Chapter 10 Ash
ASH
“What happened between you and Jordan last night? Someone said you broke up,” Nik asks as we pull into the field behind her friend Akers’s house in the new red Jeep my mom got me this year for my birthday.
“No. My brother’s asshole guard dog caught us at the sawmill and scared him off,” I grumble. I met Jordan at a party a few weeks ago with Nik and he’s practically lived at Gran’s since.
That is until last night.
“Who? Gabe?”
“Yep.” We jump out of the Jeep.
“The party’s back here.” She gestures toward the woods, and I follow. “Why’s he care anyway?”
“No clue.” Shrugging, I whine, “I can’t even breathe this summer without one of his friends tattling on me.”
Leaves and sticks crunch under my Converse sneakers. The further into the woods we walk, the more I’m starting to think I should have worn something other than a T-shirt and denim shorts. With my luck, I’ll wake up covered in poison ivy tomorrow.
“Were you guys… you know?” she wiggles her brows.
“No, thank God we were just about to leave. You should have seen it, though. He literally threatened to cut his eyeballs out and send them to his mom if he ever looked at me again!”
“Jesus! Can you imagine if your brother found out you two were hooking up?”
I shoot her a stern look. “Nik.”
“Sorry.” She winces, looking around. “But seriously, he’d murder him.”
“Yeah, which is why he’s not gonna find out.”
Not that it matters now. My dating days are over for the summer because Shane’s made sure every guy in town knows his little sister is off limits.
Which is really annoying because I’m already invisible to the guys back home. Until this summer, I’d only kissed two boys. I thought Jordan really liked me. We had fun together, and he never pushed me to do anything I wasn’t ready to do even when hours of making out led nowhere.
Well, until last weekend. I don’t know what I was expecting, but a couple of thrusts while he grunted in my ear wasn’t it. I was kind of surprised; sex always seemed like such a big deal, but now that I’ve done it a handful of times with him, I don’t get the hype.
When Gabe showed up, Jordan backed down immediately. He drove me home in complete silence, and I haven’t heard from him since.
A fire is the only light aside from the moon illuminating the swarm of teenagers drinking and laughing. Music blares from an old black truck that’s parked backwards on a gravel path between the trees.
A cute guy parts through the crowd, making a beeline for us. “Nik!”
He flips his wavy blond hair that’s just shy of being in his eyes and flashes a big bright smile. He’s got one of the kindest faces I’ve ever seen.
She wraps her arms around his waist. “Hey!”
With his chin resting on the top of her head, his light eyes meet mine. “Who’s your friend?”
“I’m Ash.” I hold out a hand.
“Ash?” His brows shoot up. “Like Shane’s sister?”
“Uh… yeah?”
“In that case”—he finally shakes my hand—“I’m Theo.”
Nik shoves him, laughing. “Shut up!” Hooking her arm with mine, she tells me, “He’s joking. This is Akers.”
“Theo’s my brother.” He chuckles. “But if Shane finds out you were here, he’ll kick my ass.”
Here we go. My brother’s going to ruin my whole summer.
I don’t know why he’s so hellbent on putting his nose in my business.
Any other time, he barely acts like I exist. Actually, between him and Gabe, I’ve wondered if I’m invisible at times.
They come and go from Gran’s without saying a word to me.
If Gabe weren’t such a douchebag, I might have a teeny, tiny crush.
I mean, he’s one of the cutest guys I’ve ever seen.
But luckily his rotten personality keeps me from thinking about those perfect lips on mine.
And I definitely don’t daydream about what his calloused fingers would feel like on my skin.
I grin. “Don’t worry about Shane. I’ll deal with him.”
“Yeah…” He narrows his eyes. “You know what? Maybe just don’t tell him you came. He can’t cut my dick off if he doesn’t know.”
Nik rolls her eyes. “You’re such a wuss.”
Grinning, I say, “I swear not a word about this to my brother.” I pretend to zip my mouth and throw away the imaginary key. “My lips are sealed.”
“Deal.” With a stern look to Nik, he says, “That means you too, blabber mouth.”
She scowls. “Like you have any room to talk.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” He rears back. “I know how to keep a secret.”
“Bullshit! You told everyone about Gabe and that girl in the bathroom!”
“No, everyone already knew about that. You could hear her from the hallway!”
Nik scowls. “He’s disgusting.”
“I think you’re just jealous it wasn’t you.”
She huffs. “I wouldn’t let him near me if he was the last man on Earth! He’s already slept with half my class. No thanks.”
I watch the whole interaction with the biggest grin. They’re funny. Back home, my class is so big, there are kids I’ve been in school with since kindergarten that I’ve never spoken to, but here, they all know each other’s whole life story.
He shrugs. “Let’s get you a drink. Might as well have fun before your brother murders me.”
He jogs over to a truck, climbs into the bed, and pulls a few beers out of a cooler.
A boy who looks just like him, but with darker hair, sits on a toolbox in the bed. He nudges Akers’s shoulder. “Go easy tonight. I’m not cleaning puke out of Mom’s carpet again.”
“Fuck off! Why are you even out here? Don’t you have friends of your own?”
“Yeah, but then who would look after you?” The older boy leans back against the truck and tips his drink.
Akers gives him a dirty look before hopping out of the bed.
After handing one to me, he holds the other just out of Nik’s reach. “Are you gonna play nice tonight? I’m not feeding the bear alcohol if she’s just gonna maul me later.”
Nik scowls. “In your fucking dreams, loser. I bet there isn’t a girl in a thirty-mile radius that’d maul you.”
“Alright. No beer for you.”