Aleste was finishing off a class by the time I got there. “Last class is in two hours, so you can’t use the studio until then.”
“That’s fine,” I told her. “I don’t have anywhere to be, so I could help out?”
She smiled, that big proud kind of smile. “Okay. It’s a deal.”
She ushered a group of girls into the studio whose moms were waiting as they did their lesson, and I followed the kids in. I remembered taking this exact class when I was their age, but there hadn’t been half the kids in it that there was now. Dancing had become so much more over the last decade, and it made me thankful but also envious because it meant there were more people out there trying to make a living off of dancing—more competition.
I got changed into my leotard in the back and came into the studio to warm up a little, and by the time I was ready, the next class was coming in. This time I helped the kids to get the right lines, and I found myself losing sense of time. Dance always had a way of making me do that. I left all the shit at the door, all the thoughts and bad memories. While I was inside these four walls, all that existed was movement and freedom.
“You did good today,” Aleste said, standing in the middle of the dance floor as all the students filed out into the main reception part of the studio. “You have a gift of showing the kids how to do it right.”
“I enjoyed it,” I told her, and it was the truth. I’d needed the distraction, but it had been fun.
“Are you going to help out on weekends like we’d discussed?”
“Yeah.” I was supposed to start last weekend, but I hadn’t wanted to possibly expose what had happened to me. Part of me wondered if Aleste had already found out. I’d asked Asher to keep my secret, but he hadn’t been the only one to witness it. There had been other people there.
“Good.” She patted me on the arm. “I need to head home, so can you lock up after you’ve finished practicing?”
It wasn’t the first time she’d asked me to lock up, and I always triple-checked the doors when I was given the responsibility. “Sure.”
“I’ll leave the keys on the desk in my office.”
She smiled one last time, then twirled around and walked out of the studio. I waited until she’d left and then went to the doors and made sure they were locked. I didn’t want anyone to be able to wander inside, so as soon as I knew I was safe, I relaxed and went back into the studio.
I put my song on repeat, and moved my arms into my starting position, and then I was away. My muscles rejoiced as I hit each line, and I bled out onto the dance floor. I let myself be truly me as the beats thrummed through the system and became part of my heartbeat. I breathed each move, lived each step. I became the dance, and the dance became me.
Over and over, I repeated it. The sky darkened, and I didn’t stop, not until my leotard was covered in sweat, and my body was so spent I felt like I could barely walk. I’d gone too far, practiced too hard, but it was worth it. It was worth the feeling of euphoria it gave me, even though I knew as soon as I exited the studio, everything would hit me heavier than it had before, but for now, I was as light as a feather and had a smile on my face.
I stared at myself in the mirror and took in the shadows of bruising where the makeup I’d worn had sweated off. The purple and green were now turning brown, and it wouldn’t be long before they’d be gone altogether, but I’d never forget. I’d never forget the way Knox made me feel, but more than that, I’d always remember how liberated I was to finally say no.
Taking one last breath, I then turned away from my reflection and headed toward the bathroom. There was only a sink and toilet in here, but it would be enough to clean myself up, and I could even get changed into some comfy clothes and use the bathroom early in the morning before school and before Aleste would get here. It would mean I had to sleep near here, but as I finished up and headed out, I remembered the alley toward the back of the rows of stores on the other side.
It was nearly midnight by the time I was back in my car, and not one shop on the street was open. It was deserted, and although it should have made me feel unsafe, it didn’t. No one would see me. No one would know I’d slept in my car for the last couple of nights. It was another secret to add to the pile of secrets.
I headed toward the alley and found a spot where I couldn’t be seen from the road, then turned the engine off. I made myself a makeshift sandwich with two slices of bread and a packet of chips. It was enough to satisfy the immediate hunger, but I’d have to have something more than a snack for breakfast like I usually did.
I pushed my seat right back, grabbed my blanket, and pulled it over me, settling down for hopefully at least five hours' sleep. It wasn’t really enough, but it was a more realistic amount. I never really slept properly anyway, not when I needed to be on guard constantly.
