Chapter Twenty – Aston
The rough bark of the tree digs into my back. Apart from Megan, outside is the only place that gives me peace. Even as I wait for the inevitable conversation with Braden.
The one where I’ll have to admit why I need her so much. And I’m ready for it. Because of Megan, I’m finally ready to start opening up about my life.
I’m so lost in my own head I don’t even realize when he drops in front of me.
“Still a spacey bastard.” He smirks.
“No fist in my eye?” I smirk back at him.
He shrugs a shoulder. “I considered it. Several times. Then figured it just ain’t worth it since I’d probably get more punches from those damn girls than it’s worth.”
He’s probably right.
“But that doesn’t mean I won’t kick the shit out of you if you break her f*cking heart.”
“I wasn’t joking when I said I loved her yesterday,” I say bluntly, staring him down with the same seriousness he’s looking at me with. “She gets me, man. She gets all my shit and she deals with it. She’s something out of this damn world, and I still think I don’t deserve her.”
“Dude, none of us deserve these girls, but for some reason they won’t leave us alone.” He winks. “I ain’t gonna lie to you – I’m pissed. I’m pissed you never told me and that you went behind my back to do it all. But at the same time I pretty much get why you did it. You kept that f*ckin’ secret because of how much she means to me… That’s why I’m not completely pissed.”
I raise my eyebrows at him, questioning him silently. He opens his mouth and closes it again.
“F*ck it.” He runs his hand through his hair. “I don’t even f*cking know what I am.”
Over his shoulder, I see Megan appear at the back door of the frat house. She leans against the doorframe and watches us.
“Until I was six, my life was a f*cking mess of drugs, alcohol, sex and abuse. I spent my time hiding the bruises my mom’s jacked-up boyfriends gave me and wondering what they’d get me for next time. I listened to her be used in the next room. I listened to her sobbing and crying every night. I watched her go too far until eventually the drugs killed her and my Gramps took me in. I’ve lived with that bullshit ever since, and I used sex to block it all out the same way she did. That was why I never gave a f*ck. Sex meant I didn’t have to feel – until Megan. She made it all f*cking real again. She reminded me of how I feel about everything, and slowly she pulled it all out of me. She made me relive all the memories and then she took it all away by just being there. The shit in my head, all that noise, she makes it quiet again, man. I’m damned if I know how she does it.” I shake my head, watching as she makes her way over to us slowly. “But she does. That’s the shit no one else knows.” My eyes fall back on Braden’s. “That’s the real me. All the lyin’ lately put it all into perspective. I’m done pretending to be someone I’m not because of all that crap. I’m just gonna be f*cking real, because that’s what Megan deserves.”
“You haven’t ended up killing each other yet then?” Megan tucks some hair behind her ear, stopping right between us. I reach forward and grab her hand, pulling her down. She squeals, and I catch her, sitting her between my legs, her back against my front. My arms tuck around her waist and I nuzzle the side of her head, kissing the spot below her ear.
“No, no killing. Another few minutes and it might have been a possibility.”
She turns her face towards me, and I feel the twitch of her cheek as she smiles. Her fingers link through mine.
“Good,” she mutters. “I’d hate to have to deal with both of you.”
“See?” Braden shrugs. “She could kick my ass better than I could kick yours. At least I’m here to keep an eye on you, I guess. Make sure you treat her right.”
“Caveman,” Maddie reminds him, dropping onto the grass next to him.
“Whatever, Angel. I’m just saying.”
“We know.” She leans over and kisses his cheek. “But I think Aston is aware of that.”
Braden grunts, and Maddie smiles, resting her head on his shoulder.
“This is the jackass you’ve been sleeping with?” Kay hollers across the yard. “Are you f*cking kidding me?”
“Uh, surprise?” Megan says weakly and shrugs.
“Surprise? Damn right it’s a f*ckin’ surprise!” She stops, towering over us, and puts her hands on her hips. She looks at Braden. “Why isn’t his whole body in plaster?”
