The No Asshole Rule

by Ashley Erin

  “I’m sorry. Sometimes it’s easy to forget.” She smiles at me, sadness in her eyes that she reacted that way.

  “Some habits are hard to break.” She shrugs, her voice is soft, regretful. Leaning to kiss her again, her eyes become mischievous as she gets off the bed and shuts the door. Tossing her books to the side, she pushes me down onto her bed, a sexy smile gracing her lips.

  Knocking at Andie’s bedroom door bursts the blissful bubble wrapped around us.

  Andie tries not to moan as I kiss her neck and shoulder as she calls out to Dax in irritation. “What do you want Dax?”

  “If you two are finally finished screwing, Lucas’s sister and nephew are here.” Dax’s voice is holding back laughter and I groan in frustration, burying my face where I was just kissing.

  “Shit, I totally forgot. So . . . Ava wanted to meet you under different circumstances and I was actually here asking if you minded if they came for dinner.” I look at the clock and see that I have been at Andie’s for over two hours. “It’s a long drive and I’m guessing when Ava didn’t hear no she assumed we were on.” Andie stills next to me, pulling her lower lip between her teeth. Her uncertainty has me worried; I want my sister and the woman I’m in love with to get along despite their rocky start. That was just a misunderstanding and I didn’t think it would be a big deal until this moment.

  “What if she hates me?” Andie whispers as her lip pops out from her teeth and she looks at me with worry in her eyes. Relief floods my body, chuckling, I lean in and kiss Andie. My tongue tangles with hers, moans escaping her as I wrap my arms around her. Pulling away, I look into her eyes as we both catch our breath.

  “She doesn’t hate you, she wants to meet you to get to know you. I haven’t really had a girlfriend before and she wants to meet the woman I . . .” Fuck. Scrambling to change the course of my words I finish my sentence. “Have been talking about so much.” Wow. Clever. Sometimes I want to punch myself but I couldn’t stand it if she didn’t reciprocate those feelings.

  “Ok, because I feel stupid about my assumption and if somebody assumed that of Dax I would be pissed. Not because he hasn’t done dumb shit in the past, because he has made some stupid ass choices, but because he is my brother and I love him.” She is rambling and I think about kissing her again, but I decide against it, my body is already ready for a second go around.

  “Ava understands your reaction more than I think I even know. I’m pretty sure Joe cheated on her before he broke up with her, but she never told me if he did or not.” Getting out of bed, I toss Andie her clothes and we dress quickly before heading out to the living room.

  “I hope you don’t mind, I ordered pizza. Figured we could all hang out here.” Dax informs us as we walk out, hand in hand. Ava looks flushed as she walks over to where Andie and I are standing, Andie’s fingers are gripping mine so tightly they are losing feeling.

  “Ava, this is Andie. I’m going to go say hi to Noah while you chat.” I pull my hand from Andie’s, ignoring her glare with a smile and go to sit next to Dax and Noah on the floor, leaning against the couch. Noah brought more puzzles and he is chattering at Dax while they put the pieces together. I still can’t get over how quickly he warmed up to Dax. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Ava follow Andie into the kitchen. I hope they hit it off.

  Smiling nervously at Ava, I scramble for something to say. I’m not good with new people, and my first encounter with Ava wasn’t exactly ideal. We’ve moved into the realm of awkward silence. “Ummm . . . Can I get you something to drink?” Good start Andie. Courteous and it gives me time to be alone and gather my thoughts.

  “Yes please.” Ava’s voice is soft, cautious. She must think I’m absolutely insane, like certifiable, for yelling at her brother and then disappearing.

  Heading into the kitchen, I groan internally as Ava follows me. So much for having time to gather myself and figure out how to move past the worst first meeting ever.

  Handing Ava a glass of water, we both take a drink in silence. Examining her out of the corner of my eye, I’m surprised at how much they resemble each other. They have the same expressive blue eyes and their hair is a similar shade of rich dark brown, Ava’s is a little lighter with hints of gold.

