Chapter 24 Ash
ASH
AUGUST PRESENT DAY
Shane stopped by this afternoon when they got home. After catching up with my brother, Nik dressed me in a blue-and-white floral sundress with tan woven heels before we all headed to the clubhouse.
As we stroll in, JT shouts, “Wow. Forget the garbage bag, baby girl. You should only wear that dress from now on.”
A smile spreads across my face, and my cheeks heat.
“Hell, no. Another one of you fuckers hits on my sister, and I’ll kill you. I’m not going down this road again,” Shane says.
I keep finding myself staring at my brother. It’s been years since I’ve seen him this healthy. The dark circles are gone, and he’s already put on some weight. He looks like my brother again.
“I’m teasing. You look beautiful, Ash,” JT says, pulling me in for a hug.
“Thank you.”
JT turns his attention to Shane, pulling him into a hug next. “It’s so good to see you, man.”
Gabe stands, making his way over to us.
Holy shit.
He’s wearing black dress pants and a gray dress shirt.
The top couple buttons are open, and he has the sleeves rolled up showing his tattooed forearms. The intricate sleeve of winding snakes and flowers on his right arm is the same as I remember, but the grayscale, hyper-realistic skull on the other is new.
His eyes latch onto mine before scanning the dress. When they make it back to my gaze, his eyebrow hitches, and it’s like I’ve been lit on fire.
There’s always been a physical energy between us, even when we were strictly friends.
Dipping my head, I dart across the room to an empty table and take a seat. God, what I wouldn’t give for this to not be a sober party. I just have to get through tonight.
“You okay?” Colette asks from behind me.
“Oh, hey!” I stand, throwing my arms around her. “I’m great!” My smile is big and genuine as I pull away from her. “I hoped I’d get to see you while I was in town.”
“I wondered if you were planning to avoid me the whole time you were here or if you’d eventually come around.”
I love Colette, but I’ve heard enough stories to know I don’t want to be on her bad side. I don’t think she’s been as involved in the club since losing her husband, but she’s no saint.
“Oh. No. I wasn’t—I mean I didn’t mean to avoid you. It was more—”
“It was my son you were ignoring?” She quirks a brow. “Yeah. I know. Listen, I love him dearly, but I’ll always want what’s best for you. You know that, right?”
I nod.
“Anyway. You look beautiful tonight, sweetheart. Don’t be a stranger, okay?”
I nod again as she turns, walking toward Shane before wrapping her arms around him. A hand lands on my lower back before I sit.
“You really are stunning tonight,” a deep voice whispers in my ear. I can feel his breath on my neck, and his scent fills my nose.
I spin to find Gabe standing so close I forget how to breathe.
“Thank you. You look nice yourself.”
His eyes are focused solely on mine, and it almost burns. “Have a good night, Ash.”
The second his hand leaves my back, it’s like a part of my body has detached itself. I still crave his hands on me like I did when we were together.
He is not yours anymore, Ash.
Dinner goes off without a hitch, but I can tell Shane’s nervous. His knee bounces under the table the entire time.
When everyone finishes eating, Nik leans over and whispers something in his ear.
She touches my arm. “I think we’re gonna head home. I can come back later and get you if you want me to.”
“No, that’s okay. I’ll go with you now.”
“Fuck that.” JT leans back in his chair, putting it on two legs. “You’ll miss all the fun. We’re about to get this party started. I’ll take you home later.”
The guys were trying to keep it reined in until Shane left. I should leave, but it’s been nice seeing everyone again, and I’ll be headed home for good soon. One last night won’t hurt anyone.
Nik gives me a questioning glare. “You good?”
“Yeah. I’ll catch a ride from JT.”
This might be a terrible idea, but I don’t care. I’m tired of being worried about everything all the time. I want to have fun for one night.
It doesn’t take much for dinner to turn into a drunken mess.
As I find a spot at the bar, my world is flipped upside down as the door swings open.
He stands out like a sore thumb in his expensive blue suit and pristine dress shoes.
I slide off the stool and waltz over to my soon-to-be ex-husband in sheer horror.
His lip curls as he scans the place before his eyes land on me.
“Casey, what are you doing here?” I ask.
“I told you. I want to talk.”
“Okay? I was just home for a few months. We could have talked any of that time. Why are you here now?”
“I had work shit while you were home.”
“How did you even know where to find me?”
He looks at me like duh. “I called your mom.”
Of course, my mother would tell him.
“Well, I’m kind of in the middle of something. We can talk some other time.” I start for the bar, and he grabs my arm.
“I drove two hours to see you. The least you can do is give me ten fucking minutes.”
I yank out of his grip. It’ll be a cold day in hell when I let him manhandle me.
