Rhino Ash (Saturday Barbies Book 2)

by Lindsey Black

  ‘What?’ But he was laughing, incredulous.

  ‘It is! Why is everything you own so shitty? You have a job, you earn money, but your car is from 1990, your house looks like the last owners died in it after dealing drugs from their front yard lemonade stand, half your clothes are so old they’re gonna be considered rags soon, and I’m pretty sure all of your furniture is second hand. What’s the deal?’ Anything to focus the rage.

  Finn shut his mouth and stared at the road. His hands were white where they gripped the wheel and Ashley realised his mouth had run away with him and he’d been a complete arsehole. He’d also, perhaps, found Finn’s glass bottom and cracked it wide open.

  ‘Sorry.’ He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. ‘That was … really mean, actually. And rude.’ It seemed his boyfriend was being rather shitty as well.

  ‘No,’ Finn shook his head and forced a smile. ‘It was accurate. I … I don’t care about any of those things, and everything you mentioned has a sentimental value even if it’s got absolutely no other value and that matters to me, so I don’t bother with it I guess. I …’ He was struggling to explain and the grip he had on the wheel was starting to look painful. ‘I always wanted this car, so when I got my first pay check it was what I bought. And the house is my sister’s. And the furniture was my Gran’s. And …’ He was unravelling, and Ashley was in no state to be a shoulder to cry on.

  Ashley put a hand on his arm and shook his head. He hadn’t thought it was possible to feel worse, but he sure as hell did. The girl had died and Finn was having some kind of meltdown in the front seat. He was having the worst day ever, it was official.

  ‘So, Bell and Keller both put complaints in against Zhao.’

  ‘What?’ Finn could not have been any more confused. It was cute as.

  ‘Apparently they feel he is sexually harassing me in the workplace,’ Ashley elaborated. It was helping him calm down, giving him something to focus on and while Finn was still frowning at him, he’d relaxed a bit as well. It was good.

  ‘The guy’s a douche-nozzle.’

  Ashley was laughing, properly this time, no hint of hysteria and Finn looked grumpier for it.

  ‘I’m serious! I shoulda put a complaint in against him! I hate that guy!’

  ‘You only hate him because he hits on me,’ Ashley reasoned.

  ‘No, I hate him because he hits on you in an inappropriate manner at work, and also because you’re my fucking boyfriend. I should make you a damned badge and have you wear it at work so he gets the message.’

  ‘A badge.’ Was he for real? ‘What am I, Jewish?’ But he was laughing and Finn still looked so amazingly affronted that he couldn’t stop. ‘What would it say?’

  ‘Keep your fucking hands off or Finn Hale will shoot your stupid arse!’ Finn snapped at him and Ashley collapsed into helpless laughter at the indignant fury rolling off him.

  ‘You’d out yourself at work to keep some douche’s hands off me?’ That was pretty sweet, actually.

  ‘Technically, I’d be outing myself at your work, but …’ He frowned then, looking confused for a moment before he laughed. ‘Do you know, no one I work with has ever asked about my sexual orientation? I mean, they’ve never even asked if I’m dating someone. That’s weird, right? I mean I know Mendel and Jones are married and that Taylor and Clay may as well be and I know Harris has more one night stands than is healthy for anyone, but not one of those bastards has ever asked me anything about who’s in my bed.’

  ‘You seem … offended,’ Ashley tried to clarify. It was weird, true, but Finn seemed genuinely perplexed for some reason.

  ‘Do you think it’s because they’re afraid I might shoot them?’ He asked seriously and Ashley choked on his laughter. Partly because that might actually be the reason.

  ‘Surely not.’ Probably definitely.

  ‘Those fucktards.’ Finn turned onto his street and muttered all the way up to the front gate. Ashley got out and grabbed Anubis so Finn could drive in and close the gate behind them. Finn put the car in the garage, which was probably why Ashley hadn’t seen it before.

  It was strange how normal it all felt. They hadn’t needed to discuss anything. He’d jumped out and grabbed the dog and Finn had followed. He watched Anubis bound over to his master and throw himself happily at the man and marvelled that this was his life now, when a few weeks before he’d done nothing but drool over daydreams.

