Candy Canes: A Dirty Box Set

by Angela Blake

  Brandon was rubbing his eyes. He had just woken up to see Katy’s retreating back. Ashlyn started pulling on her clothes, searching messily through her suitcase as she tried to find something that wasn’t covered in glass or blood. Ashlyn pulled a shirt over her head and pulled her hair through the collar. She turned around and saw Brandon smiling lazily at her, his naked body still laid out on display.

  “Why are you in such a rush?” he asked.

  Ashlyn paused and studied him for a moment. Then she reached for a brush and began brushing through her hair. “Well, I know you were kind of sleeping through it, but Katy just walked through the door and saw us. . .together.”

  Brandon looked toward the door and grimaced. “Yeah, I kind of wish she hadn’t, but she’s already come in now. If she comes back, then we really know what the problem is.”

  Ashlyn tried to push down her smile so that she could show Brandon how inappropriate his comment was.

  “Come here,” Brandon said, holding his arms out toward Ashlyn. Ashlyn swallowed hard, because her little nap had been enough to give her more energy. She wouldn’t mind going for round two with Brandon and feeling all of those sensations he had given her earlier.

  “I can’t,” Ashlyn said. “Get up. Get dressed. Katy or Pamela might need something, and it’s not fair to say they can’t come in their own room.”

  Brandon sighed and let his arms fall onto the bed. “Okay, I’m up.” Brandon began shuffling around the room. He still didn’t trust his shirt, so he dressed in his underwear and shorts only. “Do you have a plastic bag or something? I just want to wrap the shirt up until I can wash it.”

  “I’m sure there are plastic bags in the kitchen,” Ashlyn replied. She carefully handed the shirt to Brandon. “I’ll be out soon.” Brandon slipped on his flipflops and shuffled out of the room. Ashlyn took a minute to compose herself. Part of her wanted to rush after Katy and tell her to keep her big old mouth shut. The other part of Ashlyn just wanted to shrug it off. It didn’t matter if people knew. They could think whatever they wanted to think of her as long as it didn’t affect what kind of review Gary gave of her.

  Ashlyn stepped out of her room, thinking she was ready to face whatever might hit her.

  Chapter Seven

  Ashlyn paused as soon as she stepped out of her room. She could see a few of the guys working together to clean up the glass from the broken door. Ashlyn noticed Katy sitting on one of the bar stools in the kitchen, talking up a storm with the girls cooking. Curious, Ashlyn hurried over to see what was happening.

  She squeezed into the chair next to Katy.

  “Hey, Katy,” Ashlyn said.

  Katy nodded at Ashlyn, and Ashlyn tried to see what the girls had been talking about. The other girls moved away, and Ashlyn looked around. They were as alone as they might get in the next few hours. She took her opportunity.

  “What you saw, I’d appreciate it if you just kept it a secret, between us. I don’t think it would be a good idea for everyone to know.”

  “By everyone, I know you mean Mark. It’s okay. I would never tell him.”

  Ashlyn smiled, but Katy’s answer didn’t quite make her feel better. “I don’t only mean Mark. I mean just anyone you might happen to want to tell. Sometimes things happen that should just be kept between a few people.”

  Katy rolled her eyes. “I’m not a kid, Ashlyn. I don’t need you telling me not to tell that kind of thing.”

  Ashlyn set her mouth in a grim line and looked over to where Brandon had begun helping the others clean up the mess. He looked completely involved in what he was doing. “I didn’t mean it that way,” Ashlyn tried to explain. “I just, you know, we’ve gotten to know each other pretty well over the last few weeks, but there are still a few things we don’t know about each other.”

  “You mean like if we’re big mouths or not. What do you think I’m going to do? Stand up on the counter and shout ‘hey! Everybody! Ashlyn and Brandon. . .’”

  Ashlyn put a hand on Katy’s shoulder before she could finish imitating what she was going to say. “Yeah, nothing like that,” she pretended to joke around. But really her stomach felt sick. It wasn’t like she had done anything wrong. She was an adult. She could decide who she wanted to sleep with or not, but Katy had a way of putting things that didn’t always make them seem like a smart decision.

