Ashley sat up then, staring at his phone to make sure it was still Taylor he was talking to, and then pressing it in tighter against his ear. This was not how this conversation was supposed to go. He was pretty sure Hale was supposed to get the call and it was meant to involve yelling and a whole bunch of ‘stay away from my little brother’ and other such bullshit. Something along the lines of Brayden’s little spaz earlier in the day. This … This was not what he was expecting.
‘You’re warning me not to hurt the guy who saved your life with a slingshot and a lifesaver?’
‘He told you about that?’ Taylor was laughing, relaxing. But then he sighed and Ashley could hear him scratching his head, thinking again. ‘Hale … he’s a good fighter. He shoots better than anyone I’ve ever seen, and he’s wicked fast. But he’s not invincible, Ash. No one is.’ The heavy sigh, again. Something was seriously off.
‘I’ve seen the scar on his back,’ Ashley admitted softly and Taylor grunted in response. ‘Do you know … how?’ He bit his lip, not even sure he wanted to hear the answer.
‘Ash, if you’re serious about Finn I’m going to tell you this once, and only once. If you want to know something about him, ask him. Don’t ask anyone else, ask him. He’ll be completely honest with you and tell you anything you want to know, but don’t ask anyone else, they don’t know what they’re talking about.’
‘But you know,’ Ashley realised. Taylor knew a lot more about Finn Hale than he had ever let on. Ashley realised they weren’t just colleagues, they were friends. That was why Taylor had a tee-shirt and shorts at Finn’s house that were clearly heavily used. They ran together, and probably hung out. It shouldn’t have made Ashley jealous, but it did.
‘Second thing,’ Taylor changed the subject, his tone turning scolding. ‘Stop thinking of him as Hale in your head. Surnames are for mates and the guys you work with. Everyone else calls him Hale. If you’re gonna sleep with him, his name’s Finn.’
‘No shit.’ Ashley was still pissed, mostly because he had been doing exactly that, and even he’d noticed. If Taylor knew, it meant Hale had probably noticed even though he hadn’t said anything. He’d have to fix that.
‘I’m serious, Ash. You’re my baby brother and I love you, but you can’t hurt this one. Do it right.’ There was a level of finality to Taylor’s words that was usually reserved for laying down the law. The call disconnected.
He was left staring at his phone in the dark, listening to the silence left by his brother hanging up on him. He realised, slowly, that Taylor’s rage that morning hadn’t been directed at him. Taylor hadn’t been angry at all, actually. Maybe Clay had, maybe Brayden, he wasn’t sure, but Taylor had been worried and not about his little brother but about his friend. His friend with the horrible scar and the pretty tattoos.
He wanted to call. Wanted to hear his voice, but wasn’t sure what he would say and so he texted instead.
Thanks for today, I had a great time. I want to see you again. I’m off shift on Friday night. Can I take you to dinner?
There was no reply, and eventually he got tired of waiting and went to shower. The hot water felt amazing after freezing in the ice rink all day and the soap reminded him of the shower he’d had that morning. He was hard instantly and gave in to the temptation to stroke off in the shower, recalling every inch of Finn’s body, wet and slippery in the steamy glass cage. It didn’t take him long to come at all, leaving him breathless against the tiles while the water washed away the evidence.
When he was dry and went back to bed his phone was flashing with a message and he hurriedly opened it.
Me too. My shift finishes at 11 Fri night. It’s late, but I’d like to see you. Meet me at mine?
There were butterflies caged in Ashley’s stomach, obviously.
See you there.
Nerves sucked. Ashley had spent an hour in the shower trying to scrub off the dirt and grime of the day, but it left his skin feeling raw and overly sensitive and gave his cheeks a flushed, somewhat crazed rosy hue. Disgusted with himself, he towelled off and rummaged through his closet for something to wear.
After ten minutes he realised how stupid it felt to stand in a closet and think you had nothing to wear while staring at piles of clothes. He grabbed a pair of jeans and a plain black tee-shirt and pulled them on, checking that it didn’t have a work logo on it or any other strange paraphernalia. It really was plain. The last thing he wanted was to realise at the last minute he was wearing one of his brother’s shirts, and then turn up to Hale’s in a Riot Squad uniform.
