Dylan POV
"Are you for real right now?" I ask Savanna as she applies her lipstick. I watch as her eyes go wide, looking at me in the mirror.
"Yes, I am for real, Dylan. What the hell is wrong with you? You know how these things work. I need to go to London. My career depends on it", she says, and I roll my eyes. Career, she doesn't even know the actual meaning of the word. All she does is screw around and live out of her trust fund money.
"You could've said something earlier. We have dinner at my parents' house tonight", I say, and it's her turn to roll her eyes.
"Come on, pumpkin," she says, using the nickname she knows I absolutely despise, "You know I have to go to London fashion week," she finally uses the fashion week as an excuse. She walks towards me and wraps her arms around my neck, pulling me into a kiss.
"Will you miss me?" she asks, and I hate to admit it, but I actually will. I know people see me as a player, but I do like Savanna and would like to stop this nonsense of an open relationship. I like to keep what's mine as mine. But if I do that, I know I will lose her. So I rather have her partially than not have her at all.
My brothers give me the most shit about our arrangement. So I use some girls occasionally to pretend I am seeing someone else while I wait patiently for Savanna to come back and Gove her attention exclusively to me.
Pathetic, I know. But what can I say? I am a hopeless romantic, and I think that someday she will wake up and realize I am her end game, just like I think she is mine. Or so I hope.
"Of course, I will miss you," I say, pulling her to me and kissing her soft lips. Way too quickly, she pulls away from me, peaking at the mirror once more, replying with her lipstick.
"Drive me to the airport?" she asks, and I nod my head. I know I will be late for dinner, but at least I will have a few more minutes with her. I have no clue how long she will be away, and that kills me. I hate being like this. I feel like a love-sick puppy waiting for the attention I crave and never get.
I pull her suitcase out of the room and then carry it down the stairs. Savanna follows me with her hair perfectly in place and her makeup on point. She is beautiful, and I know that every man in the room wants to be with her when she walks around.
The entire drive, she kept her eyes on her phone, taking selfies and posting on I*******m to her followers. After all, everyone wants to know how the upper east side princess spends her time. I have a terrible feeling that she is using me to look good. After all, I am an Ashford, and with my name comes a lot of fame, money, and recognition in the right circles.
When I stop the car, she looks around and smiles. I get out and open her door. I am a gentleman, after all. No woman will open their own door when in my presence. My mother taught me how to treat a woman, and I have every intention of treating them all like the queens they are. Especially my woman.
"Come here, pumpkin, come to say hello to everyone," she says as I grab her ten thousand bags from the trunk of the car. I walk next to her, and she wraps one arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer to her and resting her face against mine. Here we go, the showoff for the camera.
"Hey everyone, I am here with my boyfriend and the love of my life. Isn't he amazing?" She asks her followers while thousand of messages appears on her screen, and she can't even read them. She giggles as she plants a kiss on my cheek, and I do what she expects me to do. I pull her to me and kiss her, and I kiss her like she deserves to be kissed, with passion.
She breaks the kiss and looks at me wide-eyed, and she smiles. "I love you, darling," she says, and I smile back at her. "I love you too," I whisper in her ear, and she pulls her phone away again, facing us, and I can see loads of heart emojis appearing. She ends the live feed and gives me a quick kiss on the lips before she strides to the private jet, taking her to London.
"Call me when you get there," I let out, and she just waves from the steps and gets into the jet. I take a deep breath, get into the car and drive to my parent's house. I am already late, and I bet I won't hear the end of it.
"Sorry I'm late," I say as I enter the dining room and kiss my mom on the cheek. Immediately I greet my dad and shake his head before sitting next to Richard, that is looking like he is daydreaming. He hasn't been the same since my birthday party.
"How are you doing, grumps?" I ask in a failed attempt to get a reaction from him, and I love to taunt my brothers, especially Jude and Richard. They are both too easy to annoy. Richard ignores my question, shoving some food into his mouth.
