On The Ropes Series Box Set

by Aly Martinez

  “I’m not going back to Till’s to drop him off. I’m just not!” I shouted.

  Slate crossed his thick arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes at me. “You care to tell me why not?”

  “Because I’m not going back there.” I paused before throwing in, “Ever,” so there was no confusion.

  “Fine. Bring him to the gym. You know, it wouldn’t kill you to come inside and put in a decent workout too. You look terrible.”

  “I’ll drop him off.” I had zero intention of going inside that gym, and no insult Slate could sling at me would change my mind.

  “Flint—”

  “Excuse me. I’m supposed to be racing to pick up Q right now. I’ll drop him off at On The Ropes in a little while.”

  He sucked in a resigned breath and shook his head. “Fine. I’ll text you the address. But for the record, don’t for one second think that you have anyone fooled. You’re not getting your shit together by holing yourself up in this apartment. You’re avoiding it. But you know what? Problems don’t need a map. They’ll follow you everywhere. You can’t hide forever, Flint.”

  “Noted,” I smarted back.

  He chuckled without humor, and the muscles of his jaw clenched as he gritted his teeth. “Man the fuck up, son.” He shook his head then stalked out the door.

  “Excellent advice, Slate! Bravo. Really,” I yelled after him, but the door slammed without another word spoken. “Fuck,” I whispered to the empty room.

  Chapter Seven

  Flint

  “FLINT!” MY MOTHER YELLED AS she opened the door. Clutching her imaginary pearls, she cried, “Oh my God, look at you.”

  “Debbie,” I acknowledged without actually greeting her.

  “You’re in a wheelchair,” she whined in the most nerve-grating way possible.

  Folding my hands in my lap, I copped as much attitude as I could muster. I had so much indifference for the woman standing in front of me that even being an asshole, something I usually excelled at, was difficult. It was hard, but I still managed to snark, “Very astute observation.”

  “Don’t treat me like that. It’s not fair. I didn’t know until last week that something happened to you. Till didn’t even bother telling me.”

  “Really? He didn’t call you or anything?” I questioned dryly.

  “No! My son was paralyzed and he didn’t even have the common decency to let me know.”

  “Wow. What an ass!” I said with a large dose of sarcasm that sailed right over her head.

  “This is all his fault. I don’t know where he gets off acting like he does. If it wasn’t for him, none of this would have happened.”

  “You know, I never expected to say this when I came here today, but I absolutely agree with you. Me being in this chair is one hundred percent Till’s fault.”

  Her eyes lit with shock that shifted to pride at my agreement. Mine lit when I realized I would be able to force them to dim again. Suddenly, being an asshole wasn’t so difficult anymore.

  “Actually, there are a lot of things that are Till’s fault.”

  Her smile expanded. God, it felt so fucking good to see that on her face—it was going to feel amazing removing it. I became damn near giddy.

  She checked over her shoulder before leaning in close and whispering, “Flint, he’s an animal. Did you hear what he did to Ray? I thought he was going to kill him.”

  “I know! That’s another one of Till’s fuck-ups in life,” I said seriously. I mirrored her move and leaned forward in order to whisper, “He should have killed him.”

  Her head snapped back in surprise and just as quickly as her smile fell, mine grew.

  “Excuse me?” she asked.

  “I’m actually really impressed with Till’s self-control. You had the balls to show up at his house unannounced, with uniformed officers, to take a child he has been raising for years. I figured you’d be picking out a casket right about now.” I laughed loudly.

  “He belongs with his mother!”

  “Are you shitting me? Quarry’s gotten in his fair share of trouble, but he’s never done anything that would warrant the cruel and unusual punishment of being forced to live with you again.”

  She gasped. “How dare you speak to your mother that way!”

  “Oh, I dare, all right. How dare you think you’re someone’s mother! Were you thinking of Quarry when you decided to uproot him during this petty excuse of a custody battle?”

  “I missed him.”

