***
Sebastian walked up to Jet’s front door and rang the bell. Fadiyah answered the door.
“Sebastian!” Fadiyah exclaimed happily, moving to hug him.
Sebastian hugged the girl, smiling fondly. Pulling back, he looked down at her.
“You look great,” he said, his smile warm.
“I am very happy,” Fadiyah said nodding. “You are here to pick up Ashley?” she asked then.
“Yes,” he said, nodding.
“She and Jet are out in the back. Do you want some coffee?” Fadiyah asked.
“Jet’s got that good Arabian stuff, right?” Sebastian asked, grinning.
“Yes,” Fadiyah replied, smiling.
“Then hell yes,” Sebastian said, nodding.
He walked to the back door looking out. They were sitting across from each other in the backyard. Ashley was dressed in black capris and a mint-green knit shirt that hugged her body attractively, on her feet she wore strappy sandals. Jet was completely casual in black shorts and a tank top. Jet’s bare foot was on the chair Ashley sat in; it seemed proprietary. It was the first thing Sebastian noticed and it bugged him.
“You really think it’s a good idea?” Ashley asked Jet.
“I think it’s a great idea,” Jet said, nodding.
They both turned to look at Sebastian when he walked out of the house.
“Hey Baz,” Jet said, grinning up at him.
“Morning Jet Fire,” he said, using the nickname he’d always used for her, then he looked at Ashley. “Good morning,” he said smiling and leaning down to kiss her lightly on the lips.
Ashley smiled brilliantly. “Good morning.”
Fadiyah walked out of the house, and Jet moved to stand smiling. Fadiyah handed Sebastian his coffee, making a face at Jet.
“Jet, your back is bothering you. You do not need to stand for me…” she chided.
“Habit,” Jet said, grinning and gesturing for Fadiyah to sit in the chair she’d just gotten up out of.
“You sit there,” Fadiyah said, pointing to the chair. “I am fine.”
Jet looked indecisive, but finally nodded when Fadiyah narrowed her silver-gray eyes at her.
“So what are you two up to today?” Jet asked looking between Sebastian and Ashley, as Fadiyah moved to sit on the arm of the chair Jet sat in.
Sebastian looked at Ashley. “Well, I was thinking breakfast and then whatever the lady would like to do.”
Ashley smiled up at Sebastian. “I kind of wanted to check out this new flea market opening up in Burbank… If you don’t mind?”
“I don’t mind,” Sebastian said, smiling.
He took a few sips of the coffee, sighing.
“I miss this stuff…” he said, his look dreamy.
“I can get you some,” Jet said, smiling. “All ya gotta do is ask.”
“I’m asking,” Sebastian said, grinning.
“Then you got it,” Jet said, grinning back at him.
The four of them talked for a few more minutes, then Sebastian set down the cup, looking at Ashley.
“You ready?” he asked, holding his hand out to her.
Ashley smiled, nodding as she took his hand and stood up.
“You kids have fun,” Jet said, her grin wicked.
“Shut up, Jet,” Sebastian said his eyes still on Ashley.
Jet simply chuckled. Sebastian and Ashley left then.
Fadiyah moved to sit in the chair that Ashley had just vacated, looking at Jet. She saw that Jet looked somewhat unhappy suddenly.
“What is wrong?” Fadiyah asked.
Jet looked over at her, shaking her head slowly. “I’m just worried about Ash.”
“Why?” Fadiyah asked. “I thought you liked Sebastian.”
“I do,” Jet said, nodding.
“Then why are you worried?” Fadiyah asked.
Jet didn’t answer for a long moment, looking pensive. “Well, I’m just not sure she’s upgraded here.”
“What does that mean?” Fadiyah asked.
“It means I’m afraid she’s traded one player for another one.”
“What is a player?” Fadiyah asked.
Jet grinned at her, Fadiyah was still trying to adjust to American slang, and Jet constantly forgot to explain herself.