My mind was blank as I started to drift off, and just as I was about to dip over the hill of sleep land, knocking blasted out from the window beside me. I screamed so loud I nearly burst my own eardrums. My eyes flung open and I grabbed the nearest thing to me to use as a weapon. The knocking stopped, and I turned to look out of my window, not able to make out the huge figure, but when the words, “What the fuck are you doing?” rang out, I knew exactly who it was.
My hammering heart sped up for a different reason. I wasn’t scared anymore, well, not in the traditional sense anyway. Slowly I reached for my door handle, flicked the lock, and opened it up.
“Erm…hi, Asher.” If it wasn’t so dark, he probably could have seen the redness taking over my entire face, but thanks to my broken interior light, he couldn’t. I was embarrassed, and not only because of the car I now called home, but because Asher was standing a couple of feet away from me.
“What are you doing, Elodie?” he asked again, but this time his voice was softer, his tone more concerned, and I wasn’t sure I liked it.
“Just…chilling out?” I sounded unsure, I knew that, but I didn’t know how I could get out of what was clear to his and everyone else’s eyes.
I heard his long low breath as he lifted his hand and scrubbed it over his face. I still couldn’t see him clearly because of the darkness, not until he crouched down next to me. “You’re not chilling out,” he murmured, his stare meeting mine. His eyes swirled like they always did, but this time I could tell it was concern flashing behind them. I was starting to figure his looks out, and I kind of loved how I could decipher what he was feeling and thinking.
“I watched you come out of the studio and followed you back here.” His gaze flicked to the back of my car and he lifted his cell, clicked on the flashlight, and shined it inside. “You’re sleeping in your car.” He turned back to me. “What the fuck, Elodie?”
“I…” I wasn’t sure what to say, so instead, I kept my mouth shut. I could have lied to his face and denied it, but he wouldn’t have believed it.
He stood and demanded, “Get your shit. You’re coming with me.”
My head reeled back. “What?” I choked out, sure I’d heard him wrong.
He took a step closer to me and slowly demanded, “Get your shit.” His gaze connected with mine. “You’re coming with me.”
I snorted. “No, I’m not.”
“Yeah, you are.”
“I’m not.”
“Jesus fuckin’ Christ.” He crouched down again, this time closer. So close, I could reach out and touch him. The wind whipped around him and caused his aftershave to waft closer to me, and I inhaled a deep breath. I’d never smelled anyone like him before, and I couldn’t get enough of it. “Listen.” He waited until my gaze moved back to him. “I’m not leaving you here to sleep in your car. It’s as simple as that.”
I frowned and leaned back in my seat. “Why not?” I didn’t give him the chance to answer as I continued, “I don’t need someone to look after me. I can do it all on my own.”
“Never said you did,” he murmured, but he didn’t look away. He was standing his ground, but I was stubborn too.
&nbs
p; “I don’t even know you!” I shouted, throwing my hands up in the air. I was agitated, but I didn’t know if it was because I was fed up with being told what to do, or if it was because it was Asher who had caught me. Why was it he always seemed to be there when one of my secrets was being revealed? He knew things about me I didn’t want anyone to know, and yet, he was still here telling me he wasn’t going to leave me to sleep out here alone.
“Really?” His brow rose. “I think at this point, I’m the only person who knows you.” I opened my mouth to respond, but he didn’t let me. “Who knows about your job? Your ex-boyfriend? Your druggie mom? How about that you’re sleeping in your car? Huh?”
My shoulders drooped the longer he talked. When he put it all together like that, it made me seem…I didn’t know. I didn’t like it. But it was who I was. There was no changing it, and I was done being ashamed. I was done letting everyone’s opinions dictate what I wanted to be.
“I’m still not going with you.” I crossed my arms over my chest as if it would make a difference.
Silence stretched between us. We were at a stalemate, neither of us willing to give in. And then Asher stood. My stomach dipped, and I wanted to reach out and tell him not to go. Outwardly I was demanding I stay, but inwardly I didn’t want him to leave.