"So sweetheart, how is that girlfriend of yours?" mom asks, and Richard immediately puts his knife and fork down, looking at me with the most wicked smirk on his face. Bastard.
"Yes, Dylan, how is your girlfriend?" Richard asks, and I can't control my eye roll. It happens way too fast as I bring a wine glass to my lips to try and stop myself from telling him to fuck right off.
"She's in England right now," I let out as the new maid places my plate of food in front of me. My stomach growls, and I realize I haven't had anything to eat since breakfast today. "Thank you," I tell her as I show my most charming smile, and I can tell the girl loves it. Richard shakes his head, going back to eating. That's it, grumps. Mind your own fucking business.
"Hmmm, this is delicious, mom," I say in an attempt to change the subject, focusing my mom's attention on something else.
"What is she doing in England?" Mom asks, and I realize that my attempt failed. I almost choke on my food, and Richard chuckles next to me. I will have my revenge fucker.
"She's working," I let out through greeted teeth. It's not a complete lie. After all, she is representing some brands and doing some stuff, hell I don't even understand what she does, but I know she gets paid to do it.
Mom changes the subject to Mia, and I can finally breathe in relief as the pressure is not on me anymore but on my older brother and his daughter. Mia is the light of my life. That girl makes me smile like no one else in the world. Whenever she is in trouble, she comes looking for me, and I always bail her out.
"I'll bring her over for dinner Sunday night," Richard says, and my mom smiles. Mia is the only granddaughter. They love and spoil her to bits.
Jo POV“I won’t be home for dinner,” I hear my housemate Layla say. I raise my head from the couch as Leo holds me tightly against his chest. He is as curious as I am. We both look at Layla, and curiosity takes over. I stand up and walk towards her.“You’ve got a date?” I ask as I raise my eyebrows, looking at her. All of a sudden, Layla starts laughing, and I look behind me to see my boyfriend pretending to be making out with someone. I can’t help but laugh with her at his pathetic attempt to pretend to have someone making out with him. “Guys, come on, no, it’s a work dinner,” Layla says, and I can’t help but smirk. Right, work. She brings her coffee to her lips, and I watch as she starts to daydream. Work my ass, and she wants to fuck her boss badly. I go back to sitting with Leo. He wraps his arms around my body pulling me close. I am not working today, but he has to go out and meet some friends. I hate when he goes out to meet his old friends, he is an addict in recovery, and th
Dylan POVWaking up alone is really the thing I hate the most. I hate when Savanna travels and leaves me alone. The bed she chose in my house feels so big without her. I roll to the side and hold her pillow towards me, but I can’t remember the last time she actually slept here. I stretch my arms above my head and stand up. I need to man up and stop being a love-sick puppy running around Savanna. Maybe I should act cold towards her, see if it works, and she gives me more attention. After my shower and getting dressed, I grab my phone from charging and call her, but it goes straight to voicemail. I close my eyes, momentarily pinching the bridge of my nose. This woman is going to be the death of me.I walk out of my room, and I can hear Mrs. Alma in the kitchen. She is the best housekeeper in the world. She treats me like her son, and her food is to die for. I dare to say that it’s better than the one I eat at my mom’s house. But I don’t think mom has cooked once in her life. “Good mor
Jo POVI look at myself in the mirror, and I can’t help but smile at what I see. My long hair falls down my back into thick curls, and I am wearing Layla’s red lipstick. I am ready to go back to dating after everything that happened with Leo. I believe in love, and I believe that I can find someone good that will treat me well. The doorbell rings, and I look at my reflection one last time before I go open the door. And there he is, Josh. Wearing a dark gray suit that breathes money. “Hello,” I say as he takes one step toward me and kisses me on the cheek. “You look beautiful,” he says, and I smile. “Let me just grab my purse,” I let out before I walked back into the house and grabbed everything I needed. He is taking me to one of the new and very popular restaurants in Manhattan, and I am not going to lie. I am very excited about it. “Are you ready?” he asks as I come back out, and I nod. I lock the door behind us and follow him to the car outside. “This is Alf, my driver,” he says