His hair usually did its own thing. He considered doing more than running a brush through it but firmly put the brush down and refused to reach for any kind of hair gel. He didn’t want it to look like he was trying too hard in case that scared Finn off. Even if he wanted to tie the man to his bed and refuse to allow him to leave, ever … Finn did not need to know Ashley was apparently a psychotic loon.
‘Ash!’ Freya bellowed through the door. ‘I’m coming in!’ The door swung open and he blinked at her where she stood clinging to the doorknob. She looked him up and down and then sighed heavily, slamming the door shut behind her as she went and sprawled on his bed.
‘Ah … are you snooty at me or something else?’ It was really hard to tell.
‘Say snooty again.’
He was not that stupid, contrary to popular belief.
‘I know you own nicer clothes than jeans and a scungy old black tee-shirt. Why aren’t you wearing something nice, like that vest and shirt from the other night?’
‘That’s the only ‘nice’ thing I own,’ Ashley admitted, frowning down at his clothes and wondering if he shouldn’t have just re-worn that.
‘Oh, you look fine. You always look stupidly fine, that’s half the problem. Maybe if you were hideous you’d try harder, but instead you don’t have to try at all!’
‘I’m trying to not look like I’m trying.’
‘Well, you’ve got that mastered.’ She sighed and put her chin glumly in her fist, lying on her stomach and kicking her heels together while she stared at him.
‘You’re staring.’ It was unnerving.
‘You’re candy,’ she agreed. ‘Don’t worry, even in your boring clothes you look stupidly hot. He’s going to love you, lucky bastard.’
‘That sounds weird …’ He knew she wasn’t in love with him, but still.
‘Don’t worry, I have no interest in you, I could never handle dating someone I worried was better looking than me. I need all Dave’s attention on me or my brain turns on all panic stations, thank you very much.’
‘I don’t think that’s healthy,’ Ashley went and sat beside her on the bed, rubbing sweaty palms on his thighs.
‘Like you can talk. Mister, I’ve been carrying a torch for some guy for years and couldn’t even be bothered to tell my best friend so she could help me nab him sooner.’
‘I told Dave.’
‘Ouch. I’m best friend by proxy of dating, and if we break up I’m keeping you in the divorce, so you have to learn to love me more.’
‘I don’t think that’s how it works.’ But there really was no point in arguing.
‘Have you got condoms?’ She held one out. Where she pulled it from Ashley didn’t want to know, it was under her somewhere.
‘I’m not sleeping with him tonight.’ Ashley ran a shaking hand through his hair. He didn’t think he was sleeping with Finn Hale tonight. He wouldn’t mind, but he also would.
‘Ash?’ She was worried, her face crumpling a little, her hand reaching out to rub his knee in annoying little circles.
‘I don’t want to be a one night stand.’
‘Well, this is night two, so yay! Success!’ But the joke fell between them and she sighed, reaching up to stroke his chin. ‘You’re not his one night stand, babe. I know you think you’re trying to move too fast and you’re going to freak him out but Ash … he already took you home and introduced you to his dog. It’s the equivalent of the kids. And he
asked to meet you after a twelve hour shift in the middle of the damned night! That’s swoon-worthy!’
‘That’s got booty call written all over it,’ Ashley groused.
‘No, it has I can’t wait a minute longer than I have to, to see you, so come over right now instead of tomorrow for brunch written all over it.’ She sat up and hugged him hard, deliberately leaving her hands on his shoulders and sighing at the hard muscles beneath.
‘You know in some places I think this is considered molestation.’
‘Shut up, I’m boosting your ego and you know it.’ She was, but he didn’t agree. He didn’t need a bigger ego. She pulled back and kicked off her heels, tugging back the covers on his bed and climbed in.
‘Should I ask what you’re doing?’
‘Well, you’re not sleeping here, so …’
‘You are not seducing Dave in my bed.’
‘If you say so.’
There was no point in arguing. He kissed her cheek and grabbed his phone and wallet, then left her there snuggling his pillow, resigned to the fact he was going to have to wash his sheets in the morning. He’d buy new bleach on the way home.
