I stood alone.
I heard the faint sound of my phone going off.
When I got back into the truck, I saw Belle’s name on the screen.
“Hey, angel,” I said.
“Where are you?” Belle yelled.
“I went for a drive.”
“A drive? Are you okay?”
I swallowed hard. No. I’m not okay at all…
“Ash?” Belle asked.
“I’m on my way home now, angel.”
Chapter 15
Belle put her hands to my shoulders and pushed at me.
My hands touched her hips as I eased down to the pillows.
“You need to get sleep, Ash,” she whispered out of breath.
“Not yet,” I whispered back.
She moved her hips and I felt like the stars were going to explode from the sky.
My hands raced from her hips to her chest, touching her soft, smooth, bare skin.
Belle put her head back and moved in a way that made me grit my teeth.
I then quickly sat up and wrapped my arms around her.
She let out a gasping cry and hugged me back, her nails digging into my skin.
There weren’t many better ways to kill time and feelings than spending time like this with Belle. Feeling every part of her body come to life. Feeling her make me come to life too.
Her lips touched my shoulder and she sighed with relief.
I slowly turned and brought her back down to the bed.
She moved her hands to my face.
Kissing, staring at each other, romance burning between our eyes.
But our bodies… yeah, it was romance, but it was always good.
I moved at her slowly, thoroughly, leaving her sucking in a breath every few seconds. I was torturing myself more than I was her.
Tonight was the first night in a while where we weren’t being bothered by anyone else.
It was just us.
I was able to lock the door and forget about everyone.
And that meant what we started downstairs on the couch was now going to come to an end in my bed.
Nothing was more perfect than that feeling…
“Ash,” Belle whispered. “Ash…”
Her body always gave away when she was feeling everything.
She shut her eyes and bit her bottom lip.
I suddenly became jealous that she was biting her own lip.
I lowered my lips to hers and kissed her.
She groaned and kissed me back.
Her hands grabbed at the back of my head.
My hands were flat against the bed, letting the moment get the best of both of us.
Together.
I stopped kissing her as all concentration and care went somewhere else.
I sucked in a breath and held it for what felt like a year.
That rushing feeling had a way of never wanting to let up when I was with Belle.
I moved with ease as I rolled to my side, taking Belle with me.
I grabbed the covers and pulled them over our heads.
“I can’t breathe, Ash,” she said.
“Neither can I,” I said.
I smelled her skin. The sweetness of her soap with a hint of sweat. It drove me crazy. Making me want her again.
I kissed her and she put her left hand to my shoulder and pushed at me.
She moved the covers so our heads poked out.
She took a deep breath of fresh air.
I leaned in and kissed her neck.
Belle laughed and pulled at my hair. “What is wrong with you?”
“This is different from when?” I asked, my lips still touching her skin.
“Ash… look at me…”
I looked at Belle.
“Can we talk?”
“Talk… sure. I’d rather do more than talk, angel.”
“I know,” she said. “Me too. But this is important.”
Belle bit her lip again.
But it wasn’t for pleasure.
She was nervous about something.
* * *
Belle sat on the floor in the bedroom wearing a hoodie and nothing else.
I sat in a pair of jeans and nothing else.
We stared at each other.
Her back was against the bed.
Mine against a dresser.
“You’re going to get really pissed at me, Ash.”
“That’s a good way to open this conversation,” I said.
“I’m just being honest. The other night… you were out for a drive. That wasn’t a drive.”
“No.”
“What were you doing?”
“Just thinking about stuff,” I said. “A lot going on, angel.”
Tell her about Mac. About Liam. Tell her everything.
Belle stared. Narrowing her eyes. “Ash…”
“The guy who killed my mother is named Liam,” I said. “I was about ninety percent sure I was going to find him. And then Mac showed up.”
“Mac? You mean the Brooks Crest Mac?”
“Angel, it’s all twisted together,” I said. “I guess Liam used to go to BC. But long before Mac. Mac and I were kids when my mother died. Not that I knew Mac then or anything. So this is just old stuff. Old favors. Old money. I’m sure my father knows more than I do. And knows more than he’s ever going to tell me.”
Belle’s face turned white. “You went looking… wait. How…”
“I’ve got ways to find out anything,” I said.
“Meaning?”
“One phone call and I can track someone down,” I said.
“You’re an asshole, Ash,” she said. “Are you fucking crazy? Or stupid? Or what?”
“There are answers I don’t have,” I said. “Okay?”
“Answers? That’s what this is? You have all the answers. You refuse to believe them.”
Belle started to stand.
I had to hurry to do the same and beat her to the door.
“You’re trying to leave?” I asked.
“I’m mad at you.”
“I’m trying to figure this out, angel,” I said.
“You left in the middle of the night. Alone. What if something happened to you?”
“That’s a good point,” I said. “Be mad at me then. But what did you have to talk to me about? There’s been something hiding in you for a while now, angel. I can sense it. Sometimes I can see it.”