“Kind of what I was, babe,” she said. When Fadiyah still looked mystified Jet said, “Someone who didn’t stay with women for very long.”
“Oh,” Fadiyah said, nodding. “But you love Ashley.”
“I do,” Jet said, nodding. “But she needs someone that’s in love with her and will be what she needs. I’m not sure Sebastian is a long-term relationship kind of guy.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Well, according to Kash, his nickname was Maestro when he was in the Army.”
“Maestro?”
“Yeah, ’cause he played women like they were musical instruments… Used them for sex,” she explained when she realized she’d used another colloquialism.
“Oh…” Fadiyah said, looking shocked, but then shaking her head. “Sebastian is an honorable man, I cannot believe that he would do that kind of thing.”
Jet looked back at Fadiyah for a long minute, then made a sucking sound through her teeth. “Would you believe I did?”
Fadiyah looked back at this woman who she loved so much unable to see her in the way she was describing herself.
“You were a player?” Fadiyah asked, her voice stumbling slightly over the odd term.
Jet chuckled, nodding. “Oh yeah.”
Fadiyah nodded. “Ashely did tell me that you did not get serious about women.”
Jet nodded. “She was right.”
“But you are serious about me?” Fadiyah said, suddenly realizing that she might be wrong about that.
Jet leaned forward, seeing the doubt in Fadiyah’s eyes suddenly. She touched Fadiyah’s cheek and leaned in to kiss her deeply. After a few minutes, Jet moved to stand, taking Fadiyah’s hand and leading her inside. Jet made love to her for hours that morning, ensuring her with her body and her lips that she was indeed hers.
Sebastian and Ashley had breakfast at an outdoor café. When their dishes were cleared away they sat talking, while Sebastian lit a cigarette, leaning back in his chair. He was dressed in jeans, tennis shoes and a black polo shirt with the LA IMPACT logo on it. It was the most casual Ashley had ever seen him dressed. He was definitely a handsome man, and she noticed the women in the restaurant looking at him.
“So,” Ashley said, picking up her coffee and taking a sip. “Are you ever going to tell me about your childhood?”
Sebastian grinned, moving to sit forward, putting his elbows on the table and turning his head to look at her.
“You really want to know about it?” Sebastian asked her, his gray-green eyes mild.
“Yes,” Ashley said, her smile warm.
Sebastian nodded, his look resigned. “Well, I told you, my dad was abusive… He’d hit whoever got in his way when he was drinking and sometimes when he wasn’t. When I was eleven I started being the one to get in his way,” he said, shrugging, even as Ashley grimaced. “When I was about fourteen I got a job and starting saving money. I figured I could get my mom and my sister away from him. I saved the money in a big jar under my bed. By the time I was seventeen I had a lot of money shoved in that jar…” He paused to take a sip of his coffee and light another cigarette, his look far away. “One day I came home, and there was my jar, sitting on the coffee table and my dad was sitting behind it.”
“Oh God…” Ashley said, her look pained.
Sebastian’s eyes looked over at her, he smiled softly at her sympathy.
“He said ‘so look what I found in my house.’ I told him it was mine, and he said that nothing in his house belonged to me.” He shook his head then, his lips pressed together for a moment. “I lost it and ran into the kitchen and grabbed a knife and threatened to slit his throat with it if he didn’t give me the money back.”
/>
“Oh Sebastian…” Ashley said in a scared whisper.
Sebastian blew his breath out in a short laugh. “Well he called the cops on me, saying that I was trying to steal his money, his ‘life savings’ was how he put it. They arrested me for armed robbery.”
“Oh my God!” Ashley exclaimed. “Couldn’t you explain?”
Sebastian grinned. “Like they were going to believe me? I had no proof, Ash. I did get lucky though, one of the arresting officers knew about my dad, and knew our situation. He suggested that I go into the military, hell, he drove me to the recruiter’s office himself.”
“That’s when you joined the Army?”
“Yep,” he said, nodding. “And not too long after boot camp, I was able to move my mom and my sister into military housing with me.”