  Ashlyn hopped off the bar stool and got herself a cup of water. Maybe the water would help settle her stomach. She took a few sips and felt a hand on her smile. She turned, a smile already making its way out as she expected to see Brandon over her shoulder. Except, it wasn’t Brandon. Mark was standing there, and he didn’t look too happy.

  Ashlyn didn’t know what his problem was, but she didn’t want to find out either. She pointed to the cabinet that had the cups. “Did you want some water? I don’t mind getting the cup for you.”

  Mark shook his head. “No, I don’t want water.” He shook his head again and crossed his arms. “What are you going to do? Tell everyone that Brandon raped you? Or are you waiting until it’s been a day or two before you make the big announcement?”

  “What?” I looked at Mark like he was crazy. “What are you talking about?”

  “I thought that was a habit of yours,” Mark said, his voice pointed. “You know, you lure the guy in, sleep with him, then tell everyone he took advantage of you later on. No? Well, maybe that was just something extra special you did for me, then.”

  Ashlyn looked around as she tried to diffuse the situation. All the busybodies were pretending to mind their own business, but Ashlyn could see Brandon looking right at her. Mark’s voice was loud enough to carry across the room, and Mark certainly wasn’t trying to have a private conversation or keep Ashlyn’s most embarrassing moments a secret either.

  “Mark, you know that’s not what happened. Do you want to talk about it?” Ashlyn reached for Mark’s arm, but Mark jerked away.

  “If you have something to say, then you can say it right here,” Mark demanded.

  “I thought you were my friend. That’s what I have to say.” Ashlyn felt embarrasses. She couldn’t believe that Mark was trying to hurt her. “It’s like every day, you prove more and more why I think the way I do. If you were truly my friend, you wouldn’t do this to me.”

  “Funny,” Mark said without laughing, “I said the same thing to myself when you started throwing around your accusations.”

  Ashlyn could feel the tears building up in her eyes. “But that was different,” she tried to reason. Mark was only shaking his head.

  “Sure, it was different. Because it was you. When you do something, then it’s always the right decision. But if someone else makes that same decision, then it’s wrong. Just learn to grow up, Ashlyn, and recognize yourself for who you really are.”

  “Oh yeah,” Ashlyn challenged. “Who am I really then?”

  Mark shook his head. “You don’t want me to tell you. I just want you to think about everything I did for you and the friendship we had then the way you decided to destroy it when it didn’t suit you anymore.”

  Ashlyn felt like his accusations were unfair, and she wasn’t going to stand there and take them anymore. She turned on her heel and pushed her way past the few people in the kitchen. She had to get out of there, and the broken glass door was right in front of her. She crunched through the broken glass and out into the fresh air.

  It was late, and the beach was dark. It didn’t matter to Ashlyn. She finally was far enough away from Mark’s voice that she could think.

  Chapter Eight

  Only a small strip of sand was visible next to the ocean, which stretched wider than it had been that morning. Ashlyn began walking along the edge of the beach. With the moon covered, though, she couldn’t see well. She finally found a place along the edge, and she sat down, ignoring the feeling of her shorts dampening from the sand.

  “Why did Mark even know what happened? Katy said she didn’t tell him, but she
probably told another big mouth who told him.” Ashlyn gave a growl, like an animal that didn’t know how to deal with the challenge presented it.

  “It’s like everyone on this set is out to ruin me.” Ashlyn considered her sentence for a few minutes and recanted it. That wasn’t true. Pamela was her friend, at least. Most of the others were neutral toward her. Maybe everyone wasn’t trying to ruin her. Maybe it was just Mark.

  Ashlyn waited and waited. Part of her hoped that Brandon would come after her. She wanted him to comfort her and ask her what had gone wrong. But the longer she waited, the more tired she felt. It was time to stop waiting. She wanted Brandon, and she was willing to make a sacrifice to be with him. The least she could do would be to start the conversation and see if he would carry it on.

