Burned Duet: Asher & Elodie: Fast Burn & Deep Burn (Easton Family Duet Boxsets Book 4)

by Abigail Davies

  “Didn’t think you’d get here so fast.” I stood and wiped my hands on the front of my jeans. I’d messaged Belle this morning after dropping Elodie at school and tried to give her a small amount of information, while also asking for anything she could donate like bed sheets or throw cushions—she always had a mountain of throw cushions lying around.

  “Well, when your brother gives you half of a story, you make it here super fast to hear the rest of it.” She placed several bags by the front door and raised her brow. “Now”—she planted her hands on her hips, looking every bit like our mom—“want to tell me what the hell is going on?”

  I pushed my hand through my hair, not sure where to start. I couldn’t tell Belle everything because Elodie still had secrets, but I at least had to tell her something.

  “Okay, so you know Leo’s friend, Elodie?”

  She narrowed her eyes at me. “I do.”

  “Well, erm…” I blew out a breath as I tried to piece it together in my head. “She works for Jax. I’ve spoken to her a few times. And she does dance lessons across the street too.”

  “You’re stalling,” Belle sang with a smile on her face. It was no secret she enjoyed watching me squirm.

  “I’m not.” I glanced around the small apartment. I’d tried to do the best I could with cleaning it, but it was now an empty space. The main door opened right into the living room, which also had an open-plan small kitchen attached, and off this room was one bedroom and an en suite. It was tiny, but it was enough for Elodie.

  “So basically, she’s had some things going on, and her mom is addicted to drugs, and they got kicked out, and her mom left her to fend for herself, and I found her sleeping in her car last night, and—”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Belle held up her hands. “Slow down there, lil bro.” She slowly dropped her hands as she took a breath loudly. “Start from the beginning.”

  I scrubbed my hand down my face. “Elodie got kicked out of the trailer where she lived with her mom.” I paused, waiting for that to sink in, then opened my mouth, but she beat me to it.

  “And her mom is addicted to drugs?”

  “Yeah. And last night I found her sleeping in her car in the back alley—”

  “Holy shit.” Belle stepped forward. “Why is she sleeping in her car?”

  “Did you not listen to what I said?” I huffed out a frustrated breath. “Her mom got kicked out—”

  “And didn’t take Elodie with her?”

  “Exactly.” I shuffled my feet on the floor and swallowed. When I said it out loud, I realized how bad it sounded. “So, I took her back to my place and—”

  “You took her back to your place?” Her eyes were as wide as saucers. “What the hell are you thinking, Asher? She’s a high school student.” She held her hands up in the air as if she was fending me off. “Please don’t tell me you’ve done anything with her.”

  I glanced to the left, not willing to answer that. I couldn’t honestly tell her I hadn’t done anything, because I had. I’d kissed her. It may have been before I knew who Elodie was, but that didn’t mean I hadn’t thought about it since.

  “Oh god,” Belle groaned out.

  “What?” I asked, pushing my shoulders back. “You have no right to talk. There’s twenty years difference between you and Ford—”

  “I know, I know.” Belle blew out another breath, and I wondered if she realized how loud she was breathing, or maybe she needed to do it to take it all in. “Are you like, together together?”

  “What?” My head reeled back, and I choked on a laugh. “No, we’re not together. Jesus, Belle. I’m just tryin’ to help her out.”

  “Just checkin’,” she whispered, but she didn’t take her gaze off of me. She was trying to search for what I wasn’t saying, trying to work out the secrets I held, but she’d never find them. I was a pro at locking them away so no one could see them, and this time, I was holding on to someone else’s secrets too, so I was holding them even tighter.

  “I’m making sure she has somewhere safe to stay, that’s all.” It was the truth. I didn’t have a motive behind it, no matter how much I’d wanted to slam my lips down onto hers this morning. I hadn’t been able to stop myself from staring at her behind as Jax had left. The way her jeans clung to her enticed me in a way I couldn’t explain. And she had been too. I’d seen it crystal clear. But I wouldn’t take advantage of her, not when she was in the situation she was in. She had major baggage, but so did I.

