Chapter 26 Gabe
GABE
Ididn’t mean to hurt Ash. I just don’t know what I’m doing.
Shane’s my best friend. His sister should be off-limits.
But I can’t stop thinking about her. She took up shop in my brain when she took up shop in the garage last summer.
I’d made peace with keeping my distance until JT decided to play buddy-buddy with her last night.
I’m sitting on the couch when JT lets himself into my apartment without knocking. He acts like he lives here too. Although, he might as well. Shane’s never here anymore.
“Don’t you know how to knock?”
“I do.” He plops down beside me. “But what fun is that?”
I scoff.
“What’s up? And don’t blow smoke up my ass.”
With my gaze glued to my coffee table, I say, “I’m fine. Just don’t care for drama from little girls with crushes.”
His brows raise. “So that’s how you’re playing it? You’re gonna act like you didn’t drag her away like a caveman last night?”
I shrug.
“You can pretend there’s nothing going on if you want, but if there is, you’re blowing it.”
“It was a mistake,” I mutter, peeling the label off a Mountain Dew bottle.
“Good. ‘Cause she’s leaving.”
My heart thunders against my chest that feels a lot like an elephant is sitting on it.
She’s leaving? Because of last night?
Good. We’ll both be better off.
It’s too complicated. She’s Shane’s little sister. My best friend. I can’t do that to him.
“You know you’ll be good to her,” JT adds, standing. “The next asshole might just hit it ’n’ quit it.”
He grins at my scowl but puts his hands in the air. “Just saying.”
The asshole doesn’t shut the door behind him, like he thinks I’m going to follow.
I’m not. She’s none of my business. She’s Shane’s business.
He should be the one making guys stay around.
But he’s never around…
And fuck JT, because I’m out the door before I can stop myself again.
Idon’t notice Gran sitting on her front porch swing until she speaks. “I assume you’re here for that granddaughter of mine?”
“Um, yeah. Is she here?”
“Packed all her shit last night. Says she’s going home.” She takes a drag, glaring at me. “You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”
“Uh, yeah, I might.”
“Thought so. The only reason I’m not running you off right now is because I think deep down you’re a good man. I want you to earn a second chance. But that’s it. She’s been through enough, and she doesn’t need you adding to it.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
With pursed lips, she puts her cigarette out before saying, “She’s out back.”
With that, I race around the house.
Ash sits on the grass, leaning back on her hands and looking out over the lake. When I get close, she turns her head.
Her gray eyes are a little bluer and swollen from crying, and she has a pink petal from the magnolia tree stuck in her hair.
After shooting me a dirty look, she gives me the cold shoulder. “Go away.”
I sit next to her. “I fucked up.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t care.” She picks a piece of grass and spins it in her fingers. “I thought you liked me, but don’t worry. I’m all clear now.”
I wince.
She needs to know I meant every second of that kiss—that it was the bullshit I spewed after that was a lie.
“Ash, I’m sorry. I regret it so fucking much. I wish I could take it back.”
She scoffs. “Wow, that’s every girl’s dream. To know a man regrets kissing them.”
“No, not the kiss. Fuck! Everything else. I just panicked.”
She wipes her face. “I feel stupid for liking someone who’d humiliate me like that in front of all of those people.”
“I don’t know what to say. I’m an asshole, and I shouldn’t have done that.” I reach for her, but she pulls away before standing, brushing her hands off on her pink sundress.
When she heads for the house, she says, “I don’t care.”
Scrambling to my feet, I follow after her. “Ash, please don’t leave.”
She stops but doesn’t turn around. Her voice is thick when she says, “I have to. I hate this town.”
There isn’t a lick of venom in her words.
“No, you don’t.” I take a step toward her. “You hate me… Or you’re trying to, at least.” Reaching for her arm, I say, “The problem is, you can’t.”
When she finally faces me, she asks, “Oh, yeah? Why is that?”
“Because deep down you know I didn’t mean it.” My fingers brush her arms and she tilts her face up to me. “And you know how I feel about you. Even without me saying it.”
She swallows hard, blinking away the emotion in her eyes.
My arm snakes around her waist. “And I know how you feel about me.”
She doesn’t move away, so I pull her to me. Her breath hitches. I can’t keep my distance. If Ash is in Ravens Ridge, then I’m with Ash. That’s how this works. There’s an invisible force dragging me toward her.
