Falling to Pieces (15 page)

I glance around the room, my face heating up. A busboy passes me, a bread basket in his hand. The couple at the table nearest us are, thankfully, engrossed in an intense conversation. “This is not the time or the place for this, Cole.”

“Don’t you care about him at all?”

My heart jolts. “Of course.”

“Then you need to help him move on.”

“Move on from what?”  A stilted laugh escapes from my throat. “We’re just friends.”

Cole gives me a bored look
, and the girl he’s with looks up at me intrigued. “You and I both know that’s not entirely true.”

My heart hammers in my chest, his words stirring crazy emotions inside of me. Since I met Asher I suspected his feelings were more than just friendship for me, but I’d never had it actually confirmed until recently. Now to have his f
riend saying the same thing makes my head spin.

“How do you suggest I help him move on?” My tone is hard. “I can’t make Asher do anything, you know that.”

“You need to make it clear that there isn’t a future for the two of you,” he answers.

“I’ll be back in a minute with some waters and then I’ll take your drink order.” I spin on my heels and race toward the kitchen, my face b
urning up like I have a fever. Once safely inside the kitchen I allow my chest to expand, and a stream of air pushes past my lips. At that moment Brandon sweeps in through the door.

“Hey.” I grab his arm. “Have you seen Billie?”

“No.” His eyebrows knit together in concern. “Is everything okay?”

Maybe Brandon isn’t so bad after all. It makes me feel a little bad for blowing off his friend the other night. I never should’ve done that. I mean, Cole may be a jerk
, but he’s right about one thing. I have done enough damage to Asher’s life, and with all the baggage I’m carrying I’ll only succeed in doing more.

“Yeah. Fine.” I force a smile. “Hey, I had a lot of fun with your friend the other night.”

“Really?” Brandon looks genuinely shocked. “I’ll tell him. He liked you a lot too.”

I nod, and pry myself from the wall.

“Can I tell him to call you?” Brandon asks.

I pause, not sure I want to go out with Tyler again. Only I know this is what I have to do. If I want Asher to move on, then I need to as well. “Yeah, that would be great.”

“You’re really going out with him again, huh?” Billie sits on the closed toilet seat in our bathroom painting imaginary pictures on the floor with her bare toes while I straighten my hair. “I thought you didn’t like him.”

I run the flat iron through a strand of hair, watching steam rise from it. “I like him just fine.”

“Except that you said he was boring.” Billie gives me a knowing look. “What’s really going on, Ivy? You’ve been acting strange ever since you came home from work last night.”

“Nothing.” I set the brush down on the counter,
and face my friend. “You’re the one who always wants me to go out. I thought you would be happy about this.”

She wrinkles her face. “Are you happy about this?”

Exasperated, I return my attention to the mirror. “Yes. I’m going on a date with a nice guy.”

“A nice, boring guy that you couldn’t wait to get away from the other night.”  Billie stands, shaking her head. “Fine. Suit yourself.”

I bristle at her words, and am about to argue with her when a knock on the door stops me. “Crap. He’s early.” I shoo her away with my hands. “Stall him. I still have to do the rest of my makeup.”

When Billie scurries down the hallway, I lean over the sink and brush mascara over my lashes. I hear the door open
, and a male voice fills the apartment. Quickly, I pick up my lip-gloss and run it over my lips. Billie’s head pops into the room, and I freeze at the look on her face.

“What?” I ask.

She moves one side of her mouth to the side, as if she’s contemplating whether or not to answer my question. “The door was for you, but it’s not exactly Tyler.”

“Then who is it?” Before I even finish
the sentence I know who it is. My skin prickles at the thought. I inhale deeply, and then reluctantly leave the restroom.

Asher’s back is to me
, and he’s stroking his neck with a muscular arm when I enter the family room. I stare at his broad shoulders and bulging bicep for a minute, imagining that his hands are touching me and not his neck. When he turns toward me, I snap back into focus.

His eyes widen. “Whoa. Where are you going like that?”

My cheeks flush. I glance down nervously at my long shirt, leggings and black flats. “I have a date, actually.”

“What?” His eyebrows shoot up. “With who? The guy I saw you with the other night?”
I open my mouth to tell him it’s none of his business, but he beats me to it. “You know what, never mind. This was a bad idea.” With his shoulders slumped, he staggers toward the front door.

I know I
should stay silent and let him leave, but curiosity gets the better of me.

“Wait,” I call after him.

16

Asher

The minute Ivy reveals that she has a date tonight I know it was a mistake to come. What had I hoped to accomplish anyway? I guess I just wasn’t think
ing. After Sydney called I felt like I needed to apologize to Ivy for what happened last night.

I was so surprised when my phone rang earlier today displaying Sydney’s number. After our ill fated night out, I assumed she’d never want to talk to me again. I almost didn’t answer, but then I remembered how sweet she had been about the whole thing
, so I picked up.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” she started. “It’s just that it’s clear by the way your eyes light up when you talk about Ivy that you really lik
e her a lot. If a guy ever feels that way about me, I never want anyone to come between us.”

This perked my interest
, and I listened intently.

“So, I feel like there’s something I need to tell you.” She paused then
, and I feared she wouldn’t continue.

“Go on,” I prodded.

“Mercedes said that Cole took her to Sunny’s for dinner last night. Apparently he had a pretty heated conversation with Ivy about you.”

I gripped the phone so hard my hand hurt. “What did he say to her?”

“He told her to leave you alone; that she’d already done enough damage.”

