All In (16 page)

I feel undeserving of her. “I’m so
sorry, baby, I’ve messed up everything.”

“Ashley Elizabeth,” her father says
loudly from the other room, startling us.

“Meet me at the lighthouse,” Ashley
whispers before opening the door. “I’ll figure out a way to get
out.”

I want to tell her no. I don’t want
her to risk getting into any more trouble on account of me, but
even more, I want to wrap her in my arms and let this day fade away
in her kisses. Because I’m selfish like that.

“I’ll be there.”

Ashley

After saying goodbye to Lane my eyes
fill with hot tears. I shut the door, and return to the living room
per my father’s request, readying myself to stand up to
them.

For my entire life, I’ve been the
dutiful daughter. Yes, ma’am, yes, sir. Never talking back, always
being seen but never heard. It’s infuriating. I’m almost eighteen
and they still treat me like a child incapable of making my own
choices, whether it’s about what school I go to, what classes I
take when I get there, which friends I socialize with and most
importantly who I fall in love with.

I want them to hear me, maybe even for
the very first time. Being with Lane has changed me and I never
want to go back to being the girl that lets her parents dictate her
whole life. Because that would be a life without Lane.

“Ashley, sit down.” My father gestures
to the seat Lane had just been sitting in moments before, the
broken glass mostly cleaned up.

“I’ll stand, thank you.” I cross my
arms, purposely being defiant.

I’m still shocked at how the evening
transpired even though I knew it was going to be tense. I just
never imagined it would have turned out like it did. I want to
scream and yell at how they treated Lane, but if I act like a child
throwing a tantrum, that will only result in my parents being
right. I refuse to give them the satisfaction.

My father’s eyes narrow at me. “You
will sit down, right now, young lady,” he says eerily
quiet.

My heart starts to beat double time,
but I hold my ground. “I’ll sit as soon as you apologize for the
way you treated Lane,” I say, jutting out my chin.

My father’s face turns as red as the
glass of wine he’s holding before he sets it down on the coffee
table and takes a deep breath. His face transforms from raw anger
to calm intensity like it does when he’s debating a political foe
and that’s scarier than any amount of yelling.

“You may stand, but that will not
change the fact that your mother and I will do no such thing as to
apologize,” he spits. “That boy is exactly the person we thought he
was. He is going nowhere in life, Ashley, and it seems he’s not
going to Yale either, which doesn’t surprise me in the least.” His
smugness makes the tears pooling in my eyes spill over and run down
my cheeks.

“That race wasn’t even his idea,” I
snap. “It was Andrew’s. And Gregory raced too.” I feel bad for
throwing my brother under the bus, but I’m too desperate for them
to see Lane isn’t just some loser who’s going nowhere in life to
stop myself. He’s no different than their own son and their
favorite golden boy, Gregory.

“I hardly believe that
your brother and Gregory would do anything of the sort,” my mother
says, putting her hands on her hips. “And speaking of Gregory
Chase, I’m sorry, but
he
’s the boy you should be dating.”
I snort. You’re sorry? More like, you’re sorry you’re
not
sorry. “He’s a good
boy from a great family, Ashley,” she finishes and I can’t stop
myself from rolling my eyes.

“Good boy?” A shiver runs down my back
thinking about the way Gregory grabbed me on the beach and what
might have happened if Lane hadn’t shown up. “Hardly.”

“Well then, why don’t you explain to
me why last year I heard nothing but glowing reports about you and
Gregory amongst our friends at the club?

“What does that have to do with Lane?”
I ask, but I’m afraid I already know the answer.

“Don’t believe Kiki Newhall didn’t
delight in telling me Hailey and Gregory are now an item, right
after she got done telling me all about you and Lane gallivanting
in the middle of the night at the club pool. Scantily clad, I might
add.”

Crap. I knew that woman couldn’t
resist gossiping. “Scantily clad?” I say, trying not to blush at
the memory and also trying to cover my butt, so to speak. “It’s
summer, Mother. Would you rather I wear jeans and a sweatshirt to
swim in as opposed to a bikini?” It was practically a bikini. Kind
of.

“While Lane might be an
exciting summer fling, Ashley,” she says dismissively, “you have
made some very poor choices in regards to him, so, let’s not let
him ruin your bright future any further.” She smiles. “Not to
worry, the summer’s not a complete loss, maybe you and Gregory can
still patch things up. It didn’t sound like he and Hailey were
all
that
serious.”

My mother’s tone is so casual at the
idea of me just tossing Lane aside that my mouth falls open. Lane’s
not going to ruin my future. He is my future.

I’m not sure what it’s going to take
for my mother to see Gregory and I are never getting back together,
but for right now, it’s no use. I feel like I’m waging an
unwinnable war and the casualties are going to be far too great. In
a few weeks I’ll be eighteen and then right after that I leave for
school. My only concern now is to make sure Lane is there
too.

“Fine. Believe what you like,” I say
to my mother, my tone sharp. “This is pointless. You two are never
going to change and it doesn’t matter to me anyway, so is there
anything else?” I ask, my pulse racing. I’ve never talked back.
Ever.

My father’s nostrils flare at my
defiance. “You, my dear, are grounded for the rest of the summer
and are not permitted to see that boy anymore. Do you understand
me?”

“You can’t do that!” I yell at them
for the first time in my life, “I’ll be eighteen soon, and I won’t
let you keep me from being with him.”

“As long as you’re under our roof, you
will do as we say,” my father growls.

“Well maybe I won’t be under your roof
for long,” I threaten before running down the stairs, fresh tears
streaming down my face. I won’t get my grandfather’s inheritance
until I’m twenty-one, but Andrew would help me out. I know he
would. They can’t keep me from seeing Lane. I won’t allow
it.

