RUSH (Montgomery Men #1) - C.A. Harms Page 0,53
We drove back to the city in silence, and the dismissive way he answered me when I asked if he wanted to go to my place or his made me nauseous. I’d just assumed we would stay together, as we had almost every night since we’d made things official. But tonight I felt like he couldn’t wait to get rid of me.
He’d seemed fine the entire evening as he joked around with his father and brother and showered affection on his mother. But now it was as if the entire evening hadn’t happened.
Turning in the seat enough that I could see his reaction, I asked the question I’d been wanting to ask since we left his parents’. “Did I do something wrong?” I wanted to be angry with the way his mood had shifted, but fear was overriding my irritation.
He pulled to a stop just outside my apartment and didn’t even place the car in Park as he looked over at me. “I’m just tired, Kiera,” he said, leaning his head back against the headrest of the driver’s seat. He may have been looking at me, but he didn’t see me. His eyes were blank of all emotion, as if he was in a daze.
“I’ve gotten used to you sleeping by my side,” I confessed, feeling my throat burn. I didn’t want him to leave. I wanted him here with me, happy and smiling.
“I know” was all he offered me before tracing my lower lip with his thumb. I couldn’t shake the feeling that the gesture felt like more than just a simple good-bye.
“Good night, Kiera.”
His dismissal hurt more than I’d anticipated. It wasn’t like him not to walk me upstairs and make sure I was safely inside. It wasn’t like him not to kiss me good-bye and make promises to see me tomorrow.
But instead of questioning him further, I exited his car and stood just inside the entrance of my apartment building, watching as Ashton sped off without hesitation. The longer I stood there, the more I regretted not demanded that he tell me what in the hell had come over him. I didn’t deserve his brush-off.
I had no idea how much time passed after he drove away, but people passed me as I stood there. A few asked if I was okay, yet all I could offer was a nod. When I did find the strength to move my legs, my movements were robotic.
When I reached my apartment door, I couldn’t remember how I got there. Everything was a blur; all I kept seeing was the dismissive look on his face just before I climbed out of his car.
I couldn’t sleep that night as my mind came up with reason after reason for his behavior, each one worse than before.
I couldn’t sleep, and the hours passed by torturously slow as I sat on my couch staring at the television, unable to focus on what was playing. At one point I’d grown irritated with the happy demeanor of the characters and pressed Mute on the controller. Soon, I just turned it off.
Once again I found myself staring off into the darkness, with what felt like a permanent knot lodged deep in my stomach.
I jumped when a loud knock ricocheted throughout my apartment, and looked at the clock on the wall in my kitchen. It was a few minutes after two in the morning.
I moved quietly toward my front door and looked through the peephole to find Ashton standing on the other side.
I quickly unlocked each lock, and when I yanked open the door, my stomach dropped. In all the time I’d known him, I’d never seen him look more unsettling. I couldn’t decide what upset me more, the angry look in his eyes or the way his nostrils flared with each breath like he was having a hard time controlling himself.
“All of it was lies,” he said as he held up an envelope. “From the very beginning you’ve lied to me, and for what? So I would fall in love with some illusion you created?”
He took a deep breath and stormed into my apartment. “What kind of fucking game are you playing, Kiera? Kinsley? Whatever the hell your name is.”
At the mention of my real name, I swear my heart skipped a beat. I tried to interrupt him, but he held his hand up and shook his head angrily. Seething, he pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes tightly.
“I’m sorry—”
He moved toward me so fast that I