  ‘Thanks for coming to get me,’ he said softly, feeling suddenly awkward standing on the front step waiting to be let in to the house he’d said was crap, sitting in the car he’d said was a shit-box.

  Finn stood at the bottom of the two steps leading onto his front porch, Anubis at his side. A small smile turned up the corner of his lips before he strode up to meet him. He leaned up on his toes to kiss Ashley hard on the mouth.

  ‘Always. Now stop being an awkward arse and get inside.’ He unlocked the door and Ashley followed him in, kicking his shoes off and walking straight through to Finn’s bedroom, peeling off his overalls and crawling into Finn’s bed, wrapping his arms around one of his pillows and sighing in contented relief.

  ‘I’m not leaving your bed for the rest of today.’

  ‘As you wish,’ Finn called from the kitchen where Ashley could make out the sound of him filling the dog’s food and water bowls.

  When he came in, he stood in the doorway for a minute, watching Ashley snuggling his pillow on the bed. Then he tugged his own clothes off, tossed them aside and crawled in beside him.

  ‘Do you think you’d consider replacing the pillow with me?’

  Ashley didn’t need to be asked twice. He tossed the pillow aside and clutched Finn to him instead, settling against his side and resting his head over Finn’s heart, listening to the solid thumping of his pulse.

  ‘The fire was horrible,’ he admitted softly. ‘It was the worst one I’ve had, so far.’

  ‘Worse than the exploding house?’ Finn joked, his fingers sinking into Ash’s hair and gently massaging his scalp.

  ‘Way worse,’ he agreed. ‘The worst.’

  He could still smell the smoke, still feel the itch of it in his eyes and the weight of it puffing against his skin. He could still hear the screams and see the blood and mangled, charred skin peeling away. He turned and buried his face in Finn’s neck and Finn wrapped strong arms around him and pulled the blanket over them, cocooning him from the world. He sang softly under his breath, little more than a whisper, some French lullaby Ashley didn’t know or understand and it was the sweetest thing he’d ever heard. He let it lull him to sleep, where finally the smoke couldn’t reach him.

  12

  Bonne nuit, Bafwasende

  The bed was empty when he woke, the sheets cool to the touch. Ashley rolled onto his back and stared at the old, peeling ceiling and wondered again why Finn lived here. Sure, it was his sister’s place and he was helping her out by paying the mortgage, but anyone could have rented the place and done that. Finn could have helped her find a good renter. He chose to stay here, and that was odd.

  So was the man’s car. Ashley hadn’t even known there were any of those still running, let alone that they passed the road worthiness test and were legally still on the road. It was quite literally the ugliest car Ashley had ever seen. They hadn’t been attractive to begin with, and twenty-five years had done nothing to improve them. Worse, it was a horrid cream colour that had yellowed over the years into something akin to baby poo, with similarly coloured tan interior that was so dated Ashley felt like it belonged in an eighties video clip. The roof was sagging, the finishings were all peeling … Harriet was an aged hooker who’d been driven one too many miles. But Finn drove her to work every day.

  The man made no sense and contemplating his idiosyncrasies was the perfect distraction from the yawning gulf of grief Ash felt at failing to save a woman’s life. He really didn’t blame himself, there was no way they could have arrived any sooner or done anything differently, but she was dead an
d he still wondered at that loss and who might miss her. She had to have family somewhere, people who loved and cared for her, and it was their loss he felt as if it were his own.

  Slowly, he forced himself to get up, checking the house, but everything was still and quiet. A note sat on the bench in the kitchen, but Ashley had already guessed Finn had left to run Anubis. The bunny was nowhere to be seen and its absence made him smile.

  He showered, the hot water sinking into tired muscles that were perhaps more weary in mind than body, but he thought he was entitled to some imaginary aches.

  He rummaged through Finn’s closet, marvelling yet again at how worn everything was. Nothing was particularly old, a few years at best, but there wasn’t a lot there and it had all been worn close to perishing. The materials were thin and soft in that way clothes only get when they are so well loved you wonder if the person owns anything else. Ironically, Finn didn’t. There was also little that would fit him, but Ashley refused to put on his overalls, which he had convinced himself stank of smoke despite the fact they only smelt like lemon and coffee. He found the running shorts he’d borrowed last time and a tee-shirt that was likely very baggy on Finn but fit him like a glove and pulled them on as he heard the front door open.

