But Ash didn’t budge.
“I’ll call the police if you don’t,” she said.
“You won’t,” Ash said. “You wouldn't call them on me.”
“Don’t challenge that,” she said breathlessly. “Don’t do it. I’m capable of a lot when it matters. Just leave, Ash. You never should’ve come here in the first place.”
“Were we a mistake?”
Four words that crashed over her mind and halted it in its tracks.
“What?” she asked.
“Were we ever a mistake? In your eyes, do you think I’m a mistake?”
“No,” she said. “You could never be a mistake. You helped me get through one of the darkest heartbreaks I’ve ever experienced.”
“You want to focus on the bad, and I get that,” he said. “But we had a lot of good too. Are you going to discard that because of this bump in the road?”
“It isn’t a bump in the road, Ash. You humiliated me. Twice. To my face.”
“And those are actions I completely own up to, Kallie. And I admit, I had you on a bit of a pedestal. In a way, I idolized you. I held you to an unfair standard, but you have to admit that you did the same with me.”
“What?” I asked. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“I was a rebound. And then I wasn’t. I went from being a rebound to being someone who outweighed your ex in every form.”
“Just to point this out, it doesn't take much to outweigh James at this point,” I said.
“All I’m getting at is that I believe the good we experienced together still outweighs the bad.”
“Then you’re the only one that believes that,” she said. “Because I don’t.”
Chapter 10
Ash
Ash didn’t like what Kallie had to say, but he wasn’t leaving here without a proper conversation. Or at least a genuine fight. He knew he was in the wrong and he would admit that as many times as he needed to, but he wasn’t going to let Kallie paint him to be this villain. He was broken, sure. Hesitant to a fault. But he wasn’t a villain. He cared about Kallie. He loved her. And she was worth every fight and every struggle and every mountain he had to climb in order to get her back.
“Kallie, I can’t help who I am. I can’t help the fact that the press is obsessed with the rich and famous. Just like you can’t help who you are. I left New York City for many reasons, but one of those reasons was that I hated being treated as if I was special. As if my money garnered me some sort of special privilege that others weren’t worthy of because they didn’t have as much money as me. I’m not bucking against any of your arguments, because they’re all true. But mine are as well. Yours are true, and mine are true.”
“So then we’re at an impasse,” Kallie said.
“No, we’re not. I left the city and went to the island and found the life I wanted to live. The only reason I came back here was because of you. To find you. To ask you for another chance. And I’m still here, in your office, because I’m still asking for that chance.”
“You already got that chance,” she said.
“Then I’m here asking for it one last time. One last time to prove to you that I can be the man you want me to be.”
“It’s not about who I want you to be, Ash. It’s about who you are and who I am.”
“You know what I believe?” he asked.
“What?”
“I believe I saw the real, true, unadulterated Kallie Semple on that island. The vulnerable, playful, throw-caution-to-the-wind kind of girl that lives and breathes within you. That you cover up with this business and this office and those clothes and your words.”
“So what? You want me to run away with you?” Kallie asked.