Chapter 2 - Dylan Ashford

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.