  “Okay,” Belle murmured. “And she’s Leo’s friend too, so I don’t want her on the streets.” She shook her head, her lips thinning into a straight line. “I can’t believe a mother wouldn’t give two shits about where her daughter was.”

  “Same.” I shrugged. “But that’s because we had an awesome mom. Not everyone is like that.” I raised my brows, silently reminding her of the stories Mom and Dad had told us over the years. We were lucky to have two parents who cared so much, but not everyone was. We were unique in that way, at least, that’s what it felt like the older we all got.

  “Anyway”—I shook my arms out, trying to get rid of the tension which seemed to live deep within my muscles lately—“I need to get this apartment ready. She’s moving in after school.”

  “She’s moving in today?”

  “Yep.”

  “Damn.” Belle glanced around the empty apartment and at the off-white walls. It was a shell of a place, but I knew with Belle’s help it would be homely in no time at all. “What furniture do you have?”

  I pointed toward the bedroom. “I have a bed in there, and Jax is gonna pick up a mattress.” I pulled my cell out. “I found this sofa online earlier, so I need to pick it up.”

  “We’re gonna need more than that.” Belle circled the room and headed toward the attached kitchen. She opened and closed drawers to see what was in there. “Okay, I’m gonna head to Ikea.”

  I let my head drop back and groaned. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

  “Because you’re a man?” I rolled my eyes at the smirk on Belle’s face. “What? I’m just saying.” She laughed in only the way a big sister would at her little brother. “It’s eleven now. I should be back by two, and then you and Jax can put all the furniture together while I go and get the kids.”

  I winced as she said “kids.” Elodie may have only been eighteen, but she was far from being a kid. She had to fend for herself in the way no eighteen-year-old should. “Sounds like a plan.”

  Belle didn’t move for several seconds, and I knew she wanted to say something. She wasn’t the kind of person who kept it inside. If she thought something, she would damn well give you her opinion whether you wanted it or not.

  “Spit it out,” I finally relented, not able to put up with her stare any longer.”

  “Spit what out?” she asked as if she didn’t know exactly what I was talking about. I raised my brows but stayed silent, and it didn’t take her but a minute to say, “I hope you know what you’re doing, Asher.”

  The truth was, I didn’t. I had no idea what I was getting into with Elodie, but what I did know was I couldn’t stand back and watch her suffer. She meant something to me. I wasn’t sure what it was yet. “Because I’ve never seen that look in your eyes before.” Belle pointed at my face, a knowing look etched onto her features. “Be careful.”

  “Always am,” I grunted.

  She bit down on her bottom lip, her hand moving to her neck and stroking her scar. “I just wanted to make sure, lil bro.”

  I clipped my head in a nod, telling and showing her that I heard her loud and clear. She didn’t need to voice anything else, and if I were honest, had she stood there and told me not to do this, I wouldn’t have listened anyway.

  It was impossible to stay away from Elodie.

  ELODIE

  My cell vibrated as I was leaving my last class, and I looked down, reading the short message from Asher.

  Asher: Belle is picking you up.

  I frowned and glanced up, alr
eady searching for Leo in the crowd of students. My mind was a whirl of thoughts as I tried to decipher the message. If Leo’s mom was picking me up, then that must mean she knew what was going on. How much had Asher told her? Had he told her I was a stripper? Had he mentioned my mom? I gasped. What if he told her about the kiss? I shook my head. He wouldn’t tell her about that, would he?

  I couldn’t see Leo anywhere in the hallway, so I decided to head toward the main doors and wait for him. His last class of the day was on the other side of the building, so it would probably take him longer to get here anyway.

  Students were gathered in the lot as they headed to their own cars and the cars from the parents that picked them up. There was a line at the bus stop right outside of the school, but I had no idea what kind of car I was looking for, so I shuffled to the side, trying to hide away in the crowd.

  “New boyfriend drop you off this morning?” a deep voice whispered in my ear. I felt the heaviness of his breath, and the little hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. I’d managed to avoid Knox all day, but I’d felt his gaze burning me several times. And now we were mixed in with a crowd of students, and no one was the wiser.