Braden shrugs. I’m pretty sure everyone shrugs around Kay.
“Chill out, Bitchy-Pants!” Lila calls. “They’re just dating. No biggie.”
“You knew, didn’t you?” Kay rounds on her, then on Megan. “How could you tell her and not me?”
I smirk as Megan looks at her pointedly.
“Technically, she didn’t tell me,” Lila mentions. “I worked it out.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Was it a matter of life and death, Kayleigh? Will you drop down dead now you’re the last person to find out?”
“No.”
“Then that’s why I didn’t tell you.” Lila grins. “None of your business.”
“You knew?” Braden asks Lila, glancing over her shoulder to Ryan. “Did you know?”
“Why do I feel like we’re in the middle of a high school drama?” I whisper in Megan’s ear. She giggles silently.
“Because Kay, Braden, and Ryan are still of high school mentality?” she whispers back.
“I, er, shit,” Lila mutters.
“Don’t look at me, man. Its news to me that Lila knew.”
“News… Knew… News...” Maddie blinks a few times. “Um, can I just summarize here? My head is starting to hurt.”
“That’ll be the shots you threw back last night,” Kay remarks.
“Nope. It’s definitely from you guys.” Maddie shakes her head. “Okay, Megan and Aston had a saucy one-nighter, leaving them dying and in desperate need of each other’s company. This resulted in them starting and maintaining a secret relationship while Megan continued to fake-date guys Lila pre-approved and set her up with to keep up the facade. She then had enough, told Lila where to stick her blind dates, and spilled the beans. Then Lila covered for her until last night when they had enough, got sloppy, and Braden caught them. Now we all know, everyone is happy, and they can have unlimited one-nighters, therefore never needing to worry about being caught with their pants round their ankles while bumping uglies against a tree.”
Megan snorts. I grin.
“We have never had sex up against a tree,” she mumbles.
“Hey, not yet…” I squeeze her waist.
“Is that it, though?” Maddie looks at us. “Well, basically.”
“Um, I guess so… Kinda elaborate, but yeah.” Megan answers for us. “Maybe a little less desperation, though.”
“I’m not sure. I’ve been pretty desperate to get inside your pants since I saw you,” I tell her.
“Just my pants?”
“Well, we could go for inside you, but I was trying not to be f*cking crude about it.”
Her eyes twinkle.
“Okay, usually I’d be totally up for this sex talk, but the girl is like my sister. No next morning f*ck stories.” Braden puts his hands up and looks at me. “Try and keep that shit to a minimum around me.”
“You know,” Maddie muses. “Aston doesn’t swear nearly as much since him and Megan did the nasty. Maybe you should try it, Bray.” She taps his cheek, and he rolls his eyes.
“Of course, Angel,” he deadpans.
I smirk.
“I can’t believe you were f*cking each other and I never figured it out.” Kay looks at us.
“Relationship,” Megan corrects. “There’s a difference.”
“Sex was involved. It’s all relative. I just can’t believe I didn’t know.”
I resist the urge to roll my eyes. “You’re not going to shut up about it, are you?”
“No,” Kay replies, leaning back on her hands. “It’s not damn likely.”
~
“What are we doing?” I ask as Megan tugs me towards my car.
“It’s Sunday,” she says simply. “We’re going to see your Gramps.”
“Okay, but that doesn’t explain why you have a damn picnic basket with you.”
“Fine – we’re going to see your Gramps and take him out for the day. Better?” She raises an eyebrow at me, and I grin, starting the engine up.
“Much. But where are we going?”
“You’ll see.”
She settles back in her seat, smiling to herself. If I’d hoped to get any clues from her outfit, I’ve definitely not got any luck. Her jeans, jacket, and boots are nothing out of the ordinary – but the fact her hair is tied up is.
Not that it means anything in particular… Apart from making me want to nuzzle her bare neck.
We pull up outside Gramps’ house and get out. When I open the door, I’m not greeted by the usual smell of cigar smoke. It’s there, but fainter.
