Aspen
I’m trembling and bawling my eyes out when Lexi catches up to me at my car. I can’t even get the key in the door my hands are shaking so badly.
“Oh my God!” she shouts. “What the hell was that?”
I spin around to face her. “I told you not to make me do it. I told you!” I’m practically screaming at her, and because I never so much as raise my voice at anyone, Lexi’s jaw drops.
She starts to look worried. “Tell me what’s happening. Please. I don’t get it. Did you know that guy?”
I shake my head. I’m not in the mood for questions. I just want to crawl into my bed, pull up the covers, and hide there forever. “Take me home. Can you please just take me home?”
Lexi nods. “Um, sure. I only had one beer tonight. I should be fine to drive.”
We ride in silence. I’m balled up in the passenger seat, my knees drawn up to my chest, my arms wrapped tightly around them. I’m rocking, trying my absolute best not to think. It’s not working. Why is he here? The question blares in my mind, on an endless loop. And once I finally do manage to push that question away, I think of my body’s reaction to his lips, his touch. It makes me shudder.
I completely forgot about Brian.
My fiancé! Not only did I cheat on the man I promised to marry, but I did so in a public place. I cover my face. What kind of person does that?
“We’re here.” I feel Lexi’s hand on my shoulder. “Talk to me Aspen. I’m not getting it. You seemed pretty into the kiss once it started… Unless—I mean, I don’t know. Has that guy hurt you or something? Like in the past? I never woulda told you to go through with it if I’d known—”
“No,” I whimper. “Nothing like that.”
“Then help me out here. I’m not even sure what to say to you right now.”
I most certainly do NOT want to talk about it, but I know Lexi isn’t going to take no for an answer. She is too good a friend for that. “Let me get inside and I’ll explain everything.”
“Darn straight you will.”
Lexi and I ignore the round of questions my showing up looking like hell brings about from my sorority sisters. She shoos me through the foyer and up the stairs to our room, locking the door behind us. No sooner does my butt hit my mattress is she there beside me, taking both my hands into hers.
“Okay. Let’s have it.”
My face begins to burn; I’m suddenly embarrassed. “You’re gonna think it’s silly at first, but just listen…”
Lexi raises an eyebrow. “Aspen. Renee. Spencer. If you don’t tell me what’s going on, I swear to god I’m gonna kick your skinny little ass.”
She almost looks serious. It makes me laugh. “Okay. Okay.” I take a deep, slow breath. “That guy’s name was Sebastian Torres. Bastian. We grew up together—his mother, Ms. Lucinda, worked in my family’s house for thirty years.”
I watch for Lexi’s reaction.
She just stares. “And? Keep going.”
A familiar ache settles into my chest as I begin to tell her the rest. “He and I kinda became more than friends when we got older, a lot more, but my father didn’t approve. He said that Sebastian was beneath me, that people like us didn’t consort with people like him. He made me swear to break it off, saying that if I didn’t, there would be consequences.”