  Anubis came bounding in and leapt on the bed, curling up there, panting, bunny still gripped tight in his jaws. Finn came in far more sedately and looked him up and down before grinning.

  ‘Not that it’s not a good look, but maybe you should leave some of your clothes here, hmm?’

  ‘Yeah,’ Ashley agreed, smiling more because Finn had suggested leaving things in his house than because he looked ridiculous. It was a small sign that Finn wanted him there, in his space, and he’d offered it so easily, so casually that it was clear he hadn’t even had to think about it.

  ‘What time is it?’ He didn’t wear a watch at work, relying on the clocks on the station walls and in the truck.

  ‘About five thirty. The sun’ll go down soon. Are you okay to stay here, or do you want to go to yours?’

  ‘Here,’ he replied quickly, closing the space between them and wrapping Finn up, closing him in against him as if his body was enough to protect him from the world and its fires. He needed him there, where he could touch and smell and shield.

  ‘You okay?’

  ‘Getting there,’ Ashley admitted, remembering the way her skin had peeled off and shuddering. It would haunt his dreams for a while, he knew. Maybe forever.

  ‘You want to watch a movie or something?’

  ‘Surprised you have a TV.’ Ashley had been joking but Finn was still and for a moment he thought he’d upset the other man but when he pulled back Finn looked guilty.

  ‘Do you have a TV?’ What had he planned to watch a movie on if he didn’t?

  ‘Yeah, I have a TV, but…’

  ‘But?’ Ashley prodded.

  ‘It won’t be a DVD.’ Finn fled the room, Ashley on his heels. He went to a large wooden cabinet on the living room wall and opened the doors and sure enough, there was a regular sized flat screen TV. It was a bit dated, but not ancient like everything else. However, on a shelf below it was a VCR.

  ‘You’re shitting me,’ Ashley exhaled on a long breath, rushing over and then laughing, harder than was necessary but really, the man was ridiculous.

  ‘What? I don’t have a lot of people over here.’

  ‘Meaning any, right? You don’t usually have anyone over?’

  ‘Justine … that’s my sister, and Drew,’ Finn admitted. ‘Taylor has come a few times, but we just drink beer. Mendel’s been here, but he was only dropping me off.’

  It made Ashley feel special, the only one allowed in his sanctum, as it were. He opened the cupboard underneath and found a stack of old videos, shaking his head when he realised most of them were old cartoons. The Last Unicorn, Flight of Dragons, Labyrinth, Fraggle Rock … it was the eighties in a time capsule, effectively.

  ‘I want Drew to be cool,’ Finn tried to explain and Ashley laughed.

  ‘I think you’ve gone more geek than cool, but that works.’ He picked up a copy of Terminator and held it out expectantly.

  ‘This is basically your brother in a movie,’ Finn protested, confused by the choice, but he dutifully put it on while Ashley tried to make the couch useable. It was hideous, like everything else Finn owned and he remembered Finn saying all the furniture had been his grandmother’s. It looked it.

  ‘Did …’ But he stopped himself before he really stuck his foot in it.

  ‘You can ask anything, I promise I’m fine with it,’ Finn told him, plonking himself down on the couch and when there wasn’t a large dust cloud or puff of dog fur Ashley decided it was safe and sat beside him.

  ‘Did your grandmother die?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘I’m sorry.’

  ‘I’m not. She was old and had Alzheimer’s. In the end I think it was better, it was her time. She wasn’t enjoying life anymore.’ There was no regret or remorse in the words. He genuinely believed it had been for the best. ‘But no one wanted her stuff and it happened right when I got back from Africa, so I asked if I could have the furniture since I didn’t have anything and somehow I ended up with everything. I gave a lot of it to the Salvo’s, but kept everything that’s here. Except the bed. I couldn’t sleep in a dead person’s bed, so I bought that one at Ikea.’

  That made Ashley laugh. It was a nice bed, very simple and straightforward, much like Finn. It did its job and looked like it hadn’t been overly expensive. As if even sleeping shouldn’t be luxurious.

  The movie started, but it was on soft and that seemed deliberate. Finn had put it on as background noise, and Ashley had to wonder if it was for him, the dog or Finn. It seemed they all needed it right then. Anubis came out from the bedroom and sat in front of the TV. His head drooped to the floor, crashing fast after his run.