  His hand grasped my wrist, threatening me to stay exactly where I was. “Let go,” I ground out. I wasn’t the same girl he’d had under his control. I’d changed. It may have only been a small amount of time, but hindsight was a wonderful thing. I understood how much shit I’d taken from him, and I refused to take it anymore.

  “Why?” He was even closer now, and I could feel his erection pressing against my ass. “Will your new boyfriend not like it, huh?” He rubbed himself against me, and I shot forward, but all I managed to do was gain a tiny amount of space which he closed right back up. “I know you miss me, babe.”

  The crowd started to break, so I stepped forward, but his hand around my wrist halted me. His fingers bit into my skin and I ground my teeth together, determined to show him it didn’t hurt, even though it did. “Let go of me, Knox.” I turned, staring right into his eyes. “Now.”

  His nostrils flared. He took the last step between us, then bent at the knees so his face was level with mine. “Watch your goddamn mouth when you talk to me.” His threat was loud and clear, but I had no intention of adhering to it.

  I opened my mouth, about to tell him he had nothing over me anymore, but a female voice shouting, “Elodie!” caught my attention. I turned my head to look in the direction it had come from. Parked in the middle of the lot was Leo’s mom. Leo was in the back, his face turned watching me and Knox, and his mom’s door was open as she stood outside the car. “You ready to go?” she asked, acting as if she couldn’t see Knox behind me.

  “Coming!” I shouted and yanked my wrist out of Knox’s grip. His fingers slid against my skin, causing a burning sensation, but at that moment, I didn’t care one bit what bruises he left behind because he had no idea who the woman was, and no idea where I was going. The only time he could get to me now was when we were at school, and my guard was now firmly up. I understood he’d jump on any chance he could, so I had to be careful, more careful than I’d ever been.

  The stones on the parking lot crunched underneath my tennis shoes as I made my way over to Leo and his mom, and I didn’t turn back once as I slipped into the passenger side with my heart hammering in my chest. I didn’t need to glance over to see if Knox was looking at me because I could feel his intense stare on me. But no one mentioned it, not until Leo’s mom was exiting the school lot.

  “Well, he doesn’t look like a very nice guy.”

  Neither Leo nor I said anything in response. Both of us knew if we got into that statement, it would open a can of worms we’d never be able to close.

  “Well, I’m gonna take your silence as word enough of that fact.”

  “That sentence made no sense, Mom,” Leo groaned. “God, you’re so embarrassing.”

  Belle gasped. “Me?” Her eyes widened, and she flicked her gaze to me as if she’d never heard him say it before. “I’m not embarrassing. I’m cool as shit—”

  “Only uncool people say they’re cool, Mom,” Leo interjected. I turned in my seat to see him rolling his eyes, and I couldn’t contain my smile. This was what a mom and child should be like. They should be able to banter back and forth and argue over silly things like leaving dirty laundry in your room for three days straight. I’d never experienced it but being around Leo and his mom made me realize how much of it I’d missed out on.

  “So”—Belle said, sitting up straighter in her seat as she headed toward the dance studio—“you’re moving into the apartment above the tattoo shop, then, huh?”

  My stomach fluttered with nerves as I answered, “I am.” I swallowed, afraid of what she would ask next.

  “What?” Leo asked, sitting up and moving closer to the two front seats. “You’re moving into Uncle Asher’s apartment?”

  “Yep,” I answered him, hoping he wouldn’t ask—

  “Why?”

  I should have known he wouldn’t be able to contain the question, so I turned in my seat. “Mom got us kicked out of the trailer. She had a place to stay, I didn’t.” I said it so simply, as if I was talking about the weather. “I was sleeping in my car and—”

  Leo’s mouth dropped open. “You were sleeping in your car? Why didn’t you tell me? I could have helped. Right, Mom?”

