Ashes (The Bleeding Hearts #3)

Chapter 1

Vail: Eleven Years Old

“That’s the stupidest dare yet…”

“You’re just saying that cuz you don’t want to do it.”

“No, I just thought you’d be more creative, is all.”

“Look, Bishop.” Lee shook his head, laughing as he watched our friend squirm.

“Either you stand up, quietly do the Macarena until your next turn, or I can make you chug some of Casey’s mother’s special hot sauce.

You’re lucky I’m giving you a choice.” He fixed Shaw with a wide, white grin, and said, “What’s it going to be? ”

Lee, Casey, and I all stared Shaw down, waiting to see which dare he was going to go with.

Secretly, I was hoping he would do the Macarena.

Despite the fact that he had been my friend the longest out of anyone in our group of four, Shaw Bishop had always been the most closed off.

He rarely spoke, and I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen him smile, but he was loyal as hell, and living in this shithole neighborhood, a loyal friend was not something you threw away.

Apparently, Lee’s mind was also on my wavelength.

He probably wanted Shaw to remove the stick from his ass and just be a damn kid for once, instead of acting like a fucking brooding teenager.

He watched our friend scowl back at us with a huge, shit-eating grin on his face while he played with one of his thick black, shoulder-length dreads.

Out of all of us, I’d say Lee was the most easy-going and probably had the most conventional home life.

He had never suffered physical abuse from either of his parents or family members, nor did they suffer from any sort of addiction.

They were just dirt-poor. His parents worked endless hours to support him and his grandparents, whose medical needs were the main reason behind the influx of bills.

But since he moved here three years ago, he’d been stuck with the three of us.

I couldn’t help but notice Casey’s expression, though. Of course, I hardly ever missed a thing she did.

She was curled up on her sleeping bag on the floor, wearing an old David Bowie t-shirt that once belonged to her mother, and a pair of grey sweats that had multiple patches sewn into them, also courtesy of her mom.

Like the rest of us, she’d been participating in every dare thrown her way.

She’d already been forced to sing the national anthem, and I got to say, the poor girl definitely couldn’t carry a tune to save her life.

Her next dare was to knock on the neighbor’s door (who rented the main floor of the duplex over the basement suite she and her mom lived in) and tell them that she picks her nose.

The last one was pretty brutal, though. Shaw forced her to deep sniff one of Lee’s boots.

One thing I loved about Casey, was that she never backed down from a challenge.

She completed all three dares without hesitation while making sure we all witnessed her eye-rolling and heard the curses she muttered under her breath.

But now, she just seemed upset. Her big doe-like dark brown eyes, which looked nearly black depending on the light, especially against her porcelain skin, were locked onto Shaw, and her hands were tightly clasped around the stuffed lamb in her lap as she watched him.

I couldn’t help the spark of jealousy I felt towards him at that moment.

Of the three of us, it was always Casey that he was the most gentle with, the one he allowed to touch him or hold him.

I mean, I got it; they both had abusive, prick dads, and I guess it’s just how they bonded.

But every time we all got together for a sleepover, he was the one that got to sleep next to her, claiming she helped with his anxiety when she was close.

Just once, one of these Saturday nights, I’d like to be the one that laid next to her. I knew I wasn’t alone here.

I glanced over at Lee, who was still watching Shaw with a bright smile on his face.

But I wasn’t fooled. I’d seen how he acted around Casey, too.

Any excuse to carry her around (he was without a doubt the biggest out of all of us), or to tickle her and mess around with her, he took it.

I knew Lee Knight was just dying for a chance to take Shaw’s spot one of these nights.

But…

I sighed and ran a hand through my dark, bronze coloured hair, further tousling it as I waited patiently for Shaw to man up and just dance for us already.

I refused to be an asshole to him. I was his friend.

If something as simple as being close to Casey kept his demons away, then so be it.

If I were older and had a chance, I would have beaten his dad down for the bullshit he had done to Shaw and his mom.

The stuff Shaw had seen… no six-year-old should ever have to go through.

Even though he was now living with his aunt and uncle, he still suffered from nightmares.

So I remained quiet and stretched out as I lounged back in the easy chair I always claimed when we played, and waited.