Ashley nodded, smiling.
“So,” he said then, leaning back again and looking over at her. “What’s your story?”
Ashley smiled self-consciously then. “It’s nothing like yours…” she said, her voice trailing off as she shook her head.
“God, I hope not,” Sebastian said, grinning.
“It was your average childhood,” she said.
“You grew up in Washington, right? With Jet?”
“Well, not with Jet, I didn’t meet her until high school.”
“And how did that happen?” Sebastian asked.
Ashely looked wistful. “I guess you could say she was my rescuer.”
“How so?” he asked.
“Well, she was extremely popular in school,” she said. “I mean, everyone knew who she was and everyone wanted to be her friend.”
“That sounds about right,” Sebastian said, his look wry.
Ashley smiled, nodding. “Yeah, she hasn’t changed a lot in that respect.”
“So you were one of her friends,” Sebastian said.
“Well, sort of,” Ashley said, looking pensive.
“What does that mean?” Sebastian asked, sensing an under-current.
“Well, I wasn’t one of the popular people, believe me.”
“Hard to believe,” Sebastian said, shaking his head.
“Oh, if you saw what I looked like back then, you wouldn’t say that,” Ashley told him.
“What did you look like?” he asked, curious now.
“I was fat with stringy brown hair and braces,” Ashley said, smiling.
Sebastian looked shocked. “You didn’t always look like this?” he asked, gesturing to her as a whole.
“Nope,” Ashley said. “This took a lot of hard work.”
Sebastian nodded, appreciatively. “So where did Jet come in?”
“Well, I’m sure you remember that high school kids are mean to anyone that isn’t good looking… Well, maybe you don’t.”
“Why do you say that?” he asked.
“Well, I tend to think that you were always hot, so I doubt you got teased much.”
“Hot, huh?” Sebastian queried, his look amused.
“Very hot,” Ashley said, smiling, her look direct.
“Anyway,” Sebastian said, his look still amused.
“Anyway,” Ashley repeated. “Jet was the one popular person who paid any attention to me. She always said hi to me in the hallways and stuff. Then we went to this horrible camp in our senior year. Jet was amazing, when some stupid girl tripped me the day we got there, it was Jet who helped me up. She then proceeded to pal around with me the entire time. That’s when people started being nicer to me.”
“And you think that was because of Jet?” Sebastian asked.
“I know it was, Sebastian,” Ashley said. “She was like the Pied Piper when it came to friends, and if someone crossed her, they were in Siberia suddenly. That wasn’t something I imagined, it was true. Heck, the only reason I ended up meeting her again was because the reunion committee insisted that if Jet Mathews didn’t come to the fifteen year reunion, there was no point in having one.”
Sebastian looked back at her, shocked by what she was saying. He knew that Jet had a very magnetic personality, he’d liked her the minute he’d met her, but it astounded him that she’d had that much influence as early as high school. It also impressed him that Jet had used her influence obviously for good things, and not to be that mean bitch she could have been so easily.
It jostled against the ire he had with Jet currently. It had bothered him that she’d dismissed Ashley so easily in favor of Fadiyah. Even though he’d been part of the three person team that had gone to Iraq to rescue Fadiyah, he hadn’t really realized at the time that Jet was in love with the girl.
She’d been dating Ashley at the time she’d gotten the okay to go back to Iraq. When Fadiyah had been given the choice of staying in Iran, where they’d taken her to after rescuing her quite literally out of the clutches of ISIS members, or going back to America with Jet, she’d chosen to stay with Jet. Sebastian had known that this would displace Ashley, and he also knew by that time that Jet was already in love with Fadiyah. He’d been upset by the turn of events and had been rather vocal about it to Jet. Not that it had made any difference, but it was also what had made such a tender spot for Ashley for him.
“So, this ex-husband…” Sebastian said, turning the conversation in another direction.
Ashley laughed. “Greg,” she supplied.
“So, what was the deal with Greg?” Sebastian asked.
