We'll Kiss Again

Date with...Asher? (Chapter 23)

ASHER'S POV

"Asher, please tell me you did not just spit into that chicken primavera," the head chef, Steve, eyed Jason the prat's plate suspiciously.

I smirked at him. "Of course not, that would be wrong of me."

The chef walked over to our serving counter and poked the chicken with his fork, lifting it up. He sighed when he saw the spot of spit. "I cannot believe how unprofessional you are," he shook his head and threw the perfectly good plate of chicken into the trash. "I'm going to make another plate and this time you'd better not do anything to it or there will be consequences," he warned.

I sighed. My dad and Steve were best friends. They'd met in Los Angeles when my dad had been conducting a business deal. He had been eating out at some posh restaurant with his possible business partners and the food he was served was so good, he demanded to see the chef. He hired Steve to be his personal chef whenever he went on business deals, allowing Steve to quit his low paying job at the fancy restaurant. Eventually the two partnered up and opened a business, the Vandoir. They instantly became buddies. I had been working here since we moved, something Ashley would have known if she would have bothered to get to know me better.

Ashley only cared about herself. I realized that now. She was always crying because she was the nerd no one cared about, she was the one always 'bullied' by Emma when no one was looking. She was the only one in the world that suffered.

News flash- life did not revolve around her.

If she would have opened her eyes and realized Emma and I were just friends, she and I would have still been together. Jason the prick would have been out of the picture, I would be going to the dance with Ashley, and life would have been all fine and dandy.

But no.

She claimed I was the one who never trusted her, except she didn't realize how hypocritical she was. She never trusted me to not cheat on her. Her intuitiveness would have saved her earlier in our relationship.

My plan to win over her heart and then make her my friend-with-benefits had been going pretty well...at first. The whole chivalry act worked well with her. Giving her flowers on our fake date with mom had been a great idea. She completely fell for the whole I-want-to-change-my-ways-and-not-break-girls-hearts-anymore act too. Please. Give me a break. Like that would ever happen. After I almost killed her though, things changed. She DROWNED. I realized it wasn't fun and games at that point anymore. Ashley trusted me to be there for her and protect her. And trust was dangerous.

Call me whipped, but after I got to know her, I realized she was a great girl. We started seeing each other more often. We usually went to the movies together. I wanted to work up to a point where I could kiss her and not freak her out. After she lost her necklace I just wound up trying to reassure her and we kissed. We started dating and the next two weeks were great.

Then Emma showed up.

Ashley went crazy with jealousy and we had to cut things off early. Honestly, I'm a little surprised she got over me so quickly. I thought our relationship was stronger than that. I don't want to admit it, but I'm still not over her. I want to work things out. Jason's a good for nothing dick, but no one except for me seems to notice. Not only is Ashley infatuated with him, but so is Emma.

Speaking of the latter, something was up with her. She'd been avoiding me lately and we almost never talked anymore. And that was saying something considering we lived together. Every time I tried to approach her, she found a way around me.

"Asher, the food's getting cold."

I snapped out of my thoughts and picked up the tray of food, carrying it out into the main area. Doing my best not to glare at Jason, I handed him his chicken primavera and then Ashley her eggplant parmesian. I knew that the best way to win Ashley over was to not ruin her date and show her I was responsible and a better choice than Jason. "Is there anything else you two need?"