13
Annandale after chrysalis
‘Uncle Ash!’ Jay was so startled he dropped the toilet paper he was holding and made to run away but Ashley reached down and grabbed the back of his shirt. Shifting his grip to under Jay’s arms, he lifted him into the air, holding him at arm’s length, unsure he was safe to be near. He was aware of Finn snickering beside him, but was too busy frowning at the small monster to spare him a glance.
‘What’s with the toilet paper? Are you trying to blow up your grandma’s house again?’ He didn’t look like he had anything flammable on him, but you could never be sure.
‘No!’ Jay shook his head vehemently, looking around for help but they were alone on the front lawn, which had clearly been the point of Jay being out there to begin with. Everyone else was out back or in the house. It was Saturday, after all, and anyone without a rock solid excuse was required at the ritual barbeque.
‘Where’s Emma?’ Finn asked and Jay jerked, looking immediately guilty while Finn searched the yard.
‘Jay?’ Ashley let his voice drop an octave so he sounded more like his brothers and glared at the boy.
‘But she’s fine! She asked me to do it!’
‘Jay!’ Ashley pulled him closer, trying to look as threatening as possible. He couldn’t afford to show any fear or he’d never get the brat to listen to him again.
‘Oh fine. She’s in the garage.’ He slipped out of his tee-shirt and Ashely’s hold and ran back into the house half-naked, leaving Ashley standing on the front lawn with a miniature green Hulk shirt clutched in his hands.
‘This shirt is weirdly appropriate,’ Finn pointed out, taking a better look and then heading for the garage. It was dark, the doors all closed until Ashley turned on the light and then he groaned. Finn was laughing, so Ashley went to the back door and checked the backyard, spotting his brothers by the barbeque.
‘Hey guys … you wanna come save your niece?’
It was funny how the twins came storming over but Brayden kept turning sausages like it wasn’t his daughter they were talking about. Even Kelly didn’t bother to move, staying sprawled on a sun lounge beside Chloe, sipping a wine cooler.
Emma was barely visible, merely a mouth hole left in the toilet paper binding she was encased in. Jay must have used at least twenty rolls of triple ply paper to attach Emma to the spare freezer.
‘We should be grateful he put her on the outside.’ Clay rummaged around for something to tear or cut the paper.
‘Emma … what are you doing?’ Taylor asked seriously.
‘I’m turning into a butterfly! I’m in my cocoon!’
Of course she was. But Finn was laughing so hard he had to leave the garage and Clay and Taylor were peeling apart the paper with screwdrivers and a hacksaw. Ashley stood aside and watched, because it was funny and he would only have been in their way if he tried to help.
Eventually Emma was free. She jumped forward and threw her arms open screaming ‘ta-da’ while they stood around gaping at her. She was in a rainbow tie-dye dress with four pairs of fairy wings on her back.
‘I’m a butterfly!’ She pointed out the obvious.
‘Wow!’ Taylor suddenly beamed at her and she threw herself into his arms. He carried her out back, letting her yabber at him about her transformation from small human into massive insect.
‘Why’s Finn here?’ Clay asked, looking back out the front at the crazy man still laughing in hysterics on the front lawn.
‘I brought him.’
‘So, it’s serious then?’ Clay was frowning at Finn, who seemed unable to get himself back under control.
‘Yeah, it’s serious.’
Clay was grinning like it was Christmas. He rushed out front and slapped Finn on the shoulder, asking about something from work before hauling the man out back to see everyone. Ashley stood there and realised it was as easy as that, and that Clay actually approved. Big time.
Following them out back, it was the usual scene. Chloe and Kelly were drinking together on the sun chairs, which meant Kelly had had a bad week because she only ever drank if it had been ‘horrid’. Leila and Micah were in the pool, phones out, Instagramming. He hoped they had better waterproof cases than last time. Sietta was scowling at Emma, who had apparently taken his place in Taylor’s lap on one of the outdoor lounges, and Clay was excitedly introducing Finn to Daniel.
‘Hey!’ Ashley stormed over and shoved Clay out of the way. ‘Introductions are my job, he’s my boyfriend not yours!’
‘He’s my work partner.’