  “Hi. I’m Ava, Lucas’s sister.” Ava sticks her hand out to me, eyes sparkling. Confusion at what she is doing, my head tilts to the side and I can feel the furrow form in my brows. “I figured we should start over. I don’t know about you, but that’s not how I hoped we would meet.” Ava whispers conspiratorially, a smile brightening her face.

  Smiling wide, I reach my hand out to grasp hers. “Andie. It’s really great to finally meet you.” Ava doesn’t let go of my hand, instead she pulls me into a hug. Automatically tensing, I force myself to relax and hug her back. She has a calming presence that I didn’t initially notice and it’s easy to tell she has a kind soul. She is several inches taller than me but thankfully not so tall I get a face full of boobs. Pulling back we refill our glasses and go sit on the couch, more relaxed around each other.

  “Who’s that?” Noah looks up from his puzzle, noticing me for the first time. Kid is cute and he is sitting between Dax’s legs. Dax notices my smirk and shrugs as he ruffles Noah’s hair.

  “This is Andie.” Ava tells Noah fondly. Noah looks at me and smiles cutely before going back to playing.

  The rest of the afternoon flies by and soon Ava and Noah are getting ready to head out the door. Lucas is helping his nephew put his coat on and Ava has gone to the washroom when Dax excuses himself for the evening.

  “I have a paper due this week that I haven’t started, need to be responsible even if it is boring. Bye little buddy.” He ruffles Noah’s hair and heads down the hall.

  Ava returns from the washroom and checks Noah’s coat. “Thanks for letting us intrude on your dinner date.” Ava grabs her coat and I can’t help but notice she looks a little flushed. Narrowing my eyes, I glance down the hall as Dax’s door shuts. Ava turns and smiles at us, her expression seems relaxed and I’m glad that we have been able to move past any weirdness.

  “It was fun. I’m glad we got to finally meet.” Winking at her, Lucas looks confused as we laugh. It’s kind of nice having an inside joke with her.

  “Ha! You are such a softie! I always suspected but you put on a damn good show.” Ava laughs as we drive, she insisted on tagging along while I picked up Andie’s birthday gift and I’m kind of regretting it. She’s been smirking at me all day, making it hard to focus on the task at hand.

  Andie still hasn’t told me her birthday is in two days, but Dax has gone all out planning a birthday bash that he thinks will balance her reluctance to celebrate with his need to spoil her. Torn between feeling frustrated that she didn’t share her birthday and guilt because she has opened up to me about more important things, I huff out a breath and roll my eyes at Ava.

  “If she’s going to be pissed about having a birthday party, I needed to get her a gift that would melt her heart and keep me safe from her glare.” Ava has only seen Andie’s glare once and she even said it was not something to mess with.

  “Wasn’t two a little overboard?”

  “I couldn’t decide, they both called to me and when she said that they would prefer for the pair to go together, what was I supposed to do?” Ava just shakes her head at me. “Are you coming back to the apartment, we could probably see if Andie and Dax want to have dinner?” Peeking in the back of the car where Noah sleeps, I’m sure he will be hungry when he wakes up.

  “Uh, no, I better not. I need to finish my gift for Andie. Now that Mom and Dad are back it will be a lot easier to finish it. They are going to watch Noah Saturday so I can spend the night and have a break.”

  “Good, you deserve to have some fun. You know I will watch him if you ever want a night off.” Ava hasn’t had much help since I came back to school with our parents away and they finally came back home last night.

  “I know you will. I’m honestly a little worried about
when I start back at school in January. Mom is going to watch Noah the two nights a week, but it will be hard to be away from him. Maybe I should wait until he is older, or do online schooling.”

  “Ava, you can’t push your life back because it’s the easy choice. Remember what you told me not so long ago . . .” Tilting my head towards her, I stare her down until resignation and determination both flare across her face. “That’s better!”

  Sighing as I shut the door to my apartment, I’m so relieved to be able to relax. The trip to get Andie’s gift took longer than I expected. Mom and Dad insisted I stay for dinner and catch them up on the semester so far, especially since exams would be starting soon. They were especially interested in learning about Andie and have basically insisted I bring her for dinner soon.

