Chapter Ten: Moving on...or not
Two weeks have past since the "afternoon of hell". I realized that trying to get back at Asher was incredibly stupid. Why try to get revenge on a man I supposedly have no feelings for whatsoever? That only makes it seem like I like him. So after the "afternoon of hell", Aiden called me up and asked me to lunch. I agreed of course. It wasn't his fault Asher was a complete jackass. That's where I'm headed right now, actually.
"Hey! Rayce, over here!" yelled Aiden as he waved his hand around like an excited child. Gosh that boy is super cute. Sigh.
"Hey, Aiden," I said sitting across from him in a booth. He was wearing a blue plaid button down with the sleeves rolled to his elbows. His brown hair was styled very neatly and slicked back. Man, why didn't I go out with him in high school?
"Thanks for meeting me for lunch, by the way," he said once our waitress came and left our table. "I just wanted to apologize for what happened at Asher's house. I had no idea about you and Alejandro."
"That's okay, Aiden. I figured. Asher can be an ass, I've already figured that out," I said with a chuckle. He laughed as well. "So, how long have y'all been together anyway?"
"Who? Asher and I?" He asked before laughing. I sat there confused. Why was he laughing? "We aren't dating! Ash and I are just really close family friends. He is my mom's best friend."
Oh, wow. Well now I feel stupid. But the way they were acting made it seem like they were together. Especially at the vow renewal.
"But you guys seemed so much like a couple at my parents vow renewal," I explained.
"Oh! That," he said waving his hand at my statement. "He asked me to the banquet to make some guy jealous. He didn't give me a lot of details but your name was mentioned, I pretty much blanked out after he said your name."
Awe! He is so adorable. He was blushing from his last sentence. But back to the matter at hand, why pretend to be in a relationship with someone only to make another person jealous? That makes absolutely no sense. And why continue it when there was only four of us at his house two weeks ago? Unless...no way! Absolutely not! I do not believe that that is possible. No way in hell! But, it would make sense.
"Oh my gosh! I got it!" Aiden exclaimed. Our waitress was back with our drinks and she kind of freaked when he yelled. "Sorry," he said smiling innocently at her. She smiled back and said it was ok. She took out orders and went on her merry way.
"What were you saying before our waitress came?" I asked him.
"Oh, right! Yeah, it makes sense now! The guy he wanted to make jealous...was you!" he said excitedly. What? NO! I had just got that out of my head. That wouldn't make any sense to me. Okay well I did say it would make sense but, I don't know about that.
"That's absurd, Aiden," I said shaking my head at him. "Why would he try to make me jealous? Asher doesn't like me, at all. I have known that for almost seven months. And in all honesty, I really hate the man with a burning passion. Almost as much as I hate Alejandro."
He just shook his head at me, as if I was being totally ridiculous. He sighed, "Rayce, have you ever heard that there is a thin line between love and hate?"
Is he insinuating that I am in love with that jackass? That's not possible. Absolutely not.
"I mean, think about it. Is he always on your mind? Do you think about him at every interval of your day? Does your heart rate speed up when you are in the same room as him? Do you constantly dream of that night you guys spent together? Do you go weak at the knees when he touches you? And be honest with yourself, Rayce," he said determined to show me that I loved the jackass.
The problem was, that I couldn't disagree with anything he said. It was all true. But does that mean I am in love with him? I don't really know. But one thing is for sure, he doesn't deserve me to be in love with him. Since we got back from England, he has been nothing but a jackass to me. Did I deserve that? No, absolutely not. No one deserves that, well maybe except for Alejandro, but not me. Not if I truly do love him. But how would I go about these feelings?
"Ok, so say I might actually have feelings for the jackass. What should I do about it?" I asked. Our waitress came back with our food. We thanked he and watched her leave. "So, what should I do?"
He thought it over for a few seconds while munching on a french fry. Then his eyes lit up. "Okay, I got it. Why don't you, and this is very important for you to do, just tell him how you feel? Its obvious he has feelings for you. I've known Asher for years, he would never go through all of this for someone he didn't like. That's not his style."
"Are you crazy? Why on earth would I tell him that? We don't know for a fact if he likes me or not," I exclaimed. "I don't want to risk humiliation, Aiden."
"But you never know until you try, Rayce. Take sometime and think it over, okay? Its not like I'm telling you to tell him today. You need to think it over and make sure that you really do have feelings for him," Aiden replied. Man, this guy is super sweet for helping me out. Why couldn't I have feelings for him instead?
"Ok. You're right. I will think it over. Thanks, Aiden."
"No problem, Rayce. Like I said, I want us to be friends. You're an amazing guy and I don't mind helping you out plus it gives me and my mom a chance to make Asher happy and finally get him to stop being a whore all the time," he laughed.
After that, our lunch went by pretty quickly. We just traded information about each other. I knew that with a little time, he would become another best friend to me. He was already half way there after only knowing each other for a day or two.
I went back to work and got lost in my job. I didn't think about Asher until I was home with the twins showered and put to bed. AIt finally dawned on me, that I, Rayce Anthony Knight, was in love with Asher King. Who would have figured?
~ ~ ~
It didn't happen as quick as Aiden was probably expecting. Four months had past for me to finally work up the courage to tell him how I felt. It was now December, and once again Asher's party was coming up. The twins were now in first grade and finally five years old. And it was Astrid, Shawna, and Shane's final year in high school. And Alejandro was still a crazy ass stalker.