The lights were on when he reached Finn’s house and the yard was suspiciously empty. No dog, and the garage was shut so Ashley assumed Finn was home and Anubis was in the house. He parked in the drive and shut the gate before checking his reflection in the rear-view mirror. He wasn’t sure why he bothered since his appearance hadn’t changed during the drive. Nerves did strange things to people.
The door swung open before he could knock and Finn was there, grinning at him. Immediately Ashley relaxed because Finn looked tired and was dressed in frayed jeans and the thinnest, oldest grey shirt Ashley thought he’d ever seen. He was barefoot and his hair was wet from the shower. Finn hadn’t put a single thought into what he was wearing. He looked incredibly happy to see him.
‘Hey.’ His voice felt like it was being shoved through a straw but Finn failed to notice or plain didn’t care, reaching out to wrap his hand around the back of Ashley’s neck. He pulled him in and down to seal their lips together, breathing a heavy sigh of relief into Ashley’s mouth, as if he’d been waiting all day just for that moment. Ashley let his hands settle on Finn’s hips and let his own nerves dissipate, flittering free of his stomach in a swarm and escaping into the cool night air.
Finn pulled him inside and kicked the door shut, pushing Ashley back against the wood and kissing him hard. For a moment Ashley felt his stomach plummet, because it seemed all Finn wanted was a booty call after all, but after a moment Finn collapsed against him, sandwiching him against the door and inhaling deeply.
When he didn’t move, Ashley grew confused and slid his hands higher to wrap around Finn’s back, hugging him close, amused by the contented sigh he received in return.
‘I hope you don’t mind, but I’m completely totalled after today and can’t be bothered to cook so I grabbed a pizza on the way home?’
‘That’s perfect,’ Ashley grinned and shuffled them backward, away from the door to the couch. He sat heavily and pulled Finn down into his lap, completely content as the other man’s weight settled on him.
‘How was your shift?’ Finn’s voice was muffled where he spoke against Ashley’s tee-shirt, rubbing his face against his shoulder. Ashley could feel the prickles of his stubble through the thin cotton.
‘It was alright, nothing extraordinary. A kid set off the fire alarm at his school so the maths test would be postponed, and some old lady forgot she was roasting a chicken and called us, but the oven hadn’t even caught fire, though she did have charcoal chicken. Nothing big, was pretty boring really.’ It had meant he had very little to do besides think about going to see the man who’d haunted his thoughts all week.
‘Ours was crap.’ Finn shifted around until he was happy. Pushed in hard against Ashley’s side, half nestled under him amongst the couch cushions, half wrapped around him. It was cute, and Ashley was happy to be his pillow and blanket all in one.
‘How crap?’
‘Just … there’s been this weird string of attacks against immigrants but no one’s talking. It’d be easier if it was a least confined to one community, but it’s not. We’ve had Vietnamese, Chinese, Indonesian, Malay and Timorese victims so far, all here without visas. Their families won’t talk, even with the threat of deportation.’
‘You ever think maybe offering to not deport them might loosen their tongues?’ Ashley languidly threaded his hands through Finn’s dark hair.
‘We don’t have the authority to offer that, but they did try it with one of the Timorese families. They said they were better off leaving; at least at home they knew who was likely to cut their heads off!’
‘Huh?’
‘Yeah,’ Finn chuckled darkly and took a deep, calming breath. ‘We can’t help them because they won’t let us, and while we waste time chasing thin air the death toll is rising pretty steadily. We’re not going to be able to keep it contained much longer and I hate when that stuff makes the news and everyone all of a sudden has an opinion about something they know nothing about. It always sucks.’
‘I’m sorry your day sucked,’ Ashley murmured softly, kissing the top of Finn’s head. He wished he could help, but there was nothing to be done so he wrapped Finn in strong arms and cradled him while he relaxed.
‘If we don’t eat soon I’m gonna fall asleep.’ Finn forced his way free of Ashley’s arms and went to the kitchen. He returned with a pizza box and two beers.
‘You don’t have to, if you want to drive or whatever, but … I’d really like it if you were staying here.’
Ashley took the beer and Finn’s hand, pulling him down and taking his time to explore Finn’s mouth. Finn looked stunned when he pulled back. Ashley smirked, cracking open the beer and taking a long swallow.
