Chapter Twenty-Five
What is he doing here? How am I supposed to concentrate with him sitting on the grass, watching me? I can’t even move my feet. My body isn’t responding to my brain. Probably because my brain is thinking Ash, Ash, Ash. He’s staring at me, looking more uncomfortable than I felt at the football game last week when I poured my heart out to him. The game. Liz’s lips on Ash’s. I’ve forced the image from my mind for two days now. Tried to think about anything else, and now it’s back. A tear runs down my cheek.
“Flannigan!” Coach Moyers yells. I tear my eyes away from Ash. Coach calls time and waves me over to the fence. I’m able to move now, but my eyes stay focused on Ash. Coach turns to see what the problem is. “Oh, come on. Are you seriously going to blow this match over a guy?” I don’t respond so he goes on. “Flannigan, look at me. Look at me.” I swallow hard and meet his eyes. “You’ve worked too damn hard to throw everything away now. This is it. Senior year. You only get one shot at this girl, at a state title. This guy will still be here when the match is over.”
Will he? I’m still not sure why he’s even here. I glance at Ash again. He nods toward my opponent and mouths, “You can do this.” He’s here to support me. Even after everything, he knows how important this match is to me. How hard I worked to get here.
I let out a long, shaky breath. “I’m okay, Coach. Better. I can do this.”
“Good. Now keep your head on straight and give the whole ‘coming in on her serve’ another try.”
“But—”
“Just do it, Flannigan. I got you here. I wouldn’t tell you to do this if I didn’t think you could handle it. Find the girl who was determined to break all the school records this year. Who wanted to make her senior season something we’d all be talking about for years. She’s the one who can win today.”
I nod. Even after Derrick cheated on me, tennis was the one part of my life I never lost confidence in. And now I’m over Derrick. So over Derrick. Noah is gone. And Ash…he’s here to cheer me on. I have to do this. I look at Ash one last time before turning and jogging to my place on the court. I bop up and down, something I’ve learned distracts my opponent, but is still totally legal. I crouch down and sway side to side, waiting for the serve. The girl is completely thrown by my erratic behavior. Her ball toss is off, but she swings anyway. The serve is nowhere near as hard or well placed. I attack. Forget about being patient and wearing her out. I have some aggression that needs to be dealt with. I’m putting all my emotion from the last month and a half into this match.
I slam the ball back at her. Bring it on. I’m ready. She regains a little composure, but my energy level is distracting her. She’s tired. I’m fueled by so many emotions I can’t stand still. And I’m winning because of it. The girl’s coach walks over, watching the match, watching me. He’s looking for a weakness. Not happening. I’m not weak. Not anymore. Not ever again.
I don’t look at Ash or Coach Moyers. It’s just me and the ball. The match is close. Both of us are giving it our all, but this match is mine. I can feel it. We’re both running all over the place, and as tired as I am, I’ve never felt so alive. I’m going to win. I know it. I can see her arm shake as she tosses the ball up for her serve. She’s getting sloppy and before I know it, I’m facing match point.
“Yeah, Meg!” It’s Ash. I falter for a moment at the sound of his voice. Focus. I have to focus. I shake it off and take two deep breaths. My opponent seems to be doing the same because she’s taking longer to serve. She serves down the line, but I’m expecting it. I hit it early, like Coach wants me to, and it goes back at her with such force the ball jams into her body. It bounces off her racket in a terrible mishit, but it will make it over the net. I rush to the net and slam the ball down. She lunges for it, but misses.
I won. I drop to my knees and double over. Tears streak my face. I look up at Coach, who’s thrusting his fist in the air in celebration. My match was one of the few that could’ve gone either way. Now, the team’s win is pretty much guaranteed. I get to my feet and walk to the net. I shake the girl’s hand.
“Nice game, Meg,” she says. I’m surprised she knows my name. The players we face at States aren’t people we usually see in regular season matches. “I’m Liz, by the way.”
