by Aly Martinez
He must have swept my legs with his crutch and caught us both on an arm before we crashed into the tile. However, with my luck, it could have been that my brain had suddenly figured out the miracle of teleportation and wasted it on moving me to the nearest horizontal surface. It didn’t really matter either way though, because ultimately, I was on the ground.
With Flint.
On top of me.
“Tell me about the tattoo,” he repeated.
His mouth was entirely too close to mine . . . But really, it was only entirely too close without actually touching mine. Now that would have been just the right amount of close.
“It’s nothing. You’ve already seen it,” I breathed, trying to shake off the desire to throw consequences to the wind and take his mouth in any and every way he was willing to offer it.
“Show. Me,” he ordered.
“It’s just a rock. It’s silly. I was sleeping with a guy who owns a tattoo shop—”
“She’s lying!” Judy’s voice once again entered our conversation. “He’s a volunteer. She wasn’t sleeping with him.”
“God damn it! Shut up, Judy!”
Flint chuckled as I dropped my head back against the tile floor and stared up at the ceiling.
This was not going as I’d planned. Although there’d never really been a plan for when Flint showed back up into my life. It was the one thing I’d never allowed myself to even consider.
The whole thing with Flint had been an adolescent, childish fling I’d had for one month when I was sixteen. He’d been completely right all of those years ago—I couldn’t love him. I was just young and stupid.
Unfortunately, I must have still been young and stupid, because I was still in love with Flint Page.
Defeated, I scooted over a few inches and lifted the hem of my shirt. Unwilling to see his reaction, I stared at the ceiling as he traced his callused hand up my side to my dream catcher tattoo.
He blew out a hard breath then asked, “When?” He cleared his throat. “When did you get this?”
I didn’t even have it in me to lie anymore. “About six months ago.”
That time, the breath was sharply drawn into his lungs. “Look at me,” he urged gently.
I shook my head while biting my bottom lip.
“I’m gonna kiss you. This is your only warning.”
“Flint,” I objected to the ceiling, but even to my ears, it came out as a plea.
Closing my eyes, I darted my out my tongue to moisten my lips and waited for his mouth to find mine.
However, that’s not what it found at all.
I PLACED AN OPENMOUTHED KISS to her side just below her tattoo, sealing a promise I was wholeheartedly making to both of us.
That tattoo.
That fucking tattoo.
Ash had made a few additions to her dream catcher since the last time I’d seen it. Hanging from the bottom were two black feathers. Fitting and simple enough. However, in between them was what looked like a simple rock at first glance, but the grey teardrop piece of flint wasn’t formed with lines. The tiny letters of my name were painstakingly repeated over and over to create and fill the entire design. Even the shading used to produce the curves and contours that gave it dimension were done within those tiny letters. The stone wasn’t any larger than the palm of her small hand, but the amount of detail was unreal.
Ash had marked herself as mine even when I hadn’t been there to do it myself.
I dragged my tongue across her flat stomach, sending chills over her pale skin.
She moaned as I pushed her shirt up to just under her breasts. I had a lot to say to her, but I also had an insatiable need to feel every inch of her that I had been missing.
I’d have to multitask.
“You don’t know me anymore.” I trailed kisses down to the waistband of her jeans and teased my fingers just underneath. “But we’ll fix that. We’ll start over.”
“I can’t,” she breathed, lifting her hips, encouraging me further.
“I’m taking you home, Ash. We’re giving this thing a real try.”
“I can’t try.” She suddenly sat up, but I was nowhere near done yet.
I had just gotten my first taste of Ash in three years; there was going to be an all-out feast before she was going anywhere. Pushing up on my arm, I used the other to grab the back of her neck and drag her down to my mouth. She stiffened in surprise, but it was short-lived. The moment my tongue swept hers, Ash proved that she was in the mood for a feast of her own.
One of her hands flew to my hair, tugging roughly in a needy attempt to take the kiss impossibly deeper as she reclined again. She was suddenly frantic, but even as her fingers made their way under the edge of my shirt, gliding up and down my back, she mumbled, “I can’t.”
“I wasn’t giving you the choice,” I replied, pulling away from her mouth long enough to peel the shirt over her head—an action she quickly returned, tearing mine off as well.
“I can’t be with you again.” She rolled over, pressing me down on the cold tile and swinging a leg over my hips.
“Well, that’s too bad, because it’s happening.” I reached up to unsnap her bra while she raked her teeth over my neck. “Fuck,” I hissed when her core settled against my straining cock.
“You don’t understand,” she said, letting her bra fall down her arms. “I can’t try. Not with you.”
“Then don’t try. But you’re still coming home with me,” I told her chest, unable to drag my eyes away.
Her long hair flowed over one of her shoulders, and I brushed it away. Nothing should have obstructed that view. Her creamy, pale breasts were much fuller than I remembered, and those small, pink nipples were screaming my name, pleading for me to take them in my mouth.
A plea I could more than oblige.
Sitting up, I grazed my teeth over the flesh before repeating the process on the other breast. She moaned, dropping her chin to her chest to watch as I laved in circles. Her fingers once again threaded into my hair as she rocked against my cock. Dropping a hand to her ass, I guided her into an agonizing rhythm that had us both whispering reverent curses.
