Love Her Wilde

Dart to the Heart: Asher

"Ash, I don't want to go to your friend's stupid little bar!"

"Bridge, come on. Just for a drink or two," I pleaded.

"Absolutely not."

I groaned in frustration and stabbed my fingers through my hair. It had been a week since my meeting with Ryder. I reached out and apologized for my behavior and promised to be the best Best Man he could ever hope for. All was set for the group of us to leave for Hawaii in less than forty-eight hours. Truth be told, I was kind of excited, even if Bridget was still giving me hell over it every second we were in the same room.

"I don't understand why it has to be like this. I hang out with your friends all the time, without a fight. You can't go to Mason's bar for a few hours for me?"

"No, Asher, I can't," Bridget stated firmly, "and I really wish you'd stop asking."

"You want me to stop asking you to be a part of my life? Does that not sound odd to you?" I asked, my temper causing my eyebrows to cinch together. Why was it so hard to convince the woman who supposedly loved me to let my friends be a small part of her life? Two drinks. A chance to bring my friends and the woman I was seeing, together. That's all I wanted.

"I don't understand why these people are still a PART of your life, Ash. You're better than that."

"Why am I better than them, Bridge? These are the people I grew up with, the people that have been there for me since the beginning, since my mom died, through everything. How am I better than them?"

She gave me an annoyed look, one meticulously groomed eyebrow standing place in the middle of her forehead. "Do you really need me to answer that for you?"

"Is it because they don't have money? They don't have the right jobs? Is that seriously the problem?"

"Well, you could say it without making me sound like a total bitch..."

Could I? My brain said. "You're kind of being one at the moment."

I was shocked that I'd actually let the words passed my lips. I had kind of meant for that to remain internal commentary, and by the look on Bridget's face, I probably should've left it that way.

She blinked her eyes rapidly as if I'd just slapped her across the face. "I cannot believe you actually just said that..."

"I'm not trying to be rude..."

"You just called me a bitch!"

"I did not," I argued. "You said it. I just... pointed out that your current... mindset about the class level of people that I care about isn't exactly making you look like the kind-hearted woman that I adore."

"If you adored me so much you wouldn't ask me to do things that I'm not comfortable with."

I let out a loud whoop of laughter. "I'm not asking you to jump from the Sears Tower, darling. I'm asking for two drinks. That's it. Two." I held up the fingers as if to illustrate my point. "That's it. That's all."

"It's the Willis Tower now," Bridget retorted, defiantly crossing her arms over her chest.

"Yes, because... that was the point I was trying to make," I mumbled. I sighed and took her hand. Her movement was a bit stiff, but she obliged. "Please Birdie. Just come with me. An hour, max. That's all I'm asking."

Bridget sighed and just as I thought I might, for once in our relationship, be getting my way, her phone chirped. "That's Carmen. Drinks with the girls wins. Come on."

I stared at Bridget as she stood, readying herself to walk out the door. I stared as she flipped her hair over her shoulder. I stared as she pushed in her chair. I stared as she finished off the tiny bit of wine remaining in her glass from dinner. I stared as she laughed with an acquaintance sitting at the table behind us. I just. Fucking. Stared.