Page 29 of Fractured Mind
Good to hear. Have a good sleep and I’ll see you tomorrow.
Goodnight, Ashton.
CHAPTER
TEN
MIA
I slept betterlast night once Ashton texted me that he was okay, but his personal questions about my love life petrified me. I wince as I remember pleading for him to stay yesterday, but the thought of him getting bloody and beaten makes my heart sink.
Nana walks past me, grabbing her purse off the table. She’s wearing a black three-quarter skirt with an elegant cashmere top.
“You look amazing. Where are you going?”
“I’m having high tea with friends. What are your plans for today?”
“Ruby mentioned going on a boat.”
She frowns. “You’ll be careful, won’t you?”
I give her a small smile. “I will.”
As the entrance door closes, my phone vibrates with a message from Ruby.
You wearing your white swimsuit today?
No!
Lol! I’ll meet you at the pier. Ashton should be there any moment to pick you up.
While I’m waiting, the piano catches my eye and draws me to it. When I reach it, I graze my fingers along the dark wood. The wordBluthneris on the fallboard. It’s hard to believe I was once good at playing this. My shoulders droop as the familiar tightness in my chest resurfaces. I wish I could remember... just something... anything about my past.
“Hey.” A deep voice makes me jump. The moment I spot Ashton, I hurry toward him, scanning his face for injuries. He has a split lip, but apart from that, he looks fine.
His lips curve into a smirk. “Worried about me, were you?”
“Maybe,” I say, acting coy though I was low-key terrified.
He peers at the piano. “Why don’t you try playing?”
So I don’t see the sympathy on his face, I turn my head away. “Because it won’t be any different.” What’s the use of trying only to be disappointed?
We go outside and hop into his car. On the way, I bop my head to the metal song coming through the speakers. I recognize the band—Sleep Token.
Ashton laughs. That smile... holy crap. It’s growing hotter in this car by the second. Clearing my voice, I say, “What’s funny?”
“I didn’t expect you to like this type of music.”
I shrug. “I like all different genres of music.”
When we pull up in the parking lot, I swallow hard at the rowdy people that fill the lake, both in water and on boats. The boats are docked side by side, with music blasting. The girls are wearing bikinis, the guys, shorts.
As I follow Ashton, I’m eyeing all the activities taking place on the lake. The largest, by far, is the slide. There are also people in giant see-through inflatable balls, and closer to the shore, it looks like people are playing a game on a floating Ping-Pong table.
We walk to the end of the pier to the largest boat. It’s modern, white with dark-tinted windows, and two stories high. A tiny noise comes from my throat at how wealthy they are.
“Mia!” Ruby squeals while holding up two pink drinks. “I made us cocktails,” she says while doing a little dance, swaying her hips left to right. “Yours is a mocktail, obviously.”