Why in God’s name are there two pairs of jeans between us?
“Fuck,” I groaned.
As I reached down to her button in order to remedy the situation, Judy’s voice came from the other side of the door.
“Um, Tori, I’m not sure what you’re doing, but please be mindful that I eat my lunch in that room.”
Then Till said, “Would you leave them alone? Get away from the door.”
I dropped my head to her chest, furious that I finally had her and we were being interrupted. And even more frustrated that we were on the cold floor of a homeless shelter.
Just as I started to let out an angry curse, a laugh bubbled from Ash’s throat.
It was real.
And beautiful.
And so much better than I remembered.
It was everything.
But really, it was just her.
“I need to get you home and into my bed.” I laughed, folding my arms around her and tugging her down on top of me. Her naked breasts pressed against me as she continued to laugh in my ear.
A wave of nostalgia crashed over me, only soothed by the promise of a future where Ash would laugh every day. A future I would give her and, in turn, selfishly keep for myself.
Her laugh slowly faded away as she picked our shirts up before dropping mine on my chest.
“Soooo . . .” she drawled awkwardly.
“Soooo . . .” I mimicked, tugging my shirt on.
“It was really good seeing you again,” she said dismissively.
She really was a funny girl, because if she thought for one second after that little sample of us together that I was letting her go, she was kidding herself. She was coming home with me. Of that I was sure.
“Yeah. You too.” I chuckled, using my one of my crutches to climb back to my feet. “So Till packed your stuff. I’ll give yo
u a few minutes to say goodbye.”
She twisted her mouth and smarted off. “Umm . . . okay. Goodbye, Flint.”
I ignored her. “Let me know when you’re ready to leave.”
“I’m not leaving. You are leaving.”
“Right. So, yeah . . . Not happening. Here’s how this is going to go down. Tonight, we’re finishing what you just started.”
“I didn’t start that!”
I gave her a knowing smirk. “You got my name tattooed on your body.”
“No. I got a piece of flint tattooed on my body.” She crossed her arms over her chest in a show of attitude that had me growing hard all over again.
I stalked toward her, fully expecting her to back away, but she held her ground. She just didn’t understand that it was my ground she was standing on.
I brushed her hair off her neck, carefully dragging the tips of my fingers over her skin. “Oh, I’m gonna give you more than just a piece of Flint, Ash. In my bed. Tonight. I’m gonna show every inch of that body how much I’ve missed you. Then, when we wake up in the morning, I’m going to fuck you until I’m done being mad at you. Then I’m taking you on a date, and then we are figuring out the getting-back-together part.” I winked.
Her mouth gaped open. “I should really take off right now,” she whispered, but she swayed toward me, dropping her head to my chest.
“You’re leaving with me.”
“You don’t understand,” she whined.
“So you keep saying.” I kissed the top of her head. “Just give me a few days. Let me apologize and explain the things I said to you. If you want nothing to do with me, I’ll bring you back.”
“I don’t know.” She wrapped her arms around my waist.
“Well, I do. I can make this right, Ash. You just have to trust me.”
“I, um . . .”
“Just try.” I leaned away and looked down into her innocent, blue eyes. “And stop stealing my fucking wallet.”
Her arms fell away, and she let out an exaggerated huff. “Fine. You have two days.” She backed up, slapping the wallet against my chest. “But I’m still calling you Wheels. I don’t care if you are walking.”
“I can live with that.” I laughed.
She was back.
And suddenly, so was I.
I COULDN’T DECIDE IF LEAVING with Flint was the best or worst decision I had ever made. On one hand, I couldn’t deny the fact that I wanted him on practically every level. On the other, I didn’t trust him to feel the same way. And I had so little in life that even trust wasn’t something I could afford to give away. But back on that first hand, I wanted him so much that I could give him two days then torture myself with the memories for years to come. I’d figure out a way to survive.
After voicing my displeasure that he’d replaced the party bus with a charcoal-grey SUV, we headed toward his apartment. Or, according to Flint, his bed. I secretly cried for the first thirty minutes for reasons that were lost even to me. I just knew I had never been more scared of anything in my life—and that was saying a lot. Eventually, I fell asleep, only to wake up when we dropped Till off at On The Ropes.
“You guys coming to Q’s fight tomorrow night, right? We’ll all go out to dinner afterwards, Doodle’s treat. She sold a painting yesterday.” Till smiled, poking his head in Flint’s window. “It was good to see you, Ash. Take care of this asshole.” He slapped Flint on the back of the head then jumped away before Flint could retaliate.
“Jackass,” Flint mumbled, smoothing the back of his hair down. “We’ll be there,” he replied, rolling his window up.
Instead of walking away, Till started laughing and lifted his hands to continue the conversation in sign language.
“Jesus Christ.” Flint shook his head, quickly backing out of the parking lot.
“What’d he say?” I asked.
“Nothing,” he rushed out, his eyes nervously flashing to mine.
I would have questioned him further, but as he stared out the windshield, a grin tipped the side of his mouth.
