In Love, Never Say Never (Ashton Fuller and Scarlett Stovall) novel Chapter 218

Ashton tends to do things this way too. I hung my head low at the sudden, intrusive thought about him while my nose wrinkled in discomfort.

Marcus did not notice my minute reaction. He merely grinned. “It’s not a waste. See, we’re using it now, aren’t we?”

We took a spin around the house. It didn’t look like we need to buy or replace anything, but the kitchen looked quite empty. Perhaps Marcus, assuming that I was not much of a cook, did not bother too much with the layout.

“Is there anything missing?” He said, changing the house key and fingerprint code to mine.

I nodded in response. “Since you’re free tonight, why don’t we cook at home? I can give Macy and Jackson a call later, invite them to join in. I should let them know I’m safe anyway. Ever since I left, it’s like I’ve been cut off from the outside world.”

Marcus nodded. He did not look too good, but I paid little mind to that.

We left the residence together and headed to the supermarket. There, we stocked up on basic cooking necessities, including rice, cooking oil, sugar, and salt. Marcus turned to me with a look of surprise. “You can cook?”

It was so embarrassing to have that question thrown at me. Impatiently, I rebutted, “Don’t underestimate me, alright? What makes you think I can’t cook?”

I picked a few seasonings and added bluntly, “Just you wait, I’ll show you what I’m capable of tonight!”

Laughter escaped him. He raised a hand, patted me on the head, and said, “Alright then. I’ll wait!”

I lifted my head and smiled at him. My eyes fell upon an item on the shelf behind him, so I asked for a favor, “Marcus, can you help me get that seasoning bag? I can’t reach it!”

He did not respond. Instead, he just stared at a target behind me, looking rather solemn. I froze, faintly wary of an icy glare that seemed to be directed at me.

Out of instinctive reaction, I was about to whip my head around, but Marcus pulled me into his arms and buried me into his embrace.

When he spoke, it was in a stern tone, “It’s getting late. Let’s head back!”

I was stunned, but before I could figure out what was going on, someone forcibly grabbed hold of my wrist and pulled me out of Marcus’ embrace.

I was shell-shocked when my eyes took in Ashton’s face, filled with depth, eagerness, and delight interwoven in a complicated mess. In short, the emotions reflected in his eyes were an impetuous, messy lot. The thoughts in my head crashed to a halt as though my brain had been struck by a lightning bolt.

I was at a loss of what to do. My body stiffened, my heart began to ache, and the dense pain began to spread. Fear and bewilderment engulfed me.

I felt my hands and body tremble. In a moment, I broke off eye contact and stopped looking at him while my heart suffocated from the pain.

I was not ready to face him yet. I was not ready to tell him what happened to the baby. I was not ready to give him any sort of explanation at all.