265 Dinner for Sabrina and her date 4

Outside the Anderson family villa…

Hunter walked onto the circular driveway and turned toward Ashton. He stared at him and was irked by Ashton's cool behavior, like this is beyond him. Why is he so relaxed?

Ashton stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jeans and watched Hunter who is obviously fuming. Ashton didn't say anything because he knows that whatever he says, it will only irritate Hunter more and he agreed to come out only so that Sabrina can talk with her parents peacefully. Ashton knew that Hunter will have issues with him and Sabrina, but this is a bit more than he expected.

"Speak!" Hunter demanded.

"What do you want me to say?" Ashton responded flatly.

"How long is this going on?"

"I have a crush on Rina since… the first time I laid my eyes on her."

Hunter gritted his teeth. "I see… and at what point you laid more than your eyes on her?"

Ashton thought how the question is ridiculous and he suppressed the laughter which bubbled inside him. "I was always respectful toward Rina. I didn't make moves on her because she is your sister and because she is with Jackson. But that does not mean that I didn't admire her from the distance."

"You talk about keeping the distance… How is this keeping the distance?"

"Didn't you listen to what Rina said? The situation changed…"

Hunter's snort interrupted Ashton. "You used me to get close to her."

"You know that is not true."

"Really? How long are the two of you living together? And you are working in her studio? Are you really going to keep pushing for the story that when you left the party with Rina, nothing happened?"

Ashton exhaled. Hunter is unreasonable and Ashton can see that no matter what he does, Hunter will not be pleased. "What do you want Hunter?"

"I want to know what all you did behind my back while pretending to be my friend."

"I see… So, you are making this about you.��

Hunter denied it. "No. This is about YOU. About YOU being a sneaky bastard! YOU pretending to be my friend while looking for the opportunity to put your hands on MY sister!"

"It's not like that. Sabrina is wonderful. She is beautiful and smart and sexy and…"

Hunter lost it. How dares Ashton call Sabrina 'sexy'? "You don't need to tell me how amazing my sister is!"

"Why are you making it sound like I drugged her or forced her into anything? Do you hear yourself? I thought that you are a cool guy, but I guess I was wrong." Ashton looked at Hunter dejectedly and moved to go back into the villa.

"Where are you going!?" Hunter roared.

Ashton reminded himself to stay cool. "There is no point in talking further. If you can't accept that Rina and I are together, that is your problem."

Hunter balled his hands into fists. The fact that Ashton is walking away made Hunter's irritation swell to the point of boiling.

Ashton widened his eyes in surprise when he saw that Hunter's hostility is increasing. "Do you want to fight?"

"I am pissed, and breathing is not helping. Maybe it will be more effective if I punch some sense into a backstabbing friend."

Ashton lifted his hands defensively and took a few steps back. "I have no intention of fighting with you."

Hunter tilted his head. "That is fine. How about this? You take three hits from me and I will forget your betrayal and even give you my blessings."

"How noble…" Ashton said mockingly. "Are you sure that your sister is worth only three? Why don't you make it ten?"

Hunter's eyes flashed in madness. "Ten is even better…"

…

Inside the villa…

Sabrina was answering Madeline's questions related to Ashton while everyone else listened.

"...Ashton is a wonderful young man who appreciates me as a person. He is respectful, charming, encouraging, and smart, and he makes me feel special. Isn't that enough?" Sabrina ended her explanation.

"Does he have anything to do with your breakup with Jack?" Nathan asked.

"If I say that he doesn't, I would be lying. But he didn't ask me to break up, Ashton never asked me for anything. He made it clear that he likes me and that he will not pursue me romantically because I am with Jackson. He told me that he will be by my side as a friend, for anything that I need. And he said how for him, that will be enough. Because of Ashton, I realized that a relationship means trust and support and that pretending to have those things with Jackson is wrong. Ashton made it clear that he does not want us to start something we can't finish. And I decided that it's time to end the charade with Jackson because I am risking to lose something real."

Madeline and Nathan exchanged glances, unsure what to think about it. Sure, everything Sabrina said sounds nice. They know Ashton for many years and they have a good opinion of him, but they need time to process all this information and to adjust to it.

Sabrina saw that her parents don't have good expressions, and she added: "I understand that all this is a lot and I don't expect you to accept me and Ashton as a couple right away, but I hope that you can be openminded and give us a chance. I am confident that you will see that what we have is real. We only started dating, and we are in the phase of getting to know each other but I can tell you that he makes me happy, and I believe that I'm having the same effect on him."

Sabrina smiled when Madeline and Nathan agreed. She glanced at Max and Liz and met their gazes full of approval. Mia gave Sabrina a thumbs up without interrupting her meal.

Now that things settled, Sabrina was getting nervous about Ashton. Why are he and Hunter not back yet? Hunter is not doing anything crazy, is he?

"I will go and check on the guys…" Sabrina said while standing up.

Mia was munching on a delicious lobster tail which melted in her mouth when she saw Sabrina walking away.

"Wait! I'm coming also!" Mia exclaimed while getting up. She roughly wiped her mouth and chin with a napkin and dashed after Sabrina.

Max looked at his parents and thought about how this went much more peaceful than he thought it will be. Probably because over the years, Max trained their nerves so now they are used to expect all kinds of things.

"Ahh!"

Max, Liz, Madeline, and Nathan jolted when they heard Sabrina scream from the main door. And a second later, they hurried to see what is going on.

"What are you doing!?" Sabrina screamed at Hunter who is standing above Ashton. "What the fuck are you doing!?"

Sabrina violently pushed Hunter away and squatted next to Ashton to check on him.

Ashton is on the ground, curled up into a ball with his arms covering his head, so Hunter definitely bullied him.

"It's OK." Ashton told Sabrina.

"The hell is OK! Let me see you! What did he do to you?" Sabrina asked and turned to Hunter, without waiting for Ashton to respond. "What did you do?"

"This is between the two of us." Hunter responded.

Sabrina snorted and wanted to say something, but Liz was there.

"Hunter hurt Ashton. Can you check?"

Liz's sight fell on Ashton's right forearm where a big bruise was forming. It's a defensive wound.

Ashton moved and winced and that made Liz lift Ashton's shirt on the left side, revealing his bruised ribs.

Liz turned to Max. "Can you get some ice?"

Liz saw that Ashton's left forearm is getting purple as well.

Max observed the situation and it took him a second to react and go inside in search of ice. He was hoping for a show but not like this.

"Mom, come, and help." Max called and Madeline followed inside.

Nathan was watching all this with a complex expression on his face. This whole evening is too much. 

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