All In (20 page)

“I love you and nothing else matters,”
Ashley says.

Her words make me feel brave. I steal
a kiss before I let her lead me into the familiar living room where
I spent the most uncomfortable hour of my life after meeting her
parents for the first and only time.

Ashley tightens her grip on my hand
before addressing her parents. “Mother, Father. You remember
Lane.”

“Mr. and Mrs. Whitmore,” I say
politely. “It’s nice to see you both again.”

Mrs. Whitmore gives me a curt smile
while Mr. Whitmore doesn’t bother with the niceties.

“Ashley, what in the world is he doing
here?” he growls, leveling me with his eyes.

Not. Good.

“Lane has been accepted to Yale like
every other student here and I would appreciate you remember that,”
Ashley says to her father defiantly. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, I’m
going to introduce Lane around.”

With a polite smile, Ashley leads me
away, leaving her parents standing in the middle of the room
dumbfounded.

“Wow. What’s gotten into you?” I
whisper in her ear as we walk out on the porch.

“You,” she says, wrapping her arms
around my waist. “You’ve shown me that I can be fearless. I can
strive for what I want in my life, be it dance or you.”

“Well, I’m proud of you,” I say before
kissing her forehead.

“So, are you ready to meet Richard?
See if there’s anything he can do to help?” she asks. Her boldness
must be rubbing off on me because I’m not even close to being ready
but I nod anyway. I can do this. For me and for her.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

I glance back into the living room and
spy none other than Gregory Chase leering at me from the bar. He
shakes hands with an older gentleman before being pulled away by a
group of guys he seems familiar with. The older man, whose suit
looks like it costs more than I make in two months at the club,
shares Gregory’s beady eyes, straight nose and air of superiority.
Mr. Richard Chase I assume.

Here goes nothing.

Ashley

Lane straightens his tie, squares his
shoulders and takes my hand in his. He gives me a wary look that I
return with a smile, hoping it will help. “Nothing else matters,” I
remind him, making it our new mantra.

He’s as ready as he’s going to
be.

He releases a breath I think he’s been
holding since arriving then I lead him back in the house to find
Richard Chase, Gregory’s father. Lane walks confidently at my side,
but I can tell he’s faking it as we make our way across the room.
He might not believe anyone can help him get his scholarship
reinstated, let alone Gregory’s father, but I can’t let him leave
any possibility unexplored. He’s worked too hard.

“Mr. Chase,” I say, giving Gregory’s
dad my warmest smile when we find him leaning against the bar, a
martini in his hand.

“Ashley, my dear, how many times do I
have to remind you to call me Richard?” He smiles setting down his
drink and cupping my free hand in his.

“Of course,” I say as he releases my
hand. “Richard, I’d like to introduce you to my boyfriend
Lane.”

“Mr. Chase, it’s nice to meet you,”
Lane says, extending his hand.

“Well, well, well,” Richard says
slowly, leaving Lane’s hand hanging in the air just like my father
did. “So this must be the local boy I have to thank for the plastic
surgery bill to reset Gregory’s nose after your little scuffle on
the beach.”

Oh no.

“Richard, let me explain,” I start,
unsure how to tactfully tell him his son is a pig and Lane
rearranged his face in my defense.

“No, sir, let me explain,” Lane says,
squeezing my hand, saving me. Again. “Gregory and I had a…
disagreement, and we should have settled it better. I really am
sorry,” he says and I purse my lips in anger; Lane isn’t the one
who should have to apologize for that night.

“Well, at least you can recognize when
you’re in the wrong,” Richard says, taking a long sip of his drink,
eyeing Lane the entire time, his tone neither understanding nor
forgiving.

I’m beginning to see how right Lane
was to think this plan was impractical. Two minutes in and it’s
hard to imagine Richard helping, but I refuse to give up without
trying.

“Richard,” I say, breaking the long
silenced tension. “I wanted to introduce you to Lane since he’ll be
attending Yale in the fall.”

“Really?” he replies, with an arrogant
laugh.

The disbelieving smirk on his face
makes my blood start to boil. How could I believe he would be any
different than my parents or Gregory for that matter?

“Yes, he is,” I say without a hint of
doubt, even though this is where the truth is unraveling. “Well, he
was planning on attending in the fall, but there’s been a
misunderstanding with his scholarship,” I say, not divulging the
details.

“Misunderstanding?” Mr. Chase
questions, arching his brows high. “What do you mean by
misunderstanding?” Although, from his tone, it feels like he
already knows why.

Lane shoves his hand in his pocket
then clears his throat. “Sir, I lost the scholarship due to an
arrest.” His voice cracks on the last word, but he remains
steadfast and honest. “It was a lapse in judgment and does not
reflect my character accurately. I promise.”

“Why does
that
not surprise me?”
Richard says under his breath, but Lane and I both hear him
clearly.

“You see, sir, your son and I wagered
a… friendly bet on whose car was faster and I ended up getting
arrested for the race. I hope you can see it was just a stupid
mistake your son and I both made.”

“The only thing I
see
is you were stupid
enough to get caught,” he chuckles, but there’s more satisfaction
than humor in it, and his condescension is ripe.

“Uhhh, yes, sir, I guess you could say
that, sir,” Lane replies, his jaw set tight.

“So?” Richard furrows his brows in
question. “You’ll have to excuse my bluntness, but why is any of
this my concern?”

I can feel Lane’s frustration in his
grip. He looks like he would rather get arrested again then ask
this man for help when it’s obvious he’s getting pleasure from
Lane’s misfortune.

“Well, sir,” Lane begins, but I cut
in. This was my idea. I’m the one with the relationship with the
Chase family, and maybe if I ask he’ll be more inclined to help. I
hope. For Lane’s sake.