  “He’s right,” Belle said as she took the turn for the shop. Her stare met mine and I saw the honesty of her words shining in her eyes. “Never be afraid to ask for help, Elodie.” She turned back to put her attention on the road ahead. “I know it’s hard—trust me, I know. But you don’t have to be embarrassed to ask for help. Okay?”

  My stomach bottomed out at her words, and all I could do was whisper, “Okay.” I didn’t know what I was supposed to say to that. It sounded easy enough, but when it came down to it, I wasn’t sure if I could. The truth was, I would have still been sleeping in my car if Asher hadn’t found me last night, and if he and Jax hadn’t accosted me this morning, I never would have agreed to move into the apartment. Asher was helping me, but in the back of my mind, I acted like he wasn’t. It was easier to tell myself this was normal, but in reality, it wasn’t.

  “We’re here,” Belle announced as she pulled into a spot a few stores down from East Ink. She pushed some hair out of her face, and I saw the scar on her neck clearer than I had before. It was faded, so I could tell it had been a long time since it had happened, and part of me wondered how she’d gotten it. Maybe that was what she meant when she said it’s hard to ask for help. Maybe she’d been in a bad situation too.

  Leo shuffled out of the back of the car, and I followed, keeping a pace behind him and Belle as we all walked to the tattoo shop. The bell rang over the door as we entered, and the vibrating of tattoo machines rang out. I recognized two of the faces from last week after the incident with Knox, but there was a younger guy sitting behind the desk this time.

  “Hey, Mav. Asher still upstairs?”

  “He’s—”

  “You’re here,” a deep voice said, a voice which caused shivers to run down my spine. I turned and spotted Asher sauntering through the middle of the shop. His white T-shirt strained over his chest and his tattoos were on full display. “Hey,” he greeted, stopping a few feet away from us.

  “Hey,” I replied, holding my backpack tighter against my own chest.

  “You ready to see your new place?” he asked, flashing me a grin.

  “I…” I glanced over at Leo, who was walking through the shop to see what was being tattooed, and then to Belle, who hadn’t moved from my side since we entered the shop. “I guess?”

  “She’s ready,” Belle announced, pushing her arm through mine and pulling me toward Asher. “I helped decorate.”

  “You did?” I asked, following Asher and leaving Leo behind.

  “Yep. And if I do say so myself, I did a pretty good job.”

  Asher snorted in response but didn’t say anything as he l
ed us toward the back of the shop. My pulse raced as I remembered the last time I’d been in here just over a week ago. Asher had fixed me up, then taken me home, and now this was my home.

  He halted in front of a door and held something out to me. I glanced down at it, seeing three keys attached to a keyring which had East Ink on it. “These are your keys.” He plucked one on the keyring. “This is the one to the front door of the shop.” He signaled another key. “This is the side entrance key.” He let that one go and held the last one up. “And this is the one to your apartment door.”

  I reached my hand out and took the keys from him, trying to not make any movement as our fingers touched. I wasn’t sure he’d even noticed, not until I looked up at him and saw his chocolate-brown eyes swirling in the same way they had this morning.

  “Thank you,” I whispered.

  “Welcome,” he murmured back. “You ready to go see it?” I nodded, unsure whether I’d be able to get my words out clear enough. He opened the door and revealed a set of stairs, and to the left at the bottom was another door. “That’s the side entrance door.” He headed up the stairs, and both Belle and I followed him. The wooden stairs had a strip of gray carpet in the middle and stained wood on either side. Asher halted at the top of the stairs and pointed to the white door. “And this is your apartment.”

  I was scared to look. I was scared to see what would become my safe haven. I’d only ever lived in trailers my entire life, but now I would be living between four brick walls, which meant it would be cool in the summer and warm in the winter. I wouldn’t need to tape scraps of material to my window so no one could peek through and see into my bedroom. I wouldn’t have to worry about how much sleep I’d get or whether I had to push my furniture against my flimsy bedroom door so no one would get inside.

  It was my place. My sanctuary. And as I walked inside and saw the sofa sitting in the middle of the room with a small coffee table on top of a rug, I felt tears spring to my eyes. It was beautiful. And mine.