Page 97 of Forgotten Prejudice

Kai

After I finished texting with Zoe about when I’d get to have Paris, I checked the time. Ash and Aiden had left for the airport about thirty minutes ago, meaning it would take at least an hour before Ash came back.

Aiden wasn’t joking last week when he’d told us about his plan to travel the world. It came as a shock, but despite the fact we were going to miss him, we were both excited for the old man.

I think Aiden wouldn’t have done it if it hadn’t been for two things. The first being Ash’s breakup. Aiden wanted to make sure Ash was getting better and to wait until Ash was starting to heal before leaving. The second was the passing of his dog, Seb. Sadly, we had to tell Seb goodbye a month ago. He passed of old age, but it didn’t ease the pain. Poor Aiden was heartbroken over his best friend passing. I think the grief was what pushed him to go on this adventure. Some people saw dogs as pets, but not the Sage family. For Aiden and Ash, their dogs were their life.

Pacha was also sad since Seb’s death, but the vet told Ash it was a normal reaction. They’d formed a small pack, and now he was all alone. Right now, he was sitting on the couch beside me while giving me his best puppy eyes. Feeling sorry for the cute pup, I took him for a walk.

As always, the dog got me running after him on the sand until my lungs burned. I was in shape, but jogging definitely wasn’t my favorite activity. We walked around the beach for a while until I decided it was time to go home and start making dinner. At some point on our way back, Pacha began losing it. Howling into the air and spinning around himself, he tried to get off the leash. That pit bull was strong AF, and he managed to get free.

“Hey, come back here!” I shouted, already chasing after him. Ash will kill me if something happens to him.

Thankfully, Pacha ran in the direction of the house. Maybe Ash had returned earlier than I thought? Pacha often reacted with excitement when someone he loved came home.

I switched from running to walking, catching my breath while climbing up the wooden stairs in our backyard. Pacha’s barks were coming from the front of the house, so I rounded it. Shock or, more likely, rage took over me at the sight of Soren crouched on the ground while petting Pacha, who was all too eager to see him.

What. The. Actual. Fuck?

My muscles tensed as anger slowly simmered through me, and I tossed the leash on the ground. Soren hadn’t noticed me, but that changed the second I called his name, hate oozing through my voice.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” I hissed while striding toward him.

Slowly getting up, he moved a hand over his pants to clean them of fur and dirt. He looked as pretentious as I remembered, with a slim, tight suit and a stick up his ass.

“Good afternoon,” he said back just as I reached him.

“Fuck off,” I snarled in his face. “Better speak up before I punch your fucking face, asshole.”

The idiot seemed unfazed by my threat, but he did seem off. Something in his eyes was different from before. It wasn’t just the tiredness in them, as if he hadn’t slept in weeks, but the lack of the repulsive confidence his eyes always carried. Looks like someone doesn’t have all his duckies in a row.

Soren was one of those obnoxious rich, entitled assholes who always looked down on you as if you were nothing more than dust underneath their expensive shoes. Now, Soren’s eyes didn’t hold that attitude but something defeated instead.

Good.

“I’m here to see Ashton.”

Ashton. I never got a hold of why he insisted on calling him that. What a weirdo.

“Really?” I lifted my chin. “’Cause Ash ain’t here, and I doubt he invited you over.”

Soren pressed his lips together in a hard line while averting his look to the ground. “I tried calling, but he doesn’t answer.”

“Tough shit,” I snorted, a mean smile on my face. “But what do you expect? He’s been over you for months.” That was probably a lie, but Soren didn’t need to know that. Same as he didn’t need to know Ash wasn’t answering his calls because I blocked his stupid number.

Soren’s ugly face paled, and his brows pinched close. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that he and I are together now, and he couldn’t care less about your sorry ass.”

He visibly swallowed, and I took joy in seeing him suffer. I hated that fucker.

“When did it start?”

“When did what start?” I asked, scratching my chin.

“The two of you. When did it start?” His jaw tensed as if he’d forced the words out of his mouth.

Ohhhh.