  Ashlyn walked back to the beach house and found Brandon sitting on the back porch. She smiled when she saw his form, and she knew it was him even though the light didn’t show him well.

  “I was hoping you hadn’t been carried away by the ocean,” Brandon said.

  “I’m here,” Ashlyn announced, “alive.”

  “That’s the first step to a happy life you know,” Brandon replied. He stood up and offered the seat to Ashlyn. She refused it, not wanting to sit while he stood. They finally ended up sitting on the edge of the tall deck.

  “The storm did a lot of damage,” Brandon said, pointing out a fence that went floating by.

  “It’s not nearly as bad as some storms that I’ve seen on the news.”

  “Did you see the roof? Whoever is sleeping on the top floor has their bed filled with water.”

  Ashlyn smiled. This talk was diverting her from her mission. She needed to explain what Brandon had heard. “Let me tell you about Mark,” Ashlyn said.

  “Yeah, he sounds like a fun one to have around,” Brandon replied.

  Ashlyn nodded and swallowed. She looked at Brandon out of the side of her eyes. What was she being shy about? She had just made love to this man this afternoon! Ashlyn picked up Brandon’s hand and placed it in her lap, playing with his fingers.

  “The thing is that back when we were staying in the mountains, Mark and I kind of became friends. I actually, well, I trusted him. He seemed really considerate and gentlemanly, the opposite of everything that he seems now. And, we had this party. I got super drunk at the party. I have never gotten that drunk before, and something happened. I have a pretty good guess what. The thing that was never clear between us was whether or not I consented to what happened.” Ashlyn bit her lower lip, feeling those pesky tears rising again.

  “So, after that, it made things pretty awkward between us. Because I only saw him as a friend. I never thought him super attractive or anything. I know that people do stupid things when they’re drunk, but I just don’t think I would have agreed to having Mark and me, well. . .do anything serious.”

  “So now, Mark doesn’t get why you have moved on when he clearly hasn’t,” Brandon summarized.

  “Yup, and apparently, Katy has a big mouth. Why else would he have decided at that moment to attack me?”

  “We all make stupid decisions,” Brandon summarized. “Look, I wasn’t there. I didn’t see you two before that happened, but let me just tell you this. Don’t blame him or make him into the bad guy just to make yourself better. Take responsibility as well.”

  Ashlyn hadn’t expected Brandon to stick up for Mark. Then she realized that Brandon wasn’t sticking up for Mark so much as teaching Ashlyn how to deal with life. Ashlyn nodded and kept quiet. She didn’t know how to transition from. “Sorry about my crazy ex-boyfriend” to “I want to stay with you.”

  Brandon made the transition for her. “When are you leaving?”

  “Are you ready for me to go already?” Ashlyn teased. “You sleep with me, and then you’re done?”

  Brandon smiled and shook his head. “Oh, I am not done with you, baby.”

  Ashlyn leaned forward, and the two shared a quick kiss. She realized that now was the time to explain. “Brandon, I think that I’m going to stay behind when my crew goes. I want to stay with you.”

  Brandon was silent. He squeezed Ashlyn’s hand gently and waited for her to look at him.

  “Are you sure that’s what you want to do?”

  Ashlyn nodded. “I love filming, and I will find some way to do it here. I haven’t figured it out exactly, but I know there will be a way. But I just realized, before today even, that what we have together is unique. I can’t just come across a guy like you everywhere I go, even though I have searched, diligently.”

  Brandon leaned forward and gave Ashlyn a long kiss. They kissed and kissed. Ashlyn was contented to let the desire build up in her as she tasted his lips again and again. “I’m so glad that you said something,” Brandon finally spoke as he stared off at the angry ocean. “I didn’t want to say anything. I thought that if I said something you might feel obligated to stay just for me, even if you didn’t want to. I mean, we can do long distance.”

  “Are you trying to get rid of me?” Ashlyn smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “No, I’m not doing long distance. I want to be with you and enjoy every day of your crazy life. I don’t have a lot of money saved up, but I’ll find something to do around here, at least while you’re here.”