“Ash…”
“Don’t do this to me, angel,” I said. “I’ve got enough on my plate.”
Belle opened her mouth and stood there for a few seconds.
Then she shut her eyes.
“I have to go.”
“Go? You’re seriously going to walk out of here? It’s the middle of the night…”
She opened her eyes. “Ash. I have to go back… to help Sarah.”
“Sarah.”
“I know.”
“You know? Sarah. The girl who…”
“I know what she did,” Belle said. “But Gray hurt her.”
“Physically?”
“I don’t know,” Belle said. “I hope not. But she keeps asking for me. I can’t…”
“This is what you want?”
“Ash… I get to see her suffer a little, okay? And I get to tell her I fucking told you so… okay?”
“And you’re going to do something to Gray,” I said.
“Yeah.”
“And you’re going to use my name to make it happen.”
Belle nodded.
“And if you get into any kind of trouble, you’re going to call me.”
“Yeah,” she whispered.
“And you really want to do this? Go back there and see Sarah?”
“Ash, we were friends,” Belle said. “I don’t want to live there. I don’t want to stay there. But I had a life there before I came to BFH. What Sarah did was wrong. But Gray and I were never really anything anyway. I don’t care who does what. Except you.”
Her eyes were too pretty to resist.
She had turned me into a sucker already.
“I don’t like this,” I said.
“I don’t really care.”
“You know in some way that makes me love you more.”
“Because secretly you like when I stand up to you. And you know I can kick your ass.”
“Only because I’d let you.”
Belle pushed me. “Come on then. Let’s go.”
“Oh yeah?”
Belle slapped my face.
Not hard. But hard enough.
“Come on, Ash,” she said.
“Is this what you’re going to do to Sarah?”
“No. I’m just worried about kicking your ass.”
Belle punched me in the arm.
Then she pushed at me again.
I stepped back.
She jumped at me and I caught her.
I hugged her tight.
My hands touched the backs of her legs.
“I can kick your ass, Ash,” she whispered.
“I know, angel.”
We slowly started to kiss.
I walked her back to the bed.
We weren’t going to sleep.
She could kick my ass.
But I would always protect hers.
* * *
Being in BFH without Belle just didn’t sit right with me.
I stood in the hallway and waited for Uly and Hil. Strange enough, they were in the same position as me. Mara and Vera didn’t go to BFH. But they were used to it.
I wasn’t.
We all bumped fists.
We all nodded.
I told them about Mac.
About my plan.
What had happened.
Before any of us could say something, someone called my name.
I turned and saw Mookey lumbering down the hallway.
He was sweating.
He looked scared.
“Ash, I need to talk to you,” he said. “Right now.”
“Then let’s talk,” I said.
Mookey leaned toward us. “I heard Mac was snooping around again.”
“Who told you?” Uly asked.
“Just a rumor,” Mookey said.
“Why did you wait until now to say something?” Hil asked.
“I haven’t seen you guys,” Mookey said. “And I was out of town. For a tournament.”
“So that’s it? You just heard a rumor?” I asked.
“I’m just trying to tell you what I heard,” Mookey said. “That’s all.”
Mookey’s eyes moved and his lip curled.
We all looked and there was Ryan.
Walking the hallway. Alone.
“This just got interesting,” Hil said.
“I fucking hate him,” Mookey said.
“Why’s that?” Uly asked. “Did Jasmine dump you?”
“He wasn’t with her,” Hil said. “How can she dump him?”
“She cut off the love supply,” I said.
Mookey made a growling sound that was like a hungry lion.
He moved forward, slamming his shoulder into Uly, knocking him out of the way, and charged after Ryan.
“Should we say something?” Uly whispered.
“No,” Hil said.
Ryan had no idea what was coming.
Mookey was big and looked as though he could shake the floor, but that was impossible to have happen.
And Mookey wasn’t fucking around.
He hooked his right hand and clobbered Ryan in the face.
Ryan flew to his right and smashed into the lockers and went right down.
Anyone who saw it let out a scream.
“Jesus, is he dead?” Hil asked.
“That was a brutal hit,” I said.
“I was hoping for a fight,” Uly said. “That sucked.”
“Hey, Mookey!” Hil called out as he cupped his hands around his mouth. “Ryan fucked your girl!”
“Hil, come on, bro,” I said.
Mookey swung his foot and kicked Ryan in the ribs.
That suddenly brought Ryan to life.
He screamed in pain then jumped and went after Mookey.
It was an interesting fight.
Mookey was a wrestler. He knew how to grapple. But Ryan was athletic and had trained muscles.
Two different styles and it showed.
Mookey got Ryan in a solid headlock, but Ryan was quick and smart enough to throw some big fists, hitting Mookey hard enough in the face that he loosened his grip.
They started to swing at each other, the rage of two hearts being all fucked up because of one girl.
I looked at Uly.
He looked at me.
We’d all been there before in life.
Fighting each other countless times over a girl.
“Hey! Stop that!”
