I had no idea what I was going to do though. I needed a plan and a—
I halted in the middle of the hallway and looked up at the stairs as Jax’s voice ricocheted in my head: you hear anything else or if she comes to you, you fuckin’ call me asap. I didn’t need to handle this alone, and neither did she. She may not have wanted help, but she goddamn needed it, and I was going to make sure she got it.
I pulled my cell out of my front pocket, shot Jax a message, and then headed into the living room.
Asher: Elodie is staying at my house. Found her sleeping in her car. We need a plan.
It was only seconds later when he replied.
Jax: I’ll be there first thing in the morning.
I should have known he’d come over, and in the back of my mind, I’d hoped he would. When it was only me and Elodie, it wasn’t awkward, but there was a sense of “why are you helping me.” If Jax was involved, maybe she’d accept it more.
I hoped.
ELODIE
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d slept so well. When I’d first gotten into Asher’s bed, I was afraid. Afraid the bed was too big. Afraid he wouldn’t stick to his word and sleep on the sofa. Afraid of what giving in and coming here meant. But after five hours of constant sleep in basically what was a giant fluffy cloud, my mind was clear, and my body was rested.
I had no idea how I was going to get to school or what I would do tonight after my shift at work, but I didn’t need to worry about that right now. All I had to worry about was—
“Elodie?” I shot up in bed and stared at the bedroom door. “You awake?”
“I…yeah,” I croaked out, pulling the covers up to my chin. Would he come inside now that he knew I was awake?
“Come downstairs when you’re ready?”
I breathed a sigh of relief at his words and grabbed my cell. It was a couple of minutes after six in the morning. “Okay.”
I didn’t look away from the door as footsteps echoed back down the stairs. My heart hammered in my chest, and my hands started to sweat. Last night we’d been covered with darkness, but this morning it was bright and early, and I already had to face what was ahead of me. I was the kind of person to push things off and keep waiting, but I didn’t have a choice today. I had to tackle it head-on, so I pushed out of the bed, made it, then headed into the bathroom.
Once I was dressed in a pair of dark-blue jeans and a light-pink T-shirt, I declared myself ready and carried my backpack in one hand and my tennis shoes in another. My footsteps were light as I came down the stairs and ventured into the first open door in the downstairs hallway. All of the walls were painted a light gray, and the living room I’d walked into had a black sofa and dark wood furniture. It was masculine and felt so much like Asher. I’d never stayed in a house so nice and I was afraid to reach out and touch anything in case I broke it.
“Morning,” Asher greeted, and I turned to the right, seeing where the kitchen flowed from the living room through a big archway.
“Morning,” I greeted, and stepped toward him, only focused on his face and—
“Morning,” a new voice said. A voice I knew well. A voice which caused my feet to stall and my pulse to speed up.
“Jax?” My gaze met his, and I wasn’t sure what I was going to see behind his dark eyes, but as soon as I met his stare, all I saw was concern. And it made me even more wary about what was about to go down. I didn’t need people to be worried about me. I was a survivor. I always made it through to the next day, not that I had a choice.
“What are you doing here?”
“I messaged him,” Asher supplied. I didn’t look away from Jax, waiting for whatever he was going to say, but all he did was nod in agreement.
“Why?”
“Because you’re sleeping in your goddamn car, El, that’s why.”
I cringed at Jax’s words and closed my eyes. It wasn’t a big deal, not really. And it was only temporary until I had enough money to be able to stay somewhere else. I opened my mouth to tell him that, but he cut me off, “So now you have two choices.”
My eyes flung open and my nostrils flared. “You’re not the boss of me, Jax,” I fumed. He had a goddamn nerve thinking he could tell me what was going to happen. I’d taken it enough from everyone else, so there was no way I was going to let him fill the void now that I was out on my own.
“Technically, I am your boss.” He smirked, and I dropped my backpack on the floor along with my tennis shoes and stepped toward him. He knew exactly what buttons to press. “I’m just sayin’.”
