6. Asher
Asher
I can imagine walking away from Jade in general is incredibly hard.
But walking away when she’s looking at me like that, with such vulnerability and confusion and trust radiating from her stare? That’s a bitch.
Roxie saunters over, raising a pierced eyebrow and instantly sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong. “So…what was that?” she asks incredulously.
I take a long drink before setting my water bottle on my desk. “I don’t want to talk about it, Roxie,” I snap then look to Guzman. “I’m sorry I took so long.” As I apologize, I stretch out my drawing hand at my side.
“No problem, Ashe. We’ve been through this before, I know the drill.” He leans his head back and props his arm up.
Sitting down on my chair, I roll back into position, sanitize my hands, and put on new gloves.
“It wasn’t nothing, Asher. What is going on with you and that girl?” Roxie, the ever-annoying goth, rattles in my ear. “She’s sweet—lost and worried, but very sweet. I like her.”
“I like her, too,” I admit under my breath. “But that doesn’t matter. And I’m working. Go away.” Dipping the needle in the navy blue ink, I find comfort in the tool buzzing to life.
“Mr. Guzman doesn’t mind, do you?” Roxie looks to the man in the chair, who closes his eyes and shakes his head no. “See! Now spill,” she barks. “You totally went all ‘overprotective boyfriend’ on her earlier.”
“Roxie,” I snap again. “I will discuss this with you later. Now please—go fuck off.”
“Touchy-touchy,” she grumbles, crossing her arms and walking off like a wounded puppy just as Jade comes out of the back room. I really hope she ate something. I know she’s worried about paying me back, but I just want her fed.
I glance up every few minutes to look around, and my eyes always gravitate to Jade. The way Roxie did her hair is striking and showcases her natural beauty. Her delicate cheekbones, the light dusting of freckles over her nose. I watch her every movement out of the corner of my eye.
I shake my head, trying to clear it. I need to focus on what I’m doing, otherwise one of my best customers is going to have the wrong shade on his family crest. And he will notice. The shop is quiet; the only sound is from the tattoo gun and the soft rock music playing overhead.
Ding, ding. The bell goes off, signaling the door opening and I look up. It’s Ty, an artist who rents the other booth and my best friend. He looks rough: a recently received black eye, his brown hair wet and falling in his dark eyes. Ty likes to fight, and he often goes searching for one. Even when I strongly disapprove because more times than not, he finds it easily.
“Need help?” I call out to Ty, but go back to my task.
“No, man. I’m good,” he grimaces, and I can see that his lip is split.
“One day you aren’t going to be able to walk away from it with just a busted lip and a bruised eye. You know that, right?” I scold.
“I don’t need a lecture, Ashe,” he snaps, setting his backpack down on his desk and pulling out his overflowing sketchbook. “I have a splitting headache and four clients today. I just want a coffee, an energy drink, pancakes with bacon from Harriet’s down the street, and to otherwise be left the hell alone.”
“Well, there’s pancakes in the back if you want,” I reply. “Ask Jade if you can snag those. I did get about three orders of them.”
“Who is Jade?” Ty asks, raising an eyebrow involuntarily and wincing.
“You dumbass.” I sit up straight, wiping Guzman’s skin. “Not you, sir,” I clarify.
He chuckles and says, “I understand. Don’t worry about me, Asher.”
“Again, who’s Jade?” Ty asks pointedly, and he’s so fucking loud. Louder than anyone I’ve ever known, except maybe Roxie. How those two haven’t been able to get their shit together and actually get together, I don’t understand.
“Jade is this kick-ass chick over here. She was Asher’s overnight guest who I’ve decided I’m adopting,” Roxie proclaims just as loudly as Ty before wrapping her arm around Jade’s shoulders. The blush on Jade’s cheeks is cute.
Cute?
“Roxie,” I growl through gritted teeth. I’m seriously going to have a talk with her about telling people’s fucking business like it’s her own to share.
“Jade!” Ty calls with a wink and a finger gun pointed at her. “How are you, doll?”
I see Jade jolt at the nickname and promise to never use it for her. It’s obviously a bad thing because her chin starts to quiver, and I notice that she shifts back slightly.
“Back off, Ty.” I growl.
“Oooooh, papi. ” Ty rolls his tongue. “We will most definitely be talking about this later,” he informs me, but then turns to Jade. Resting his hip against his desk, the look he gives her is one I’ve seen him give many girls that he wants to take home. “I can see it.”
When he says that, Jade’s entire demeanor changes. She seems to shake off whatever fear overcame her, because her eyes narrow and she juts out her jaw.
She looks powerful.
And sexy.
Sexy?
“See what?” Jade snaps, crossing her arms over her chest, but not in a way I’ve seen before. Before it was fearful, scared, protective. Now it’s challenging and defiant. She’s annoyed.
“What he sees.” Ty jerks his head to me and answers her with a shrug. “I’m going to eat some of those pancakes and tattoo some cool shit on paying customers,” he announces, then walks off toward the back with his muscled shoulders hunched slightly.
