He seemed to want to say something but changed his mind. "We'll see. At least hate me from your own apartment instead of out here on a beach."
This time when he held out his hand, she grudgingly accepted it.
A tiny thrill jolted her, racing through her, as their skin met. She didn't want to be reminded of how they'd once held hands years ago, when they were different people, or how Jonny had changed from an unsure boy into a self-assured man. His large hand was like his body: warm and strong.
He seemed lost in the moment as well, his face an inscrutable mask and his emotions shuttered behind dark eyes.
"Well," she said, a little breathlessly under his intent look. "Take us back."
He shifted feet and lifted his gaze, as if catching himself staring at her.
The world around them melted into a kaleidoscopic swirl of colors and shapes before reforming into different shapes and colors. Ashley's stomach dropped and for a moment, she feared she'd seize up from Traveling with someone else. Waiting to see what her body did, she blinked away the momentary sense of disorientation and righted her senses.
They were near the University in an alley close to her apartment building. She'd been hoping he was bluffing about knowing where she lived.
"You aren't going to have one," Jonny told her. "You can let go now."
Warmth reached her cheeks as she realized how hard she was squeezing his hand. Ashley released Jonny and started away.
"Remember, Ash. Fuck with my vamps, I fuck with you," he warned her as she stepped away.
Furious her plan for vengeance was ruined by her own body's weakness, she flipped him off without turning and strode out of the alley.
The next afternoon, Ashley slammed over and over into the punching bag in the boxing gym down the street from where she lived. It was quiet on a Sunday with only the hardcore fighters in the ring or working various bags.
Exhausted from her night as well as the episode, she nonetheless pounded into the bag, unable to shake her anger and embarrassment at how poorly she'd done the day before. Not only had she been captured vamps, but Jonny - the man she despised most in the world - had rescued her. She'd then failed to seek her revenge because of her weak body.
She deserved the bloodied knuckles beneath her hand wraps and the bruises forming from her merciless attack on the bag. She deserved to hurt or maybe … the physical pain alleviated the humiliation of her night.
She drove herself until she became too dizzy to stand and wrapped her arms around the bag, chest heaving. Ashley let the bag support her weight for a long moment, always leery of any warning signs another seizure was eminent.