  Then it took three trips to get everything I bought for Andie’s birthday gift into my spare bedroom.

  A quiet knock startles me from where I have collapsed onto the couch, thankfully the door swings open before I have to get up.

  Andie smiles at me as she shuts the door and plops down onto the couch next to me.

  “Did you enjoy shopping with Ava?”

  Smiling, I pull her feet into my lap and start rubbing them. “It was productive, I found what I was looking for.”

  “Good. What did you go shopping for?”

  Squirming under her gaze, I can feel my face heat up as I look at her feet. “Well . . . a little birdie told me someone’s birthday is on Saturday.”

  “Fuck, Dax and his big mouth. I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. I haven’t been into celebrating my birthday since I was a child and since we’ve only been dating for a couple months I didn’t want you to feel pressured.” Andie’s voice is soft and placating, looking up into her eyes I can see she is worried I’m upset with her.

  Gripping her ankles, I pull her onto my lap so she is straddling me. “I understand. I know that you don’t normally like to celebrate your birthday and I get why, however haven’t things improved since starting college?”

  “You’re right. How bad could it be, right?” Her tone is skeptical, but I appreciate her effort.

  “I promise it will be a good day.” She smiles at me and places a soft kiss on my lips. “So . . . my parents are back in town and they want to meet you.”

  Andie sucks her lip in between her teeth, nervously chewing on it. “Really? I’ve never met the parents before. I guess I should introduce you to my mom and Norman. We aren’t close like you are with your parents, but I guess I need to let go of being pissed at her by some point, right?”

  Holding in a smile as Andie talks nervously, I wrap my arms tightly around her. “They will love you. I don’t want to pressure you into introducing me to your mom and step-dad, so whenever you’re ready. Why don’t we get through your birthday first?”

  We cuddle and talk until Andie falls asleep in my arms and I carry her to bed, curling around her, enjoying her warmth as I fall asleep.

  Looking around Kensi’s apartment, I’m relieved to see that Dax kept Andie’s party low key. Ava, Kensi and Nella are setting out food while Dax finishes setting up my Nintendo to play some Mario Kart.

  “I’m going to get Andie. You have 10 minutes to finish up.”

  Sprinting up the stairs, I let myself into her apartment and grin at her.

  “I seriously hope they aren’t going to too much trouble.” Andie grumbles at me as she stands pushes off the couch and straightens her sweater.

  “I believe you won’t be too put out.” I casually try to stroll over to her before ducking my shoulder into her belly and picking her up.

  “Lucas! Put me down! What are you doing?” Screeching, she smacks my ass and I laugh as I stride towards her room. “Aren’t we supposed to be going to my birthday party?”

  “They can wait. Besides, it’s your party so it doesn’t start until you get there.” Kicking her door shut behind me, I roll her off my shoulder onto her bed, enjoying her laughter.

  Walking into Kensi’s apartment, I flush when she starts catcalling at Lucas and I. “That was the longest 10 minutes of my damn life!” She leans in for a hug. “Happy Birthday, I’m glad you got some hot birthday sex.”

  Smacking her on the arm, I grin as everyone else teases us.

  As we step further into the apartment, I’m relieved to see it’s small and casual like Dax promised me. Food is spread throughout the kitchen and on the coffee table. Chuckling when I see the Nintendo and Mario Kart already loaded on the screen.

  “Mario Kart, food and all my favorite people? I guess celebrating my birthday isn’t so bad.” Lucas comes up behind me, whispering in my ear before wrapping his arms around me and I sigh happily. “Food or game? How am I supposed to decide?”

  Food wins out when my stomach grumbles and we all pile in the living room, spreading out on the couch and floor.

  “Before we play games, you need to open your presents.” Kensi waits until I’ve popped a mozzarella stick into my mouth before speaking up.

  Narrowing my eyes, I look at my friends and they all smirk at my glare. It’s not as impressive when I’ve just stuffed my face. Swallowing, I narrow in on Dax who is laughing his ass off at me. “I said no presents.”

  “Just shut up and let us spoil you.” Dax firmly states as he gets up and goes into Kensi’s empty bedroom.

