You Series

ASHLEY

“Hey, Chad,” I said when he picked up my call a few days later.

“Hey, Ash, what’s up?”

“I need you to come over immediately.” I was sure I sounded weird, desperate.

“I’ll be there in ten,” he said, sounding worried.

I paced the living room as I waited for him to arrive. I couldn’t talk to Emma about what had happened with Jake in the library. She was already suggesting that I jump his bones; she wouldn’t be any help talking me out of it.

Chad was just a freshman like me, but he’d said he was living on campus. By now, he might know something about Jake. He must know a reason why it would be a bad idea to date the guy.

When Chad finally arrived, I tried to be polite and make small talk about classes for a few minutes. He understood right away.

“Cut the crap and tell me, what is it?” he said. I grinned sheepishly, telling him everything from top to bottom.

By the time I finished, his jaw was practically hanging on the floor. “Do you mean Jake as in Jake Miller?”

I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion. “Yeah, I guess so. I don’t know his last name.” That’s when it struck me: I didn’t even know the guy’s last name. Chad took out his phone and showed me a pic.

“That’s him!” I shouted in surprise. Wow, Jake looked so hot in a suit. The picture was next to an article about some charity event thing. I shook my head and looked up at Chad.

“Oh my god, I cannot believe you don’t know who that is. Jake Miller is the son of Kevin Miller, who owns more than a hundred hotels and restaurants all over the world.

“He’s totally famous, Ash. He’s all over the gossip sites all the time. I cannot believe you didn’t know that.” Chad laughed nervously.

I was in total shock. I obviously didn’t know. Why would I be researching some hotel owner, let alone that guy’s son? I certainly didn’t care about celebrity gossip.

Chad went on, “I mean, I’m as new to the school as you are, but from what I’ve heard, all the girls on campus throw themselves at Jake and he’s never shown any interest in any of them.”

He gave me a small smile. “It’s no wonder that he’s interested in you, though, Ash. You’re beautiful and smart and you must be lucky.” He sounded genuinely happy for me and squeezed my hands.

“I don’t know, Chad. I’m not interested in some famous rich guy,” I lied through my teeth, not meeting his eyes.

“The hell you aren’t. Isn’t that why you called me to come over? You wanted to grill me about Jake Miller?” Chad smirked. Busted.

“Okay, fine. I might be a teeny tiny bit interested in him, but I’m not gonna do anything about it,” I stated dryly. “I don’t want to date anyone right now, and I have too much self-respect for something casual. Plus, he’s way out of my league.”

“You must be crazy,” Chad said kindly. “I just told you, any guy should be so lucky. That very much includes Jake Miller.

“Now, stop complaining and give him a call. There’s no harm in knowing a person, right? And you did mention the possibility of being ‘friends.’” He air-quoted the word “friends.”

“Okay. Maybe later.” I tried to brush it off like it was no big deal. “Anyway, did you want to hang out for a while, watch a—”

“Tell me everything after you talk to him. Right now, I’m gonna head out. I’m having dinner with Tracy,” Chad said quickly, standing up to leave.

“When did she come visit from Boston?” I asked, confused. “I’m sorry, you totally didn’t need to come listen to me whine while your girlfriend’s in town.”

He reached for the door, then frowned and turned. “Facetime dinner with Tracy,” he corrected with a nervous laugh.

I laughed and waved him goodbye. It was nice to see him taking his relationship seriously even if it was long distance. Tracy was a lucky girl.

After giving it much thought I decided to send Jake a simple text.

I pressed Send and set my phone aside. I didn’t get a reply immediately, so I decided to try and do some homework.

“Hey, Ash, I have good news and bad news.” Emma came in and sat on the couch with a huge grin on her face. “I’m moving in with Justin!”

I screamed in joy. “About time, girl!” I hugged her tightly.

“I know it’s not that long into the school year, and I did promise your mom I’d take care of you. Are you sure you’re gonna be okay living here alone? We can post ads for roommates.” Emma was concerned about me as usual.

“I’m so happy for you, Em,” I assured her. “I’ll pay the whole rent; it’s not a big deal. And I can take care of myself, so stop worrying.”

“No way, you’re only paying me half the rent even if we don’t find you a roommate,” she said firmly.

I decided to convince her later. We had bigger stuff to talk about for now. “I’m gonna miss you so much!” My eyes glistened with tears.