I ball my hand into a fist at my side, wanting to smash it into Cole’s face. I should’ve known he’
d do something like this. He’s always putting his nose in other people’s business. Only this time he’d gone too far. Even if he was just trying to help, he never should’ve approached her. She’s been harassed enough.

After hanging up, I just jumped in my car and came directly here. I didn’t bother stopping to think about the consequences. Of course, that seems to be my biggest downfall – my compulsive nature. It’s always getting me in trouble.

I race out of Ivy’s apartment, cursing myself for coming here, but then she calls after me. Stopping, I spin around to face her. She stands in the doorway, her face bright. Ivy isn’t the kind of girl that needs makeup, but when she wears it, it brings out the blue in her eyes and shows off the heart shape of her lips. I find my gaze lingering on her mouth, imagining how it would feel against mine.

“Why did you come by, Asher?” she asks.

“I heard what happened last night with Cole, and I just wanted to apologize.”

She stiffens at my words. “There’s nothing to apologize for. He just came in with his girlfriend to eat.”

“I know what he said to you, Ives. It wasn’t right.”

“He didn’t do anything wrong.” She smiles tightly. “Everything’s fine.”

I step toward her. “Cole just thinks he’s protecting me, but I don’t need to be protected from you.”

She moves away from me. “Look, my date will be here any minute. It would probably be awkward if he found me out here with a different guy.”

Just the thought of her on a date with someone that isn’t me makes me feel like I might hurl. I imagine him touching her and kissing her, and I can’t take it. “Come with me for a ride.”

Her eyes flash. “I can’t. I just told you.”

“So what? Blow the guy off. My bike’s just downstairs.”

For a minute I think she’s contemplating it, but then her eyes darken. “No.”

“Ives, c’mon.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” I bridge the gap between us. “I don’t want you to date anyone else, Ives. Come out with me. Please?”

Her gaze lifts to mine
, and I see the longing in her eyes. I reach for her, but she pushes me back. “You need to leave, Asher.” She tries to close the door, but I block it with my arm.

“Ives.” I throw her a wink. “You’re not going to make me go riding alone, are you?”

She crosses her arms over her chest, giving me a challenging stare. “Fine. Go with Billie.”

“Huh?” her friend says from inside.

“Huh?” I echo.

Ivy smiles triumphantly. “Yes, it’s perfect. Billie loves motorcycles. Besides, now that I think about it you two are perfect for each other. You
guys should totally go out.”  When she spins away from me and stalks inside, my mouth drops open in shock. That was unexpected. Did she really just push me to go out with her roommate? Just what is she up to?

Billie’s frame darkens the doorway. She looks thoroughly uncomfortable. “Um, you don’t rea
lly have to take me riding. I don’t know why she said that.”

I lift my head
thinking that the best thing to do at this moment is to call Ivy’s bluff. “No, I think that would be fun. What do you say?”

“I don’t know. Give me just a minute.” Bil
lie holds up one finger before disappearing inside.

After a few minutes she emerges wearing a leather jacket, jeans and boots. “Okay, let’s ride ‘em cowboy.”

I frown. “You know it’s a bike, not a horse, right?”

She laughs. “Thank goodness for that. Horses scare me.”

I smile. Billie may not be the girl I want to go out with tonight, but at least she’ll be more fun than Sydney. I assume her spunkiness is one of the things that drew Ivy to her. We round the corner, and Billie places a hand on my shoulder. “Just give her time.”

I look up at her and nod, wondering if she knows Ivy’s secret.

“So, do you have an extra helmet for me?” she asks.

“You can use Ivy’s.”

She pauses. “You bought Ivy a helmet to use when she rides your bike? You really are the last romantic guy left, huh?”

I chuckle. “No, I didn’t technically buy it for Ivy. It’s my extra helmet for anyone who rides with me. It just so happens that Ivy’s one of the only people who does.”

She cocks her head to the side, assessing me out of the corner of her eye. “How is it that the two of you never hooked up?”

“Ask her that.” I toss Billie the helmet
, and she catches it. “Nice catch.”

She shrugs. “I played softball back in the day.”

“Oh yeah? For school?”

“Yep.”

“Were you any good?” I ask.

“My coach thought so.” She shrugs modestly.  As she climbs onto the back of my bike, I glance over to see that guy Ivy was with the other night getting out of his car. He’s wearing a collared shirt and slacks, and I have to refrain from laughing at him.

“I can’t believe Ives is dating that guy,” I say, as Billie’s arms wrap around my middle. She doesn’t do it in a sensual way like Ivy. Instead, she holds me tight but keeps her fingers tucked into her palm. I get the feeling she’s trying not to touch me.

“Don’t worry,” Billie says
. “She thinks he’s boring. It won’t last long.”

My insides warm at her words. Maybe this night won’t be so bad after all.

We ride for awhile
, and even though it’s different from riding with Ivy it’s still fun. Billie makes lots of jokes and she’s not skittish about being on a motorcycle like a lot of girls. I can definitely see why Ivy likes her. When we pull back into the apartment complex, I turn toward Billie. “That was fun.”

“Yeah, it was. Now I see why Ivy’s so crazy about it.” Billie yanks the helmet off her head
, and then runs her fingers through her short hair.

“Have you never ridden before?” I ask incredulous.

“No.”

“Then why did Ivy say you liked motorcycles?”

Billie shrugs, looking embarrassed. “I don’t know what Ivy’s up to.”

I lean forward, smiling. “It seems like maybe you do.”

“Okay, this is a little embarrassing.” Billie bites her lip. “I may have told Ivy that I think you’re really hot.”

It’s not what I’m expecting her to say
, and it catches me off guard.

“Maybe Ivy just thought she was doing me a favor or something by forcing me on you.”