The Thrill of the Chase (2 page)

The woman turned and walked away just as quickly as she had appeared.

Silence descended between them as Ashley
'
s fork fell from her hand. It clattered loudly against her plate. Her hands shook as she took a much needed gulp of wine.

The waiter came by just then and before he could even speak, Ashley glanced up at him.
"
Can we g-get the check please?
"

Her voice sounded shocked and upset even to her own ears. A thick air of tension descended on their table.
The waiter looked between the two of them and without a word turned to get their ticket ready.

Ryan stiffened beside her and his survival instincts went on red alert.
"
Jesus Christ
, Ashley, give me a chance to ex
--"

She cut him off.
"
I want to go home.
"

"
No, babe. You have to listen to me
--"

"
No,
I don
'
t
.
"
Her voice was frosty.

"
She
'
s nobody, Ashley. A complete nobody. Forget that happened.
"

He knew the second the words came from his mouth they were a mistake. Ashley turned away from him, but not before her face went completely white and her eyes welled with tears.

Son of a bitch!

The drive back to her apartment was accomplished in silence. He was mad at that bitch Veronica, and he was mad at Ashley for believing the shit the other woman had spewed. But most of all, he was mad at himself for handling the situation so poorly. You
'
d think he didn
'
t have a brain cell in his fucking head.

They pulled up in front of her building and she made a jerky movement to open her door. He stopped her by putting his hand on her arm.
"
Stop. I
'
ll get your
goddamn
door like I always do.
"
His voice was rough. He was pissed.

She sat still and waited while he walked around and opened her door.

"
You don
'
t need to walk me up.
"
Her voice was resigned.

"
I
'
ll walk you up. I
always
fucking walk you up, don
'
t I?
"

She turned away and marched up the stairs as she dug her key from her bag.

She put the key in the lock.
"
Goodbye.
"
The word was final and absolute. Her hand fumbled with the key and she jerked when his hands landed on her and spun her around to face him.

"
Goodbye, my ass.
"
His hand reached into her hair and pulled her head up to his. His eyes glittered down into hers.

She shook her head and tried to speak before his mouth claimed her.
"
It
'
s over, Ry
--"

His tongue went deep, his arm latching her to him and lifting her up into his torso. His grip was tight, his intent ruthless.

His head lifted.
"
You
'
re mine, Ashley. You better fucking get used to it.
"
Seductive Ryan was gone; in his place was Ryan at his most ruthless.

Her head was frantically shaking back and forth, denying him.
"
No, I
'
m not. I-I
'
m d-done here, Ryan. I
'
ve never felt comfortable with you.
"

She ripped out of his arms and turned the key in the lock.

He gripped her arms and turned her to him again.
"
You sure you want to do this, babe? There are other women in the world, you know that, right? Don
'
t make the mistake of thinking you can lead me around by a leash.
"
Anger and frustration pulsed from him and made him say things he didn
'
t mean.
"
I don
'
t have to put up with your shit
--"

"
Fine. Don
'
t put up with my shit. Good-bye, Ryan.
"
Ashley snapped the words at him and slammed the door in his face.

****

Ashley spent the rest of the weekend and the next week between bouts of crying and refusing to even let herself think about Ryan. She went to work, came directly home where she watched television curled in a tight ball and barely ate anything.

By Thursday night, her roommates, Monica and Julie, were sick of seeing her holed up in her bedroom.
"
You
'
re going out with us tomorrow night. We
'
re not taking no for an answer.
"

Monica was Ashley
'
s best friend. They
'
d known each other since they were ten years old. They had been friends for fifteen years.

Julie was Ashley
'
s younger cousin. Ashley had always felt protective of her, much like she would for a younger sister.

They had all shared an apartment for three years, ever since Julie had graduated from high school. All three women were fast friends. They knew each other inside and out.

She already knew she would lose the battle about going out with them. Both women knew her very well; they knew what buttons to push. If they decided to gang up on her and drag her out for the night, it was probably going to happen.