Werthwood’s voice began to boom down the hallway.
“Let’s go,” I said. “If he sees us, he’ll blame us.”
“I need a smoke anyway,” Hil said.
We went outside and Uly and Hil lit up cigarettes.
“What are you going to do, bro?” Hil asked.
“And don’t lie to us,” Uly said.
“I faced off with Mac. Alone. He had two vehicles. And I stood there. I stared into his eyes. It really hit me just how connected everything is around here. But then I picture it. Clear as day. The look on my mother’s face. Telling me to get out of the SUV. The cut on my head bleeding. The fucking scar it left…”
I touched my hairline.
Every haircut I had in my life was based around that fucking scar.
“Fuck, man,” Uly said. “I can’t say anything right now.”
“Because we both understand it,” Hil said. “And we’ll take care of Belle.”
I looked at Hil and curled my lip.
He showed his hands. “Not like that. I’m not being a dick right now.”
“For once in his life,” Uly said.
“I’m serious,” Hil said. “It’s a choice, bro. One way or the other. Your father isn’t going to do anything. He and my mother have been at each other’s throats over this too.”
“Yeah?” I asked.
Hil nodded. “I stopped up at the house. I heard something in my mother’s voice when I talked to her last. She was upset. She’s torn up. Your father is drunk all the time. He’s mad. At everything. It’s a mess. It’ll pass.”
“Or I can just make it go away,” I said.
“How’s that going to work?” Uly asked. “Everyone around you will get hurt.”
I nodded.
I stared off into the distance.
“So what’s the plan, bro?” Hil asked.
I swallowed hard.
“The plan… it never changed.”
“Meaning?” Uly asked.
“I’m going to get my hands on Liam… no matter what.”
Chapter 16
“I fucking love road trips,” Hil said.
“We’re not going far,” Uly said.
“But look at us,” he said. “I’ve got my girl with me in the back-back… Uly you’ve got your girl in the middle… and Ash…”
“Shut up, Hil,” I said.
“It’s okay,” Vera said to him. “Ash is just pissy.”
“You want to walk home?” I called out.
“I’d call for a car, douchebag,” Vera said.
Uly leaned forward and grabbed my shoulder. “Easy, man. Just go get Belle. She’s waiting for you.”
I didn’t need to go get Belle. She had driven herself to her old town.
I just had to fucking see her.
That’s what it was.
And when she called me earlier today, I knew something was wrong. Her voice… just something in her voice. I feared the worst. That something with Gray went wrong. That he found out they were up to no good and he hurt her. Or worse yet, that that bitch Sarah set her up so she’d show up only to hurt her again.
So I needed to get to her.
To see her.
/>
To look into her eyes and find out what was really going on.
Maybe it was her mother. The entire thing was crazy. Meeting Pete and getting engaged. It was fast. Her mother did that in the past. But why would that hurt so much now? It wasn’t like Belle needed her mother anymore. Ever since coming to BFH Belle was better off. Dr. Jo’s giant house gave her freedom. Them gave her protection. And I gave her love.
“Are we fighting anyone today?” Hil asked.
“No idea,” I said. “I just want to get to Belle.
“Is something wrong with her?” Mara asked. “You seem scared.”
“I’m not fucking scared,” I said.
“He’s in love, doll,” Uly said to Mara. “Kind of like us.”
“We’re more in love back here,” Hil called out. “Right, beauty?”
“Sure thing, Hil,” Vera said.
“You don’t believe me?” Hil asked. “I’ll fool around with you right now. Everyone can watch.”
“That’s not love,” Mara said.
“Oh, trust me, it is,” Hil said. “Do you want some love too?”
Vera slapped Hil across the mouth.
“Thank you for doing that,” Mara said.
“No problem,” Vera said.
It felt like the longest drive of my life.
And of all places, Belle wanted to meet where she used to live.
The apartment where everything began.
Where her mother had gotten hurt by some guy. Where an ambulance took her away and the cops were there when Dr. Jo showed up to whisk Belle away.
I parked my SUV in the first spot I could find.
I saw Belle sitting on the stoop of her old apartment.
“Let’s party,” Hil said.
I spun around. I pointed at Hil. “Don’t fucking move. Sit here. Do not leave the fucking SUV.”
“So… you don’t want me to leave?” Hil asked.
“Hil, he’s going to hit you, man,” Uly said.
“I hope he does,” Mara said.
“Me too,” Vera said.
“What the hell, beauty?” Hil asked.
“It’ll be fun…,” Vera said. “I can lick your wounds.”
“Oh, shit,” Hil said. “Someone punch me in the face. Quick.”
Uly turned.
Mara stopped him.
I got the hell out of the truck.
I need to kiss Belle to calm down.
* * *
She stood up and hugged me.
I shut my eyes and wished it was just me and her at the end of the world together. Sharing those last seconds together, stealing a few kisses, and knowing everything was worth it just to have her in my arms.
ASH: a bay falls high novel Page 15