Dylan POV“Excuse me, I need to freshen up,” Jo says as she stands up, and I follow her. I stand up, doing button of my jacket, watching as she blushes, looking at me. As I said, I was raised to treat women like queens. Joshua stands after he realizes what I have done and copies me.“I need the restroom too,” I excuse myself following Jo down the restaurant towards the bathroom area. She walks into the lady's room, and I look both ways and notice no one is watching me. I stop her from closing the door and step inside, locking the door behind me. I can’t get caught with Jo in here, not while we both have dates outside.She is the only woman that makes my blood boil more than Savanna, and I have to say that I find that intriguing. I have only met her twice. Once in the hospital and the second time at Layla’s house when I went to vis
Jo POV "Where are you going?" Layla asks me as she opens the door and finds me grabbing my jacket as I pull a suitcase behind me. I look at her shaking my head. "I'm going to see my parents for a couple of weeks," I say, and Layla frowns. "Mom wants me to spend Thanksgiving with them," I say, and she nods. Her eyes go sad, and I regret mentioning this to her. Her mother is a bitch, and her sister has been making things really difficult for her forever. "Have fun," she says, walking past me without even glancing at me. "Layla?" I say, and she stops walking, turning to face me and crossing her arms in front of her chest. "I know we had plans for Thanksgiving, but you have a boyfriend now, a man that kisses the floor you walk on. He is going to ask you to spend it with you, and I know you would say no because
Jo POV Waking up in my childhood room feels different, normal, and good. I roll to the side, looking out of the window, and I smile. I remember the boy that used to live across the road, and his name was Mark. He never liked me, always teasing me and making sure I never had fun when he was around. My mom used to say he was treating me like that because he had a crush on me. That’s so wrong to think that a boy mistreated a girl because he liked her. I roll on my back, resting both my hands on my stomach, and I close my eyes feeling the tears burning. Memories from my past come crashing, and I try to avoid them, but it’s been far too long, and they need to resurface. I had a boyfriend in high school. I thought he was it for me. So stupid. I had no clue what love was, and looking back, neither did he. **Memories** “Layla, I need you to do me a favor,” I tell my best friend, and she closes her book looking at me. She raises an eyebrow, and I take a deep breath looking both ways. The
Jo POV “What time is dad going to be home?” I ask my mom as I put on my jacket that is hanging by the back door in the kitchen. “He will be home around six. Where are you going?” she asks, and I smile at her doing the zipper of my jacket. It’s freezing outside. “I’m going to Mrs. Jackson’s farm,” I say, and mom smiles, nodding her head. I grab the keys for the truck and walk to mom, kissing her softly on the cheek. I walk out towards the truck, my temperamental truck. I have her since I was sixteen. I know that my dad is always on top of her, trying to get her to work, but sometimes she decides not to work properly. I start the engine and smile at the noise, and it’s familiar. I place both my hands on the steering wheel. “I missed you too, girl,” I whisper before I start driving. The drive to Mrs. J
Dylan POV“I will have the contract sent over tomorrow by lunchtime,” I say to Mr. Thompson, and he smiles. He almost looks like Santa Clause. His big white beard and white hair really make him look like a cheerful old man.“No rush; tomorrow is Saturday. No need to have people working extra hours because sure as hell I am not working tomorrow,” he tells me, and I can’t help but smile. The man is cheerful, and he is probably the nicest man I have ever met. I can’t see any resemblance between him and Jo. She is uptight and serious, and she is always trying to kill me with those big brown eyes.“I’ll have them done for Monday then,” I tell him, and he stands up, nodding.“That’s my boy,” he says, and honestly, if it was anyone else, I would&r