Chapter 34 Mia #2
I pulled away and got out of bed. She gasped, and I turned around to see if she was okay, but she was looking at me in horror.
“What is it?” I looked down, seeing Ash’s shirt. “It’s okay, he knows I have it on,” I told her hastily. I wasn’t ready for the “what are me and Ash doing” conversation yet, because I didn’t know either.
“Mia!” Ava scrambled out of bed, lifting my arm. “What happened to you?”
I stared at the black bruise on my arm. “Oh.”
Ava was looking at my legs. “Mee, did someone hurt you?”
“No,” I grumbled darkly. “I fell at the stairs last night.” I looked at the dark marks on my legs, my arms, and the blackening of my toe. “I think that was the step.”
“Mia, all of this isn’t from one fall.” Ava looked at me with wide eyes. “Fucking hell, he’s going to go berserk.”
“Who will?”
“Me.”
I whirled around to look at Ash, who stood like an angry bear in the doorway. “Who the fuck did this?” he asked as he prowled toward me. With care, he lifted my arms, his own hand covering the upper part of my arm, his fingers resting in the spots. “Red, tell me who hurt you.”
“No one hurt me,” I protested. “I fell. And your stupid mayhem caused me to walk into a lot of things,” I told him hotly.
“We didn’t do Mayhem; there was a genuine power cut.”
“Oh.”
“You pushed Shane away,” Ava spoke up from her spot.
“Shane? You had your hand up to slap me last night when you thought I was him.” Ash was watching me closely. “Explain.”
I was still too tired for this. “He became octopus hands. I said no, he was drunker than I was. It took me more than once for him to listen.” I felt so tiny next to Ash. “It was nothing. I had it handled.”
Ash looked at Ava. “Is he the drummer?”
“Guitarist.”
“Fuck me, so it’s just the whole fucking band panting over her?” Ash shook his head as he turned back to me. “I’ll have a word with Shane.” Ash turned away to walk back out of the room.
“Please don’t.” I grabbed his hand. “It looks worse than it is, and I fell.”
Ash watched me, and then slowly he reached out, lifted my arm, and pointed. “Those are finger marks. From where you’ve been grabbed so roughly you bruised. You know this as well as I do, Red.”
“I think he was just drunk.”
Ash straightened. “Okay, lift your shirt.”
I took a step back at the anger in his gaze. “What? Why? No.”
He smiled, but it didn’t meet his eyes. “Ava.”
Ava stepped forward. “He’s right, Mee. Show me under your shirt. Come on, we can go into the bathroom.”
“I have nothing to show.”
“Well, I don’t agree with that.” Ash’s eyes softened as he looked at me, and I looked away. “Can’t you just for once, Red, do what I ask you to?” he asked in exasperation.
“Ugh, it’s a good thing you’re pretty,” I snapped as I pulled my shirt over my head and squeezed my eyes closed.
“Holy shit,” Ava hissed.
I opened my eyes when the door slammed and looked down at my chest. The bruises and marks were over my breasts, and my side had dark bruising on it, too. “Some of this will be when I bounced off furniture.”
“And some of it is quite obviously from someone’s hands.” Ava looked at me. “You knew?”
Pulling the top back on, I shrugged. “Well, it’s not like my body doesn’t ache.”
“You’re hurt?”
“My boobs are a little achy.” I admitted as I glanced at the bathroom door and then the bedroom one. “I really need to pee, but I really need to go after him.”
“You pee, I’ll get the twins to catch Ash.”
“Well, there’s a sentence you never thought you’d say,” I joked as I made my way quickly to the bathroom.
Once I had washed my face, maybe sneaked the use of a toothbrush, and tried to coax my hair into something presentable, I left the bathroom. Quinn sat on the bed and held up a T-shirt.
“I thought you might want to change?”
I sniffed my shirt. It smelled of . . . Ash. Not good. I reached for the T-shirt. “Thank you.” I hesitated. “Bra?”
“Oh, I don’t think mine will fit.”
Holding the T-shirt up, I assessed it. “It’s loose, I’ll just keep my arms crossed.”
Turning my back, I quickly removed Ash’s and put Quinn’s on.
“Did they see your back?” Quinn asked me quietly.
“I think the front was enough,” I answered wryly.
“Okay, you want to come downstairs?”
“Okay.” I started to follow her out when I stopped. “Is Gray going to go all evil overlord on me?”
Quinn turned around and shook her head. “No. He was concerned for you last night.”
“Yeah, okay.” I shifted on my feet nervously. “But this is today.”
“He’s not as bad as you think, he’s just very protective.”
I got that, but it didn’t mean he didn’t intimidate me. “I know . . . but, I don’t want to argue with him today.”
“Tequila does seem to bring out your more aggressive nature.” Quinn studied me.
“I didn’t even indulge that much. I paced myself after our last talk.” I tugged on the hem of the shirt I was wearing. “I’m sorry.”
“I am too.”
I nodded. “Can we start again?” I rolled my eyes because we’d been here before. “Again, again?”
Quinn beamed at me. “I made waffles.”
“I think I may cry again.”
She was laughing as she left the room, and I followed slowly, as not even the lure of waffles could settle the uneasiness in my tummy. In the kitchen, Jett sat at the counter, reading on his phone and drinking coffee. He looked up and put his phone down.
“You look better than you did last night, and you look like shit.”
Charming. “I don’t think I feel better,” I confessed.
He grunted, and I sat beside him. “Those bruises look sore.”
“I recommend not to walk into sharp corners.” I tried to be light, but I was emotional and tired. I knew I failed. “Where is he?”
“Gray’s got him. He’ll talk him down.”
“From?”
“Removing your friend’s hands from his body,” Jett told me bluntly.
Quinn poured me some coffee, and Ava made me a plate of waffles. “I’m sorry. It’s been a lot to adjust to, and it could have been better.”
Jett nodded in acknowledgment. “I’m sorry too,” he said as he watched Ava.
“What for?” I asked as I saw her glare at him. “The meal? Or what you said in the car?”
He winced and sighed. “Well . . . that, and I took her phone.”
I looked at him in surprise. “Which is why she didn’t call me?” I said in understanding.
“And when I went to the apartment, the lock was changed.” Ava hovered beside me. “And I didn’t know how to fix us,” she whispered miserably.
“The lock’s changed because it’s a new door.”
“Oh!” I saw her relief, and she gave me a sheepish look.
I felt Jett’s judgmental look and rolled my eyes at him.
“I never called you before Thanksgiving either,” I said as I avoided looking at her. “I should have, but . . . I’m stubborn.”
“Sibling fights are always the worst,” Quinn said calmly as she sipped her coffee. “I know, I’ve watched this lot and Onyx since I was eleven.”
“Just as bad?” I asked her, grateful for her intervention.
“Oh, no.” Quinn shook her head. “Much more drama and way more tears.”
Jett laughed, which caused Ava to giggle, and then the four of us were all laughing as I ate my waffle and drank my coffee. All I needed now was to talk to Ash, and hopefully all my bridges would be mended.