“Elodie?” Leo asked, and I gasped.
“Sorry.” I chuckled, trying to make it seem like nothing, but I was starting to realize Leo saw through the bullshit. He was only fourteen, but there was an earthiness to him. He wasn’t like the other kids, and maybe that was why he didn’t fit in. But I didn’t fit in either. We were two people who didn’t conform to the norm, and it was then I realized I’d never had a real friend. Never had someone I could confide in about the shit in my life.
“What you doing after work?” I asked him, not thinking twice about the words coming out of my mouth.
Leo’s eyes widened. “I…erm…going home?”
“Wanna hang out?”
Leo shuffled from one foot to the other. “I gotta go to the store for my mom first,” he said, his voice low.
“I can take you to the store.” I grinned as Jan walked toward us with a plate of food and a slice of cheesecake. “When do you finish?”
I blinked at Leo as he looked over at the wall where a giant clock was. “In fifteen minutes.”
I picked my fork up off the table and said, “Thanks,” to Jan, then turned to Leo. “Meet me outside after your shift?”
He stepped back and hesitated. “You sure?”
My honest answer was that I wasn’t sure. I didn’t really know what I was doing, apart from listening to my gut. I’d spent so many years surviving and doing what I thought I needed to, but I’d never simply stepped back and done what I wanted to. Did I want to work? No, but I had to. Did I want to live in a trailer with a drug-addicted mom? Hell to the no. But I didn’t have a choice when it came to them. But friends? I had a choice with friends, and at that moment, I knew I wanted Leo to be my friend. I felt like a six-year-old schoolgirl who had made her first real friend, and the butterflies swarmed in my stomach at the thought.
“Yeah, Leo. I’m sure.”
“What about Knox and—”
“What about him?” I raised a brow and picked the burger up off my plate. “I’m not asking you to be my boyfriend, Leo. I’m offering my friendship, but if you—”
“I’ll meet you outside,” he cut me off, a huge smile on his face. And for the first time in what felt like years, I felt somewhat comfortable in my own skin.
I’d wanted to escape the trailer, and I’d managed to do that, but I had no idea what I would do after I’d eaten. But now I had a plan. One where I wasn’t using someone simply to pass the time or because it would mean a free meal or extra tips. I wanted a real friendship, and for the first time, I was willing to take the chance.
I wasn’t sure why Leo made me feel like it was okay to do it, but there was something about him that felt safe. Like he wouldn’t take things too far. Like he’d care if I got hurt. Like if he knew about my situation, all he’d want to do was help. He was the kind of friend I needed, even though I’d never confide in him about what happened in private. Those things weren’t for anyone else to see or hear. That was my own personal pain. A pain I’d never expose. But I could do the other stuff. I could hang with him and talk shit, and maybe he’d even help me understand French so I didn’t fail the goddamn class.
“Ready,” Leo announced as I was shoving the last couple of fries in my mouth. His clothes were different. Gone was his shirt and name tag, and in its place a T-shirt with some kind of game slogan written on the front. I had no idea what it meant, and I didn’t have the desire to find out.
“Great.” I took the last swig of my orange soda, threw my money on the table, and stood. Leo may have been four years younger than me, but he still managed to tower over me. And from the way he walked and reached to open the door, he’d had his growth spurt not long ago because he still didn’t know how to maneuver his limbs.
The silence stretched between us as we walked to my car, and I heard him whispering something under his breath. I didn’t quite catch everything, but I heard “be cool” several times. I wanted to laugh at him chanting to himself, but I didn’t want to make him feel uncomfortable—not this early into our friendship anyway.
I pushed my key into the lock on the driver’s door and waited for him to try and open the passenger door. When it wouldn’t open, and he looked up, I told him, “Chill.” He blinked several times. “I’m not going to murder you, Leo. I’m not going to take you to one of those godawful school parties.” I paused and waited until his shoulders pulled down. “I thought you seemed pretty cool and might wanna hang out.” I was acting as if it didn’t matter if he decided to turn around and not hang out, but the reality was, it kind of did matter.
“Sorry.” He blew out a breath. “I’ve never had a real friend before. Everyone kind of hates me for being smart.”
