37. Ashes
ASHES
“Y ou’re not serious, are you?” I stared at the pink paint on the walls in Shadow’s new room.
Stitches raised a brow at me. “I didn’t spend the last four hours painting these walls pink to be called unserious, Asher.”
“Does Church know you painted the interior of his house pink?”
“First off, it’s technically our house. Secondly, I only painted one room pink. And third, Bryce likes to bake fucking cupcakes. That gets him a pink room. He can suck my dick if he doesn’t like it.”
I watched him grab a handful of glitter and throw it at the wall.
Great. Fucking glitter.
I sighed and shook my head at him. This was Church’s fault for letting Stitches decide on paint. I told him to get blue. He argued and said he got to choose.
By the looks of the glittering pink walls, I should have put up a bigger fight.
“What’s this?” I approached the bedside table and peered down at a giant porcelain cupcake.
“I found it online. It’s a lamp. The light comes out of the sprinkles on top,” he muttered, continuing to put glitter on the walls. “You can change the light colors too if you’re feeling fancy and shit.”
“You put a lot of thought into this,” I said, looking around. A lot of stuff was covered in plastic, but it was definitely pink. Stitches had insisted that he handle decorating. Considering I was already stressed out with everything, I let it go.
“Does Church know you’ve done any of this?” I asked. “He said he was going to help today.”
“He knows we bought white accent furniture, and I got paint.” Stitches blew glitter from his hand onto the wall. “He helped me put that dresser together and brought down the TV.”
“So… no?”
Stitches grinned at me and continued to violate the wall with glitter.
“Hey, that rug you ordered is here—” Sin’s words stalled as he stepped into the bright pink room. “What the fuck? Did a unicorn shit in here?”
“No, just Stitches.” I snickered.
Stitches gave me the finger and continued his work.
Sin dropped the area rug onto the floor and did a turn in the center of the room. “Fuck, that’s a lot of pink.”
“Yeah, figured cupcake boy would like it,” Stitches said gleefully. I knew he didn’t like Bryce, but damn.
“Hey, Sin. Cady is looking for you—” Church halted in the doorway, his face paling. “What the fuck happened in here?”
“I painted.” Stitches grinned. “Isn’t it great?”
“It’s fucking pink,” Church said, looking around the room with his lip turned up. “Why the fuck is it pink?”
“Because Bryce is a little sweetie pie,” Stitches said, grabbing more glitter.
“Is that fucking glitter?” Church demanded.
“Ah, the herpes of the arts and crafts world. Yes. Yes, it is.” Stitches tossed more glitter on the walls.
Church rubbed his eyes before looking to the ceiling, as if a higher power would aid him in the apparent arts and crafts herpes, which was now also on the floor.
“Sin. Cady. Now. Stitches. Clean this unicorn fuck up. Ashes… why didn’t you stop him?”
“I only just found out,” I said. “I told him to get blue.”
Church sighed but didn’t say anything as he left the room.
“You good?” I asked Sin as he stepped around me, focusing on the floor.
“Yeah,” he mumbled. “I guess.”
I grabbed his arm to stop him as Stitches whistled some upbeat tune.
“You want to talk?”
“I can’t,” he muttered. “I have to go see what Cady wants.”
I studied him for a moment. He seemed so damn sad. I hated it. I’d heard him crying again in his room last night. I’d have gone in, but I didn’t want him to feel ashamed of having all the feelings he was having, and knowing Sin, he would. I let it go, but I could see the dark circles rimming his eyes.
He’d not been sleeping. He still left at night. And he was trying to spend a lot of time with Cady the last few weeks, even though they didn’t say much to one another. She’d gone into his room after dinner, and they’d hung out.
Stitches had raised his eyebrows at me, and I’d given him a shaky smile.
She hadn’t stayed long, which was a relief. Not that I thought Sin and her had anything going on. I just didn’t want more drama. I was over that shit.
“We can talk tonight,” I said. “Hang out. Play some games. Watch a movie. Smoke. Talk. Whatever you want, man.”
He nodded. “OK.”
He didn’t elaborate, and I didn’t push it. I let him leave and turned to Stitches, who had finished his masterpiece.
“You do realize this looks like shit, right?” I asked.
“Yep.” He grinned at me. “Perfect for that fucker.”
I chuckled and started taking down plastic and tape. Stitches joined in, making the work go faster.
“When do you think Sirena is coming back?” Stitches asked as we made the bed in fluffy white and pink blankets and sheets. Stitches hadn’t pulled any punches. He even tossed a stuffed bear onto the bed.
I shook my head at his antics. He made this place look like an eight-year-old girl’s bedroom.
“I don’t know. Church said a few weeks.” I sat on the bed and stared at the sparkles on the wall. “I can’t wait, though. I miss her. It’s killing me.”
