave me a short nod, letting me know I should keep my mouth shut. “It’s nothing mom, I fell down on a site today and got cut on some glass. It looks worse than it is, really.” He had the same reassuring and smooth tone he used to use when we were younger and he was trying to convince a teacher to go easy on him.
“You need to see a doctor,” she said, her face crinkling with worry.
“I’m fine, mom, really. If it gets worse I’ll go in, besides, Bella looked at it. She’s a big shot nurse now up in Boston now.” He kept his eyes on me the whole time, not looking down once.
Mary swung around, shock on her face. “Oh, Bella! That’s wonderful!” She rushed over to me, wrapping her arms around me and pulling me in for another embrace. “We’re so proud of you! Your dad never mentioned….”
Of course, he hadn’t. I’d asked him not to.
She pulled away a second later and I was alarmed to find tears in her eyes. “Oh, you kids are just growing up so fast.” She shook her head and turned away. “Come on, Asher, you help me set the room up.”
Asher started to follow his mom before stopping and turning back around to look at me. “You’re right.” His voice was hard and serious. “Everything you said was right on, nothing’s changed.”
Then he turned around and left me standing in his kitchen all alone.