I pushed inside the car and waited for him to get inside too. “That fuckin’ sucks,” I told him, turning the engine on.
“It does.” He grabbed his belt and fastened it around him. “Sometimes, it makes me want to act dumber than I am so maybe people will like me?”
I reversed out of the space and slammed my brakes on. “Don’t you ever do that, Leo.” I put my car in gear and rolled toward the edge of the lot. “Never be anything other than your true self. If people don’t like it, then that’s their problem.”
“You sound like my mom,” Leo murmured. “Speaking of which, she said she needs the flour that makes cakes rise. Do you know what that is?”
I snorted. “Yep. Don’t you?”
“Do I look like a baker?” Leo asked, signaling to himself. “I’m a nerd, Elodie. A nerdy nerd.”
I grinned at him and the way he said it. He wasn’t afraid of who he was, and no matter how much he sounded like he doubted himself, I had a feeling deep down he knew who he was and what he wanted to be when he grew up.
It didn’t take long to drive to the store, then his house, and I realized how close we were to the high school. It was a five-minute drive at most.
“Wanna come in?” Leo asked. “My mom is a little crazy, but…” He left that hanging in the air, and I wondered what he meant. My mom was crazy, but in that drug-addict-crazy kind of way. Somehow, I didn’t think his mom would be like mine, so I figured what the hell. I turned the engine off and jumped out of the car, then followed him up the path and to the front door. A yapping bark rang out as soon as we stepped inside, and then a weird-looking dog jumped at Leo.
“My mom owns an animal shelter,” Leo said, but I had no idea how that explained why the dog had zero fur.
“That you, Leo?” a new voice asked, and I followed Leo into a kitchen where a woman stood covered in flour and…was that eggshell in her hair? “Thank god!” She rushed for Leo and grabbed the bag out of his hand. “I can’t lose this bet to your uncle. I’ll never live it down.”
“Why don’t you buy them from the store like you usually do?” Leo asked, stepping inside the kitchen and pulling a chair out from around the table and signaling at it for me to sit.
“Because he’ll know,” Leo’s mom shouted, throwing her hands in the air and spinning around. “He always knows.” She narrowed her eyes at nothing in particular. “He’s a pain in my ass, but I will not let him win.” She pointed at Leo. “I will make these damn cupcakes if it’s the last thing I do.” She pushed her shoulders back and half spun when she noticed me. “Who’s this?”
“This is Elodie, Mom,” Leo introduced. “She’s the girl I was telling you about from French class.”
“Ohhhh!” His mom stepped forward. “You’re the girl who needs help in French.”
“Mom!” Leo shouted, and I glanced over to see his face turn beet red. “I didn’t tell you that.”
“Oh.” His mom’s eyes widened, and she pushed the hair out of her face. “I…well…erm…”
“It’s okay,” I finally spoke. “I’m terrible at French class.” I laughed, trying to ease the tension surrounding us. “Dancing is my thing. I’m only at school to graduate.” I’d never been honest like that.
“I get it,” Leo’s mom said, her shoulders slumping. “I’m terrib
le at baking cakes, but I have a bet to win.”
“I can help,” I offered, already standing.
“Oh no.” She waved her arm in the air. “I’m sure you and Leo were going to do some schoolwork or—”
“We were gonna hang,” Leo said, and I turned to face him as he sat where I’d been sitting. “This is hanging, right?”
“Yep.” I smiled. “Besides, I’m all for winning a bet.” I stepped toward the kitchen counter and blinked at the amount of mess. “What do you get if you win?” I asked.
“Bragging rights over my little brother,” Leo’s mom said, her tone sounding victorious already.
“Well then, what are we waiting for…Leo’s mom.” I felt awkward calling her that, and if I really thought about it, I’d have been racked with nerves over the fact I’d come in here and not thought twice about helping her bake a cake. But the reality was there was a side to me which didn’t care what people saw, that didn’t think twice about what I did. But it was the side I kept locked away, only able to come out when it really had to. And I was starting to wonder if I should let it out more than I had been.
“Belle,” Leo’s mom said, holding her hand out to me. “You can call me Belle.”
