Page 80 of The Ex Factor

‘I wasn’t going to start,’ Ashley muttered, pulling her hood further over her ears. ‘What’s wrong with your phone?’

‘Elena is over at the M&S on the south side of the concourse texting me because she thinks I’m with Toby, and Toby is over by the Krispy Kreme stands texting me because he thinks I’m with Elena. And they’re both waiting for me to decide if we’re doing this properly or if I’m just playing them off each other. Or maybe they're wondering if they’re the ones who should be together. Fuck knows.’ Jax took a massive gulp of tea and finally looked at Ashley. ‘Anyway, you look like shit. Did Molly finally bite you?’

Ashley chewed on the inside of her cheek, staring at a discarded salt packet. ‘She’s a nightmare, Jax. A literal, genuine nightmare.’

‘Right.’

‘She’s just bloody impossible,’ Ashley said, her voice rising slightly before she caught herself and dropped it to a harsh whisper. ‘We had sex last night. She initiated it. Practically jumped on me. And then this morning I try to ask her how she is, and she acts like I’m a disease. She compared me to dog food.’

Jax blinked. ‘Dog food?’

‘She’s completely self-obsessed,’ Ashley went on, the anger bubbling up now, hot and fast. ‘She twists everything into a fight. She thinks my career is this big, evil monster out to get her. I tried to help her with her script—she’s doing this BBC thing—and she just started digging up stuff from five years ago. I was twenty-five, Jax! I didn’t know how to manage a career and a girlfriend.’

Jax didn’t say anything for a minute. They just watched Ashley, their face remarkably calm for someone whose own love life was currently a logistical disaster. Jax reached down and slid the buzzing phone face-down.

‘You’re very loud for someone who doesn’t care,’ Jax said flatly.

‘I do care. I care that she’s ruining the tour vibe.’

‘Ashley.’ Jax leaned forward, resting their elbows on the plastic tabletop. ‘This was always a really stupid idea. Like, you knew that, didn’t you?’

‘It wasn’t my idea.’

‘But you went along with it. And for what?’

‘For the tour. To make sure the label doesn’t drop me.’

‘You’re ruining your life for music execs and their bullshit? Not buying it.’

‘It’s not life-ruining,’ Ashley said quickly. ‘It’s just fucking annoying.’

‘Annoying? You brought the ex to the tour. Sounds a bit more than annoying.’

‘What makes you think she’s the ex?’ Ashley replied, as casually as she could manage.

‘Because you got hammered one night on the last tour and started telling me about how much you missed her, how no one else compared, that type of shit.’

Ashley was shocked. ‘I didn’t. Did I?’

‘You really did. It was pretty sad. And endless.’

Ashley sat quietly with her horror.

‘So don’t think you can sit there shit-talking her and I’m gonna buy a word of it. Keep your lies for the mirror.’

Ashley sighed. ‘I know, okay? I guess I just wanted to be… pissed off at her. That’s easier than thinking…’

‘What?’

‘That I had another chance and blew it again,’ Ashley admitted.

‘You love her,’ Jax said. It wasn’t a question.

Ashley looked away, out across the crowded concourse toward the automated glass doors where bleary-eyed travellers were wandering in from the car park. Her fingers traced the edge of the table, finding a spot where the laminate was peeling.

‘I do,’ Ashley said, the admission sounding small and stupid. ‘I always have. That’s the problem.’

‘Have you told her?’ Jax asked, irritated.