  “You missed him? Did you miss him when you abandoned us?” I roared. “What a load of bullshit,” I sneered. “You are such a piece of work. You were absolutely right. It is Till’s fault that I’m sitting in this chair right now, because if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be alive at all. Who the fuck do you think cleaned up your mess when you walked away? Who exactly do you think fed us and put a roof over our heads for the last three years while you were off doing God knows what? We were kids! So yeah, it’s all Till’s fault. And thank fucking God for that.”

  “I should have known you three assholes would gang up on me. You have no idea what you are talking about or why I left. I didn’t have a choice.”

  “We all have choices. Even worthless wastes of oxygen like yourself.” I turned to wheel away. “Do me a favor and tell Q I’m waiting out front.”

  “No need,” Quarry said, jogging out the door.

  “No. I’ve changed my mind. You aren’t going anywhere!” she yelled, but I heard Quarry’s footsteps continue behind me. “Quarry Page! Get your ass back in here!”

  “No can do! It’s Till’s weekend!” he shouted over his shoulder before grabbing the handles of the wheelchair to push me faster.

  “Stop!” I snapped.

  “Then go faster, before she calls the cops.”

  “Ray!” my mother screamed.

  I glanced back while Quarry continued pushing me to the car. Ray Mabie came lumbering out of the house, and a simultaneous gasp and laugh flew from my mouth. His face was nearly unrecognizable, and I’m not just saying that I didn’t recognize him as Ray—I didn’t even recognize him as human.

  “Holy fuck!” I cursed.

  Quarry followed my gaze only to bark out a laugh. “Dude, you should have seen it. Till lost his shit!”

  “It looks like Mabie’s face found it.”

  “That guy is such a cocksucker. Mom doesn’t give two shits about having me back. This is all about Till.”

  “No, they’re up to something. This is all about Till’s money,” I corrected, sliding into the driver’s seat of the van. “Christ, when did you get so big?” I asked as Quarry shoved my chair into the back.

  “When did you shrink? You look like dehydrated shit.”

  “I see that your stellar personality has remained intact.”

  “I see that you’re still a cranky asshole. Must be from sitting on it all day,” he sniped.

  My lip twitched, but I quickly tucked it away. “Something like that,” I mumbled, starting the van and becoming familiar with the hand pedals again.

  “You look like a child molester driving this thing.” He laughed, looking around the van. “When we get to a stoplight, I’m going to start crying and pounding on the window for help.”

  “You do that. I’m sure dear old Mom would be happy to come pick you up off the side of the road.”

  “Oh, please. No, she wouldn’t. One of her reality shows might be on. I’d have a better chance hitchhiking while wearing an ‘I’m a serial killer’ T-shirt than getting her off her ass to do anything.”

  “I see she hasn’t changed, either.”

  “Hey! Slow down for a second.” Quarry jumped to his feet, scrambling into the backseat.

  “What the hell are you doing?” I bit out as he slid the back door open.

  Not two seconds later, a girl dove into the van.

  “Fuck,” I cursed, slamming on my breaks.

  “Don’t stop!” Quarry shouted.

  “Go!” he and our new guest
yelled in unison.

  Quarry slammed the door. “Go! Before they see us!”

  “Who?” I questioned, confused about what the hell had just happened and who this chick was. I still appeased them both by peeling off, complete with squealing the tires on the minivan. It was a sad new level of manliness.

  “You drive a party bus!” the girl exclaimed, standing up off the floorboard and dusting imaginary dirt off her pants.

  She was young, but I could tell she was a good bit older than Quarry—at least eighteen, maybe even nineteen. Judging by the way she crouched over to keep her head from hitting the roof, she was pretty tall. Her long, strawberry-blond hair cascaded down over her shoulders, stopping just before the curve of her large breasts. The same large breasts I allowed myself several seconds to check out before snapping out of it.

  “Who the fuck are you?” I growled as I pulled into the gas station on the corner.

  “Flint, this is Ash. Ash, this stud of a man is . . . Okay, okay. Enough about me.” Quarry laughed. “Ash, this here is the king of the rolling throne, better known as my brother, Flint.”

  “Hey, nice to meet you. Can we stop and get something to eat?” She flashed me a bright smile.

  “Sure!” I sarcastically returned her enthusiasm before dropping it completely. “Get out.”