“Greg was…” Ashley began, looking thoughtful.
“Was… what?” Sebastian asked.
Ashley sighed. “Greg was the first guy to really notice me when I started to work my butt off to look better.”
Sebastian nodded slowly, waiting for her to continue.
She shrugged. “I guess I figured I should grab a good thing while I had the chance.”
“And was it a good thing?” Sebastian asked.
“It was okay,” Ashley said, “and I thought I was happy.”
“But…” Sebastian said.
“But, then I came here and was around Jet.”
Sebastian nodded. “And that changed things?”
“I’d say it clarified things for me,” Ashley said.
“How?” Sebastian asked.
Ashley shook her head, looking thoughtful again. “I guess I really started to see how it felt to have someone treat you like you were really special, you know?”
“Greg didn’t treat you like you were special?” Sebastian asked.
“Greg treated me like an afterthought,” Ashley said.
Sebastian looked perplexed. “He notices you enough to marry you, and then forgets about you?”
Ashley shrugged. “I guess. I mean, I think he kind of figured he’d caught me so he didn’t have to do anything else, you know?”
“Well, that’s just stupid,” Sebastian said, already intensely disliking Greg.
Ashley smiled. “I didn’t realize how different things could feel until I was around Jet.”
Sebastian nodded, forcing the jealousy that he was feeling to stay out of his face.
“She’s just so dynamic, you know?” Ashley said. “And then one day we were talking about the butch thing—”
“The butch thing?” Sebastian queried.
“Yeah, you know how butch lesbians are versus the femme ones.”
Sebastian nodded. “Yeah, okay, I know about that, can’t be best friends with a butch for years and not get that. Go on,” he said.
“Anyway, that’s about the time that Jet made a comment about some men being less masculine than some butches, and that’s when I realized that Jet was way more masculine and gallant than my husband was.”
“Wow,” Sebastian said, his look reflecting his shock and disgust at the same time.
Ashley nodded, understanding his disgust.
“When I went home, I really saw the way Greg was, and I just couldn’t stand it anymore, so I left and came back here.”
“To be with Jet,” Sebastian said.
“No, just to not be with him anymore,” Ashle
y said.
Sebastian nodded, not looking convinced by that.
“I get it,” he said. “I was seeing a woman once whose husband was a bit of a wuss. She ended up leaving him too.”
“For you?” Ashley asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
“Touché,” he said, grinning. “But no, not for me.”
“But I can guarantee you, that she wanted to be with you,” Ashley said.
“What makes you say that?” Sebastian asked, grinning.
“Because I’ve met you,” Ashley said, her tone wry.
Sebastian laughed at that. “I dunno, I’m no picnic.”
“No,” Ashley said, grinning. “Probably more like a carnival.”
That had him throwing back his head laughing out loud. Ashley found his laugh very sexy, she found everything about the man sexy.
He stood and pulled out his wallet dropping a few bills on the check. He then extended his hand to her.
“Ready to go?” he asked.
“Sure,” she said, putting her hand in his and she stood.
She noticed all the envious looks she got from women as they walked through the restaurant to go outside. It felt good to be the woman at Sebastian Bach’s side, at least for the moment.
They spent a nice day wandering around a flea market. He had a very warm open way about him that Ashley found very appealing. People responded to him, much like people did Jet, he was very magnetic. Ashley knew that she was likely a fool to be so interested in yet another person that wasn’t big on commitment, but she couldn’t help but to be drawn to the man.
At the end of the day he drove back to Jet’s, once again getting out of the vehicle to open her door and help her down. Ashley put her arms around his neck and kissed him as he lowered her to the ground. His arms wrapped around her immediately as he kissed her back. Once again Ashley felt her body respond to him instantly. He walked her to the door, kissing her softly once more and then left. Ashley was fairly certain she was going to explode soon if he didn’t make a move. She watched as he drove away, thinking she was going to need to be a little more aggressive if she was ever going to get this man to do more than kiss her.
Water under the Bridge Page 5