“Gramps?” I call out, worry trickling its way through my body. That worry shoots through my veins at a lightning speed when I see his empty chair by the window. He always sits by the window. Where is he?
“Gramps!” I shout loudly, spinning around and heading for the stairs. “Gramps!”
“You could wake the damn dead you could, boy,” his voice grumbles from the back door. I rush through the kitchen and find him wiping dirt off his hands.
I stop. “You were gardening?”
“No need to sound so surprised.” He chuckles. “It’s been known to happen.”
“But you haven’t done it for years.”
“That’s because I got lazy, boy!” he drops the cloth on the counter. “I planted them bushes I got a couple weeks back – the hydrangea ones. For your Gran.”
“I thought you weren’t ready to,” I say softly.
“I wasn’t! Then me and you had our little chat, and I thought to myself what a miserable old bastard I was. Decided to get out of that damn chair and do something about it. You should go take a look see at that vegetable garden. Not much growing there right now, but by spring that’ll be bloomin’!” He beams, a light in his face I haven’t seen for so long. He glances over my shoulder and his face brightens even more. “And you brought Megan! Well, gardening and a chat about books with a beautiful young lady. This is the best Sunday I’ve had in a while.”
Megan laughs softly. “I was hoping you’d be out of that chair. I’m taking you out for the day.”
I clear my throat, amused. “Who’s taking who?”
“Okay, you’re driving, but it’s most definitely my treat, Mr. Banks.” She looks at me pointedly, humor dancing in her pretty blue eyes.
“And the beautiful lady wants to take me out?” Gramps rubs his hands together. “I best get my coat. Aston, I’m stealing your girl!” He kisses Megan on the side of the head as he passes her, a bounce in his step.
“Not a chance, old man!”
Megan smiles fondly at him, and I walk across the room to her, stopping in front of her.
“Yes?” She looks up at me.
I cup her chin, running my thumb along her jaw to her bottom lip. I trace it softly. “Nothing.” I smile, tilting her chin up and bending my face to meet her lips.
“Hope you’re not seducing my girl!” Gramps calls. “We have a date to go on!”
I laugh, taking Megan’s hand and leading her out the house. Gramps grabs his stick and points it at the car.
“Least that beast is clean.”
“Of course it’s clean. You really think I’d let her get dirty?” I glance at him.
He grunts. “No. Guess not.”
I grin, helping him into the car, and shut the door. I get in the front next to Megan who is smiling to herself.
“Gonna tell me where we’re going yet?”
She shakes her head, eyes twinkling. “No. I’ll just give you directions. It’s a surprise. Go right at the end of the street.”
I sneak glances at her as I drive and make the turns she orders me to. I’m not really paying attention to the direction we’re going in. I’m too preoccupied by the excitement she’s showing. It’s infectious – I’m excited and I don’t even know what for.
“Marina,” Gramps says from the back seat. “We’re heading to the marina.”
Megan grins and turns in her seat, nodding her head. “Yep.”
“Why?” I frown slightly and glance at Gramps in the back seat. He taps a wrinkled finger against his mouth as he thinks, and Megan’s grin grows.
“Why do people usually go to the marina?” she asks.
“Boats,” I answer. Her eyes slide to mine, her excitement really obvious now. Her cheeks are flushed, but behind the light in her eyes there’s a hint of nervousness. Why…
“Fishing!” Gramps cries. “You’re taking us fishing!”
Megan nods vigorously. “I wanted to do something for you both. My parents were supposed to come this weekend but Dad had a work thing come up so they cancelled. He had a boat booked to go out with Braden so I asked if I could use it instead. I’m paying him back.”
I stop the car in the parking lot near the marina and turn around to see Gramps. His eyes glisten with unshed tears, and a lump rises in my own throat.
“Thank you,” he whispers to Megan, his eyes focused on hers. “Thank you.” She smiles in response, and Gramps shakes his head. “I’m gonna go to that there fishing place over the road and get us some bait. Megan, do you fish?”
