For the Love of Ash by Taylor Lavati Page A

she was overthinking things. Shit. I had no idea what made the girl tick.  
    I pulled the piece of paper with her number on it from my pocket and laid it on my lap as I drove over to my parents' house. My father was still there, but that wasn't my reasoning for going. Lilly was going to help me apartment hunt today.  
    I parked in the front of the house, next to the fountain in the center of the circular driveway, and texted Lilly that I was here. I picked up the piece of paper and programmed Maggie's phone number into my cell, debating what to do with it.  
    I wanted to text her badly, but I knew that this wasn't going to be like any other girl that I saw. She wasn't a one-night-stand or hookup type. She had a son, and I didn't want to scare her off before things even got started. Something extra was within her that I wanted to understand before I committed myself.
    "Boo!" Two hands banged against my window, making me jump in my seat and drop my phone on the ground. I glared through the glass at my sister who just laughed as she tapped on the glass, waiting for me to lower the window. I glared as it slowly screeched down.
    "You're an ass."
    "I got you so good!" she yelled, leaning into the window. She had a huge smile on her face, one I hadn't seen since before I left for school. She rested her head on her arms as she looked up at me.  
    "What's up, Lindsay?"
    "Who were you texting? You had crazy eyes." She widened her own eyes for emphasis.
    "I did not." I frowned down at her, shoving her arms off the window of the car. "It's not your business anyway."
    "You live in my house; you are my business." She tried to keep up the tough guy act strong but failed miserably when her smile broke through and she laughed. "Kidding, but really. You are. Who's the girl?"
    "It's not a girl. Just someone from one of my classes."
    "I repeat, who's the girl?"
    "She's nobody."
    "So it is a girl. Good to know. Dare I say, Lukey Pukey is growing up and having big boy relationships? Gasp!"  
    "Can you at least try to be less dramatic? I have a headache."
    "On a serious note, I'm an awesome listener and I love you, so if you need any advice I'm the sister to turn to." She clicked her tongue and winked at me, like I really had a choice.
    "I'll keep that in mind."
    "Oh, and before I go, Dad leaves tomorrow. So you're out of my place. I'm about ready to pull my hair out listening to Mother go on and on about new design ideas. The woman's never worked a day in her life, and she's trying to tell me how to run my business. Fucking ridiculous."
    "What's fucking ridiculous?" Lilly asked as she pulled open the passenger side door and jumped in.  
    "Nothing. You two have fun. Have her back by ten, Luke. It's a school night." Lindsay blew us both a kiss and then skipped up to the front door and inside the hollow house.
    "What's vibrating in the seat?" Lilly sat up in her seat and moved around, trying to figure out where the noise was coming from. I did too.
    "Shit, that's my phone," I said as I reached between the seats. It fell pretty deep and as I struggled to get my hands between the crack, I knew that they were too big. "You have to do it. My hand's too big." I directed Lilly to my phone and soon enough, she fished it out with the tips of her fingernails.  
    "Who's Sunny?"
    "A friend." I grabbed the phone from her hands before she could read the text. Luckily, it said Sunny instead of Maggie—not that they would know Maggie anyway. Lilly seemed to drop it as I spun the car around the circle and started to drive in the opposite direction of the house.  
    "So, where we headed first?" Lil asked, her phone lighting up her face as she texted away.
    "The realtor has three places lined up today. The first is near Lindsay's apartment." I was excited for this one.  
    When we got to the first location, I was finally able to check the message from Maggie. My heart was beating faster and faster the entire short drive wondering what she texted me. Then I got