“I know.” He sat next to me. He looked so out of place in the room. Black shirt. Black pants. Shaggy black hair. Tatted arms, face, neck, hands. A noose around his neck he wore like a tie. He looked like a horror story surrounded by pink.
“I barely sleep. And I keep hearing Sin crying at night. Shit sucks,” he continued.
“I heard him last night.” I sighed. “I wanted to go in and talk to him, but I decided against it.”
“Same.”
We were both quiet for a moment.
“What will we do if this kid is Sin’s?” Stitches asked.
“I honestly don’t know. Stand by his side. He’s going to need us.”
“Do you think Sirena will just say fuck it at that point?” The vulnerability in his voice made my stomach twist. “I mean, she’s decided she wants Bryce. He could just take her away and give her a normal life. You know that prick could. He’s too damn wholesome.”
“He’s a killer like we are,” I pointed out. “He’s not so pure, man.”
“Whatever. I’ll believe it when I see it.”
I didn’t say anything. I knew Stitches didn’t like him, but I also knew he would accept him eventually. I didn’t think Bryce was a bad person, but I didn’t really know him. As much as I wanted to hate him, I also had to respect him because he’d been through hell to get his spot at Sirena’s side. That meant he was strong and capable of hanging on.
That was important because this life could be hell.
“Just be cool when she gets here with him. Whenever that is.”
“I can’t guarantee it, but I’ll try. For angel.”
I looked over at him and gave him a sad smile. “A lot has changed, hasn’t it?”
He nodded. “Sometimes it’s just hard to believe. I can’t believe Sirena is real sometimes and that she loves us all.”
I nodded at that. “I feel the same.”
“Think we could call her?” he asked, his voice soft. “I hate the distance.”
I answered by pulling my phone out tapping her name on my screen. The phone rang for a long time with no answer. I sighed and disconnected the call, feeling a little let down.
“Call dipshit’s number,” Stitches mumbled.
I knew he was talking about Bryce, so I called him. His phone rang four times before he answered the video call.
“Hey,” he mumbled, rubbing his eyes. It appeared he was still in bed and wasn’t wearing a shirt.
I glanced at Stitches, who had tensed beside me.
“Hey, man. We’re trying to reach Sirena,” I said.
“Uh… one second.” He shuffled for a minute, the screen darkening.
“Hey, Sirena? Sirena? Sorry. Ashes is on the phone for you.” He laughed softly. “Aw, you’re so pretty when you wake.”
Stitches made a gagging motion with his finger in his mouth.
“You know she’s pretty in the morning,” I whispered to him.
“She’s beautiful always, but I don’t like hearing him say it,” he mumbled back.
Bryce’s phone shifted, and Sirena came onto the screen. I swallowed hard as I stared at her. She wasn’t just beautiful. She was breathtaking.
Her long black hair was a wild mess around her. Her colorful eyes were filled with sleep.
“Good morning, heaven,” I said, smiling at her through the phone.
Her lips quirked up, her eyes shining. She waved at me and moved off the bed. I caught a glimpse of Bryce in the background, still on the mattress.
Stitches grunted beside me, having seen him too.
“What are you wearing, baby?” I asked as she walked with the phone in her hand. A door closed behind her, and she turned the phone to the bathroom mirror to show us the little black nightie she was in.
“Fuck, that’s hot,” Stitches said.
She turned the camera back to her face and smiled at us.
“Did you wear that for Bryce?” Stitches demanded, switching gears.
She blinked on screen for a moment, her lips turned down into a deep frown.
“You don’t wear sexy stuff for me,” Stitches continued, sounding hurt. I elbowed him to get him to shut up.
The video of Sirena shook for a moment before she backed away from it and gave us a whole body shot. Her nightie was short. Low cut. Sexy as fuck.
And then she let the straps fall down her arms. I stared at the screen, unblinking, as she let the nightie slip from her body. It pooled on the floor at her feet, leaving her in nothing but her black lacy panties.
“You should leave the room if you don’t want to watch me jerk off,” Stitches husked out, pulling his dick from his pants.
I blinked at him for a moment.
“I haven’t been with her in way too fucking long. Don’t tell me to put my shit away. It’s not happening.” He grabbed his dick and stroked it, his eyes fixed on the phone in my hand. I looked back at Sirena on the screen and watched her lips quirk up into a coy smile before she massaged her bare breasts.
Fuck it.
I pulled my dick out too after placing the phone on the desk so it was angled on us.
Her eyes lit up as she moved closer to her camera.
“Angel, I’m going to need you to rub that pretty pussy for me, baby. I can’t be there to do it, so you need to be a good girl and do it for me,” Stitches said, his breathing fast.