She shakes her head. “God, no. My dad taught Braden to fish, and his mom taught me to shop.” She grins. “It worked out well.”
“Then make sure they have three poles on that boat,” Gramps announces. “We’ll teach you to fish!”
“Oh, I, er, um…”
“Nope! You’re coming on that boat, so you’re fishing. No just sitting there and looking pretty. You can look pretty and fish at the same time, you know.” He winks and opens the car door. I unclip my seatbelt, reaching for my door.
“Hang on, Gramps.” I move to get out the car.
“I can get out of a car, boy. I’m not that old yet,” he scolds me, grabbing his stick and sliding out. “I’m getting bait. You go and sort out that boat.”
He hobbles across the street with his stick, and I get out of the car. I open Megan’s door for her, pulling her out, and pull her close to me. Her arms go round my waist and she leans her cheek against my chest.
“Thank you,” I whisper, kissing the top of her head, letting my lips linger there. “Thank you for this. You don’t know how much it means to him.”
She pulls her head back and half-smiles. “Probably about as much as it means to you.”
I nod, realizing it’s true. “We haven’t fished since before the semester started.”
She runs her hands around to my stomach, her fingers splaying as they creep up my chest to my neck. “I don’t have to stay, you know. It’s your day. You and your Gramps can go out by yourselves if you-”
I silence her with a kiss. “No. No. Fishing was always our thing, just me and him, but if there was anyone in this world I want to share it with, it’s you.” And it’s true. She’s the only person I’d dream of sharing this with.
“Then let’s get to that boat. I bet he’s lethal with that stick, let alone fishing poles, too.”
~
The waters of the bay are calm today, and the small boat bobs along smoothly. Megan’s picnic is out of the way of any splashing water and she’s looking dubiously at the fishing poles. Her gaze drifts to the tubs of worms Gramps bought for bait and she scrunches her face up a little. I can’t help but smile.
“They’re just worms,” I comment as I casually hook one onto my pole.
“Exactly,” she mutters, still staring the tub down. “Worms. If I’d have known we’d be using real live worms, I…” She shudders. “I hate worms.”
I smirk. “They’re just worms, baby. You need them to hook the fish.”
“I know that.” She finally looks up at me. “I just wish I didn’t have to need them.”
Gramps hands her a pole. “You need to hook the bait.”
She takes a deep breath as I hold the tub out, trying to contain my amusement. Her fingers move towards the tub before she snatches her hand back, shuddering again.
It takes her five tries to grab one. Even then, she drops it.
“Grab the damn worm and slide that hook through it!” Gramps claps his hands. “Those fish ain’t gonna wait around all day to become someone’s dinner!”
“I… Ewwww!” she squeals as she grabs one quickly and slides it onto the hook. She holds the pole away from her body, still in the boat, and wipes her fingers on a rag next to her. “Ew, ew, ew, ew!”
Gramps and I burst into laughter. I secure the lid on the tub and put it down, grinning at her.
“Come on. We gotta catch some fish!” Gramps grabs his pole, hooks his bait, and casts out onto the water.
“Yeah…” Megan says vaguely. “I have no freakin’ idea how that works.”
I put my pole down and pull her up. “I’ll teach you.”
“He learned from the best!” Gramps calls from the other side of the boat.
I wink at Megan and position her in front of me, wrapping one of my arms around her stomach. “The wind is blowing from behind us, so we need to cast this way. If we try to go against it, it’ll just blow your line this way.”
“Right. But how do I cast it?”
I grin. “Patience. You need to hold the rod correctly.”
“Um, sure.”
I move my hand from her stomach and wrap my fingers around hers. “The reel needs to be facing down, and it should sit between your middle finger and ring finger for balance. Like this.” I move her fingers. “If that isn’t comfy, you can change it until it is.”
“Its fine,” she says a little breathlessly.
