Want a Kiss I'll Give You a Punch

Chapter 32: Cut All Ties

Ashlyn 

Eyes fluttering open and lips parted agape, I watched Dane leap up from the bed and towards the door. Still trapped in a daze, trying to wrap my head around what was going on, I wobbled when I stood. 

"Dane?" I asked with a squeak.  

Half of his body stood guarded and at post in front of my bedroom door while the other half of his broad towering shoulders blocked me in. My question remained halted in the bottom of my throat when I gazed up at his tense jaws. It was clear that Dane heard something I hadn't, and with the way his fists shook I was afraid to be filled in on what I missed. Some part of me felt that I would have been better off without knowing, but curiosity nagged. 

With hesitation, I reached out and rested my hand on his shoulder. Like he just remembered that I was standing there, he stared down at me with those bright green eyes a bit startled.  

His face softened when he grasped my shoulders and ushered me back into the room, "How about we stay in here for a bit and then go celebrate Thanksgiving on our own? You need a break from Mike," just like his eyes his voice was incredibly soft, lulling me into a fake sense of comfort, and with his arms, around my shoulders, I was tempted to give into his into his embrace. 

But I shook my head, "What's going on?"  

Persisting, I stepped forward in an effort to peer out the door and walk out to take a look at the commotion myself. However, Dane steadied his hands and held me back, "Ashlyn, please, let's just stay in here for a bit."  

Green fern eyes peering deep into mine, hoping that if his words wouldn't be able to convince me he could communicate his sincerity otherwise, I had to pull away. I had to know. If it involved anything with Mike, I needed to know. Dane was only trying to protect me; I understood that, but he did not have to. Our friendship was the product of a forgery, and though I intended on dropping everything that came in connection with Mike once everything was over I will only let my relationship with Dane stop here. 

Nothing more. I valued him too much to let go, but anything beyond friends was something I could not accept. 

Waking up from my fantasy with continuing anything with Mike was something I had to accept- no matter how painful.  

There wasn't much to say, and Dane knew he couldn't stop me. There was a solemn look to his face when I gazed back up at him, stepping a bit forward and pushing against him to let me through. I knew he didn't want to. His hands on my shoulders remained rigid and incompliant, holding be back from something I would eventually regret, but with one final defeated nod he bowed his head and took a step back.   

I felt bad for denying his good intentions, but I had to find out about what was going on and the closer I walked towards the kitchen the more audible the voices became.  

The original outburst that Dane and I heard in the room earlier whittled down to faint and almost inaudible whispers. 

Mike was one of the two people in the kitchen, no doubt about it, but the other voice was feminine and the cadence of her speech was unforgettable- a unique signature that lingered in memory. Seemed to be ages since I last heard it, but it was so familiar. 

"It was just a one-time thing. It didn't mean anything to me. I wasn't myself then." 

The girl laughed with a smug drawl to her hum, "Mikey, I brought you back. Your tail was between your legs when you walked in to see me. Tame isn't your style, dear." 

"Get the fuck out."  

"You know you don't want me to." 

There was a gentle pause, and in anticipation I drew closer and closer to the entrance with my fingers clutching the archway of the kitchen. Even with my breath held and lungs bursting for air under my pouding heart, there was no other words to be said. The conversation ceased and dissipated into thin air like it never existed in the first place.