2
We finished dinner a little after that.
Sienna wanted to keep shopping.
Dylan kept teasing me, trying to squeeze the truth out of me.
Ashton stayed quiet.
Too quiet.
The whole time, I could feel his eyes on me.
Like he was waiting for me to explode.
Like he still thought I’d make a scene and force him to choose.
But I was past that.
I wasn’t heartbroken in some cute, dramatic, movie way.
I was done.
The second Dylan went to pay for something at the register and Sienna got distracted by a display near the entrance, Ashton caught my wrist and pulled me into the hallway outside the restaurant.
I looked down at his hand around me.
The veins on the back of it stood out.
Funny.
This was the same hand that used to tuck my hair behind my ear. The same hand that held mine under the table. The same hand that traced my cheek like I was something precious.
Now it just felt dirty.
“Ashton,” I said softly, “aren’t you scared your girlfriend will see?”
He exhaled and lowered his voice.
“Chloe, stop saying things like that.”
I laughed.
“Then what should I say? Congratulations? Happy for you? Or should I go tell my brother that the man who was kissing me yesterday is suddenly calling someone else his girlfriend today?”
His face changed instantly.
The softness vanished.
“Chloe. You cannot tell Dylan.”
I ripped my hand free.
“You don’t get to tell me what to do.”
He followed me a few steps, then pulled me away from the main path into a quieter corner near the emergency exit.
The mall lights were bright. The music from the shops still floated out into the hallway.
But between us, it felt airless.
“I’m serious,” he said. “It’s not what you think.”
That made me want to laugh even harder.
Isn’t that what every cheater says?
He took a step closer.
“I’ll explain later. Just not tonight. Don’t make this ugly in front of everyone. Please.”
Please.
He even used the same tone he always used when we were alone.
The same voice that used to make my whole body go soft.
“Look at me, babe.”
“Tell me who you like most.”
“Say it again.”
The memories hit too fast.
His lips by my ear.
His hands around my waist.
The warmth of his chest behind me.
I blinked hard and shoved him away.
“I don’t care about your explanation.”
Then I walked back to the table without looking back.
A few minutes later, Ashton returned too.
He had two hot milk teas in his hands.
One went straight to Sienna.
“You said you missed this place when you were abroad. I saw the shop downstairs.”
She lit up immediately.
“You actually remembered?”
He smiled.
“For you? Of course.”
Then he slid the other cup toward me.
“This one’s yours.”
I stared at him.
Not because of the drink.
Because he’d used my full name.
Not Chloe.
Not baby.
Not the nickname he whispered against my skin.
Just Chloe.
Dylan grabbed the drink and shoved it into my hands for me.
He stuck in the straw and laughed.
“What, your eyes still red because you’re jealous no one inserted your straw for you?”
I forced a laugh.
Actually, yeah.
I was jealous.
Not of the milk tea.
Not of the straw.
Of the fact that everything I thought was mine had apparently just been copied and pasted onto someone else.
Sienna smiled at me sweetly.
“Don’t mind it, Chloe. I told Ashton that once we got together, he had to keep clear boundaries with every other girl.”
I nodded and looked at Ashton.
“Of course. He’s always been very disciplined, right?”
The second I said that, the chopsticks slipped from Ashton’s hand and clattered against the plate.
Dylan laughed.
“Dude, what’s wrong with you today?”
Ashton asked the waiter for another set and didn’t answer.
More dishes arrived.
Ashton kept putting food on Sienna’s plate.
He brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
When dessert came, she tried to take another bite, and he stopped her gently.
“You’ll get a stomachache again.”
Again.
That word stabbed too.
Because it meant this wasn’t new.
It meant he already knew her habits. Her weak spots. Her favorite drinks. The things that made her laugh.
All those tiny, intimate things that had made me feel special.
All those things I thought belonged to love.
Maybe they never belonged to me at all.
I smiled and looked up.
“So, sister-in-law… when did you two actually get together?”
Sienna blushed immediately.
She had that kind of blush that wasn’t fake or calculated. It came from genuine happiness.
The kind that made her look almost glowing.
She nudged Ashton.
“You tell them.”
Ashton rested one arm across the back of her chair and looked at her with that same maddening softness before speaking.
“A month ago. She came back to the States, and she finally said yes.”
Then he glanced at me.
I pretended not to notice.
“How long have you known each other?”
This time Sienna answered first.
“Since high school.”
At that, Dylan smacked the table like he’d solved a murder case.
“Holy crap. I knew it.”
We all looked at him.
He leaned forward, grinning like a gossip blogger who’d finally gotten proof.
“You’re the girl Ashton’s been obsessed with since high school, aren’t you?”
Sienna froze.
I did too.
Dylan got even more excited.
“You guys have no idea. Back in college, one night I couldn’t sleep, so I got down from my bunk to use the bathroom. Ashton still had his curtain closed but his light was on.”
“I yanked it open and guess what this creep was doing?”
He paused for effect, then pointed dramatically at Sienna.
“He was staring at a photo.”
“A graduation photo. Of the two of you.”
Sienna covered her mouth.
Her eyes went wide.
Like she had just discovered the great love story of her life.
Ashton instantly stuffed a huge piece of steak into Dylan’s mouth.
“Eat.”
Dylan nearly choked.
The table burst into laughter.
I smiled with them.
Or at least I think I did.
Because inside, something was ripping open.
I suddenly remembered the first day I ever met Ashton.
Dylan had just started college. I was still in high school, helping my parents move him into his dorm.
When we pushed open the door, sunlight was pouring in through the window.
Only one person was inside.
Ashton.
White T-shirt. Easy smile. Too handsome for my teenage heart to survive.
He looked at me and laughed softly.
“You came to send your brother off too, little sister?”
That smile stayed with me for years.
I thought that was the beginning of everything.
I just didn’t know back then that his heart already belonged to someone else.