She bit her bottom lip, a move which always drove me wild.
“Is the door locked?” I asked thickly.
Her gaze flicked to the door before she nodded.
“Good,” I murmured. “Lie on the floor and put the phone nearby so we can watch you touch yourself.”
She hesitated for a moment before doing what I asked. A moment later, we got a full shot of her with her back against the wall as she sat on her ass on the white tile floor, her panties gone.
“Spread those legs, heaven,” I commanded gruffly. “I want to see how wet you are for us.”
She did as she was told, exposing that molten hot center I was desperate to bury my cock inside.
“Fuck, just as perfect as I remember,” Stitches said, moving his hand on his dick faster. “Touch yourself, angel. I want to watch you come.”
She was perfect because she immediately dipped her fingers into her pussy and thrust them in and out. Her lips parted, and she closed her eyes.
“Eyes open,” I called out. “I want you to see what you do to us.”
Her eyelids snapped open, revealing her pretty eyes.
“Fuck, baby. Rub your clit.” Stitches groaned.
I watched as she fulfilled his request, her fingers moving over her clit quickly.
“Hurry, baby,” I said. “Come with us. Fuck. I want to see you come for us.”
She moved her fingers faster, her chest heaving as she neared her release.
I couldn’t take it anymore.
I let out a deep groan, my come shooting out of me like a damn geyser and onto my hand. She came with a silent cry, her head thrown back, and her body trembling. Her release rushed from her, soaking the floor and her thighs.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Stitches cried out, unloading on himself.
All went silent. I took the opportunity to go into the bathroom across the hall and cleaned up before returning to the room to find Stitches taking his shirt off.
“Fucking came all over my favorite shirt,” he muttered, shaking his head. “Damnit.”
I chuckled at him as he got up and went into the bathroom. I grabbed the phone and smiled at my girl.
She’d gotten dressed again. She stared back at me, her cheeks flushed. I loved her bashful look, especially after she’d just been so fucking dirty for us.
“I miss you,” I said, smiling at her. “When are you coming home to us?”
Her smile slipped off her face, and I bristled at the reaction.
“You’re still coming, right?”
Her eyes looked everywhere but at me.
“Sirena,” I said. “You’re coming back, right?”
She finally looked at the camera and nodded before looking down at her lap and playing with a piece of fuzz.
“Baby, hey,” I murmured. “Sin is doing…better. Cady is, too. Church has everything scheduled for her. Next week, OK? How about you come for dinner tonight? I’ll make anything you want. We can all eat together like a family. Doesn’t that sound nice?”
She nodded this time without hesitating.
I breathed out a sigh of relief. “OK. How about at six?”
She nodded again as Stitches returned to the room.
I watched her hands move as she signed to us. I crinkled my brow as I tried to decipher it. I’d been working my ass off on learning sign language lately.
It took me a moment, but I finally understood what she was saying. Laughter erupted from me.
“What? What did she say?” Stitches demanded. “You know I’m having a hard time learning this…”
“She wanted to know if you’re switching rooms with Bryce because she sees you’ve painted it your favorite color. She asked if she should bring you a My Little Pony for your new dresser.”
Stitches smirked at her. “You’re sassy today, huh, angel? Get your sexy ass over here, and I’ll fuck you in his bed.”
She chuckled softly, shaking her head at him. I liked to see them both smile. It made me feel like shit in our lives wasn’t so bad.
“Bring Bryce and Asylum,” I said. “I’ll cook for all of us.”
She signed to me again.
“OK. Mirage. That’s fine. I like both the personalities.”
She signed again.
“Mirage doesn’t like fish…Got it. No fish. I don’t like fish either,” I said.
“Me either,” Stitches said. “Tastes like the ass end of a fishing rod. No thanks.”
“I actually don’t think any of us eat fish,” I said, thinking it over. “No. No fish ever.”
She grinned and got to her feet. There was a knock on the bathroom door, and Mirage’s voice sounded out. It was muffled, so I couldn’t make out what he was saying, but it didn’t matter. We needed to get stuff together for tonight and let everyone else know.
“We’ll let you go,” I said. “See you tonight?”
She nodded, smiling at us.
“Can’t wait,” Stitches said. “Seriously. We miss you.”
“We love you, too,” I added.
She kissed the tips of her fingers before pressing them to the lens. The call disconnected after that, leaving me aching inside to hold her.
“Almost there,” I murmured to Stitches.
“Fucking nightmare journey.” He sighed and raked his fingers through his hair.
I nodded. He wasn’t wrong.
“Let’s go tell everyone.” He walked to the door. It took me a minute, but I got up and followed him.
Tonight couldn’t get here fast enough.
Maybe I’d be the one to fuck her in Bryce’s bed.