  ‘Do you want a beer?’

  ‘Stupid question,’ Ashley grinned at him, and he sat patiently while Finn rescued two beers from the fridge and returned to the couch, handing one over and taking a long swig from his. He was still flushed and sweaty from his run.

  ‘Go have a shower. I’ll watch the movie for a bit.’

  ‘Yeah … okay …’ That fast, he was gone and the house had the eerily still quality to it even though the dog snored softly, the TV hummed and the shower was audible in the next room.

  Ashley looked out the window at the single lemon tree and the dead garden beds with the barely alive lawn and frowned. He had questions, and he was in the perfect morbid mood to hear the answers. So he drank his whole beer, fortifying himself, and helped himself to another.

  When Finn emerged he was in boxer shorts and an ancient tee with POLICE on the back, obviously from before he transferred to the Riot Squad. He settled back on the couch, hair still wet, looking black instead of its usually rustic chocolate. His skin was rosy from the hot water and his lips seemed darker than usual. Ashley kissed him harder than he’d intended, pushing him down under him on the lumpy cushions and stroking his hip where his shirt rode up.

  Finn was breathless when he pulled back and rested their foreheads together. His eyes were darker, lust clear in them. Ashley’s questions could wait. Maybe he shouldn’t have had that beer so fast. It had left him excited and horny, or maybe that was just Finn. The man made all sense and reason abandon him.

  Ashley pushed the old police shirt out of the way and Finn pulled it the rest of the way off so Ashley could properly explore every ridge of muscle and bone with his tongue, consistently fascinated by the hard planes of Finn’s body. He was harder than Ashley, lacking the round curves to his frame, everything longer and more finely crafted, designed for speed rather than domination.

  Ashley was aware of Finn shoving their shorts out of the way and of his hands trying to push the shirt off Ashley’s back but he didn’t help, too fixated on exploring the warm body beneath him, and very aware he wanted to be inside him. He needed lube and a condo
m and he was hoping that was all because everything he had read only mentioned those two things.

  Irritated by the lumpy couch and the small space he had to work with, and a tad concerned he would end up breaking Finn’s dead grandmother’s couch, Ashley suddenly yelled in frustration and stood up from the horrid piece of furniture, completely naked. He hauled Finn up and tossed him over one shoulder in a well-practiced move and carried him through to the Ikea bed, tossing him on the sheets and admiring the look of him hard and flushed and shocked to see Ashley standing over him. But then Finn reached for the nightstand and rummaged in the drawer, pulling lube and condoms from its depths and tossing them on the bed where Ashley couldn’t mistake his meaning.

  ‘Now, Ash.’

  ‘Hell, yes.’ Every fantasy he’d ever had was coming to life right in front of him. He crawled up over Finn and ran his hands down slender legs, amazed as ever by how long they were and how powerful before sliding his hands behind Finn’s knees and pushing them up and apart so he could see his arse and puckered hole. He leaned in and licked a wet line across the back of Finn’s balls, encouraged by his loud groan.

  Stroking an arsehole had always seemed weird in theory, but seeing Finn’s hole shift around his fingertip and listening to the man moan his name while his thighs clenched lit some primal need in Ashley. He grabbed the lube and painted Finn’s arse with shiny stripes that caught fire in the setting sunlight coming through the windows, lighting them up in gold and orange streaks. Finn’s skin glowed gold in the sunlight and contrasted with dark strips of shadow where the light didn’t reach. His eyes were pale green slits that begged him for more with breathless pants that barely managed to sound his name.

  ‘Oh, you want me bad,’ Ashley teased, leaning down to lick Finn’s cock even as he pushed a condom down over his own.

  ‘Stop teasing and fuck me, Ash,’ Finn panted, hands stroking over Ash’s chest as if he couldn’t quite believe he was real, or couldn’t believe they were finally doing this.

  ‘I’m not teasing, I’m enjoying myself, so lie there and look pretty and let me do what I want,’ he scolded, leaning in to kiss the man’s lips, swollen and wanton and delicious. Finn huffed a soft laugh against his lips but then his tongue was in Ash’s mouth and his hands held him firmly to him, clearly wanting more.