“You don’t get to tell me what to do.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “I’ve already been in that situation and—”
“You mean the situation where your boyfriend was beating on you?” I blinked, not knowing what to say to that. “Oh yeah, I know about that too.” Jax stood, meeting me head-on. “You think I’m gonna sit back while people take advantage of you? While you’re sleeping in your goddamn car because your mom got you kicked out?”
“How did you—”
“I called Tony.” He narrowed his eyes at me. “But the question is, why the hell didn’t you call me?”
“Jax,” Asher gritted out in warning, but Jax wasn’t listening to him. He was too focused, giving me a death stare.
“Because I didn’t need to call you,” I said, my voice small. I didn’t want to ask for help. He should have known that about me by now.
“Why?”
“Because you would have done what you’re doing right now. You would have told me what was going to happen, and I don’t need that shit in my life anymore, Jax. I can goddamn provide for myself. I don’t need you. I don’t need anyone to force anything on me.”
“What do you expect me to do, then?” Jax yelled, throwing his hands up in the air. He was the one person who didn’t frighten me when he yelled. He shouted to blow off steam, but he never took it further than that. “You think I’m gonna sit back and watch you struggle? Hell to the fuckin’ no. You’re gonna come back to the clubhouse with me, or I’ll pay for a hotel for you. You’re not sleeping in your car another fuckin’ night.”
I raised my brows and slowly turned to face Asher. “You see this?” I pointed at Jax. “This is why I didn’t tell anyone. This is why—”
“For fuck's sake,” Jax spat. “I’m just—”
“Enough,” Asher gritted out. His voice was low, not loud, but it was enough to have us both shutting our mouths. “Sit down.” He pointed at the circle dining table which held four chairs. “Both of you.”
Jax grumbled but I stayed silent as I moved to the chair opposite him and kept my gaze focused on him. Deep down I knew Jax was only trying to help, but I didn’t need him to demand what was going to happen. I needed to make my own choices and pay my own way. I didn’t need handouts. I didn’t want handouts.
“I think I have a solution,” Asher started. “I was thinking about it this morning.” He moved closer to us and leaned against the counter. “Elodie wants to be independent. Right?” I nodded in response. “And, Jax, you want to make sure she’s safe.” He paused and looked back at me. “I want to make sure you’re safe, and not sleeping in a goddamn alley in your car.” His eyes flared, his hatred for the situation he’d found me in clear. “So, what Elodie needs is her own place.”
“That’s my plan,” I told them both, pushing my shoulders back. “I’m just saving up at the moment, which is why I’m sleeping in my car. Give it a couple of weeks and I’ll have—”
Jax slapped his hand on the table, causing it to vibrate. “Hell to the fuckin’ no. You’re not sleeping in your car for two weeks.”
“You can’t stop me—”
“I have a place you can stay,” Asher interrupted, as if Jax and I hadn’t been arguing. “It’s small and the rent is cheap.” He shrugged. “You wouldn’t need a deposit. You could move in today if you wanted.”
“What?” I whispered, sure I’d heard him wrong.
“She ain’t stayin’
here,” Jax growled.
“Jesus Christ, you two are as bad as each other.” Asher scrubbed his hand down his face in frustration, already looking like he was ready for bed. “I meant the apartment above my shop.”
Jax’s eyes widened. “Oh.” He paused, seeming to think about it. “Actually, that’s a good idea.”
I was already shaking my head. It was a handout. “No.” I stood and pushed the chair back. “I don’t need a handout. I can survive on my own—”
“Not a handout,” Asher interrupted. “It’s sitting empty. Has been for a couple years.” He stared at me, drumming the point home. “You’d be helping me out, actually.” I didn’t believe him, not at all, but I couldn’t deny it being a good idea. It was closer to the dance studio and the club.
“How much?” I asked, my stomach dipping. Was I really entertaining this?