Stepping closer, I whisper, “Casey, I’m not doing this here. You need to go.”
“Are you kidding me?”
As I’m about to say something, the hair on the back of my neck stands up.
The looming presence behind me says, “I think she said no.”
Casey grins like a hyena, narrowing his eyes.
“You must be Gabe.” His eyes flick between me and the man who just can’t seem to stay out of my damn business. He huffs, “I’ll leave when I’ve talked to my wife.”
Gabe moves past me. “You’ll leave when I tell you to leave, or you can be carried out in a fucking body bag.”
I zip around him to stand between the two.
With a hand on Gabe’s chest, I say, “Enough. This is none of your business. Go!” Pointing my finger toward the table he was sitting at, I stare him down.
He glances between me and Casey for a beat too long before letting out a forceful exhale and stomping away.
I grab Casey by the arm, dragging him out the door. “We can talk outside. Let’s go.”
As we hit the parking lot, he pulls away from me. “What the fuck was that?” His brows lift, and he gestures to the clubhouse with an open palm. “That’s who you’d rather be with?”
“I’m not with anyone, Casey. God, you don’t listen at all, do you?”
“No. I heard it all loud and clear. Your criminal boyfriend threatened to murder me.”
“He’s not my boyfriend!” I shout, stomping my foot because it doesn’t seem to be getting through his thick skull. “Listen to me. I don’t want to be with you because you’re selfish, and demanding, and a cheater! It has nothing to do with anyone else. I don’t want to be with you because of you!”
He stares at me, gritting his teeth. “This is a bad idea! Hanging around here?” He shakes his head. “It’s a bad move and you know it.”
“I’m not hanging around here. I’m here for my brother. That’s it.”
He lifts a brow. “Is your brother in there right now? Is he partying with everyone to celebrate his discharge from rehab?”
My cheeks heat. “He just left. I was catching up with old friends, and then I was heading home too.”
“Yeah.” His mouth turns down, and he scoffs. “It looks like you were just leaving.”
He stomps across the parking lot.
“Casey, it’s not like that.”
Why am I chasing after him? I don’t owe him an explanation; he’s the one who betrayed my trust.
“It’s not like what, Ashton? You’re not fucking your ex-boyfriend behind my back?”
I rear back and laugh. “One, I’m not fucking anyone. And two, you have a lot of room to talk.”
“It was a mistake! I keep telling you that!” he shouts before throwing his hands up defensively. “You know what? Forget it! Have a great life.”
He barrels toward his car. This time I don’t chase after him. He blew up our marriage, not me. I don’t have anything to feel guilty about. As I stand in the middle of the lot and watch as he pulls away, not a single regret for refusing to take him back crosses my mind.
I make my way back inside and order a shot.
After a few drinks, I’m holding up the bar with JT for an hour, when he asks, “So, tell me, how did this Casey guy manage to let you slip out of his hands?”
“Well.” I pause, laughing. “He let more than his hands slip into someone else.”
I don’t know if it’s because I’m drunk or because I truly don’t care anymore, but it doesn’t sting as much to say it out loud.
“Oh, damn. How do you keep managing to pick the world’s biggest dumbasses?”
I burst out laughing. “Um, one of those dumbasses is your best friend.”
“Oh, I know, and don’t think I haven’t told him exactly how stupid I think he is.”
I elbow him, taking another swig of my beer.
“Are you trying to move in on my girl?” A tattooed arm wraps around my shoulder, and I glance back to find Gabriel and JT having a silent conversation.
“Oh. Now she’s your girl?” JT asks, glaring at Gabriel in a way that doesn’t seem like he’s joking. “I thought it wasn’t like that.”
Gabriel rears back. “That doesn’t mean you can have her,” he snaps, voice laced with venom.
I put my hands up between the two of them.
“Okay, I think I’ll decide who gets to have me.” I turn to Gabriel. “Might I remind you; I am not your girl. I haven’t been in a very long time.”
Removing his arm from my shoulders, I recognize what’s happening.
He’s trashed.
Gabriel doesn’t get drunk. He likes to be in control, but he’s completely wasted right now.
He leans down with his mouth to my ear and whispers, “You’ve always been my girl.”
The way he emphasizes the word, sends a shiver down my spine. I tilt my head up so I’m face to face with him.
“No.”
He fucking smirks.
“Yes, Ash,” he replies before walking away.
JT stares at me with his eyebrows raised.
“What?”
“Nothing.” He shakes his head. “Just… maybe stay away from him tonight. I don’t know what his deal is, but that can’t be good.”
“The fact that he’s drunk?”
“Yeah. He’s not been this drunk since—” He sucks his teeth, shaking his head.