Missing in My Life (Fourth Book in Life Series)

Chapter 11

Anything worthy having is worth fighting for.
~ Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Luke

It takes about a week before we go back to school. Ash and I have decided to keep the the things we did during the hurricane a secret. Her family came back from D.C. a couple days after the storm blew over. I think her dad still thinks that Ash and I despise each other. But we don't. It's the complete opposite. I love her. 

I park my truck towards the front of the school parking lot. I grab my backpack from the passenger seat before locking up the truck and heading into the building. I see Ash from the corner of my eye talking with Poppy. I can't help but look at her longingly. Jason walks up to me and I notice that he is furious. "Rumor has it that you were with Ash during the hurricane." He says with anger. 

"Yeah. So?" I ask. 

"Just for your information, Ash is mine. Not your's, mine." He replies, his voice filled with venom. 

"She can choose who she wants to be with." I argue. 

"Stay away from my girl, Fitzgerald!" Jason practically yells. 

"Or what?" I argue. 

"Or I will tell her about your part in her mother's death." Jason replies. I am at a loss of words. "I will tell her that you were in the other car, the car that swerved into Ash's mother's car. I will tell her everything. Unless you want her heart broken and for her to hate you for the rest of your life, I strongly recommend that you stay away from her." 

"...Fine." I reply with sadness filling my heart. 

"You have twenty-four hours to essentially break up with you, or I tell her." Jason says before walking away. 

After school, I head into the barn at Ash's family farm to feed the horses. It is starting to rain outside and the air is cold. Ash enters the barn with a giant grin. "Hey, Hot Stuff." She says, giving me a kiss on the cheek. 

"Hi, Ash." I say, knowing that I am about to break her heart. "We need to talk." I say. 

"About what?" She asks sweetly. 

"I don't think that we should do what we are doing." I begin. 

"Like we shouldn't see each other secretly, we should make it public?" She asks in confusion. 

"I don't think we should see each other at all." I correct. 

"What? Why?" She asks. I see tears flooding her eyes already. 

"I think that we are better off not together." I say not wanting to say it. 

"No." Ash refuses. 

"I am doing this because I love you, Ash." I say. 

"If you loved me, even just a little, you wouldn't be doing this, Luke Fitzgerald. If you loved at all, you wouldn't be breaking my heart into a million pieces." She argues. 

"I love you, Ash. I love to the moon and back a billion times. But I have to do this. I am doing this because I love you." 

"Please don't do this." Ash says, the tears falling down her rosy cheeks. 

"I love you, Ashton. More than you know. I love you so much but I have to do this." 

"Don't." She says. 

"Goodbye, My Sweet Ashton." I whisper. "Just know that I love you."