“Okay,” he whispered, and slowly, he closed my door.
I stared with a pit in my stomach as his shadow slowly backed away, and tears sprung to my eyes. I’d been offered help. I could have slept in a nice warm bed, but instead, I’d tried to be dignified, and now he was walking away from me, just like everyone else did.
Chapter Twelve
ASHER
She thought I didn’t see the sadness in her eyes.
She thought I couldn’t see the pain shadowing in each part of her face.
She was wrong.
I saw her, whether she wanted to admit it or not. And the moment I realized she was sleeping in her car, I knew I couldn’t walk away or back down. I’d let her slip through my fingers so many times, and I was done letting her go and hoping she’d come back to me. She wouldn’t reach out for help, no matter how much she needed it, so if it meant I had to force it on her, then so be it.
I slowly backed away but didn’t take my gaze off her face. Her reaction to me walking away was clear as day, and whether she wanted to admit it or not, she didn’t like it.
But she was wrong. I wasn’t walking away from her. I couldn’t even if I tried. I moved around the back of her car and around to the passenger side, then opened up the door and slid inside. I made myself comfortable, pushing down in the seat and crossing my arms over my chest, and all the while I could feel her gaze burning on me.
“What are you doing?” she whispered, her voice hoarse.
I turned my head on the headrest so I was facing her, and shrugged. “You won’t come with me, so I’ll sleep here with you.”
“Don’t be stupid,” she flung back at me. “You can’t sleep in my car—”
“But you can?” I asked. “It’s okay for you to sleep here but not me?”
“I…” She blew out a breath and groaned. “Why are you doing this?”
Tilting my head to the side, I stared at her intently, not willing to let her gaze go. “Doing what?”
“This.” She waved her arm in the air, signaling me in her car. “I don’t want your help.”
“Doesn’t mean you don’t need it.” I left that hanging in the air, and when she didn’t respond, I lowered my voice and told her, “Look, I get not wanting help. Trust me, I get it. But sometimes, you have to take it. Sometimes…” She turned away, so I reached my hand out and captured her chin with my thumb and forefinger. “Sometimes, Elodie, you can take the help you’re offered.”
“I hate it,” she croaked out. “I hate the situation I’m in.”
“Then let me help get you out of it.” I swallowed and moved my hand to the side of her face, feeling her soft skin against my palm. “I’m not asking for anything in return, sweetheart. I promise.”
Her hand moved to my arm and she grasped my wrist. I wasn’t sure whether she was pulling me away from her again, but when she gripped harder and a tear fell from her eye, I knew I’d gotten through to her.
“Okay,” she whispered. “I’ll let you help me.” Her eyes closed as she paused. “But only for tonight.”
I didn’t like it, not one bit, but I’d take it. One night was better than nothing, and besides, there was no way I was going to let that be it. I had to have a plan in place, and already my mind was swirling. But first, I needed to get her out of this damn car in this alley.
“Let’s go, then,” I said, not giving her the chance to back out as I opened up the passenger door and got out of her car. I waited for her as she gathered up some of her things from the back. “I’ll carry it,” I told her, already taking the bag out of her hands. I didn’t wait for her as I started to walk out of the back alley behind the stores and toward the main street.
“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” she said from behind me, and I turned to her. Now we were on the main street, the lights flashed on her face and I could see the errant bruising from last week. I desperately wanted to ask her how she was doing, but I knew it would be too much right now. We were in unchartered territory, and I didn’t want to do anything to scare her away.
“Doing what?” I asked, waiting for her to get to my side. Once she was, I started walking toward my truck, which was parked ways down from my shop.
“Coming with you.”
I grinned. “What can I say? I’m stubborn.” She snorted in response but didn’t reply, not that I expected her to. I could feel the nerves coming off her in waves as I unlocked my truck and held the passenger door open for her. I was ready to give her a boost up, but she managed okay.