‘Technically you don’t have partners and if you did it would be Taylor, so shut it.’ Ashley turned to find his father gaping at all of them, the beer in one hand teetering sideways in his lax grip.
‘Ash, honey,’ Chloe called from the sun lounge. ‘Did you just say he’s your boyfriend?’
‘Yes, Mum.’ A fact Finn was dealing with rather well, considering he was meeting the weirdest people Ashley knew.
‘I had no idea you swung that way!’ Chloe sat up, pushing her sunglasses up on her head and squinting at him as if there might be something different about him now that he was dating a man. ‘Are you bisexual?’
‘Not that it matters, but yes, Mum, I am.’ He stared at the fan on the roof and contemplated letting it chop his head off. Even if it didn’t kill him it would land him in the emergency department, which was an improvement on where he was.
‘Oh, that’s nice dear,’ Chloe waved him off, but she was still staring at Finn and they both shifted uncomfortably.
‘He’s hot,’ Kelly sighed, sipping her cooler.
‘He is,’ Chloe agreed and they settled back down together.
‘I’m gonna get a complex,’ Joel protested and Clay laughed, going over to hug him reassuringly, as if those two ever had to question one another.
‘Your boyfriend,’ Daniel stated to be clear and Ashley nodded, watching Daniel look Finn up and down and frown. He leaned in and squinted, as if getting a better look and Finn turned to Ashley, clearly concerned, but all Ashley could do was shrug because he had no idea what was going on.
Daniel looked over at Clay and Joel, and then Taylor and Sietta, and then back at them before turning to Ashley. He’d never looked so serious.
‘You do know you don’t have to copy everything your brothers do, right?’
Finn was laughing at him. Ashley scowled and shoved him into the wall but he only howled louder. He’d warned Finn, his family were insane, but he supposed seeing was believing.
‘I’m not bisexual so I can copy the morons!’ He snapped. ‘I’m bisexual because Finn’s the sexiest man I’ve ever met and I’m gonna spend the rest of my life with him, even if he has to spend eighty years laughing in my face!’
‘Wait, we’re living to a hundred?’ Finn frowned at him. Everyone kept frowning at him and he was getting a complex.
‘What is wrong with living to a hundred?’ Ashley snapped.
‘Well, nothing, just I don’t really want to be all wrinkly. Do you think they’ll have better skin care and anti-ageing stuff by then?’ For a second Ashley thought he was serious. Then Chloe spat her wine out and almost choked on her laughter and Kelly wasn’t much better. Finn grinned at them and Ashley rolled his eyes, turning back to his father who was still squinting at them both.
‘No, that works,’ he finally nodded to himself, pulling back and taking a long sip of his beer.
‘What?’
‘This,’ he pointed between the two of them. ‘It actually makes perfect sense. You’re both complete idiots.’ He wandered off to see Ben, who was coming in the front door, more beer in his hands.
Finn was still snickering when Ashley leaned in to kiss the corner of his mouth and apologise.
‘Nah, that’s the best way that could have gone.’
‘He called you an idiot.’
‘Well,’ Finn mused, looking wicked. ‘I am dating you. You can’t fault the man’s logic.’
‘You’re hilariou
s,’ Ashley rumbled sarcastically and then went to sit near Brayden since he seemed vaguely sane.
Jay appeared, but he ran straight for the pool, leaping onto Micah and Leila’s giant swan, almost sending their phones into the pool before anyone could think to yell at him. Once wet, no one wanted to deal with him so they left him to swim, trusting Leila not to let him drown.
‘I’m Ben,’ a far too smooth voice said and Ashley turned, horrified, to find Ben had come out to meet Finn and was shaking his hand. He was holding on too long and the grip looked tight. His eyes were mere slits, examining Finn in the haughty way only really rich, well-educated men with high paying jobs who wore suits and went to court could do. Worse, Ben’s Vietnamese heritage meant he had the harshest glare Ashley had ever been subjected to, and he knew a proverb for every stupid thing you ever did.
‘You’re doomed.’ Brayden sounded a tad awed as he watched Ben.