‘You better not have a spare bed I don’t know about.’
‘I do, but you’re not using it,’ Finn stroked his swollen lips, then sat back down beside Ashley and opened his beer, clinking the bottle necks together. ‘Cheers to the most boring second date I could have thought of.’
‘I don’t really have a problem with boring.’ Ashley took a piece of pizza and bit into hot, cheesy goodness with a loud moan of delight, aware of Finn’s widening eyes as he watched him.
‘Me neither, apparently.’
‘I mean, it beats babysitting, or trying to decipher Freya’s latest crazy idea of a fun time, or trying to explain to the guys on my truck that I don’t want the weekend off because that means I have to show my face at my mother’s house.’
Finn laughed, taking a piece of pizza. They settled into comfortable quiet, eating and drinking and stealing the occasional kiss. There was nothing boring to it at all, in Ashley’s opinion.
He felt calm for the first time in weeks.
The scent of bacon was thick in the air, the quiet sizzle and hiss of someone cooking barely audible over the gentle sing-song howls and snuffles of accompanying dog song. Ashley pulled on his boxers and shuffled out to the kitchen. Finn was by the frying pan, pushing the bacon around the pan in lazy circles while Anubis sat at his side, howling softly.
‘Is some of that for me, or is it all for him?’ Ashley wrapped his arms around Finn’s waist and kissed the top of his head.
‘There’s enough for everyone,’ Finn chuckled, reaching over to turn off the other burner where he had several eggs poaching in a saucepan. ‘Get some plates?’
Reluctant as he was to release his hold, Ashley let Finn go and went to fetch plates as he was asked. He put them by the stove and moved to set the table. There wasn’t a lot to do. The table was small, only a metre square with four chairs. He put two sets of knives and forks down and grabbed two glasses and the juice from the fridge.
‘You want coffee?’ He was already filling the kettle.
‘Yeah,’ Finn agreed quickly, reaching up to flick open one of the cupboards, revealing a stash of surprisingly trendy coffee blends and an air
plunger.
‘So you do like nice things,’ Ashley joked, grabbing what he needed while the water boiled.
‘Hmm … are you making fun of my terrible house?’
‘I didn’t say it was terrible.’
‘You don’t need to,’ Finn laughed, loading the plates with eggs and bacon on what appeared to be a nice chunk of buttered sourdough. ‘This house is awful. It needs to be gutted and renovated but there’s no point unless we sell it or rent it to someone who gives a damn about that sort of thing.’
‘That sort of thing being … matching wallpaper?’
He was never going to tire of Finn’s laugh. Finn sat at the table with the food but didn’t start eating. He waited patiently for Ashley to finish making the coffee.
‘I guess if I move out then my sister might renovate it for the next renters, but until then there’s no point spending the money. Besides, it’s got charm.’
‘To who? Blind hundred and ten year old Grandma Louisa?’
‘Please tell me you actually have a blind hundred and ten year old Grandma Louisa.’
‘Sadly, no,’ Ashley huffed, pouring two black coffees and bringing them to the table before fetching the milk. ‘Though, that does sound like something we would have. Unfortunately, all four of my grandparents have all of their senses intact and all their marbles. Grandma Edna is actually worse than my Mum, if you can imagine? Not even Mum is stupid enough to tell her when one of us gets hurt. I think she’s secretly afraid Edna will move in to take care of us and we’ll never get her to leave.’
Finn laughed around a mouthful of black coffee, almost snorting it. Ashley made a note that Finn had no sugar or milk in his coffee while ladling both condiments into his own. Wasn’t black coffee a sign of psychopaths? Sietta drank tea. But Sietta was a sociopath …
‘I like your family,’ Finn admitted. It was another sign he was potentially insane.
‘They’re infuriating.’
‘True.’ But Finn looked fragile and despite the smile there was something broken inside. Ashley got the feeling their families were very different. He didn’t want to spoil breakfast by asking, so he caught Finn’s feet between his own while he started eating. He moaned deliberately loud and felt weirdly proud of himself when Finn laughed at him.
Rhino Ash (Saturday Barbies Book 2) Page 12