After handing Elodie her backpack, I sauntered around the front of the truck and got in next to her. The engine roared to life, and I turned to face her one last time, and asked, “You ready?”
She blew out a breath, nodded in reply, and that was all I needed to pull out on the road. I didn’t think twice about taking her back to my place. I could sleep on the sofa and she could sleep in my bed, and as she said, it was only for one night anyway. It was all above board, no matter how much I wanted to hold her in my arms and promise her she didn’t have to keep hiding. She was right, we didn’t really know each other, not in the grand scheme of things, but there was something drawing us together, and neither of us could deny that. Call it fate. Call it destiny. Call it whatever you wanted to. But we were meant to be in each other’s lives.
It didn’t take me long to drive to my house, and as I pulled into my driveway, I could see how nervous she was. Her hands clutched in her lap, her chest moving up and down at a fast pace. “Message someone and tell them you’re here.”
Her head spun around so fast I winced. “What? Why?”
I shrugged, acting easy, when I was anything but. “You look nervous. I figured if someone knew where you were, you’d be more at ease.”
“Oh.” She blinked several times. “I…okay then.” She pulled her cell out, tapped at the screen, and then took a big breath. “I’m ready.”
I nodded, not needing to say anything as I pushed out of my truck and walked around to her side. She was already halfway out by the time I got to her, and I took her backpack once again, then led her to my front door.
“You can sleep in my bed,” I murmured as we entered the house and locked the door behind us. I switched on all of the lights and headed right for the stairs. It was nearly 1 a.m., so I had no doubt she’d be tired. I knew I was.
“What? Where will you sleep?”
“On the sofa.” I walked down the hallway and past two doors on the right and one on the left. They led to two empty bedrooms and a bathroom, but it was the door at the end of the hallway which opened into the master bedroom and en suite. I pushed the door open and stepped inside, waving my arm for Elodie to come in with me.
“I…I can’t do this,” she whispered. Her voice was broken and hoarse, and I wondered if it was me. Was she scared to stay the night in a house with me alone? Had I made the right decision bringing her back here? Maybe I should have taken her to a motel for the night and—
“I’ve never slept in a bed this big.”
I chuckled, trying to get rid of some of the tension building up in my body. “Yeah, I was used to sleeping on a single cot when I was in the Marines.” I turned to face her and smiled gently. “Took some getting used to sleeping in a bed again.” I shrugged, deciding to be honest with her. I knew so much about her and yet, she knew barely anything about me. The scales weren’t level, and I needed to make her feel more comfortable. “Sometimes I still sleep on the floor because the bed is too much.”
“You do?” she asked, her eyes widening. “Does that not hurt your back?”
“Nah, I’m used to it.” I placed her bag on the bottom of my bed. “Sometimes it helps, especially after a long session tattooing.”
“Right.” She bit down on her bottom lip and stepped forward slowly. “I…erm…” She shook her head and blew out a breath. “Thanks for this, Asher. I really appreciate it.”
“Anytime, sweetheart.” I didn’t move a single muscle as I stared at her—really stared at her—and for the first time ever, I let my wall slide down a little. I let her see the part of me which I kept locked away. I wasn’t sure whether I was doing it to make her at ease, or because I wanted her to see it. But either way, I knew she appreciated it when her own eyes flared to life. She’d seen it, and now I had to walk out of the room, because I was afraid if I didn’t, I never would.
“See you in the morning,” I croaked out, and practically ran out of my own bedroom and down the stairs. I paced the downstairs hallway as I listened to her move about in the room, and finally after fifteen minutes, it went completely silent.
Elodie was in my house. She was sleeping in my bed. And it was because she’d been sleeping in her car. Fuck. What the hell was I going to do? There was no way I’d let her walk out of here tomorrow morning to go back to her car, knowing she didn’t have a safe place to sleep.
Burned Duet: Asher & Elodie: Fast Burn & Deep Burn (Easton Family Duet Boxsets Book 4) Page 16