Heartthrob ✓

twenty two

T W E N T Y - T W O

I WAS SHOCKED BEYOND BELIEF.

The "thing" that Elijah was talking about, the one that Ashton needed him to come to was Brielle & Bréze, a fancy restaurant in the Center City, and just the sight of it was intimidating to me. It wasn't like Carrie's which was more laid back, but it was more high-scale. Everyone inside looked like they were either wealthy or they were going to savor every bit of this meal to the last drop of sauce because it would be taking an even bigger bite out of their budgets.

Safe to say, I was part of the latter category.

Taking a glance over all of the faces in the crowd of tables, almost like magnetism, my eyes snapped to find Ashton, looking as handsome as always. I could feel my heart throbbing at the sight of him and this time it was definitely in a good way.

That was until I noticed the woman across the table from him with thick curves that were complimented by her dress, her chestnut skin rich and smooth, with kinky hair tied up in a ponytail behind her head. I had no idea who she was, but she was beautiful and I was sure that I had seen her around before. I didn't consider myself a jealous person, but the thought that she was possibly Ashton's new girlfriend made my heart almost sink to the bottom of my stomach.

"That's our table," Elijah said, pointing towards where Ashton and the unknown woman were seated, slightly nudging me forward.

"Why am I here?" I asked more to myself than to him but he heard it anyway.

"You thought Ashton was trying to seduce me and tried to dig up information about his sexuality on the internet."

I rolled my eyes at him, though it only seemed to give him more satisfaction. "That was a rhetorical question."

He grinned in response. "I feel like you'd have wanted me to answer that anyway."

Instead of satisfying him with a reply, I made my way over to the table. The conversation between Ashton and the woman didn't exactly look flirtatious, but I still felt nervousness in the pit of my stomach. It was ridiculous how mooney I had gone over Ashton and I guess this was the price I had to pay for it.

As we came closer, I saw Ashton's eyes light up at the sight of Elijah only to darken imperceptibly at the sight of me. Great, I knew I has shown up unannounced, but the least he could do was look happy to see me.

"Ms. Leighton," Ashton said to the woman as we sat down at the table. "You remember Elijah, don't you?"

"I do," she said with a voice so velvety that I felt jealous, her hand reaching out to shake his. "And who is this?"

It was a while before I realized that she was talking to me. Looking away from her, I saw Ashton's face grow visibly paler.

"She is..." Ashton trailed off, his eyebrows furrowing nervously in thought. "This is Fiona...who I actually need to talk to for a second."

Everyone's eyes seemed to widen at that, especially mine which belonged to the most confused and concerned person in the room. But before I really had any chance to respond, he grabbed me by the hand and led me away from the table.

"Don't have sex while you're gone," Elijah called out after us, making my face flush. Sure it was ridiculous to assume that Ashton was taking me away to have sex, but then again, I knew enough about his playboy past to know that maybe it wasn't out of the question.