“Now…” I move my mouth closer to her ear. “You need to reel out until you have six inches of line hanging out, and turn the handle until the roller is directly under your middle finger.” I help her do it, my fingertips brushing against hers. “Now hold the line against the rod, and open the bait with your other hand.”
I take her free hand from the side of the boat and put it against the bait, opening it with her.
“Now what?” She leans back into me slightly.
“Point the rod at your target.” I help her position it. “Now we need to bring it up in a smooth, swift motion. You’ll feel when the top of the rod bends and as soon as it does, we need to push it forward. Halfway to the target, let go of the line. Then we’ll close the bait.”
“Up, bend, forward, let go, close,” she mutters, leaning back into me. “I think I can do that.”
“You can.” I run my lips along her ear, nibbling at her lobe slightly. She wriggles and draws in a sharp breath.
“I can’t if you do that.”
I smile against her skin. “Ready to try.”
“No.”
“Three, two, one.” I help her lift the rod straight up and when I feel the flex I flick it forwards. She squeaks. “Let go!”
Megan lifts her finger from the line and it flies out with rod, landing almost perfectly in the water. She grins. “I did it!”
“You did. Now you have to wait for a fish to bite.”
“How long does that take?”
“How long is a piece of string?”
“Are you telling me I could be standing here all day and not catch a thing?”
Gramps cackles across the boat. “That’s exactly what he’s telling you!”
Megan turns her face to me and I grin. “What?”
“I can’t believe I got roped into this.”
“Hey.” I let my hands fall from the pole back to her body, resting them on her hips. I bury my face in the side of her neck, nudging the collar of her jacket away. “This was your idea, remember?”
“Yes…”
I run my nose up her neck and back down again, and she swallows. “So you didn’t get roped into anything. You had to know that you’d end up fishing.”
“Mhmm.”
“So why are you so surprised?” My breath fans across the back of her neck, and she shivers. I stroke around her hips, my fingers dipping inside the front pockets of her jeans and back out again.
“I’m not,” she whispers.
“Then don’t complain.” I’m smiling as I brush my lips along her jaw lightly, and I glance up to her eyes fluttering shut. “Megan,” I whisper back in her ear.
“Mm?”
“Keep your eyes on the line.”
Her eyes snap open and she looks directly at me, desire and annoyance swirling in them. “You did that deliberately.”
I steal a kiss and grin at her. “So what if I did?”
She narrows her eyes and looks back out at the water. “So not-”
“Woohooooooo!” Gramps hollers. “We’ve got a big one, boy!”
“Hold that steady,” I tell Megan, releasing her and making my way across the boat to him, grabbing a net on my way.
“Giz a hand, here. Not as steady on the old feet as I used to be,” Gramps orders me. I stand just behind him and to the side, helping him hold the rod and steadying his back as he reels in the fish.
I whistle low at the bend in the rod. “That’s a good one, Gramps.”
“Don’t sound so surprised,” he grunts. “Prize fisher, me.”
He reels in the fish slowly, and as soon as it nears the surface, I swoop it up with the net and drop it onto the boat.
“Late salmon!” he cries happily, taking a seat and bending over to look at it. “And… You got a tape measure on you?”
“In the picnic bag,” Megan responds. “Dad always used to take one for Braden so I thought I’d pack it.”
“Genius, girl!”
I leave the fish flapping slightly on the deck and grab the tape measure.
“Well, is it big enough?”
“I think…” I roll it out next to the fish. “Hold him still, Gramps.” He rests his foot on it and I double check the length.
“Well?”
“Just.” I grin at Gramps. “Half an inch over the size limit.”
He claps his hands. “Dinner tonight, kids!”
“Oh,” Megan squeaks. “Something is there!”
Gramps winks, grabs a stick and kills the fish quickly. I step back up behind Megan and rest my hands on the rod.
“There’s a fish – has it bitten?” I ask her.
“How am I supposed to know? I can’t see it!”
I half-sigh, half-laugh, and rest the side of my head against hers. “This is gonna be a long day.”