I’m still laying on my bed crying when
my mother comes down to check on me. I don’t want to talk to her or
my father. I want to talk to Lane.

“Ashley, one day you’ll see we are
just looking out for you and your best interests,” she says from my
bedroom doorway. “We’re going to the club for dinner, but we’ll be
back soon and hopefully we can try speaking again when your
emotions are not running so out of control.”

I refuse to acknowledge her. I know
it’s childish, but I could care less at the moment.

I hear my bedroom door shut with a
soft click and then the front door open and close before I throw on
a pair of sandals and slip out the sliding glass door.

Lane stands with his back to me. He
turns around as I brush against the tall sea grass. I give him a
shy, sad smile. I don’t know what else to do or say about tonight.
His eyes seem to say what I can’t, they’re full of regret and
heartache and apologies. But it’s the smile that he gives me back
that captures exactly how I feel about him. It looks like
love.

I blink a few times, watching him
watch me, and I’m suddenly overwhelmed by this boy and the way I
feel about him. I wonder if he can see it in my smile too. I have
fallen completely and wholly in love with him.

I run the last few feet until I’m
cradled in his arms. I nuzzle into him as one of his arms tightens
around my lower back while the other runs up the length of my spine
until his hand is buried in my hair.

“I’m so sorry,” I cry into his
shoulder, my own arms clutched around his waist.

“No, baby, I’m sorry. I messed up
everything,” he says, pulling away slightly so I can see his face.
“I don’t know how, but somehow Yale found out about my arrest, and
they took my scholarship away.” Lane hangs his head. “I didn’t want
to tell you like that. Your parents are right…you deserve so much
more than me.”

How could he think that? He’s
everything I could ever want or hope for. My parents couldn’t be
any more wrong if they tried and right now…neither could
Lane.

I lift up on my tiptoes so I can look
him in the eyes. I need him to see how serious I am. “Please don’t
pay any attention to what my parents think. They don’t know you,
and I’m not so sure they even know me. Lane, I don’t care if you go
to Yale or community college or no college at all. You are all I
want, no matter where we are, no matter what we do. No matter
what.” I give him a smile I hope will convey how much he means to
me, although I’m not sure that is even possible.

“You mean it?” Lane asks
seriously.

“I do, with all of my heart,” I
whisper, staring into Lane’s eyes and I do mean it. I’ve never been
so sure of anything in my life.

Lane moves his hands to my face and
brushes his thumbs across my cheek bones before leaning down and
giving me a soft kiss.

“You are all I’ll ever want too, no
matter what,” Lane says, against my lips, his eyes closed.
“Always.”

Lane

Pete hands me a twenty and slips the
other twenty into his pocket. “That Stay just tipped me forty bucks
on your detail job. Nice work, bro.”

“That’s cool,” I say, shoving the cash
in my wallet. I finish the interior of a ridiculously nice Audi A8,
that still has its new car scent, then toss the rag on the counter
and admire my work. Damn. The car looks awesome.

I’ve been pulling double shifts at the
club all week trying to figure out what in the hell I’m gonna do
now that Yale is a no go, and it’s helped keep my mind off how long
it’s been since I’ve seen my girl.

Ashley’s parents haven’t let her out
of their sight since that giant disaster of a night that was
meeting the folks.

We’ve managed to sneak in a few late
night conversations when Andrew’s been home and loaned her his
phone, but it’s been killing me not to see her, or hold her, or
kiss her for so long.

I can’t believe how different my life
was just a couple of weeks ago and how quickly it all can change. I
didn’t even realize she was what was missing in my life. Now, she’s
like air to me and the absence of her is suffocating.

“Hey ,Vic,” I call out over the noise
of vacuums and music filling the garage.

“Yeah, man?”

“I’m outta here. Thanks again for
switching my schedule around,” I say, clocking out and feeling
excited for the first time in almost two weeks.

“No problem. Have fun in the city,
man.”

As I run to my car, I pull out my cell
to finish up some last minute preparations for my trip to Boston in
the morning.

“We’re golden. See you at eight am
sharp, brother,” Andrew says before hanging up.

Perfect.

…

Squinting against the bright morning
sun, I sip my coffee and wait for Andrew. The ferry line is filling
up quickly which doesn’t surprise me. The Fourth of July weekend
always makes for high traffic on and off the island.

Andrew honks his horn as he pulls in
line next to me, but the only thing I can focus on is the way
Ashley’s face lights up when she sees me.

“What’s going on?” she asks after
throwing open her door and practically flinging herself into my
arms. I hold her tight as I stumble backwards and for the first
time in what feels like forever I can breathe.

“What’s going on is mom and dad think
you and I are going to the city for the fireworks show, but really
I’m meeting up with some friends, and we’re taking Chad’s parent’s
jet to Atlantic City while you two love birds hang in Boston for
the next two days,” Andrew says with a wink.

Ashley looks back and forth between us
like she’s still trying to wrap her mind around what Andrew’s just
said.

“Really?”

“Really,” I say, picking her up and
spinning her around in a circle while she squeals so loud it makes
me flinch and laugh simultaneously.

The sun washes over her face and makes
her eyes sparkle while we wait on the mainland dock for Andrew to
disembark after the short ferry ride from Martha’s Vineyard to
Woods Hole.

“I still can’t believe you two did
this,” Ashley says, smiling up at me as the wind whips her hair and
sugary scent all around me. It reminds me of being on the carousel
on our second first date when I buried my hands in her hair and
kissed her for the first time. I lean down and kiss her again
feeling my heart race the same way it did the first time and every
time I’ve kissed her since.

“Alright. Alright. Can you two at
least wait until I’m outta here? You’re still my little sister, ya
know,” Andrew says, grinning at Ashley.