Chapter 18
Ash
Ben comes home today, and I have to find a way to tell him that we’re over. My dad also comes home today, and I have to find a way to keep me and Tristan a secret, although he thinks we should tell them.
I don’t. That’s on me. That will be my punishment and I’m not sure I’m ready for that just yet.
Either way, things are going to change around here.
The doorbell rings, and I know it’s Ben. I walk over, fixing my shirt, tugging it down to cover the top of the jeans I’m wearing. That should be a shock to him, to begin with. When I open the door and see him standing there, he eyes me up and down with a smile that quickly fades.
I step out onto the porch, and he hands me a bouquet of red roses.
“She prefers black now,” Tristan smarts off behind me, but I ignore him and walk over to the porch swing to sit down.
“They are nice,” I tell Ben. “Thank you.”
“You’re wearing jeans.”
“They’re nice, right?”
“I don’t know what to say. I’ve never seen you wear jeans. Did your dad approve of this?” he asks.
“Not … not exactly.”
“He doesn’t know? Ash, this is asking for trouble. Go change,” he says, nodding toward the door. I shake my head when Tristan walks out and sits on the chair across the porch from us.
“I’m comfortable in these.”
“I think she looks sexy as fuck in those jeans,” Tristan adds.
“No one really asked you,” Ben retorts.
“Didn’t need to.”
“Can we have some privacy?” Ben asks. Tristan belts out a laugh that sends a chill down my spine.
“You want to be alone with her? Isn’t that against the whole Godly thing?” He taunts him.
“Please,” Ben says.
“No. I don’t think so. As her older stepbrother, I take my duty of being her sibling very seriously, Ben. I wouldn’t want any funny business going on,” he tells him, a dark twinkle in his eyes. I almost laugh at his choice of words but cover it quickly with a cough. Tristan notices and smirks, but Ben doesn’t.
“Fine. Stay then. So, how have the last few weeks been?”
“Have you spoken to Tim?”
“Tim? No. Why?”
“I was only wondering. I’ve seen him around, and before you left, I hadn’t.”
“I asked him to keep an eye on you,” Ben explains.
“Why?” His eyes flick to Tristan and then back to me.
“Just to make sure everything was going okay.”
“Okay. Enough of this shit. I can’t sit here and be a party to this. It’s fucking draining me,” Tristan declares as he stands to his feet. He walks across the porch, rips me off the swing, and crashes his lips to mine. He kisses me so hard I can feel his teeth when they nip mine, drawing blood. I almost moan into his mouth, but I hold it back.
“What is this?” Ben roars as I pull back now. “You’re with him?”
“Yeah, choir boy, she is. Now run along and say a prayer for all to be well tonight,” Tristan tells him, rolling his eyes.
“This is insane, Ash! What are you thinking? What are you doing with someone like him? I knew I shouldn’t have left you to this. To him! I should have stayed and protected you. It’s not too late, Ash. We can fix this,” he rambles as Tristan laughs. I slap at him, but he only laughs harder.
“She doesn’t want you, pretty boy. Just go home. I mean, honestly, you’re making yourself look like a fool right now. It’s almost pathetic,” Tristan adds.
“Does your father know? No. He would have punished you for this. You need to be punished for this,” Ben sneers when Tristan moves. He wraps his hand around Ben’s neck and slams him against the house.
“If I find out that either of you laid a hand on her, you’ll be in an unmarked grave. You got me?”
“You think he’s going to let you be with her? He won’t. You’re not one of us,” Ben tells him.
“Unmarked, Ben. Your poor mommy won’t know where to look for you, but I will, and I’ll show up every fucking day just to piss on your grave. Hell, I might even fuck her over it,” he tells him, my heart kicking up a notch.
“You won’t get away with this,” Ben warns before Tristan leans in and presses a kiss to his forehead.
“Get the fuck out of here before I make you my little bitch,” he tells him. He releases Ben, and he turns, taking off down the steps.
“This isn’t over,” he calls out.
