What Is Left Unsaid : An Ashley Purdy Love Story

Kaboom !

TIANA'S POV :

      "Are you sure you actually know what you're doing ?", Kelli's voice says through the speaker of my phone . " I mean , yeah , he seems to have grown up some since then , but he DOES still have sort of a questionable reputation ."

     "I know , Kel , and I've kinda been piecing things together from stuff that Scott , and Bri , and everyone else has said . Apparently , some of it has been pretty much blown out of proportion by the media , and all the idiots on the internet . I do have enough sense to be careful , and I have no intention of jumping willy - nilly into bed with him , or anything like that . I'm just going to go out and see how it goes . Besides , if I'm gonna do what we talked about , I kinda need to see where his head is at  , don't you think ?"

     "Yeah , I guess you're right . Just be careful , I remember how he used to be able to talk you into pretty much anything he wanted when we were kids ."

     "Yes , Mommy , I'll be good , I promise !" , I say , in a syrupy - sweet voice , and we both start laughing , just as Ash and Brian walk into the room .

     We say goodbye , and I end the call . "Hey , was that Bonnie ?" , Brian asks . "I could've hollered at Scott ." 

     "No , it wasn't my mom , it was Kelli , giving me the standard lecture ." , I inform him .

     "She still hates me , doesn't she ?" , Ash inquires .

     "No, she doesn't hate you , she's just a bit paranoid . Unfortunately , your public persona is a bit too much like her walking penis of an ex - husband , and it's still kinda fresh . He basically fucked anything that stood still long enough for basically the entire time they were together , but she didn't find that out until they split after she caught him with the most recent one ."

     "The guy sounds like a total douche ." , he observes .

     "Why so surprised , dude ? I remember you and Rick talking about that when I was still in middle school ." , Brian says , and Ash spews the mouthful of beer he was in the process of swallowing .

     "Are you telling me that she married Jackson Littlefield ? Holy fuck , now it makes sense ! That fucker was bad news since grade school . He always had the idea that just because his folks had money , that rules didn't apply to him ."

     Yep , that's Jackoff to a T !" , I reply . "Doesn't work so well for him now , his folks took Kelli's side and cut him off , so now he's either gonna have to man up and do some real work , or end up in jail for non- payment ."

     "Couldn't happen to a nicer guy !" , Ash says , wiping the beer off of the counter , and himself . "But just in case either of you were wondering , I plan on being the very epitome of patience . If this goes anywhere past our respective parties , how far and when are entirely up to you , Tiana . No matter what else people have said about me , they've never been able to accuse me of trying to force someone into something they don't want , and they never will ."

     "I wasn't worried about it , but that's good to know ." , I tell him . "I'm just glad that things are finally on track and everything is sort of normal ."

     "Yeah , me too , especially with your book release and the awards thing . No drama , for a change . " , he laughs .

                                        ________________________________________

The next morning , 

ASHLEY'S POV :

     I wake up to my phone ringing non - stop . Ring , go to voicemail , brief pause , repeat . I grab it and check , and fucking EVERYBODY has been calling me !