The man was casually dressed for once in cargo shorts and a white Billabong shirt with some strange tattoo design over one shoulder. His hair was tied back in its habitual tail at the back of his head but stray strands had been permitted to escape and hung around his face. He was a tall, slender man with dark, caramel skin and an incredible complexion that complemented the darkness of his slanted eyes. Women were always falling all over him, but he never seemed overly interested. He had the occasional girlfriend over the years but for the most part he was more interested in work and as one third of Sydney’s finest law firm, he had a lot of it.
‘Finn.’ Finn shook Ben’s hand, and it all looked so innocent but Ben was standing too close. Ashley had vivid memories of him explaining pre-nuptials and him scaring off a girl who’d come over to do her homework with him because she wore cork shoes and no one who wore cork could be trusted. Ben was terrifying.
‘Is that your car out front?’
They all froze, and Finn’s smile was blinding.
‘Isn’t Harriet great?’
‘I haven’t seen a Mazda 323 in decades,’ Ben pointed out. He didn’t sound quite as excited about it as Finn.
‘For a reason,’ Taylor hissed under his breath. Apparently Ashley wasn’t the only one who had a problem with Finn’s car.
‘I know! I was stunned when I went to the dealer and she was there, sitting forgotten in the corner.’
‘Where she should have stayed,’ Ashley muttered and Taylor snickered.
‘You cannot date my Godson with that car. Get rid of it!’ Ben ordered and walked away, leaving Finn standing there watching him move over to greet Chloe in stunned disbelief. He looked so genuinely shocked that all Ashley could do was laugh.
‘Oh, come on, Hale! The car is hideous! We’ve been telling you to get rid of it for years,’ Clay reasoned.
‘Yeah … no.’ Finn shook his head, clearly disgruntled as he came to sit beside Ashley in one of the deck chairs.
‘Where’s your dog?’ Taylor asked him and it was obvious to everyone he was changing the subject to change Finn’s mood so they all went with it.
‘He’s at Justine’s getting pampered. That’s my sister … She likes washing him and everything so I left him with her for the day. Besides, it’s good for my nephew to have to play with him.’ Ashley thought Finn’s sister didn’t actually like washing the dog. Rather, it was one of the only things she had tricked him into letting her do for him and she seemed desperate to do anything she could. Not that Ashley was going to tell Finn that.
‘What sort of dog do you have?’ Joel asked, curious and then confused when they all laughed.
‘He’s a Doberman. He’s a bit obsessed with his toy bunny.’
‘Super obsessed,’ Clay clarified. ‘I’ll tell you about it later,’ he promised, petting Joel’s knee.
‘Finny, are you Uncle Ash’s boyfriend now?’ Emma asked from her perch on Taylor’s lap.
‘Yeah, Poppet, is that okay?’
‘Yes!’ She seemed far happier than was necessary, which was nice, fist pumping the air and then fist bumping Taylor when he held his fist up for her. ‘More ice skating! I’m gonna be like Anna!’ She hopped off Taylor and went to tell Chloe all about it.
‘Anna?’ Clay looked stumped.
‘Frozen,’ they all said in unison, clearly all forced to watch the film at some point, which meant Clay was the only one who had somehow wrangled his way out of babysitting.
Without warning, phones started ringing all at once. Clay, Taylor and Finn all grabbed for their devices and Ashley felt his heart sink. It was rare for them to get called in. It wasn’t so long ago Taylor had been hauled off his couch with a concussion and a bruise covering half his face to go fetch Sietta from the basement where he was being held prisoner. Ashley knew emergency calls were bad; they meant something had gone wrong.
He also knew it was Finn’s job, and he had to get used to it, like Brayden had tried to tell him.
They rose as a group and Ashley was aware of how much smaller Finn was than his brothers, a good head shorter and half as wide. He frowned but said nothing. He glared at Taylor, who rolled his eyes knowing what he was thinking. And of course Taylor would watch out for Finn, he’d been doing it long before Ashley convinced the man to go home with him, but it was still different now. He needed Finn safe. But looking at Sietta, watching Taylor lean down to kiss his cheek and whisper in his ear, Ashley thought maybe Taylor knew a little something about that sort of need too.
‘Sorry, I gotta go.’ Finn leaned down to steal a quick kiss.
‘It’s okay, stay safe,’ he smiled through the ache in his chest and watched them leave. They were all in Taylor’s Hilux and down the road before he realised Finn’s keys were in his hand.