“ Fine …” Shaw hissed between his clenched teeth and went to stand, his floppy, blonde hair falling over his face.

“Jesus, dude, it’s just dancing,” Lee laughed loudly, and I smiled, unable to resist how infectious it was.

Shaw flipped him off, his dark blue eyes hidden but visibly narrowed behind his hair, pausing for a few seconds as if he was about to throw himself into a tiger cage, and then he started to dance.

Lee and I both bent over, laughing hysterically, while Casey simply shook her head and raised her eyes to the ceiling, as though wondering why she hung out with us.

“Everything alright in here?”

We all looked up just as Liza Cooper appeared in the archway of the sitting room where we always spent our sleepovers in, wearing a dressing gown over her flannel pajamas.

She had dark hair like her daughter, but with greying strands in it.

The only other similarity was probably their pale complexion.

She had layered up, despite it only being the first week of September; nights were already growing colder.

“We’re good, Mom,” Casey smirked. “Just trying to see who will chicken out first.”

Ms. Cooper chuckled. “Okay then. But I’ve just locked up for the night, so no leaving the basement…

and no drinking the toilet water this time!

” Her eyes flashed to Lee, who grinned wickedly at her.

Last weekend, he’d dared Casey to drink a shot of water from the porcelain bowl, but had been stopped at the last second when her mother walked in on us all in the bathroom.

“Don’t worry, Ms. Cooper.” Lee held his hands up. “We learned our lesson from last time. Germs. Diseases. Got it.”

Casey’s mom just laughed and shook her head. “You kids are nuts. Well, I’m off to bed. Turn on the space heater if you get cold, okay? And I’m making waffles in the morning, so no late-night binging!”

“We won’t,” we all said together.

Another reason we loved our weekly Saturday night sleepover at Casey’s house was that her mom was probably one of the best cooks and the nicest person I'd ever met. She puts my mom to shame. Even though she and Casey lived alone in that shitty basement suite, she’d made the place really comfortable.

The sitting room had a thick, shag rug on the floor, with cushy, mismatched furniture she got from Goodwill, but she made covers for everything out of bold coloured, soft materials and placed pillows and blankets everywhere.

I hadn’t even noticed the stained ceiling or cracks in the walls.

Honestly? I’d say this place is better than the shithole bungalow I lived in.

“Alright. Night!” Ms. Cooper spared her daughter a kiss on the head this time.

Last week, when she had pulled Casey in for a big goodnight hug and kiss, we’d all teased her relentlessly for it, and she begged her mother not to perform any more public displays of affection towards her in front of the three of us again.

We were left alone once more, and the game continued with Shaw selecting me for the next dare, all while dancing like an idiot on the spot to zero music.

“What’s my dare?” I asked, straightening up a bit. There was no way I was going to be the first to chicken out. I never had, and I never would.

“Talk in third person for the rest of the game. Every time you fail, all three of us get to punch you as hard as we can.”

I laughed loudly, “Vail likes this challenge. Accepted.”

I heard Casey giggle and instantly felt smug, knowing I was the reason for it.

Keeping my gaze on her, I couldn’t help but think of how pretty she was, especially when she smiled.

Her lips curved upwards, and dimples appeared in her cheeks.

She was so freaking cute. At this moment, I’d decided I was going to take advantage of this game and put myself ahead of the other two guys.

They were going to hate my guts for a little bit because of it, but it would be worth it.

“Casey…” I said, keeping my gaze fixed on her.

She immediately became stern and met my stare dead-on like the champ she was. “St. James,” she said seriously, addressing me by my last name.

“Dare you… to kiss Vail on the lips.” It would have sounded so much cooler if I hadn’t referred to myself in the third person.

But I didn’t waver as I held my face in an expressionless mask, something I’d been perfecting this past year.

I found that it unnerved people when I did it, and I liked the feeling of power it gave me over them.

The room went deadly silent. Even Shaw had stopped dancing. He and Lee both stared back and forth between us, their expressions completely shocked and disbelieving. But I focused on her, curious to see what she would do.

Casey’s dark brows furrowed as her eyes narrowed. “Really, Vail? You think I’m scared of catching your cooties? You forget, I was in the pond with you when you peed. I don’t give a crap.”