Caveman

God, why am I even talking about this? “I need to get going. I’ll walk. It’s not far.”


“Wait, Audrey.” Zane lets go of the pretty girl—Meg, is it?—and runs a hand over the shaved side of his head. “Look, I didn’t expect Ash to be here tonight. Normally he works evenings, but he came over yesterday and he’s crashing on the couch for a few days. I didn’t think you’d mind. It’s been some time since you left town, since the accident, and I thought—”

“It’s fine.” But it isn’t.

I should have expected it, I realize in retrospect. He and Zane have been friends from way back. Zane who started as an apprentice in a tattoo parlor since age thirteen, inked Asher’s tat and they did everything together—especially since Ash stopped being best buddies with me.

“He’s changed,” Zane says quietly. “He won’t bother you. He doesn’t drink or get into fights anymore. He’s not a bad guy, Audrey, you have nothing to worry about.”

“Leave it be, okay?” God, Zane’s seeing right through me, and it hurts. Asher is volatile, unpredictable and a heart-breaker, I’ve learned that lesson in high school, and I just want out of here. I can’t breathe. “Tell Tessa—”

“Tell me what?” She comes toward me, a glass in her hand. “Audrey?”

“I’m leaving.”

She opens her mouth, closes it. Opens it again. “Now?”

“Yes, now.”

Zane is gesturing and mouthing something to her over my head.

Enough. I turn and head toward the door.

“Audrey, wait.” Tessa runs after me, her high heels clacking on the floor, glass still in hand. “So what if Ash is here?”

I stop. “How can you ask me that?”

“I didn’t know you’d be so upset.”

Suddenly all my warm fuzzy thoughts about our friendship go cold. Nobody seems to understand. “It’s too much,” I say. “I need to get out.”

“Okay.” Tessa leaves the glass on a table and grabs her purse from the hanger. “Come on.” Grabbing my arm, she marches me outside. We go down the stairs and head toward her Jeep. “I’m sorry I didn’t realize.”

I nod, trying to focus. “I’m driving. You’ve had too much to drink.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I’ll walk home from your place. It’s only a couple of blocks.”

She sighs and throws me the car keys. “Okay. Just don’t tell my parents I let you drive. Or that I got drunk. Kay?”

We walk to the Jeep in silence, shivering in the cool evening breeze. I unlock the car and we quickly slip inside. I start the engine.

“Must be hard,” Tessa says, not looking at me, rubbing her hands over her legs. “This mess.”

“It is.”

“For both of you,” she deadpans.

Whatever. I don’t know what she’s talking about, and quite frankly I’m not in the mood to try and find out.





Chapter Two





Asher




Audrey is here. Right here, in front of me, more gorgeous than ever, curvier, her red hair loose, her green eyes bright. Seeing her is a punch to my gut, like every single time—an ache sharper than that of any physical wound.

But there’s pain in her gaze, and fear, and anger. She’s changed in many subtle ways. Like the scar on her cheek. I notice because I expect it, and it only makes her more beautiful in my eyes.

Truth be told, I expected more damage. In my nightmares, she’s bloody and crippled, blaming me for her pain.

She has every right. My dad destroyed her family and her life, and then she was gone, leaving me to dread the moment I saw her again as much as I longed for it.

How ironic that she’s here now and I’m frozen to the spot, unable to move or speak.

Her pale lashes lower for a second, and I shift, breaking through my self-hate, finally freed from her angry stare. I have to say something. Anything.

But what can I tell her? Sorry my dad did this? Sorry he’s still alive, making so many lives miserable, while yours is dead? Sorry he drinks because he hates me, because he says I’m a fuck-up?

Sorry I screwed up with you, even though you’re the only one I ever wanted?

Before I’ve even spoken her name, she flees through the crowd as if she can’t put distance between us fast enough.

Of course. What the hell did I expect? She doesn’t want to talk to me, or look at me.

I’ve known for a long time I don’t deserve to be her friend, much less anything more. Dad made sure of that. With every stinging lash of his belt on my back, he told me I don’t deserve her, or anyone else for that matter. That if he saw me with her, he’d tell her what a loser I was.

The thought of him anywhere near her is terrifying. And after the accident, I knew I’d never get a chance to explain, anyway.

But now she’s back.

Shit, I need air.

I push off the wall, the still fresh welts and bruises in my back smarting. The balcony door beckons and I shove my way out.

The nights are still relatively warm. I stand at the rail, looking out into the dark, fighting the crushing weight on my chest—anger, disappointment. Bitter disillusionment.

I shouldn’t feel this way. Seeing Audrey fucked with my head, reminded me of everything that’s wrong with my life, everything I’m trying to escape from. And that pisses me off even more.

Because I came here, to Zane’s place, to catch my breath, gather my wits until Dad sobers up again. I’m safe here, away from home for a few days.

Dammit, I’ll find a way to fix my life. I’ve been telling myself that for years, though, and I still haven’t made it out. On days like this, the dream seems as distant as the fucking stars.

“Ash.” A guy steps out to stand beside me.

Dylan. My least favorite of the Inked Brotherhood. Zane insisted on including him, so I know he also sports a dragon tat on his arm and a dark stain on his past.

I never bothered to find out what it is, since he seems to carry a chip on his shoulder bigger than the state of Wisconsin. We used to be best friends once upon a time, but not anymore.

Not since I kissed Audrey, back in high school, and then did my best to keep away from her.

“Warm night,” he says, his jaw clenched.

I nod and take a fortifying sip from my lukewarm beer. Dylan rarely talks to me, and never alone. This can’t be a good sign. “What’s up?”

“You talk to Audrey?”

I shake my head, not in the mood.

But Dylan obviously is. “She just came back, after all this time. I can hardly believe it.”

I frown. He makes it sound as if... “She moved back here?”

“Yeah. She’s starting school this semester.”

A jab? I wouldn’t put it past Dylan. I never even finished high school.

I wince, both for that and the fact Audrey will be in the same town as me once more. “Good for her.”

“Yes, it is.”

If Dylan’s trying to make a point, I’m totally missing it. I turn my back to him and take a long draught of my beer, trying not to think, not to imagine.

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