Placing a hand on her face, I brush away a tear as it falls from her eye. I kiss her softer this time, and she lets me. Her lip gloss tastes like strawberries, just like last night. After a second, she reaches up to wrap her arms around my neck. When I lift her, she locks her legs around my waist.
Barely taking my lips from hers, I say, “I’m so fucking sorry, Ash.”
She shakes her head. “Please don’t hurt me like that again,” she whispers against my mouth.
“I won’t.” After inhaling her one more time, I lower her to the ground. “Come over tonight.”
I want to stay here with her forever, but I have to get back to the shop. She nods, and I grab her hand, leading her back to the house.
“I knew you liked me,” she says under her breath.
“Yeah, something like that.” I chuckle because I more than like this girl. I’m pretty sure I’ve loved her since last summer.
All day at the shop, my thoughts stay on her. The smell of her hair and the way her soft skin feels on my fingertips. I brutally count the minutes until I’m finished.
I finally clock out and impatiently wait for her outside. When she arrives, we head up to my apartment.
Standing inside the doorway, she rocks back on her heels. “So…”
“Alright.” I grab her hand and drag her to the couch. “Don’t be fucking weird now.”
She giggles, plopping down next to me.
“What’re we watching?” I ask, my gaze drifting to her bare thighs in those tiny denim shorts.
I jerk my eyes away.
Stop being a creep.
She shrugs. “Whatever you want.”
“Hmmm, what about something scary?”
“Sure!” She grins.
Ash has the cutest fucking smile. It’s wide and bright, and her teeth are just a little crowded. Like just imperfect enough to convince you she’s real.
“It won’t give you nightmares?”
Rolling her eyes, she shoves my shoulder. “Oh, fuck off.”
I click on a movie and grab her legs, pulling them across my lap. She relaxes into the couch and turns her head, attempting to cover a grin.
The first jump scare, she about leaps on top of me.
I laugh, throw an arm around her, and pull her to my chest. “You okay? I thought you weren’t gonna be scared?”
“Shut up!” She swats me.
I catch her hand, pinning it against my chest, right over my heart. Our eyes lock. The air goes still, and the TV fades into the background as my heart pounds against her palm.
I’m drowning in her gray-blue eyes.
My eyes slip to her pink lips that shine with that fucking strawberry lip gloss. They part.
Fuck me.
I think strawberry’s my new favorite flavor.
I’ve already done this. Twice actually. So, why does it feel like crossing a line to kiss her right now. One very fine line.
“Gabriel…”
I cross that line with a leap and press my lips to hers. It’s soft and brief, a question.
Is this okay?
She draws her hand out from where I clasped it to my chest, and my heart sinks.
Way to go, Gabe. You fucked it up again.
Pulling away, I open my mouth to apologize, but she laces her fingers behind my neck.
The next word from her lips is a whisper. “Again.”
The world falls away as I’m consumed by all things Ash. Her lips. Her taste. Her smell. Her touch. This time, I kiss her hard, wrapping an arm around her back. I never want to come up for air.
We don’t separate until the movie ends. Only noticing because what replaces it is a bright infomercial.
She jolts, and I’m forced to release her. When she doesn’t say anything, I smile. “Well, there’s that.”
She laughs, dropping her head to my shoulder, but not before I catch a glimpse of the pink blooming over her cheeks.
Goddamn, she’s cute.
Lifting her head, she gives me a tight-lipped grin before standing. “Thanks for tonight.”
Mid-stretch, I whip my head in her direction.
“Oh, you think you’re leaving?” The corner of my mouth lifts, and I shake my head as I stand. “No fucking way. I’ve been waiting a year for you to come back, now I may never let you leave again.”
She giggles as I pull her into me.
“I mean, it’s pretty late already. Don’t you have to open the shop tomorrow?”
I kiss the top of her head and say, “If you really want to go back to Gran’s, I’ll let you, I guess, but wouldn’t it be so much easier if you stayed here?”
Her brows pinch when she pulls back. “You want me to stay here?”
“If you want. If it’s too soon, it’s fine. I just—”
She shakes her head. “No, it’s not that. I’m just surprised. Last night I went home thinking you didn’t like me, and now you’re asking me to stay. I think I might have whiplash.”
I laugh, wrapping my arms around her and lifting her off the ground. “Ash, I’m fucking crazy about you.”