Page 64 of Broken Headboards

Chapter Twenty-Six

Ashley

“Ashley?”Tess asks me and I snap back to reality.

“Sorry!” I exclaim to Tess. “I got a bit distracted.”

Tess just rolls her eyes and takes a sip of her drink. We decided to catch up for afternoon drinks at Rue 57. Tess figured that she needed to get a chance to unwind after all the chaos.

And I had a present to give her.

But that doesn’t help that I’m just so distracted with…

Well, I think you can take a guess, can’t you?

If you need a hint, then let me just tell you it involves a tall, dark, and handsome billionaire who just so happens to be the CEO of Draper Pierce.

Yes. Taylor John.

The date that we had last night was…amazing.

“Ashley, this is the fourth time this hour that you’ve drifted off into your own world there,” Tess complains. “What’s going on?”

I take a long sip of my cosmo and wonder how I’m going to explain my continual distraction from life caused by Taylor fucking John.

“Is it Taylor John?” Tess asks and I seriously feel like rolling my eyes at life. Or just Tara Starr.

But instead I take another drink.

“It is Taylor, isn’t it?” Tess asks, honing in. “I knew it. What’s going on with you two?”

“Nothing,” I say hesitantly.

Tess snorts. “Bullshit,” she says to me and takes another drink, finishing her Cosmo. “You went a date with him right?”

“Actually we went out last night for teppanyaki,” I say to her and she raises her eyebrows.

“And?” Tess asks me.

“What do you mean, ‘and’?” I ask, not liking where this line of questioning is going.

“Did you fuck him?” she asks, not pulling any punches.

Fuck.

“Since when did you become the alpha male who fucks everything?” I ask her. “What are you going to cum on senior citizens in the pool now?”

Tess just rolls her eyes. “This isn’tMan Vs. Woman,Ashley. Please tell me you fucked that man. I know you want to.”

I can’t help it. I let loose.

“I know!” I say to her. “I so want to. But I’m not sure if he wants me!”

Tess recoils from me. “What the hell, Ash!” she yells as another drink is placed in front of her. “That man is crazy over you.”

I’m silent.

“Does he like smell or have bad breath?” she asks me, quieter now.