“Aww, me too. Stop making me cry.” She hugged me again. “But I’m still gonna come here most days, so no worries. Now, tell me what happened after that date with Mr. Brown Eyes last weekend. Don’t think I’ve forgotten.”

“Umm…where do I start?” I chuckled and told her what I’d just learned from Chad.

“O…M…G! He is totally smitten and also famous; how cool is that?”

“What do I do, Emma?” I whined like a puppy.

“What does your heart say?” she asked.

“To talk to him. Get to know him. Kiss him…you get the idea, right? My heart is a slutty bitch.”

She laughed. “Listen to your heart, babe. It’s not like I’m telling you to fall in love with him; I know what you’ve been through, and I know it’ll take time to open up to someone new. Just let loose for once.” She rubbed my hand comfortingly.

“What if he finds out I’m dating someone?” I looked up to meet her gaze. It was the first time I’d voiced this particular fear out loud.

“He is not in your life anymore. He has no way of knowing anything about you. Just forget about him,” she assured me. “Let’s go out for something to eat. Come on.” She dragged me off the couch.

“All right, I’m coming.” I laughed and got up, totally forgetting my phone in the couch cushions.

Emma and I had a really nice roomies’ night out and made plans to move her out over the weekend. I kept reaching to check my phone and then remembering that I’d left it at home. Once we got back, sure enough, there was a text from Jake.

I ran to my room and jumped on my bed, smiling giddily as I opened the text.

I could imagine him smirking while sending this. I stared at the keyboard for a minute, not knowing what to text back.

I got a reply immediately. Shit!

I tried to flirt pathetically, jumping when my phone dinged again.

I had a huge grin on my face.

I pressed Send, then regretted it immediately. God, he must think I’m dumb. Who goes around telling people they’re famous?

My phone starting to ring. Shit! I answered the call with shaky hands.

“Hey, you.” Oh, wow, his voice sounded so fucking hot.

“Hey,” I replied shyly.

“So, I take it you know who I am. When did you find out?” I hope he didn’t think I was some kind of creep who was going around asking about him.

“Uhhhh…Chad, a guy from my class. He told me today,” I replied nervously.

“So you’ve been asking around about me,” he said in a playful tone. I remained silent, mortified.

“You could have asked me anything you wanted to know; I’m ready to tell you anything about myself.

“I didn’t tell you about me being famous—or rather, my dad being famous—because I didn’t want you to look at me any differently. I liked how shy and cute you were around me.”

I squealed with happiness inside. Holy fuck! He called me cute.

“I’m sorry for not asking you directly,” I blushed, knowing he wouldn’t be able to see.

“It’s okay. I want to get to know you, Ash. You aren’t like other girls I’ve met.”

I couldn’t stop smiling. Why was I fighting this so hard? Alex was back in LA. He couldn’t hurt me. And here was a gorgeous, sweet guy who just wanted to hang out with me. I thought about it for a while before I spoke again.

“All right. Let’s get to know each other. But I need to take it slow; we can be friends first,” I suggested.

He chuckled, which was like music to my ears. “Your wish is my command, milady. Meet me outside the library after your class tomorrow.”

“My classes finish at two, and I have work after that,” I replied.

“I know that. But you can take a late shift at the coffee shop, right?” he suggested, making my eyes go wide in shock.

“How did you know I work at a coffee shop?” I asked.

“I have my ways, Ms. Albright.” Okay, he knows my last name too. And here I’d been thinking he wouldn’t even notice if I ignored him. Clearly he’d been asking around about me a lot more than I’d been asking about him.

“Okayyyyy.” I dragged my voice out, unsure of what to say next, earning another chuckle from him. “I’m gonna sleep; see you tomorrow?” It came out as a question.

“Am I that boring?” he asked in a fake-hurt tone.

“No! I didn’t wanna seem boring.” I laughed nervously, playing with the ends of my sleeve.

“You aren’t boring. Not to me,” he said seriously. I blushed again.

“All right, I’ll let you go to sleep now,” he said warmly. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Meet me outside the library.”

I did want to sleep, but I was disappointed to end the conversation. “Of course…good night.”

“Good night, Ash.” I heard a click.

I was looking forward to tomorrow. But at the same time, it was scary how happy I was. This kind of happiness felt dangerous.

I sighed and pulled up the covers. I did want to let myself be happy, even if it was only for a while before something bad happened. I fell asleep, thinking about a certain someone with chocolate-brown eyes.