“Come back anytime, princess,” Tristan tells him.
“What was that?”
“What was what?”
“You couldn’t have waited for me to tell him?”
“Ash, it was becoming boring and you know I can’t stand boring.”
“You didn’t even give me a chance,” I tell him.
“Yeah, I did. You didn’t take it. In fact, you took too long.” I hear the car as it pulls into the driveway and I hurriedly glance down at my clothes before swallowing hard. I wasn’t planning on staying in these clothes when they came home, but there’s nothing I can do now.
Tristan steps closer to me, and I step back. His eyes move from mine to theirs and back again.
“Don’t you dare,” he growls low in his throat.
“I’ll be punished.”
“Like fuck you will be.”
“Just let it happen, Tristan.” I ignore his angry stare when my dad and Amy come up onto the porch. His smile fades first when he sees what I’m wearing.
“Get inside and get that off.” No, hi, how are you? Are you okay? I knew this was coming, and I rushed inside, ready to take my punishment. I can vaguely hear Tristan and his mom talking on the porch when the screen door slams shut. I’m on my knees on the broomstick, praying to God he goes easy on me. A tear slides down my cheek when I hear the door close behind us.
The unmistakable sound of the whip flies through the air before snapping against my back.
“You’ve sinned. You’ve sinned against God!” My dad roars this time. Another snap, and the door flies open.
“Ash, stand the fuck up. Now.” It’s a demand from Tristan, but I don’t know if I should do it. “Now!” He screams. I jolt and stand up, turning to face him as tears spill down my cheeks. Tristan stands there with a gun in his hand, scratching his head with the barrel as he looks between the two of us.
“You know, all I wanted for most of my life was for my mom to be happy.” He glances at her where she stands in the doorway, her arms crossed over her chest. Then he turns back to my dad. “And out of all the son of a bitches in the world, she came across you.”
“Put that down. It’s not worth your own life,” my dad tells him. Tristan laughs now.
“Oh, you thought this was about me? Oh no. This isn’t about me. It’s about you,” he says, pulling the gun from his head and pointing it at my dad. I gasp, unsure what he might do because I know how much Tristan hates anyone touching me.
“What? What do you mean? What are you talking about?”
“When I fucked your little girl, I said to myself, no one is going to hurt her again. No one but me that is. And then you come back, swinging your little whip around and forcing her to kneel on the broomstick while I, on the other hand, force her to kneel for my cock,” he tells him. I’m embarrassed. I don’t know what to say or what to do. How to act. I’m just numb at this point.
“You what?” He yells as he steps toward Tristan but quickly rethinks it since he’s still aiming the gun at him.
“Ash, go pack a bag,” Tristan tells me. I quickly move through the room and fill a bag of my things before moving to stand by the door. “This was the last time, Ted. The last time you’ll see her and certainly the last time you’ll hurt her. If I ever, and I mean ever, catch you coming near her, well, you’re a dead man.”
“You can’t take her!”
“She’s twenty-one, and she’s mine now! You hear me? Mine! She no longer has to live under your sick little rules. She no longer has to hide who she truly is. Try and stop me, and I swear to God this will be the best murder and suicide that you’ve ever seen.” The anger in him is almost palpable. It’s almost as if I could reach out and run my fingers through his darkness right now and there’s a part of me that hurts for him. A part of me that screams to help him and do whatever I can to protect him and keep him safe.
Tristan walks backward, leaving my dad standing there stunned before turning to his mom.
“One hand on you, and you call me.” She nods her head not bothering with arguing with him. He presses a kiss to her cheek and then motions for me to leave the room. I do so, quickly hurrying back to the front door, where Tristan follows.
We make it outside, and then we’re heading to his bike as he shoves the gun into the back of his jeans. I grab the helmet and pull it on before climbing on behind him and wrapping my arms around his waist. This insane. I’ve never seen anything like what just happened here.
I hold on tightly while he pulls out of the driveway and takes off. I can tell by the direction we’re going that we’re headed back to the warehouse.