Love Me Again

Chapter 7 - Land yourself a fine man

Chapter 7 – Land yourself a fine man

"Am I not attentive? Caring?" Sean asked indignantly, rising from his seat and looming over her.

"Why are you getting angry?" Ashley quickly backed away, but she could not go far with the couch at her back. She yelped when he suddenly caged her between his arms.

"You are my wife!"

Pissed, Ashley yelled, "Not any longer! We are divorced!"

"I never agreed to it!"

Ashley gaped at his outburst. Never once was she afraid of him. Sure, she knew he could be unreasonable when his possessiveness was triggered, but not to this extent.

But his current appearance made her feel a sliver of fear. His eyes had turned darker than their usual dark brown eyes, and his face was red in anger. His fists looked painful with how tight they were clenched up, so forceful that his knuckles turned an alarming shade of white.

Surely he would not kill her like those obsessive boyfriends did to their ex-girlfriends after a bad breakup, right?

Sean suddenly recoiled and backed away from Ashley, holding his head as if it hurt. "Sorry, I don't mean to scare you."

"Are you alright?" Ashley pushed away her discomfort and approached Sean in concern. He was still a patient, and he was holding onto his head.

"Just a bit of a headache. Let's have our lunch." Sean gave her a charming smile and pulled her into the kitchen, ignoring her probing. Seeing that there was no more pain in Sean's face, Ashley no longer cared about it.

When the lasagna was served, Ashley greedily inhaled the delicious smell of Betty's cooking, and Sean laughed at the sight.

Ashley hated herself for still being able to cheer up upon hearing his engaging laughter. She could still remember clearly how she would make a fool of herself just to get him to laugh, but after their honeymoon, he would not laugh, much less give her a genuine smile.

As if he no longer cared about what she did anymore.

"Hey, what's on your mind?" Sean asked softly, and Ashley quickly blinked rapidly so that the tears that threatened to leak out would dry off.

"Nothing!" Ashley said, but it was a little too cheerful that it sounded unnatural. She grimaced, as she doubted he would not notice it. "I'm starving!"

Ashley quickly started to eat their dinner to avoid any conversation, but accidentally caught the look in his eyes and swiftly ended their eye contact, pretending that nothing was wrong.

"Let's go somewhere later."

Ashley was curious where Sean wanted to go, but unfortunately, they could not go. "Can't."

"You have plans?"

"Yeah. I invited Kyle over."

"Why?" Sean demanded curtly, not at all pleased to hear it.

"Your parents, wife, and best friend are not around, so it has to be Kyle that can help trigger your memories since he knows you pretty well."

"Why don't you just admit you invited him over just so you could seduce him?" Sean sneered.

"Why should I waste my effort on a man that isn't straight?" Ashley retorted with an eye roll as she continued eating the lasagna.

When silence greeted her, she raised her head and saw a surprising scene. Her words had apparently rendered him speechless.

At the stark disbelief shown in his eyes, Ashley said a few more words with a knowing smirk. "He even told me who he's interested in. If only you were currently single, you could have land yourself a fine man."

"Are you saying he's interested in me?" Sean asked, still shaken from the shocking reveal.

Ashley nodded. "I would love to play wingman for him, but that wouldn't be fair to your wife. I find it strange that there aren't any photo frames around. Maybe there is a DVD here that records your wedding ceremony-"

"Ashley," Sean said tersely, stopping her from continuing. "Did he really tell you that?"

Ashley shrugged carelessly. "Well, he was rather forward about it and not at all embarrassed to tell me what he thought about you. He did praise you for being a perfect gentleman for lending him your books and that your cold politeness is rather attention-grabbing."

At Sean's horrified look, Ashley had to cover her mouth to stop herself from laughing. "Oh, come on. Kyle is pretty good looking, even more handsome than Mason and you."

Her words shifted his attention. "You think he's good looking?"

Ashley faked a gasp. "Do you think he's handsome too? Kyle would be so happy to know this!"

"You are not going to tell him anything!" Sean snarled threateningly, knowing that Ashley would do that just to cause trouble for him.

Ashley finally burst out laughing. "Look at your face! Don't worry, I doubt Kyle would be a homewrecker when you already have a wife that will return soon."

"You are the only one that I have feelings for," Sean asserted.

The smile on her face disappeared. "No, Sean. That was four years ago. Now the only one you have feelings for is Jean."

"I don't-"

The sound of the doorbell saved Ashley from forcing herself not to lash out at his denial and ignorance. As long as he still had amnesia, the situation would not change.

"That must be Kyle."

The main reason for inviting Kyle over was to help Sean recover his memories. Kyle could help by telling him some memories that he shared with Sean. But of course, Ashley did have another motive for calling him over. She was hoping to get more information on the secretive Jean, as there was not even a single picture of her around the house.

She was just curious about the woman Sean had married. Jean must be a beautiful woman since Sean was famous among the ladies, and it would be foolish not to pick the best among the eager fishes in the sea.

In the past, Ashley was truly surprised when Sean asked her out the first time. He asked her, the next-door girl type, out for a date. She had even once thought that he wanted to date her because he liked her father's cooking since he was a newly frequent customer of their restaurant.

That thought only appeared once before it was squashed by common sense.

Ashley welcomed Kyle, who grinned at her before giving her a friendly hug. "Hello, Ashley."

"Hi."

She returned his hug, but he was too busy staring at Sean, who had followed behind her, to notice it. Ashley did not blame him, for Sean was currently sporting a strange look on his face.

"Hey, bro." Kyle was the first to speak after he was invited to take a seat in the living room.

"...Hey," Sean returned a little awkwardly.

Ashley suddenly smiled way too brightly, and she made sure that Sean saw it before she turned that smile towards Kyle. "The reason why I called you here is that Sean wanted to ask you something."

"What is it?"

Sean flashed her a glare, afraid that she would say nonsense about Kyle liking him. "It's no longer important," he said with a dismissive tone that she had grown to hate.

Initially, Ashley used to like it since he often used it in his work just to spend more time with her. But it had immediately changed when he used it on her more than once after their honeymoon.