AUTUMN: 3. (because I have a #3 and you DON’T!) I’ve never seen you like this with a guy.
AUTUMN: Take a chance.
I sit there, wondering what I should say to that when the bell over the diner’s front door dings, and the door swings open to reveal Ash.
Shit.
I resist the urge to slam my laptop shut. Barely. I only manage because I know it would be super obvious that I was talking about him if I did.
I type.
STAR: Ash is here.
STAR: Gotta go.
AUTUMN: Give him a kiss for me :D
AUTUMN: AND for Roth.
AUTUMN: Roth totally wants you to kiss him for him. He said so.
AUTUMN: Yes you did, Roth. Don’t lie.
I key-smash out something that looks kinda like talk to you later and log out of the program just in time to see Ash slide into the booth across from me. “Heeeey,” I say, and instantly try to suppress my wince at just how awkward that came out. “I thought you were staying at the house tonight.” He gives me a crooked little smile.
“Yeah. Changed my mind right after you left so I hoofed it over. Decided I wasn’t going to let them chase me away quite yet. How about you? Everything good with your friends?” he asks, just as Maisie waddles over to drop a glass of water on the table for him. He looks up at her and smiles, and says thanks and she gives him a hesitant half-smile back before turning away. Then, just as suddenly, she stops and turns back.
“Listen,” she says, reaching up and pushing her dark-rimmed glasses further up her nose. “I . . . I’m sorry about your car.” Ash just kind of blinks at her for a moment, looking like his jaw is about to drop open in surprise, and when she is greeted with nothing but silence, she whips back around and hustles away.
We both watch as she goes, and Ash turns to me and shrugs. “Well,” he says, “it’s progress, I guess.” He’s trying to laugh it off. But I can see the sadness in his eyes. Maisie might be an exception, but the rule where the people around here just don’t trust him is still in effect. They don’t know him and the prevailing opinion seems to be that they don’t want to know him.
Which sucks. Ash is amazing.
And nice.
And really good looking.
And shit. Autumn was right. I do want to climb him like a tree.
Crap.
I’m lucky he didn’t see the condoms. Really lucky. I probably looked like a crazy person, slamming the flaps of the box closed like I did, and squirreling the box away in my room before he could take a peek, but I didn’t have any other option. What Ash and I have, it is good. I’m not going to ruin it by letting my stupid feelings show.
No matter how strong they are starting to get.
Chapter 14
Ash
It takes me a good minute to figure out what has woken me up. The sun is streaming in through the tiny window of the shed, and that’s enough to warm it to really freaking uncomfortable levels, even though it must be ass-o-clock in the morning. I’m sweating my butt off. The sheets are sticking to my skin, even though I’m stripped down to almost nothing. I drop my head back against my pillow with a grunt, and from the ground beside me, Bruiser lets out a little rumble and turns his head to look at me.
“I don’t know, buddy,” I say. “Just try to go back to sleep.” If Star hasn’t banged on the door yet, then it’s not time to get up. Best boss ever. I turn over and try to will myself back to sleep. That’s when I hear it.
Goddamn “Footloose.”
I pull myself back up into a sitting position, and crane my head to listen. It’s definitely “Footloose.” Mom had an obsession with that goddamn movie when I was growing up. I can probably quote the whole thing front to back because of her, and that is definitely the theme song that is being played at eardrum-rupturing levels.
What. The. Fuck?
I haul myself out of bed and step into my shorts, yanking them up and fastening them around my hips. I leave the shirt off. Whoever is playing the music will just have to fucking deal, I decide, and yank open the shed door and step outside into the sunlight. That’s when I realize that the music is coming from the house.
What the hell?
I wander over to the porch, scrubbing my hands over my face. It’s too early for this shit. Way, way too early. The music just gets louder the closer I get, and when I pull open the back door, it’s blasting. I stop in the doorway and stare, but it isn’t the music that stops me in my tracks. It’s Star.
She’s dancing. She’s cleaning the kitchen, piling empty soda bottles into a big plastic bag, but the movements of her tight little body while she’s doing it are nothing short of fucking sinful. She hasn’t seen me yet, and I take a second to admire her as she moves. Hips shaking, hair tumbling. This girl just keeps getting hotter.
It’s killing me.
Finally, she turns and catches sight of me. Her movements slow, but she’s grinning at me like it’s Christmas as she shoves another empty water bottle into the bag. That’s when I realize that the music is coming out of the boom box on the kitchen counter, the one that is plugged in next to the toaster.
Holy shit. The power’s back on.
I have no idea that I’m speaking out loud until Star laughs. The back of my neck starts to burn. I’m nowhere near awake enough for this.
“It is,” she says. “I made a few calls and the power company finally relented. Do you know what that means?”
“I’m still stuck on the fact that I caught you shaking your ass to fucking Kenny Loggins,” I tell her. “And the fact that I was woken up by fucking ‘Footloose’ of all things. I’m not exactly at my best right now.”
“Ah,” she says. “That’s where the good news comes into play. Wait here.” And with that, she drops the plastic bag and turns on her heel, hightailing it out of the room.
What the fuck is happening right now? I look down at Bruiser, who’d followed me inside to see what was going on for himself. He looks about as confused as I feel. “I hear you, buddy,” I tell him, and he kind of huffs at me, and then settles himself down on the floor, where he’s probably a hell of a lot cooler than I am right now.
God, I probably reek. I want to lift my arm back up and check, but before I have a chance, Star’s back. And she’s carrying a steaming mug in her cupped hands. Her smile is like fucking sunshine when she hands it over, and I moan as I get a whiff of it.
“Is that coffee?” I ask, even though it’s goddamn obvious that it is. She nods and presses the cup into my hands. It’s so hot that the mug itself is nearly burning me, but I don’t care.
“Oh god,” I say, and take a whiff of it. Considering all we’ve had lately is the shitty diner coffee, this smells like heaven. “We have a coffee maker? Here?”
She nods as I lean down and take a cautious sip. It burns like a bitch, but it’s so good. “You’re a fucking goddess,” I tell her. Then, realizing what a sap I sound like, I hastily add, “Even if you do have fucking terrible taste in music.”
“Hey!” Star cries, but she’s laughing.
“Shhh,” I tell her, taking another careful sip. “The coffee and I are having a moment.”