Liz? Really? I suppress the urge to laugh at the irony of it. “Nice to meet you, Liz. Good game.”
I grab my racket off the court and walk out the gate. Coach high fives me. “Told you coming in on her serve would work.”
“Yeah, you did. Thanks, Coach. I owe you one.”
“Glad to hear you say that. You can come back next summer and help me work with some of the new girls. It’s going to be difficult to replace you and the other seniors.”
“You got it.” I smile and walk past him.
Ash is standing up, brushing off his pants, and looking really uneasy. I don’t know if I should smile, say hi, or wait to see what he does first. “Congratulations,” he says.
“You came.” Totally lame, but I’m tongue-tied right now.
“This was your big moment, right?”
He never really got to follow tennis since he was always at football practice. I wasn’t sure he even really understood how important this match was to me.
“No game today?” I ask. I’m not sure when football season officially ends.
“JV is playing today. We get the week off. The last game is next week.” He looks down at his shoes.
The conversation is so awkward and forced. Not at all how things with Ash and me used to be. I fidget with my racket strings, trying to find some way to get my nervous energy out.
“Thanks for coming.”
“Meg.” He raises his eyes to mine. “About last weekend.”
I put my hand up to stop him. “It’s okay. I shouldn’t have dumped my feelings on you like that. You and Liz got back together. That’s great. I’m happy for you. I want you to be happy.” I mean it, too. I do want Ash to be happy, even if it’s not with me.
“We’re not back together.”
My heart clenches. “You’re not?”
“Liz can’t make me happy the way you can.”
Am I imagining this? Is he saying what I think he’s saying?
He reaches for my arms. “You’re freezing.” My arms are covered in goose bumps, but they have nothing to do with the chilly fall weather.
“I’m fine. Ash…why are you here?”
“Last weekend you were honest with me. Now, I want to be honest with you.”
I have no idea what he’s about to say. Just because he doesn’t want to be with Liz, doesn’t mean he wants to be with me.
“I didn’t cheat on you with Liz.”
“I know that now.”
“I’m not even sure why I dated her. I guess I thought it was the only way to get over losing you. It was stupid and not fair to her at all.”
“I was pretty stupid, too. I hurt Noah, and I didn’t mean to.”
“Meg…” He steps closer and I can tell he has something else he wants to say. “I still love you.”
My throat closes. Tears tumble from my eyes. Is this really happening? Am I getting Ash back the same day I won my state match?
“I love you, too.”
His lips are on mine the second I get the words out. The familiar scent and taste of spearmint fills my senses. God, how I missed it. How I missed Ash. I wrap my arms around him and deepen the kiss, not caring that there’s a match going on or that there are people staring, including my parents. All that matters is Ash still loves me. The rest of the world falls away. Just like it always does when he and I are together.
***
Ash pushes the picnic basket aside and scoots closer to me on the blanket. “That was the perfect lunch.”
“Thanks. I didn’t really make it though.” I didn’t have time to. After the match I ran home to shower and change. Mom packed the picnic basket for me. She saw Ash and I reunite at the match. She stayed off to the side, letting u
s have our time together. As much as she and Dad wanted to celebrate with me, they knew I needed this more.
“I was talking more about the company than the food.” He traces his finger along my cheek. His touch tickles in a heavenly way. “I missed you, Meg.”
“I missed you, too.” Neither one of us mentions Liz or Noah again. We don’t need to. Our break up isn’t something we want to relive. All that matters is we’re back together now.
I pull the second blanket up higher, cuddling under it and away from the wind. It’s really too chilly for a picnic, but this is our spot. Out on Horseshoe Lake. It will always be our spot. Ash cuddles next to me, wrapping his arms around me. I wouldn’t care if it were freezing right now. In Ash’s arms, I can endure pretty much anything.
“You want to go someplace else? Someplace warmer?”