“Five hundred a month including bills.” He was trying to sound like he’d thought about the price, but I couldn’t help think he’d pulled the figure off the top of his head. It was one hundred less than the trailer, and I’d been paying that on and off for the last year. If I made sure to portion my money out and pick up an extra shift a couple of times a month, I could afford it along with my dance lessons.
“Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth,” Jax murmured. “It’s a good deal, El. And you’ll be safe there.”
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, trying to think without either of them looking at me. But in reality, I didn’t need to think about it. It made sense, it really did. And even though I knew deep down he was only offering me the place because of my situation, I couldn’t turn it down. “Okay,” I whispered, opening my eyes back up. “I’ll take it.”
Asher’s lips spread into a grin and my stomach dipped again, but for a different reason this time. And as I stared at him, I remembered the way his hand had felt as he cupped my face last night, and I couldn’t deny wishing he would kiss me again. But this time with me as Elodie. Would he even want to kiss the true version of me? Jax was in his early thirties, which meant so was Asher, but the age gap didn’t faze me one bit, and if the way his eyes lit up was anything to go by, it didn’t bother him either.
“When can she move in?” Jax asked, breaking our stare-off, and I shook my head and backed away a couple of steps. He was a web I couldn’t get out of, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to. There was something about Asher. It wasn’t only his handsome face and tattooed arms. But it was the way he looked at me, the way he made me feel safe and secure, the way I trusted him with things I hadn’t anyone else.
“Today after school. I just need to clear a few things out of there first.”
“I can help with that,” Jax said, standing up. “I’ve got a club meeting at ten, but I can come over straight after.”
“Okay,” Asher replied, but I wouldn’t look at him. I couldn’t look at him.
Jax stepped closer to me, and I turned my attention onto him. “I wish you would have told me how bad things were,” he murmured, wrapping his arms around my shoulders and pulling me against his chest. I returned the hug and breathed in his leather and engine oil smell.
“I’m sorry.” I tried to swallow past the building lump in my throat. “I just…I was trying to fix it all myself.”
Jax pulled back and gripped my shoulders in his hands as he looked down at me. “You’re not alone, El. You should know that by now.” He glanced behind me, then back to me and lowered his voice. “And now you have Asher in your corner. Trust me when I say there ain’t anyone else like him in this world. I trust him more than anyone else.” I heard what he was saying loud and clear, so I nodded in understanding. “I’ll see you after school, yeah?”
“Yeah.” I smiled gently as he backed away, and a minute later, the front door closed, and the roar of his motorcycle rang out. I cringed and wondered how I hadn’t heard it arriving when he’d first gotten here. “Your neighbors won’t be happy with that noise.”
“They’re used to it,” Asher replied, his voice rough. “Are you ready for school?”
I turned to face him, and swallowed at the intense look in his eyes. Goose bumps broke out all over my skin and my breaths became shallow. How could him simply looking at me make me feel cold and hot all at the same time?
“Yeah, I only need to put my tennis shoes on.” My nostrils flared as he stepped forward and I craved for him to keep coming. To not halt until he was right in front of me. My gaze flicked down to his hands, and his fingers twitched in response. Did he want to touch me as much as I wanted him to touch me? Or was it all in my head?
“We can get breakfast on the way,” he said, his voice deeper and rougher. He was feeling the tension too, there was no denying it. The air swirled around us, and he took another step toward me. I hadn’t felt like this since the last time he’d kissed me. I glanced at his lips and licked mine in response, and I swore I heard him growl.
“Put your shoes on,” he gritted out. “I gotta get changed.” He was saying the words, but he wasn’t making the movement to leave the room. He didn’t stop staring at me, and I didn’t want him to. I’d never felt so safe and so turned on all at the same time.
“Okay,” I replied, my own voice hoarse.
He halted a couple of feet in front of me, his chest heaving on each breath, and I begged him silently to reach out to me. To touch my face like he did last night. To press his lips against mine like he did all those weeks ago. But he didn’t. He stood there, staring at me, until finally he turned away and left the room.