  “Presents are just a way to show we love you. Enjoy being in the spotlight.” Nella’s soft voice calms my nerves. She’s almost as cautious as I am, without the bitch factor. Although, since meeting Lucas I know that my bitchiness has decreased significantly.

  Sighing, I smile slightly as Dax carries out some gift bags. “These are from the girls.” He hands me a tall, green bag.

  Pulling it between my legs, I open the tag. It’s from Ava. Looking up at her, the nervous expression on her face makes me feel guilty about my outburst. It’s nice that she wanted to be here, I haven’t seen her since that day she came for dinner.

  Smiling more genuinely, I remove the tissue paper and pull out a canvas. It’s bright and gorgeous with swirling colors. The random textures give it depth and there are five words across the center.

  Don’t be afraid to leap.

  Staring at it, a lump forms in my throat when I see the signature at the bottom. If Ava wasn’t squirming before, she is now as I look up into her eyes. “Ava, wow. I just . . . Wow.” Flipping it around, I show our friends before standing and giving her a hug. “I love it.”

  “Great, how are we supposed to follow that?” Kensi grumbles teasingly causing Ava to blush. I smack her on the arm playfully.

  Sitting back down, I pull a very small purple bag to me. It’s from both Kensi and Nella.

  Despite their differing personalities, they have hit it off and are excited for Nella to move in here. I pull out the tissue paper and at the bottom of the bag is a small square box. Lifting my eyes to them, I reach in and lift it out.

  Glancing down, I pull the lid off and gasp. Nestled inside is a charm bracelet with two charms. The first is a funny looking little bird and the second is a little dumbbell charm.

  “The little bird is from me. It’s a worry bird to do your worrying for you.” Nella is sitting next to me and I lean in to hug her hard.

  “The dumbbell is to remind you of how strong you are and how far you’ve come.” Kensi is on my other side and she pulls both Nella and I into a hug. “We wanted to give you something you could look at when you start to second guess things or doubt yourself.” She whispers into my ear.

  We separate as Dax hauls something large and covered in a sheet into the room.

  “You’re going to have to come over here for this one Nugget. It’s from me.”

  Arching my brow at him, I walk over and pull the sheet off.

  Air rushes out of my lungs.

  The wooden chest is rustic, complete with large iron hinges. Dax has carved my name intricately onto the lid.

  “It’s for your keepsakes. Remember last year when you had me
ntioned wanting one, well now seems like a good time to start filling it with memories.”

  Words evade me, but I leap into Dax’s arms and hug him tight. “You’re the best.”

  Running my fingers over the smooth wood, feeling the grooves of my name, I sigh in happiness. My eyes flick to Lucas and the thought of filling this chest with memories I make with him, it cause my knees to go weak. He’s smiling at me, causing my heart to palpitate and words I’ve never spoken to a man aside from my brother run through my head. I love him.

  I knew it was coming, but thinking it makes it real and my brain freezes on those words. Swinging my head back around to look at the chest, Dax sees the expression in my face and draws attention away from me while I gather my thoughts.

  “Ok, I’m going to get Lucas to help me haul this monstrosity upstairs, why don’t you start racing?”

  Lucas stands and weaves around Kensi and Nella.

  Breathing deeply, I realize that after the initial shock at thinking those words, I feel strangely calm.

  Lucas wraps his arms around me and kisses me gently. “You get your present from me later.”

  He and Dax leave the apartment in the midst of catcalls and speculations about what his gift is.

  Settling onto the couch, game controller in my hands, I take the teasing in stride. This birthday has been amazing and it’s not over yet.

  I’ve kicked everyone’s ass at Mario Kart, except one time when Lucas beat me. The smirk on his face tells me he’s been playing when we’re not together.

  Grasping his hand as we leave Kensi’s, I can’t help but tease him a bit. “You’ve been practicing. Are you ashamed of my mad skills and the fact that your girlfriend can beat you?”

  “I may or may not have been playing, but I’m definitely not ashamed of your skills or your ability to kick my ass. I thought it might be nice for you to feel . . . challenged.”