  “Ashlyn,” Brandon was shaking his head, and Ashlyn wasn’t sure if he was refusing her or what. “You are one crazy woman. Imagine, if you hadn’t hurried out into the sea to save a man you thought was drowning, we might never have met.”

  “I’d rather not imagine that,” Ashlyn responded. “I prefer to imagine the future, with us together.”

  “With us together,” Brandon echoed. He smiled at Ashlyn and lifted one of his eyebrows. “I’m imagining what it will be like to take you back to my place when you’re finally done filming here.”

  Ashlyn giggled and kissed Brandon again. This was what Ashlyn had always wanted for her future, the carefree, open love that she had with Brandon.

  THE END

  Blissful Billionaire - Sample

  Chapter One

  Selena looked at herself one more time in the mirror. She wasn’t particularly happy with her white mini skirt. It just made her feel so exposed but she liked how it showed off her long legs. It also paired well with the large looped earrings May bought for her birthday. The only problem was that her skin was already quite pale and her crimson hair seemed to blend in with what she wore.

  “This isn’t going to work,” she told herself and went back to her closet. In the end she traded her clothes for a black laced mini skirt and a backless black sleeveless top. All the black further accented her red lipstick, pale skin and red hair. She never really liked wearing black but this was better than looking like a pastel painting.

  Her phone buzzed and she checked to find several messages from her friends. They were already at the party. She didn’t bother replying as she left, grabbing her purse and car keys on the way out of her apartment.

  Getting from her place to the venue took longer than she expected. It was a private party, in some rich guy’s house, but her friends knew a guy that knew the guy so they were able to get invitations. She didn’t really care. All she wanted was a chance to drink, dance and forget about work for a while.

  As she drove, Selena tried to clear her thoughts. She had been working as an interior designer for the past six years but the company recently got into financial issues and she was one of the many that were laid off. She needed a job, any job.

  To drown out her thoughts she played a few songs as loudly as she could, trying to pass the time in traffic as peacefully as possible. It was after a while that she realized she had been playing songs from Roxette, Bruce Springsteen and White Snake and it made her feel old.

  “Good luck getting a job,” she told herself as she took a left turn. “I’m probably older than my boss.”

  In truth she was only twenty-seven but companies these days were constantly looking for the
impossible. Often she’d find an advertisement looking to hire a single female, with no children, aged twenty-one to twenty-three. Somehow they also expected to hire someone with at least a year or two of experience. With each hiring post she found she discovered they were looking for someone young and single.

  “What’s with these requirements,” she once asked. “Are they hiring a designer or a model they can seduce and fuck?”

  Just a few minutes after sorting her thoughts she took the last turn and found herself in a very fancy neighborhood. All the houses on this street were big enough to swallow her entire apartment building and more. Just a few more houses down and she found a corner with a lot of cars parked in front of what she could only describe as a genuine mansion.

  It took her a while to park her car but when she did she found her friends, Ayesha and May, were already outside waiting for her.

  “Took you forever,” Ayesha said as she took Selena by the hand.

  “Sorry, I couldn’t find something to wear,” Selena answered.

  May rolled her eyes at that and said, “You couldn’t find something to wear that wasn’t black but still pretty to look at.”

  The girls giggled and Selena acknowledged May was right.

  “So what’s going on,” she then asked.

  Ayesha led them through the front garden, where there were already a lot of people drinking and chatting away, “Well, we saw Gilbert flirting with Mylene. They were over in the basement playing beer pong with a few people.”

  “Gilbert’s such a man-whore,” Selena responded as she waved at a few familiar faces on their way into the house. “Can’t believe I actually dated that idiot.”

  “I can’t believe you slept with him,” May stated. “He’s probably got more diseases that a flea bag hooker.”

  Selena’s jaw dropped and she nudged May with her elbow, “Fuck you.”

  “You know it’s true, though,” May told her. She then opened the front door and they walked into a large reception area where couches had been moved in and a lot of people were randomly talking, standing, dancing and drinking. They quickly identified a few people they knew – the party constants such as themselves.