She argued with them anyway, just for the fun of it.
"
Why should we go out? For what? They
'
re all asses. Every man alive is an ass.
"

Julie interrupted her by plopping down on her bed and smiling a wicked little smile.
"
Yeah, but we need their sperm for the propagation of the species.
"

Ashley saw Monica throw Julie an affectionate grin as she said,
"
She
'
s right. Besides, not all guys are asses.
"

Ashley begged to differ.
"
Name one. Name one guy that
'
s not an ass.
"

Monica fired back immediately.
"
Your brother
'
s not an ass.
"

Ashley was surprised as she looked at Monica and watched her friend turn red.
Where had that come from?

Julie stared at Monica also, her jaw dropping open.

"
Yeah, I know my brother
'
s not an ass, but he doesn
'
t count, Monica. I
'
m talking about guys that aren
'
t related to me by blood.
"

Julie grinned.
"
Or me.
"

Monica mumbled,
"
Just sayin
'
.
"

Julie crossed her arms and admonished them both.
"
This isn
'
t getting us anywhere.
We are
going out tomorrow night. Agreed?
"

"
Yes, I totally agree.
"
Monica
'
s answer was firm.

Ashley knew they were right. She needed to get out and get on with her life. She steeled her spine and sucked in a sustaining breath.
"
All right. If we have to.
"
She glared at them both.
"
Where?
"

"
We need to go to Jason
'
s again. You need to get on the same horse that threw you off,
"
Julie said decisively.

An arrow of unease slid through Ashley at the thought of going to the club where she had met Ryan. Would he be there? She and her girlfriends loved the club, it was their favorite place to party, and she couldn
'
t quit going altogether. She might as well get the first time over with. She slowly agreed and saw her roommates look at each other in relief. Now all she had to do was plan something special to wear.
Just in case
.

****

Friday night, Ryan
'
s cell phone rang while he was toweling himself off. He picked it up and listened to his buddy Gibson.

"
Hey man, that little blonde chick that lives with your girlfriend just texted me.
"

A black cloud descended on Ryan.
"
I don
'
t have a girlfriend.
"
The words he was forced to say caused a sharp pain in his guts.

"
No? What
'
d you call her then? The girl you
'
re banging?
"
Gibson
'
s voice was casual.

Since he hadn
'
t told Gibson about the break-up, Ryan knew there was no way of him knowing.

"
Fuck you, asshole. I haven
'
t banged her and she
'
s not my girlfriend.
"

There was a moment of silence before Gibson spoke, the levity in his voice gone.
"
You haven
'
t banged her?
"

"
Gibson, I swear to fucking shit you better quit using that word,
"
Ryan snarled.

"
Jeez, what
'
s got up your ass?
"
Gibson asked him, impatience lacing his voice.

"
Nothing.
"
The single word pulsed from Ryan
'
s mouth.

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence until Gibson spoke.

"
Right. Moving on. The little blonde girl says they
'
re going to be at Jason
'
s tonight.
"
Gibson paused.
"
Ashley
'
s not your girlfriend?
"
his voice questioned, sounding confused.
"
Is that why the blonde chick texted me?
"

Ryan didn
'
t answer and his mood got darker as he thought about Ashley going to that club. All those loud mouthed fuckers trying to make it with her.

"
We in, buddy?
"
Gibson pushed him for an answer.

"
Yeah, we
'
re in.
"
Ryan
'
s voice was grim.
"
You figured out she
'
s into you, man?
"

"
Who?
"
Gibson asked.

"
The blonde chick, Julie,
"
Ryan explained.

Silence.
"
You get that vibe, too?
"

"
Dude. She texted you, right?
"

"
Yeah, but just to party
--"

"
No. Not just to party. She wants you. Take care with her, man,
"
Ryan cautioned his friend.

"
Take care? What the fuck is that supposed to mean?
"
Gibson sounded annoyed as well as affronted.

"
Dude, she
'
s crushing on you
--"

Gibson interrupted.
"
You think? I need to ask her out.
"

"
Can
'
t you think about something other than getting laid for once?
"
Ryan knew he sounded irate.

"
Hey
. I didn
'
t say anything
about getting laid
.
"
Gibson
'
s voice was short.