I brushed her hair off her neck, carefully dragging the tips of my fingers over her skin. “Oh, I’m gonna give you more than just a piece of Flint, Ash. In my bed. Tonight. I’m gonna show every inch of that body how much I’ve missed you. Then, when we wake up in the morning, I’m going to fuck you until I’m done being mad at you. Then I’m taking you on a date, and then we are figuring out the getting-back-together part.” I winked.
Her mouth gaped open. “I should really take off right now,” she whispered, but she swayed toward me, dropping her head to my chest.
“You’re leaving with me.”
“You don’t understand,” she whined.
“So you keep saying.” I kissed the top of her head. “Just give me a few days. Let me apologize and explain the things I said to you. If you want nothing to do with me, I’ll bring you back.”
“I don’t know.” She wrapped her arms around my waist.
“Well, I do. I can make this right, Ash. You just have to trust me.”
“I, um . . .”
“Just try.” I leaned away and looked down into her innocent, blue eyes. “And stop stealing my fucking wallet.”
Her arms fell away, and she let out an exaggerated huff. “Fine. You have two days.” She backed up, slapping the wallet against my chest. “But I’m still calling you Wheels. I don’t care if you are walking.”
“I can live with that.” I laughed.
She was back.
And suddenly, so was I.
I COULDN’T DECIDE IF LEAVING with Flint was the best or worst decision I had ever made. On one hand, I couldn’t deny the fact that I wanted him on practically every level. On the other, I didn’t trust him to feel the same way. And I had so little in life that even trust wasn’t something I could afford to give away. But back on that first hand, I wanted him so much that I could give him two days then torture myself with the memories for years to come. I’d figure out a way to survive.
After voicing my displeasure that he’d replaced the party bus with a charcoal-grey SUV, we headed toward his apartment. Or, according to Flint, his bed. I secretly cried for the first thirty minutes for reasons that were lost even to me. I just knew I had never been more scared of anything in my life—and that was saying a lot. Eventually, I fell asleep, only to wake up when we dropped Till off at On The Ropes.
“You guys coming to Q’s fight tomorrow night, right? We’ll all go out to dinner afterwards, Doodle’s treat. She sold a painting yesterday.” Till smiled, poking his head in Flint’s window. “It was good to see you, Ash. Take care of this asshole.” He slapped Flint on the back of the head then jumped away before Flint could retaliate.
“Jackass,” Flint mumbled, smoothing the back of his hair down. “We’ll be there,” he replied, rolling his window up.
Instead of walking away, Till started laughing and lifted his hands to continue the conversation in sign language.
“Jesus Christ.” Flint shook his head, quickly backing out of the parking lot.
“What’d he say?” I asked.
“Nothing,” he rushed out, his eyes nervously flashing to mine.
I would have questioned him further, but as he stared out the windshield, a grin tipped the side of his mouth.
I’d missed him so much.
Unable to restrain myself, I reached across the center console and rested my hand on his thigh. He never acknowledged the subtle gesture, but his simple grin spread across his face, transforming it into a full-blown smile. It was probably awkward as hell that I was staring at him, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away. It was so surreal that he was sitting next to me. And it was so amazing that my fears began to melt away. Maybe I didn’t have to trust him. I could just steel myself for the worst and embrace every second of the good I got with him.
Maybe I never had to leave at all.
That was until Flint turned into a quaint subdivision I didn’t recognize. Then I realized I couldn’t even stay for the originally promised two days.
Rows of new houses lined the streets. Flawlessly manicured lawns butted up against the unmarred sidewalks, illuminated by old-timey streetlights, while shiny, new minivans and SUVs filled the driveways.
“Um . . . where . . . where are we?” I stuttered, taking it all in.
“Home,” he answered. The garage door lifted as he turned into the driveway of a small, two-story, brick house complete with blue shutters.
“Whose house is this?” I asked as I looked around the perfectly organized garage.
“Mine.”
“Where . . . I mean . . . you moved?”
“Yeah, a few months ago. Till gave me the down payment as a graduation gift, but I’m paying him back.” He smiled proudly, but my gut wrenched.
“Graduation?”
“Yeah. I finished school. I’m running the business side of On The Ropes for Till and Slate right now, but I’m trying to become a sports agent. I just recruited a fighter who’s about to go pro. He moved to the gym and agreed to let me represent him. There is a lot of money to be made if you get the right clients.”
“Oh God,” I breathed.
“What?”
“Oh God.” Panic began to ricochet in my chest.
“What?” he repeated, reaching out to grab my hand.