Page 41 of Hiding In the Dark (The Righteous 4)
She gave his chest a shove, and he was tempted to stay, but that was the old him rearing his ugly head. Kes stepped back enough for her to hop to the ground, and she immediately slipped past him until they had the island in between them.
“It’s been ten years. Where the hell have you been all this time? I hope you don’t think I’ve just sat around waiting for you to wander back into my life. I’ve dated, I have friends, I finished school. I have a job I love,” Ashley listed off as anger simmered in her eyes. “I don’t need you trashing my life again, Kes, tearing me down until I don’t recognize myself anymore. That’s what you did to me. I could barely look at myself in the mirror and not feel ashamed, and I won’t let you do it again.”
Guilt spread throughout his body. She didn’t know why he’d done what he had, but it didn’t matter. She was right. He’d tortured the shit out of her long before prom night—and a part of him enjoyed her fear, enjoyed her tears, enjoyed finding ways to be around her. He was so fucked, and the irritated expression she was giving him only made him want her more. Kes placed his hands on the island to keep them from doing something stupid.
“Ten years, eleven months, two weeks, and three days.”
“What was that?”
“That is how long it has been since the night you think I fucked you over. I’ve never stopped counting, and I’ve never stopped thinking about you.”
Ashely didn’t move. She barely blinked as she stared at him. He let the uncomfortable silence continue until she cleared her throat and looked away from his stare. He was telling the truth. No matter what they had experienced individually in life or with other people, she’d been his one constant. The one that got away, the one that he was forced to leave behind, but his heart had never let go of. He’d begged to whoever the fuck was up there, more than once, to go back in time, but he wasn’t that fucking lucky.
She crossed her arms over her chest, and he smirked as she pinched the bridge of her nose just like he did when he was stressed. He couldn’t remember who started it first, but the fact they both still did the action made the possessive part of his personality stand up and cheer.
“How the hell did you find me? It’s not like I have a listed address,” Ashley finally asked.
“Would it creep you out more or less to know that I followed you?” He leaned a little more across the counter and smirked, loving how her cheeks pinked and her pupils dilated. Some would call him fucked up for watching her so closely, but she was turned on by what he said, which made her just as fucked up. They’d always been perfect for one another. He had excellent people-watching skills, and when it came to this woman, he watched everything. He’d gotten so good at knowing her that with a quick look toward her in the hallway, he’d know what she was thinking and where she’d be heading.
“That definitely creeps me out,” she lied, and he let out a small bark of laughter but didn’t call her out on it.
Ashley smacked herself in the forehead and groaned. “You’ve been here before, haven’t you? That was why my stupid shower looked dirty and why I kept feeling like I wasn’t alone. I thought I was losing my freaking mind, Kes. How long have you been sneaking in here, you stalker?”
“Guilty as charged.” Kes took a step around the island, and his cock surged painfully hard as she licked her lips but took a step away. For each step he took, she mirrored it until they looked like they were in a slow-motion chase.
“Keep it up, Ashley. You know it will only make me want you more.”
He could almost taste her arousal from where he stood. His mouth watered, and he desperately wanted to bury his face between her thighs and make her scream as she came. The better man in him was freaking out and ordering him to leave the house, to leave her alone and never come back, but he’d never been much for listening to that asshole. She was his kryptonite.
She held up her hand, and he stopped moving only when it came into contact with his chest. “I’m not talking to you anymore about anything else until you go shower. You stink worse than my garbage on a bad day. I’d show you where the bathroom is, but I guess that’s redundant.” She shook her head like she was trying to clear it of the idea of letting him stay longer. “Just put the pile of clothes you want to be washed out in the hallway, and I’ll throw it in the laundry while you’re showering.”
“Are the cops going to be waiting for me when I get out?”
She narrowed her eyes, those beautiful blues becoming mere slits. “I haven’t decided yet,” she said, but her tone said the complete opposite—she had no intention of turning him in.
“Alright, then. I guess I’ll have to take my chances. Whatever happens next is in your hands.” Kes smiled as he turned and marched out of Ashley’s kitchen like he owned the place. He at least wanted to give her the illusion that she could kick him out and tell him to never come back. Deep down, they both knew she wouldn’t do either of those things, and he would put up a fight even if she tried. He was certain of that. Just as certain as he was that he’d lay down his fucking life for her, and just as certain that he would get down on his fucking knees and beg at her feet like a dog to have another shot at a relationship.
He glanced over his shoulder as he stepped into the bathroom and flicked on the light. Ashley stood in the doorway of the kitchen, and even though he couldn’t make out her expression in the shadows, he could feel the weight of her gaze, like a hand caressing his body.
From the first moment he’d met her, it had been like this between them, and it only got stronger the harder he fought it. So, he wasn’t going to fight it anymore—she was going to be his, and for good this time.
Ashley did laps around her island like she was in the world’s smallest track race. She paused at the door and listened, but the shower was still running, the same as her washing machine, which she was going to have to sanitize when the load was done.
She’d promised herself if she ever saw Kes again, she’d never let him back into her life, back into her heart. For shit’s sake, she had a whole speech planned, had recited it in the mirror for months after he never showed up to prom. She’d stood like a loner inside the hall, waiting for him like an idiot. It gave everyone one more good laugh before she never saw the asshole seniors again.
Ashley rubbed her eyes before resuming her lapping of the small kitchen. But, here she was, with him breaking and entering, and instead of calling the cops, she offered him a shower. He made her stupid. It was as if her brain misfired, and all logic danced a jig on its way out the door.
Ashley slumped into one of the island stools as she tried to stop her raging hormones long enough to think straight. She needed to think about what an asshole he was and not how he could still make her panties melt off her damn body, or how her heart pounded so hard it felt like it was going to leap out of her chest. Or how her stupid imagination pictured this amazing relationship where he actually cared about her.Placing her head in her hands, she let her mind travel back in time.
Ashley raced toward her target. The girl she was zeroed in on was not paying attention the way she should. Ashley stripped the ball off the opposing striker with a quick move that she’d practiced for months. Taking advantage of the open space, she streaked across the green grass, keeping the ball well in front of her. The game was tied on a bogus penalty kick, and she wasn’t going to see her team dragged into overtime or the championship determined by a penalty kick shootout because the ref had it out for her. She wasn’t much for conspiracy theories, but all season that ref was causing her issues, and she’d groaned when she saw the lineup card and the ref’s name.
The crowd roared as the school colors waved wildly from the sidelines. Her teammates’ shouts to keep going and the thunder of feet behind her, faded into the background with every stride she took. The only sound in her ears was her own breathing as she honed in on her destination. It was just her and the goalie, and she knew exactly what she wanted to do. She faked a kick of the ball to her strong side, and the goalie fell for it, diving to the left. Her hands outstretched as she reached for a ball that would never arrive. With a move she’d only ever tried in practice, she kicked with her nondominant side and held her breath as the ball headed for the top right corner. The ball seemed to be spinning in slow motion, the black and white pattern rotating as it hit the corner of the goal post and bounced into the net.
Screaming, she jumped around as her teammates surrounded her and jumped up and down. She’d never felt such joy, such satisfaction in her entire life. Her parents were in the stands, and she raised her hand and waved where she knew they were sitting, but it was the raven hair and amber eyes of Kes Reynolds, watching from the bottom bench of the bleachers, that had her heart pounding. He slowly clapped his hands together, a smirk she’d seen in her dreams on his face.
Turning away from the guy that had become her constant torment in a hundred different ways, she continued the celebration with her team.
* * *