Asher's party was going to be tonight. Again, my mom, Lecky, Niall, and also Marie this time, were once again waking me up early in the morning with the twins joining in. I helped everyone pick something to wear just like last year. Aiden was going to ride with us over to the venue. He and had became best friends like I thought.
Everyone fussed over me this year, however. Marie chose my outfit, Aiden styled my hair, and my mom embarrassed me throughout the whole experience. Niall left early to pick up Sammy. Oh right I forgot to mention that they've been together for 11 months now. Niall is completely in love with Sammy and she is in love with him. I told Niall I better be best man when they get married.
Anyway, I was a bit skeptical of their pampering. But then I remembered that I told them I had feelings for the jackass. Which could only mean that they were going to push me to tell him at the banquet. I never should have told them anything to begin with.
It was nearing time for us to go and Lecky, Aiden, and Marie were giving me pep talks. Mom left to get ready at home with Michael. That's one less pep talk. Niall text me this long ass message telling me how I could do it and if I don't he was going to kick his ass, which we both know would never happen.
Was I really ready to throw myself under the bus just for a man whom I haven't seen in nearly four months? What if I didn't feel the same after meeting up with him again after so long? Maybe I shouldn't do this. Especially not tonight. I'm not ready for rejection. It doesn't suit my cute self.
No, I have to do this. I can't back out now. I spent so long trying to gain the courage to tell him how I feel and I will be damned if I wait any longer. If he doesn't reciprocate my feelings, that's okay. I will eventually get over it. But you never know until you try, right? So I'm going to try.
~ ~ ~
We arrived at the venue right on time. Many of the attendees had already arrived but we weren't the last to arrive which is always a plus. When we got to our table, everyone pretty much stared me down as if telling me to go look for Asher. I ignored them of course, thinking I would do it on my own time. I should have realized they weren't going to let that happen. Aiden shook his head at me and got up and walked away.
Maybe thirty minutes later, he returned....with Asher. Holy skittles with a side of twix! Why me?!
"Hello everyone!" he said smiling at our table his eyes stayed a little longer than usual on me. I of course wasn't looking at him but I could feel his stare. "It's a pleasure to see y'all."
"Hey Ash," said Sammy.
"Hey Uncle Ash!" replied Niall's and Marie
"Nice seeing you again, Ash," replied Lecky.
"Mr. Ash!" exclaimed the twins.
"Well hello there you two! How have you been? Man you guys are getting big," he said squatting down to there level.
"We are five now, remember, Mr. Ash?" they exclaimed. They spent a lot of time with Shane and Shawna when I had to work and sometimes they went to their house instead.
"Of course! Wow, soon you will be taller than me," he said giving them a cute smile. Oh my damn. "It's nice to see you too, Rayce."
"Hello, Asher. How have you been?" I asked politely.
"I've been better. Can I please talk to you?" he asked me. I was shocked but nodded my head anyway. He smiled and gestured for me to follow him. He led me to the balcony. Its funny. Its the same balcony he kissed me on last year. He closed the door before walking to the rail and staring out in the night sky. "Look, Rayce. I just want to apologize for what I did to you. And I mean everything. That was rude of me and uncalled for. I understand if you don't accept my apology but I needed to get that off my chest."
"I accept your apology," I managed to say. I couldn't do it. I couldn't tell him how I felt. I was to scared and I chickened out. So I just stayed quiet.
"Thats not the only reason I wanted to talk to you," he began. I continued to listen to what he said. "I wanted to tell you that I...shit. This is really hard. Okay, okay. I can do this."
He began to mentally pep himself up I guess. I was confused and with every second that passed, I got more and more confused. What the hell was going on?
"I love you," he blurted. What the absolute fuck? Did I miss something there?
"What?" I asked. Maybe I heard wrong.
"I said 'I love you', Rayce. I am irrevocably in love with you. I don't know when it happened or how it happened but I know for a fact that I love you," he explained. I stood there shaking my head. Trying to clear it.
"I don't understand. You're saying that you're in love with me? Why would you do that? Are you trying to hurt me? What, did someone tell you that I have feelings for you, because if you're using that against me, that's pretty low Asher King," I said shaking my head with tears beginning to spill from my eyes. He began to walk closer to me.
"God, no, Rayce. I know I've done some fucked up shit to you, but I would never do that to you. I'm being honest. I really love you. Please stop crying, Rayce," he said trying to soothe me. I just knew I had the ugly crying face. My face always got red and snot began to come out my knows which resulted in me sniffing like crazy.
"I-I'm sorry. I ruined y-your shirt," I sobbed out. My tears were slowing down just a bit. "I, Asher, I just don't know what to say."
"Well, you could say that you love me too," he replied. I looked up at him to see if he really meant what he said. His eyes spoke the truth. So of course I was going to give him a chance, simply because I love him.
"I love you too, Asher King," I finally said. He smiled down at me before kissing me hard and passionately. I was truly happy. I just hoped I wasn't making a mistake taking this chance. It would nearly kill me if this backfired. But, I trust him, for now.
We kissed and kissed standing in the night sky on that balcony. God, I was in bliss.
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A/N
Hey guys! Sorry its been a while. My stupid flash drive broke so I was hoping I could get it fixed but I didn't so I had to write a brand new chapter ten and this is what I got. It actually seems to be a lot better than my first one. I wasn't really into that whole revenge thing. this isn't the last chapter of course. I still have to get rid of Alejandro. He has not stopped his pursuit of Rayce. Any way, tell me what you think. Love you guys --JPhinx