“Richard, I was hoping with your
position on the admissions board, you may know someone who could
clear up this matter and have Lane’s scholarship reinstated,” I
say, putting it out there so we can all move on from this charade.
“Like you said, Lane just made the unfortunate mistake of getting
caught, even though Gregory was also involved. It’s seems unfair
Lane be penalized when he wasn’t the only one at fault. Don’t you
agree?” I say, trying to appeal to his sense of reason, or possibly
a sense of shame his son is facing zero consequences while someone
else suffers for the same offense. “Please, Mr. Chase, can you
help?”

Richard sets his drink
casually on the bar, reaches into his inside jacket pocket and
pulls out a thick cigar. “Ashley, dear, I know how fond Gregory is
of you and it would give me great pleasure to help
you
,” he says with a
genuine smile as he cuts off the tip of his cigar.

My heart skips a beat. He’s going to
help.

I glance at Lane and he looks as
elated as I feel. He’s going to help. He’s going to help. The
improbable words keep bouncing around my mind. Unable to contain my
excitement, I let go of Lane’s hand and fling my arms around
Richard’s neck.

“Thank you. Thank you so much,” I say,
feeling light as air. When I finally let go of him my smile is so
big my face hurts. I can only imagine how Lane must be
feeling.

Richard pulls out an engraved gold
lighter, flicks it open and strikes the flame. He takes a few deep
puffs on his cigar before blowing out a cloud of smoke, a smile on
his face.

“Thank you, my dear, for the
enthusiastic gratitude,” he says, straightening his dress coat then
taking another drag of his cigar. “Nevertheless, I cannot help your
boyfriend in this matter.”

His words take a moment to process.
What? Didn’t he just say he would help me? Had I
misunderstood?

“I’m sorry?” I ask, my heart pounding
loudly in my ears.” But you said…”

“No, no, I’m sorry I was
not clearer. I said it would give me great pleasure to help
you,
my dear. However, I
will not help out this…” he waves his hand in Lane’s direction,
“delinquent.”

I stare at Gregory’s father in
disbelief as he smiles over Lane and me, not looking the least bit
sorry.

I see red.

“This is all Gregory’s fault!” I say
too loudly to remain respectable, but I could care less at this
point.

“Ashley,” Lane says discreetly,
glancing around the room. “Baby, let’s just go.”

“No. It’s not fair,” I say on the
verge of tears.

How could Richard be so cruel? He knew
what he said and how he said it. He was just playing with us like a
cat with a mouse. He flicks the ash of his cigar, relaxed and
carefree as if our exchange never happened. Like he didn’t just
crush all of our hopes.

“Did someone say my name?”

I whip my head around and find Gregory
standing behind Lane and me, a smug look on his face. He heard
everything.

“Not now, Gregory,” I say, his easy
smile annoying me instantly.

“What?” He shrugs. “I heard my name,”
he says innocently, but Gregory Chase is never innocent.
Ever.

I let go of Lane and plant my hands on
my hips. “Fine. I was just explaining to your father here that it’s
entirely your fault Lane lost his scholarship.”

Gregory saunters to his father’s side
wearing a smirk that matches the one his father is wearing as well.
“And how do you figure?”

“Come on, Ash, it’s not worth it,”
Lane says quietly at my side, tugging my arm. I don’t budge. He
might not want to make a scene, but I don’t care so
much.

“You know exactly what I mean,” I say,
taking a step forward. “If it weren’t for you and your stupid
attempt to get back together, you wouldn’t have been such a jerk to
Lane and then had him fired. He wouldn’t have needed the money and
agreed to race you if that hadn’t happened. You could have just as
likely been the one caught by the police that night, but it was
Lane, and now he’s suffering while you get away with
everything.”

“Wait, let me see if I
understand you correct. You think that it’s
my fault
that your boyfriend there,”
Greg gestures to Lane, “did his job so poorly that he was fired.”
He scoffs. “Let me remind you
he
was the one who picked up a dirty fork from the
floor and cleaned it with his spit before setting it back on our
table.”

I feel Lane flinch at my side. “You
know as well as I do, you provoked him,” I say frustrated that he’s
spinning the truth.

Gregory, not deterred by my accusation
continues, “And I can hardly be held responsible for his reckless
driving and subsequent arrest.” He looks from me to Lane. “Maybe if
he hadn’t nearly gotten into a head on crash with another vehicle
during the race the authorities may never have been
called.”

“But…” I falter, at a loss for words
at this new information. Lane told me Gregory blocked him in at the
bluffs then took off right before the cops showed up, but he hadn’t
mentioned anything about a possible wreck; he’d only said the race
was dirty and I never asked for any more details. Although, it
doesn’t surprise me Gregory wouldn’t play fair.

“And lastly, I have no
bearing on Yale’s standards of conduct. If
they
determined Lane’s not fit to
receive their scholarship, how can that be my fault either? I’m
sorry, Ashley, but he’s the only one to blame here.” Gregory
finishes with an indifferent glance in Lane’s direction.

I can feel the anger rolling off Lane
in waves as my mind starts to swirl that Gregory might be right,
and the very thought pushes me over the edge.

“You know what, Gregory? You and your
dad and my parents and everyone else in this whole ridiculous room
can think whatever you want about Lane, but the one thing it
doesn’t change is the fact that you’re all a bunch of
self-righteous, conceited assholes.

I turn to storm off and freeze when I
see everyone in the room staring, having heard the entire
confrontation. The room is dead silent besides the clinking of ice
cubes against crystal glasses and a soft murmur of whispers coming
in off the deck.

My eyes roam the familiar and
unfamiliar faces until they stop at my father, whose expression is
washed purple with anger.

“Get. To. Your. Room. Now.”