I’d missed him so much.
Unable to restrain myself, I reached across the center console and rested my hand on his thigh. He never acknowledged the subtle gesture, but his simple grin spread across his face, transforming it into a full-blown smile. It was probably awkward as hell that I was staring at him, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away. It was so surreal that he was sitting next to me. And it was so amazing that my fears began to melt away. Maybe I didn’t have to trust him. I could just steel myself for the worst and embrace every second of the good I got with him.
Maybe I never had to leave at all.
That was until Flint turned into a quaint subdivision I didn’t recognize. Then I realized I couldn’t even stay for the originally promised two days.
Rows of new houses lined the streets. Flawlessly manicured lawns butted up against the unmarred sidewalks, illuminated by old-timey streetlights, while shiny, new minivans and SUVs filled the driveways.
“Um . . . where . . . where are we?” I stuttered, taking it all in.
“Home,” he answered. The garage door lifted as he turned into the driveway of a small, two-story, brick house complete with blue shutters.
“Whose house is this?” I asked as I looked around the perfectly organized garage.
“Mine.”
“Where . . . I mean . . . you moved?”
“Yeah, a few months ago. Till gave me the down payment as a graduation gift, but I’m paying him back.” He smiled proudly, but my gut wrenched.
“Graduation?”
“Yeah. I finished school. I’m running the business side of On The Ropes for Till and Slate right now, but I’m trying to become a sports agent. I just recruited a fighter who’s about to go pro. He moved to the gym and agreed to let me represent him. There is a lot of money to be made if you get the right clients.”
“Oh God,” I breathed.
“What?”
“Oh God.” Panic began to ricochet in my chest.
“What?” he repeated, reaching out to grab my hand.
“I can’t do this. I’m sorry.” I scrambled out of his car then darted from his garage.
Once my feet hit the sidewalk, I realized that things were even worse than I’d thought. He had flowerbeds, with bushes that were trimmed to . . . well, perfection.
“Shit,” I cursed as I saw of the basketball hoop in the driveway across the street.
“Ash!” Flint called as he followed me out.
I turned back to look at him and caught sight of the scariest thing I had ever seen in all of my nineteen years.
There was a wreath.
On his door.
And it wasn’t even Christmas.
“I have to get out of here,” I told myself.
“What the hell is going on?” he asked, suddenly stepping in front of me.
“I can’t,” was all I said before taking off at a sprint.
“Ash!” he yelled, but I didn’t bother to stop. I couldn’t even if I’d wanted.
And God, did I want to.
I ran until my legs wouldn’t carry me any farther, which ended up being approximately two blocks. (I noted that track and field was decidedly not my forte.) Out of breath, I sat on the concrete sidewalk, not daring to touch the plush grass, then hugged my knees to my chest.
“This was such a bad idea.” I tucked my head low, praying that I could disappear.
It didn’t take but a minute or two before I saw the headlights of his car as they rounded the corner. I heard the creak of his car door open before he grumbled, “I am sick and fucking tired of chasing you.”
“Can you please take me home now?” I told my knees.
He let out a frustrated sigh. “Jesus Christ, what is going on?”
“I have to leave. Like, now. I need to go home.”
“Fuck, Ash. Is that what you really want?”
“Yes,” I lied. Swallowing hard to mask the emotion, I looked up into what I fully expected
to be his angry eyes. Only they weren’t at all; they were soft and sincere. And it made my decision hurt that much more.
“All right.” He loudly exhaled. “Get in the car.”
“Thank you.” My heart began to slow in relief even as dread filled my stomach.
I slid into the passenger’s seat, and Flint grudgingly climbed behind the wheel.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered, dropping my head back against the headrest and closing my eyes as he started to drive off.
“Yeah. Me too,” he mumbled, breaking my already shattered heart.
I kept my eyes closed as I felt him do a U-turn, beginning our journey back to Willing Hearts.
Back to my home.
Or so I’d thought.
“You are fucking insane if you think I’m taking you back to a homeless shelter,” he boomed as the car bumped over the curb of his driveway.
My eyes flew open as he once again drove into his garage. Grabbing my wrist, he restrained me while waiting for the door to seal us in.
“You liar!” I screeched.
“No, I didn’t lie at all. I already told you this was your home now,” he said smugly.
I wanted to slap that stupid look off his face. Or kiss it. I wasn’t sure which.
“Flint, you can’t tell someone where to live.”
He lifted his eyebrows and leaned in closer before whispering, “Watch me.”
Yep, I definitely wanted to slap him.
And maybe still kiss him a little.
“I think you’re the insane one.” I snatched my arm away and swung the car door open. Frantically, I tried to figure out how to open his garage as he lumbered out of the car.
“You can try to run, and I may not be able to chase you physically, but we need to be clear on one thing, Ash. I will not let you go again.”
I froze.
“You belong with me. And I will do whatever I have to do in order to keep you. I fucked up the first time. I won’t do it again. You can walk out that door, but know that I will find you. I will chase you for the rest of my life if that is what it takes to be with you.”
I’d waited my entire life to hear someone say those words to me.