“Elodie,” I replied, placing my hand in hers and smiling. “Never El, always Elodie.”
ASHER
We met at a neutral location—my mom and dad’s house—and didn’t talk for several minutes as we prepared for what was about to come. It had been nearly a week since we’d made this bet, and now we had four people tasting. Belle had Dad and Ford, and I had Jax and Mom. We’d each chosen our judges wisely, but the question remained…who would win? I was ninety-nine percent sure I had this in the bag because Belle couldn’t bake to save her life—she’d gotten the skills from our mom. So, with a grin on my face, I turned to look at Belle, where she was standing next to the counter in Mom’s kitchen.
“You’re going down,” Belle said as soon as I looked at her. Her eyes narrowed as she placed one of her cupcakes on each plate next to the store-bought ones I’d gotten.
“What the fuck are they?” I pointed at the chocolate cupcakes iced with white buttercream to perfection. There was no way in hell she’d made them.
“My cupcakes.” She grinned, looking mighty pleased with herself, but I would not be fooled by the show she was putting on. “Made them from scratch.”
“You?” I pointed at her and stared in disbelief. “You made those from scratch?”
“Yep. I also had a little help from one of Leo’s friends.”
I shook my head and crossed my arms. “I don’t believe you.”
She shrugged, grabbed two of the plates, and taunted, “Ask Leo if you don’t believe me. I still have raw yolk in my hair from yesterday.” I followed after her with the other two plates, still not believing she’d made them. “You have to score each cupcake out of five,” Belle stated, standing in front of everyone in the living room. I halted next to her as she continued, “Highest-scoring cupcake wins.”
We both handed the plates out and watched as they all ate and critiqued the cupcakes, and I didn’t even need to wait to hear the scores to know Belle had won. She’d cheated. Somehow she’d managed to cheat. Maybe she used a box mix? Or maybe Ford had really made them? Either way, she hadn’t followed the rules because the sister who I’d known my entire life had not once made a cupcake rise.
The final scores came in, and I stomped my foot like a four-year-old kid who’d been told he couldn’t have another cookie. “You cheated,” I accused, spinning around on the spot.
Belle slowly looked up at me, a shit-eating grin on her face. “Nope. I made them in my own house. Ask Leo.”
“She did,” Leo said from behind her, nodding. “My friend helped with the recipe, but Mom actually baked them.” Even he looked surprised.
“So, you had help.” I shook my head in disappointment. “That wasn’t in the rules.”
Belle patted me on the chest. “You didn’t say it wasn’t allowed either, little bro.”
Neither of us looked away as we got caught in a stare-off. She was right, I hadn’t specified if she could get help, but I hadn’t thought there would be anyone who could help her. I should have planned for the unknown. It was my mistake. A mistake I would never repeat.
“You may have beaten me this round, Belle, but you’ll never be the winner.”
“Oh yeah?” She raised her brow, her lips lifting in that challenge kind of way. “Name your next bet, little bro.”
“You and me.” I paused, not knowing what the next challenge could be. We’d done so many things over the years. We’d raced down the street, had spelling contests, thumb wars, stare competitions. We were competitive, and neither of us would surrender, no matter how old we got. “Who can eat the most pizza in twenty minutes.”
She laughed. “You’re gonna go down,” Belle warned, pointing at the floor and then twirling around. She headed toward Ford, who had his arms wide open for her, but I continued to stare, knowing she’d bested me this time, but no one—I mean no one—could eat pizza as fast as I could. I was practically a professional.
A ringtone ricocheted throughout the mostly empty room, and I whipped my head up, recognizing the ringtone as Jax’s. His gaze met mine, then flicked down to his cell. “I gotta take this,” he announced, but I was the only one listening. His shoulders were tense, and his eyes narrowed as he placed the cell next to his ear, and I knew something was going down. He’d been on edge since he’d arrived, and although I wanted to ask if everything was good, I knew he couldn’t answer the question if it was club business, so I’d wait for him to—
“I gotta go,” Jax grunted as he walked back into the living room. “Can you give me a lift, Ash? I don’t wanna ride in this weather.”