‘You’re not driving that shit-box home,’ Sietta laughed at him.
‘No, I’m not. You know, I’m not even convinced it would make it.’ He still couldn’t quite believe it was a real thing, and that Finn was so attached to it, or that he’d named it and thought it was so amazing. The man was blind, plain and simple.
‘Why does he have that car?’ Joel asked, shrewd, and Ashley sighed, running a weary hand through his hair.
‘He’s really attached to it. I don’t think he’ll ever get rid of it. It’s sort of the first thing he owned.’ After he got back, when he had nothing and felt like nothing and he’d slept on his sister’s couch and needed a way to get to work it had been the first thing he spent money on, the only possession he had. The first thing that was truly, completely his. Ashley saw it for what it was; Finn’s safety net. The one thing he would never allow to be taken from him. Which, it wouldn’t ever be, because no-one would ever want to steal that piece of crap car.
‘I never understood guys and their first car.’ Sietta shook his head. But then, Sietta had been very rich and grew up with a damned chauffeur, so that was no surprise.
‘I hated my first car,’ Ashley admitted and they all laughed at him, well aware he’d hated it. He’d not quite deliberately allowed it to be destroyed at his first fire, and regretted nothing.
‘Don’t remind us,’ Ben glared from the barbeque.
‘I’m dating Finn. Don’t be such an arse to him next time!’ Ashley demanded.
‘Come in your car next time then!’ Ben snapped back. ‘Least you’ll get here!’
He couldn’t argue with that. After all, the man was a lawyer.
When he didn’t hear back from Finn, Ashley left Finn’s car key with his mother but took the house key and took a train home. The walk to the station wasn’t too far and helped him unwind, and the train ride wasn’t far or difficult as Sydney trains went. He only had to change trains once, and he grabbed a coffee at Central station before heading out to Erskineville.
The place still smelt of stale smoke that had drifted over from the Marrickville fire. It left a sour taste in the back of his mouth and made the coffee churn in his stomach. He walked briskly from the station to his apartment, needing a shower.
‘Hey.’ Freya looked up from where she was lounging on th
e couch reading a book. ‘How was the BBQ?’
‘Same old. Finn came, met the family, they were crazy as usual and Ben said he couldn’t date me unless Finn got rid of Harriet.’
‘Who the fuck is Harriet?’ Freya demanded, tossing the book aside, suddenly furious for him.
‘His car,’ Ashley soothed, laughing.
‘Oh. Well, good. That thing …’ She shuddered and said no more. He had to agree.
‘I’m having a shower.’
‘Feel free to waltz naked through the apartment when you’re done.’
He didn’t bother responding, moving into his room and closing the door, sighing as he peeled his clothes off and tossed them in the washing basket and climbed into the shower. The water was hot, but the shower was lonely. He thought of Finn and his cock was immediately hard. It took only a few strokes and the memory of Finn’s naked body sprawled out on the sheets to come, splattering the tile wall and washing down the drain.
Feeling clean and refreshed and drained at the same time, he pulled on his favourite pyjama pants and lay down on the bed. He’d intended to read a book, or Google the Allied Democratic Forces, or at least say more than a few sentences to his housemate but he crashed instead, his dreams haunted by a woman’s screams and skin that sizzled and sloughed from bone.
He woke in a cold sweat to his alarm. It was eight and he started shift at nine so he crawled out of bed and grabbed a clean uniform, his keys and wallet.
‘Hey, you on shift?’ Dave was on the couch this time, and it was so strange to go from falling asleep with Freya there to waking with Dave that Ashley did a double take and took a steadying breath.
‘Yeah … you … Freya was there …’
‘Yeah,’ Dave agreed slowly, as if talking to a crazy person. ‘And then she went out. Hours ago. And now I’m on the couch.’
‘Right …’
‘You need more sleep,’ Dave told him seriously. ‘Or to get laid.’
‘Did that. A lot lately actually.’
‘Whaaaat?’ Dave was on his feet, hands on Ash’s shoulders, in his face and shaking him before Ashley could register what he’d said to set him off.
Rhino Ash (Saturday Barbies Book 2) Page 22
