05

“Hell, no ! I never wanted to fix you up with Kyra. It was dad and Rachel’s idea,” Jake admitted and looked as if he had made the mistake of his life by revealing such a secret.

“Aha ! So you admit that it was part of the plan ?” Ashton cried out too happy to have discovered their sordid affair.

Jake appeared guilty as hell. “Well, they have thought about…”

“Hell ! I knew there was something fishy going on here. I can still remember the last time they locked us in a room for two whole hours ! I’m so going to throw that in their face now.”

“Ash, listen. Don’t do anything foolish okay ?”

Ash frowned. What did his friend mean by that ? He asked him the question and Jake sighed resignedly.

“I don’t know. I know you. You will try something out of the norm just to prove that you are not going to be defeated. But you know you will eventually love the woman dad has chosen for you and before you realize…”

“Hell ! No way !” Ash cried out in fury. The damn old man was really out of his mind if he thought he would marry the woman of his choice. He had not given anyone the right to interfere in his personal matters and would never allow it to happen.

“Welcome to the club pal.” Jake said in a sympathetic voice. “I think I have a solution for you.” He said finally taking pity on his friend’s state and ash cocked his eyebrows at him in question. “But you’ve admitted to be attracted to Selena and..”

“I’ve admitted no such thing !” Ash protested. He was confused.

“Okay ! You hate her ?” Jake asked and Ashton was surprised he needed such confirmation. What the hell ? Wasn’t it obvious ?

“Of course I do !”

“And there’s no way in hell you are going to fall for her or vice versa ? Right ?” Jake asked and Ash frowned at him not having a clue where he was trying to get.

“Yes, dude. Hell, even the thought of kissing her has sent me in my hibernate mode, if you know what I mean !” Ash said in his mocking voice although he knew it was an outright lie. The thought of kissing Miss McKenzie had done the exact opposite ; it had sent his libido into action and he was trying his best not to show his discomfort to his best friend.

He was damned if he admitted that he was attracted to Selena. Everybody would make such a fool out of him and it was not as if he fancied her. Sexual chemistry always had the bad timing of being present where it was least expected and Ash was not going to make a big deal out of it.

Jake grinned at him in glee. “Then my dear brother, your problem is solved ! There is no way my father is going to win this time.”

Now he was talking !

Ash was interested now. He was sure his friend had finally found a way out for him and they were finally able to get to something. If Devin thought he would accept marrying Kyra Hart, the bride of his choice without a fight, he could think twice ! Even if his best friend had married, he knew it would be a terrible mistake for him to do so. He was a free bird liked to live dangerously and marriage would change his whole lifestyle something which he wasn’t prepared at all. And the thought of committing to one woman for his entire life gave him goose bumps of disgust if ever such a thing existed !

Hell, he had not even been impressed at the sight of the baby at the hospital one month ago as the others had been. Ashton Cooper was not one to go goo-goo eyed over as insignificant thing as a baby. He was simply not husband or dad material and would never be.

He had always thought that Selena was a piece of art like he was and when she had cried at the sight of the baby, he had been disappointed. And there he was thinking that he had finally met a female version of himself ; his match.

Even if his parents had tried their best to give him familial stability and had been very much in love with each other. It was against his maverick nature, he sometimes wondered. Domestic life was not his cup of tea and the sooner the others realized that, the better off he will be.

“Yeah ? Pray tell,” he mocked feeling excited for the first time in months.

Selena sat peacefully in the living room of the Crightons watching her sister hyperventilating. For the past half an hour she was in a horrible state and Selena was getting worried.

“What’s wrong Rach ?” she asked her sister for the umpteenth time while she sat there looking stunned, no make that dumbstruck.

“He’ll…he’ll… be late,” she stammered staring at her as if she’d just seen a ghost.

“Is it Jake ? Has something happened to him ?” she asked sensing that something was deeply bothering her. In response to her question, Rachel began to babble several words at the same time and she could only make out that somehow Ashton was involved.

“Why don’t you calm down and start over ?” she suggested in a gentle voice, determined not to get angry because Rachel was so upset.

“Honey, I swear I had no idea…” she delivered in a small voice and looked at her pitifully.

Oh-oh. She already had a premonition that it was all about ; she wasn’t going to like it. “No idea ? About what ?”

“About Ashton coming home tonight for dinner,” Rachel finished in an even smaller voice than before.

Ok, Selena. You should have guessed it would be something like that. There was no way she could avoid seeing that monster forever but now was not the time to face him. She already had her own demons to deal with as it was. Trying to keep her composure, she handed the sleeping baby back to his mother and frowned at her sister accusingly.

“Please, Selena,” Rachel said refusing to take the baby back. “Listen to me. I’m sorry. No really,” she added on seeing the expression on Selena’s face.

“I swear, totally, absolutely swear that I had no idea he was coming. I know how much you hate him and want to avoid him. I have asked Jake not to call him when you are home but he wanted to show him something and…” she pronounced solemnly looking not any younger than eight years old.

“Rachel, I’m going back home.”

“Ok, ok. I can understand your reluctance.”

“Reluctance ?” she echoed loudly, ready to explode but sobered at the look in her eyes.

“Let me finish, please,” she said.

Selena sighed and signaled her to go on.

“We were supposed to have a friend of mine to dinner tonight, Heather Knight. You know her, don’t you ? She was with me at the university.”

“The one who wore her hair like a hedgehog ?” Selena mocked, knowing she was acting like a bitch but could not help herself.

Rachel glared at her and nodded. “Yeah, the very one. Well, we had invited her over and we were trying to fix her up with Ashton and…”

“Fix her up ?!!” Selena shrieked letting out a loud laugh. “As in a blind date ? Hah ! What a nice pair they would make. The Hedgehog and the Dog !!!”