I frowned and turned to look out of the window. It was raining, but it had been all day. He’d ridden in way worse weather than this, but his stance told me it wasn’t about the weather but something else entirely.
“Sure,” I said, trying to act easy so no one would get suspicious, but I was now on edge too. We were at my parents’ house, a house that a retired DEA agent lived in. Dad was always on guard, and I was hoping to hell Jax hadn’t brought shit to his door. I fished my keys out of my front pocket, said my goodbyes, and left the house without another word to Jax. His bike sat to the side of the driveway, and he bypassed it right for my truck. “What’s going on?” I asked when we were in the cab and the engine was running.
Jax huffed out a breath and leaned his elbow on the door. “Club business.” I opened my mouth, about to tell him I understood, but he continued, “Not safe to be alone on our bikes. We gotta ride in pairs.”
I reversed out of the drive. “Gotcha. You need me to take you somewhere?”
I spotted Jax’s fingers flying over the screen of his cell, and two seconds later he grunted, “Strip club. Dad and Al are meeting me there.”
My stomach jolted at the thought of going to the strip club. It had only been a few days since I’d been there tattooing Al’s back, but even I couldn’t deny I’d been looking for an excuse to go back so I could see Lotus again. She’d been on my mind more than I liked to admit, and yet we’d only had one proper conversation.
I kept all my thoughts to myself as I drove to the club. Jax was preoccupied with his cell, and from his whispered cursing, I knew whatever was going down was bad.
The lot was jam-packed with bikes, and as soon as I rolled toward the main doors, Jax said, “Park here.” I did as he said and left the engine running, wondering if it was a good idea to go inside. You didn’t need to be a genius to work out the entire club was here, and if I were honest, I wasn’t sure how I would react if I saw Lotus. I’d built it up in my mind, but that was the problem, it was all in my mind. I was overthinking, and I had no idea why I couldn’t act normal, but there was something damn enticing about her. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but it was there, calling to me.
“Coming in?” Jax aske
d, opening the passenger door.
“I…” I glanced around, pretending like I was looking when, in reality, I was trying to spot her car. If she wasn’t here, then maybe I could go home or back to the studio and act like we’d never met. But as soon as her car came into view, I switched my engine off. “Yeah.”
Jax paused as I pushed out of the truck, his gaze zoned in on me. He was trying to figure out why I’d waited, but if he wasn’t going to tell me what was going on with him, then there was no way in hell I’d admit I only got out of the truck at the prospect of seeing Lotus inside. I had a fuckin’ schoolboy crush, but damn if it didn’t feel good.
The club was heaving with people, the music on louder than usual, and it took us way too long to get through the crowd gathering near the door. I didn’t recognize half the men, but they all wore the same cuts as Jax. “Chapter from two states over,” Jax supplied, answering my silent question, but his words didn’t put me at ease. If anything, they had me on edge. I didn’t want to admit Lotus was the first thing coming to my mind, wondering if she was okay.
She’d worked here for over half a year, and I had no doubt she could handle herself. I should have turned around and walked out. I should have forgotten about the way she made me feel because it was just a crush. I didn’t have time or energy for anything other than my business and making sure I made it through the nightmares which plagued me every night. But as I’d made my mind up to leave, I spotted her toward the back of the club.
I paused, watching as a hand grasped on to her waist. Leather covered the guy in front of her, so I knew he was part of the club, but as soon as he yanked her toward him, something switched inside me. It wasn’t that I thought she was in danger. I didn’t like the way he was touching her. If I really sat back and thought about it, I knew I sounded insane, but fuck, I couldn’t goddamn help it.
Her gaze met mine as I stalked toward them, and as soon as her soulful eyes connected with mine, I saw the relief shining there. She was happy I was here and heading toward her, which made my back straighten. I was doing the right thing. She didn’t want to be near this guy, and if I could get her away from him, she’d be more comfortable. Or maybe she viewed me like all the other men in this club too? The thought sobered me, but I didn’t stop my momentum as I halted right next to them and met the guy’s stare.
Burned Duet: Asher & Elodie: Fast Burn & Deep Burn (Easton Family Duet Boxsets Book 4) Page 7