I snuggle closer to him, wrapping my arms around him. “No place I’d rather be.”
He finds my lips with his, kissing me softly. “I have a present for you.”
I lean back, wrinkling my brow at him. “When did you have time to shop between the match and lunch?”
He shrugs one shoulder. “I kind of bought it before the match, hoping things would go the way they did.” He planned this. Coming to the match, making up, even a present.
“I feel funny not having something for you.”
“You’ve already given me everything I need.” He kisses my lips again. “Besides, when I showed up for your match and saw the necklace,” his fingers rise to touch the garnet and diamond necklace, “I knew I was doing the right thing.”
“It was all I had left of you.”
“You have me now. All of me, for as long as you want me.”
I tug him closer even though there’s no space between us as it is. “I hope you don’t have any plans for a really long time.”
“Only ones that involve you.” He leans down and kisses my neck. I get lost in the feeling, but when he pulls away, he’s holding a small wrapped box.
“Sneaky,” I say, my eyes lighting up. It’s the same wrapping paper he used for my necklace.
“Open it.”
I tear the paper off, revealing a little black velvet box. I remember how I thought my necklace was an engagement ring. If I had known back then everything that was going to happen between Ash and me, I might have felt differently about thinking Ash was going to propose. I lift the box. This time it is a ring. Not a diamond engagement ring, though. A garnet with two tiny diamonds, one on each side. It matches my necklace perfectly.
“I had it picked out to give to you before we went off to college, but I couldn’t wait.”
We haven’t talked about where we think we’ll end up yet. We’d always planned to go to college together though, and I have a feeling it will still end up that way.
“I love it.”
“I had it sized. It should be a perfect fit.”
I take it out and try to slip it on my middle finger. “It’s too small.” My voice is small, too. I don’t want to hurt his feelings when he went to so much trouble.
“No, it’s not.” He takes the ring and slips it on my left ring finger. My heart skips. “It’s not an engagement ring, so don’t worry. But it is a promise ring.”
“A promise ring?” Isn’t that something you give a person before an engagement ring?
“Yeah.” He laces his fingers through mine and kisses my fingertips. “I don’t want to be away from you again, Meg. I know we’re young, and I’m not proposing. This ring is about me letting you know I love you. Today, tomorrow, a year from now. I love you. I don’t see an end in sight.”
“I don’t either.” I stare at the ring for a second and then look into Ash’s eyes. They’re filled with love, love for me. We’re too young to know if this will last, but Ash is right. For us, there is no end in sight. What we have isn’t something that will just go away. This is love. I bring my lips to his and kiss him with every ounce of love I feel inside.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First I have to thank the entire team at Swoon Romance. Mandy Schoen, you are an amazing editor and so much fun to work with.
To my agent, Sarah Negovetich, I appreciate all you do for me and couldn’t be happier to be your client. Thank you for everything.
To the fans who have supported me since the release of my very first book, you have been absolutely amazing, and I wouldn’t be here without you. Thank you a million times over.
I also have to thank my family for their undying love and support. Thank you for being here for me while I follow my dreams. To my writer friends and beta readers, you guys are truly awesome. You keep me sane and make me a better writer.
And finally, thank you to you, my reader. I hope you enjoy my books as much as I enjoy writing them.
ASHELYN DRAKE
Ashelyn Drake is a new adult and young adult contemporary romance author. While it’s rare for her not to have either a book in hand or her fingers flying across a laptop, she also enjoys spending time with her family. She believes you are never too old to enjoy a good swing set and there’s never a bad time for some dark chocolate. She also writes young adult and middle grade paranormal novels under the name Kelly Hashway. Drake is represented by Sarah Negovetich of Corvisiero Literary Agency. Visit her website at http://ashelyndrake.wordpress.com.
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Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Visit Swoon Romance Online
More YA Titles From Swoon Romance
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Visit Swoon Romance Online
More YA Titles From Swoon Romance
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