“So, uh...” I raise my eyebrows and close my eyes, slightly embarrassed by my best friends. “So, that’s Ty. Short for Terecino, but he said he’d knock my lights out if I called him Terry.”
“He’s hot, but he’s a psycho,” Roxie stage-whispers to Jade.
Jade quirks an eyebrow and cautiously replies, “He was… nice.” I smile because it’s obvious she’s just trying to be kind. She doesn’t have to, though, because Roxie and I look at each other and start laughing.
“He’s Ty. He’s big, aggressive, and scary, but he’ll protect and care for those he deems worthy. Plus, once he’s taken pain meds, eaten, and had caffeine, he’s a little less… abrupt,” I explain, dipping the gun into another color before nodding at Guzman to let him know I’m starting again.
No one says anything else about it. A few minutes later Ty walks out, carrying a takeout box in one hand, an energy drink from his fridge stock in the other, and a fork in his mouth. He stomps right over to his desk and simultaneously starts eating and organizing his work for the day.
It’s quiet again; the music playing in the background covers up the girls’ soft voices just enough so I can’t hear what they’re saying.
“You don’t need to eavesdrop. I’m sure Roxie will be okay with Jade,” Guzman muses quietly. His eyes are closed and his head rests against the seat like a freaking shaman.
“I’m not,” I lie through my teeth.
“You are. I’m not even looking at you and I can practically hear you straining to hear them ,” he chuckles.
“I don’t mean to,” I mumble under my breath. My eyes drift to Jade, who’s curled up in Roxie’s chair while Roxie sketches something and talks incessantly. Her smile is soft and her eyes are bright, like the darkness from last night is fading.
“Son, when you find a girl you can’t help but want to protect, want to hold, want to shield against the rest of the world? That’s the universe telling you ‘This one is yours .’” The truth of Guzman’s statement hits me like a ton of bricks; so much so that I actually have to sit up.
“After being married for twenty-odd years now, I can tell you: don’t fight it. Hold onto her tightly, go at her pace, be there . Actions are hard, and words are easy. Remember that.” He pats me on the arm with his opposite hand and rests his head back.
I swallow the knot in my throat and shake my head, but my eyes drift right back to her.
Like magnets.
“Way to drop a fucking bomb on me, Guzman,” I mumble, wiping his skin and getting back to his design.
“That sucks, girl. I’m sorry,” I hear Roxie say, and I stop tattooing. “What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know yet. I’ll think of something,” Jade replies, and I see her phone in her hands.
Pulling my gloves off, I hop off my stool and tell Mr. Guzman, “Let’s take a ten-minute break, and then I promise I’ll knock out the last little bit within the hour.”
Guzman looks up at me with a knowing grin on his face and nods. “Don’t even worry.”
I march over to Roxie’s station and turn the chair so Jade’s looking right at me. “What did she say?” My tone is demanding as I lean over her, my arms bracketing her and boxing her in place.
“Which one?” Her eyebrow rises and she bites the inside of her cheek, like she’s trying to hold back tears.
“Let me see,” I growl, holding my hand out for her to give me the cause of whatever’s hurting her right now.
After a moment’s hesitation, Jade softly puts her phone face down in my palm. “Don’t think less of me,” she whispers.
“Why would I…” My voice trails as I see the picture sent from Sarah. My fingers grip the phone tighter and my jaw clenches. Sarah had taken a photo of Jade while she was being raped. What a bitch . No, that’s too nice. Anger surges in my chest and I have to school my features to remain calm.
“I would never think less of you for this,” I tell her softly. “I’m… I’m so incredibly sorry.” Maybe I can bust some kneecaps. I personally don’t believe in hitting women, but this girl might just be the one that makes me reconsider.
“It gets worse.” Jade rests her head against the chair, covering her eyes with her hands. “She sent it to my mother.”
My jaw drops. “Your mother?” I go to her messages app and find the multitude of texts her mother has sent her. They are vile .
“I didn’t take you as a whore, I know I didn’t raise one.”
“How could you leave Sarah alone like that, what a fucking awful thing to do! To someone that was just trying to be nice to you! How horrible are you?”
“It’s like I don’t even know you. Don’t bother coming home until I’ve cooled down. Stay with whatever bastard you took from Sarah.”
“I can’t believe you let someone have sex with you in such a public place. Like a common whore. Like a prostitute. Who have I raised?”
“I can’t believe you’d act this way. No, scratch that, I can. You’ve always wanted attention from men. It’s probably your daddy issues.”
“I’m so incredibly embarrassed. Of you, of the situation you’ve put me in. Of how it’s going to look to Sarah’s mom. You’ve ruined me, ruined everything.”
“Find your own way home and be ready to go to Carver early. I don’t want you living in my house.”
I resist every urge I have to crush the phone under my fingers and throw it across the room. I grew up in a shitty situation, with a mother who didn’t care and made sure I knew it; but fuck, at least I didn’t grow up with this bitch. How strong Jade is in my eyes now for enduring such an awful mother in what must have been such trying formative years.
I exhale loudly through my nose, trying to find the right words to say. Ones that will bring her comfort, make her feel safe. The words that will help her overcome this fuckery.
But all I can think of is murder.