My body sagged as he went up the stairs and I gasped for breath. How did he make me feel that way? How did he make me want to feel like that again?
I didn’t move from the position I was in, not until I heard his footsteps come back down the stairs ten minutes later, then I rushed to push my feet into my tennis shoes and grabbed my backpack. He stopped in the doorway to the living room, tilted his head at me to follow him, and that was exactly what I did. I didn’t want to admit I would follow him anywhere. I may put up a fight, but deep down I knew I wanted to be around him.
Neither of us spoke or even looked at each other as we got into his truck and headed toward a drive-through. He ordered some food, paid for it, and handed me the bag. “Take whatever you want. We can eat it on the way to school.”
“Thank you,” I murmured, desperately wanting to reach into my pocket and give him money for the food, but I refrained. He was trying to help me, and I was trying to let him help me. It felt like a battle—one we were both winning.
I pulled out a hash brown and nearly moaned as the potato goodness hit my tongue. There was nothing better than a hash brown—it was a fact. I was so consumed with eating that I didn’t even notice we were close to the school until Asher pulled up at a set of lights and told me, “Leave your keys and I can move the stuff from your car into the apartment.”
“I can do that later,” I said, closing up the bag and leaving the rest of the food for him. I placed it into the center console and wiped my hands on a napkin. “Thank you for letting me stay there.”
“You’re welcome. But still leave your keys. Jax said you have a shift tonight, so you won’t have long between school and when you have to leave.” He was right, but I hated that he was right. I didn’t want him to know how little I had. But in the grand scheme of things, did it really matter?
“Okay then.” I grabbed my backpack and placed it on my lap to fish for my keys as Asher pulled into the school lot and headed right for the main doors. I stared out of the windshield and grinned as Leo’s face came into view and chuckled as he frowned at the truck, looked away, and then back again, mouthing something.
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you laugh,” Asher said softly.
Butterflies took flight in my stomach and I glanced over at him. “You haven’t?”
“Nope.” His lips lifted into a grin, but as soon as it was there, it was gone again. His knuckles turned white as he gripped the steering wheel harder. “I need you
to distract me right now, Elodie.”
“I…what?” I frantically looked around, trying to search for Asher’s sudden change in mood. Leo was making his way to the truck with a confused look on his face, but behind him and leaning against the wall was Knox. He stared at the truck, his face a mask of nothingness.
“Shit.” I undid my belt and leaned over the center console. “Ignore him.”
“It’s takin’ all of my strength not to get out of this tru—”
My door flung open and Leo asked, “What are you doing here, Uncle Asher?”
The atmosphere in the truck slowly dissipated, and Asher’s gaze connected with mine. In the blink of an eye, he concealed his anger now that Leo was here, and it made me wonder if he did that often. He’d been open with me, but now his walls were firmly in place, and I knew all about slamming my walls down so no one could see the truth shining in my eyes.
“Dropping Elodie off. She had some car trouble.”
“Oh,” Leo answered. “You coming in, then?” he directed at me.
“Yeah.” I gripped my backpack harder and started to shuffle out of the truck. I placed my keys on the seat behind me. “Thanks, Asher.”
“Anytime,” he replied, and I pushed out of the truck completely, closed the door behind me, and didn’t look away as Asher turned to face Knox, gave him a death stare, then drove away, leaving me and Leo behind.
“Well, that was weird,” Leo commented, but I couldn’t bring myself to reply to him. Instead, I spun around and walked into school, intent on getting this day over with.
Chapter Thirteen
ASHER
“I don’t wanna brag or anything, but I think I should win 'best big sister of the year' award.”
I grinned at the sound of Belle’s voice and pushed up off the floor where I was trying to piece together the old bed that had been in the apartment. Jax was on his way to grab a new mattress for it, but in the meantime, the frame was like a damn puzzle.
Burned Duet: Asher & Elodie: Fast Burn & Deep Burn (Easton Family Duet Boxsets Book 4) Page 17
