Page 15 of Heal For Me

“Where is he?”

“Maybe he is jerking off in the shower thinking about the girl in the audience that he smiled at.”

Janelle has never been one to help pull me back from a full-blown obsession, that’s Ronni’s job. She usually keeps me grounded, but she’s not here right now.

“You’re not helping my nerves.”

“I’m not trying to.”

I shove her, and she giggles. “I’m just saying. Guys have huge egos, he will love that you can’t even speak when he’s in front of you.”

“You might be more delusional than I am. You know that, right?”

“Maybe.” She shrugs, not giving a shit. “But Collins likes it.”

I lean against the wall and cross my arms, pouting. If only everyone was as lucky as Janelle and was basically gifted the love of her life on a silver platter when her mom married his dad. It was weird at first, but they’ve been together nearly four years and everyone is beyond happy for them. He plans on proposing soon, but that’s still a secret.

“He should almost be out, and we will be right there.”

Janelle and I glance toward the feminine voice to see a tall blonde heading our way with a phone pressed against her ear. Her dress is tight and hugs her slim body like it was made for it. The black accents her sun-kissed skin and bright-blonde hair perfectly. She looks oddly familiar, maybe a model or something. Definitely has the body for one. She’s in heels, but when she stops in the hallway across from us, I know she would still tower over me without them.

“I think he is proposing, so I went home and changed.” Her gaze flicks our way, but it leaves just as quick. “Yes. I found the ring. Silver, huge diamond.”

Janelle nudges my arm, and we swap looks.

“Of course I’m going to say yes. He’s amazing in bed.”

I have to bite my lip to keep from laughing out loud. What a wild conversation to have in front of people; only marrying someone because they are fantastic in bed is a little odd, but I’ve never even dated anyone, so what do I know?

Not that I didn’t have guys that wanted to, but I turned them all down, and eventually, they stopped trying. My heart has belonged to one man and one man alone since I was eight.

“Okay, I need to go. He should be out any minute. Bye, Mom. Love you.”

She was telling her mom how good her boyfriend—soon-to-be fiancé, apparently—is in bed? Her and I have completely different relationships with our moms, that’s for sure.

She drops the phone into a tiny silver clutch. Then her cold eyes flick to us, and she scowls but says nothing, and neither do we. The hallway fills with a weird awkwardness, but it’s gone when the locker-room door opens and he walks out.

Ash Pearson, in the flesh and less than twenty feet away. Janelle grabs my hand and lets out the faintest of a squeal. Luca Berutii wanders out after, quickly catching up with Ash, and they fall into easy conversation. My stomach tightens to an uncomfortable level seeing them. I’m not obsessed with Luca like I am Ash, but he’s still amazing. Incredibly handsome in more of a high-fashion way. Sharp jaw and nose. Intense eyebrows and high cheekbones; he could be on the cover of some magazine. Ash is . . . sexier. Boy next door maybe when he was younger, but the only thought that comes to mind right now seeing him in a suit is daddy.

My cheeks bloom with that thought, but they were warm before. Just being this close to him is making me sweat. I wipe my hands down my jeans. I wish I was dressed a little nicer than my regular mom jeans. Janelle convinced me to wear a lowcut long sleeve shirt that hugs me pretty tightly and shows off some cleavage. She tried to get me to wear a dress, but I said that was ridiculous. Apparently, the girl across from us, still giving us the stink eye, didn’t feel that way, and now I kind of wish I was as confident as her.

Especially when Ash doesn’t even glance our way, instead heading in blondie’s direction with a panty-wetting smile plastered on his face. Like the smile he gave me, but it’s not for me this time, and to my surprise, it hurts more than I thought it would. I’ve full-on convinced myself we have something between us when he doesn’t even know my name.

I’m so glad I couldn’t eat earlier because I think I would throw it up right now.

“You look beautiful.” Ash takes her hand and kisses her knuckles. Her smile is flirty, and that’s when it hits me. The guy proposing to her is Ash Pearson. The guy who is amazing in bed is . . . Ash Pearson. The same guy whose ring she found. Silver with a huge diamond.

Luca takes her hand next and says something in his language I can’t understand.

Janelle leans toward me and hisses, “Did you know he was dating someone?”

I attempt to swallow the knot in my throat, but it doesn’t budge. I shake my head.

“Shit.”

She grabs my hand and tugs me away from the scene, but we don’t get far.

“Hey,” a deep, incredibly sexy voice calls after us. Janelle tries to keep pulling me but that voice is so demanding and so . . . sexy that I fail to keep walking. “You’re the girl from the audience.”

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