  “Nah, I’m good,” she replied, not even remotely fazed. “There’s a really good burger place up the street.” After flopping down on the bench seat, she crossed her long legs at the ankle and lifted her neon-green Converses to rest on the arm of my folded wheelchair.

  I watched in disbelief as she intertwined her fingers and rested them behind her head. She might have been completely relaxed, but as her breasts strained against her tight T-shirt, I became the opposite.

  “Shit,” I whispered to myself. God, I needed to get laid.

  “Come on, man. Don’t be an ass. She’s cool. I swear,” Quarry interjected.

  “Thanks, Q! I think you’re pretty cool too.” She smiled, and it was genuine—a fact that infuriated me. As far as I was concerned, those didn’t exist anymore—at least, not in my life.

  “I don’t give a shit about ‘cool.’ Why the hell are you jumping in my car?”

  “Your car?” she asked, looking back at me, crinkling her nose.

  “Yes, my car. I could have run over you back there.”

  “Oh! You mean the party bus! Sorry. You confused me with the whole ‘car’ thing.” She dug into her pocket and pulled out a pack of gum.

  I was hard up. Since I’d walked away from Miranda the gold digger, I’d been in quite the dry spell. It wasn’t exactly like women were throwing themselves at me though. Nothing says sexy like rolling into a room. Sure, it had been a while, but even if I had just finished fucking my way through the female population of the city, I still would have gotten rock hard from watching her fold that rectangular stick of gum into her mouth. Something about the way she slowly pressed it against her tongue left my mind reeling with a million different ideas of what else I could put in that mouth.

  “You want some?” she asked, extending the pack toward me.

  As a matter of fact, yes. I do.

  Clearing my throat, I turned back to face Quarry, who was staring at her with his mouth hanging open.

  “No. I need you to get out,” I lied. I needed her to get naked.

  “Are you always this much fun?” she asked condescendingly, but again, she didn’t bother to move toward the door—or remove her clothes.

  “Oh, you have no idea!” Quarry exclaimed.

  “Well, I bet a burger would fix you right up. They have the best milkshakes too. Oh. My. God. They make them with real homemade ice cream. You have to suck so hard just to get it through the straw.” She looked up at me and blatantly licked her lips before raking her teeth across the bottom one.

  Fuck. Me.

  As she giggled, it was apparent that she was just fucking with me.

  “Don’t be a dick, Flint. I’m so fucking hungry. Mom has been starving me for the last week. She cooked every night,” Quarry pleaded, causing Ash to laugh.

  “He isn’t lying. I’ve lost, like, twenty pounds since she married my dad.”

  “Excuse me?” I swung my head to Quarry.

  “Yeah, I was shocked too. She does actually know how to operate an oven. It’s the ingredients that she struggles with the most. I know you hate Till’s ramen, but it’s like a gourmet meal compared to the shit Debbie puts on the table.”

  “No. Asshole.” I looked back at Ash, who was casually lounging in the backseat. “You’re a Mabie?”

  “Unfortunately, yes,” she huffed. “I can see how you wouldn’t recognize the family resemblance. Thankfully, I didn’t get the receding hairline or his affinity for bacon grease as a styling tool. Don’t worry. I also dodged the douchebag gene. So . . . burgers?”

  Quarry busted out laughing.

  “Fuck that. Get out of my car. Now.”

  Ash completely ignored my demand. “Oh! Did I mention that they have those delicious waffle fries too? Come on. You drive and I’ll whip you up a batch of my famous fancy sauce for dip when we get there.”

  “Get. Out,” I growled again. “I’m not taking a fucking Mabie anywhere.” I could see the words land on her face, but she quickly covered whatever effect they might have had.

  Instead, her smile grew even wider.

  “She’s cool!” Quarry looked at me as if I’d lost my mind for being so rude.

  And maybe I had, but I was in no mood to deal with a Mabie, no matter how hot she was.

  “I’m sorry, Flint Page.” She put extra emphasis on my last name as she slowly sat up, crossing her arms over her chest with obvious attitude, but her sugary-sweet smile never once faltered.

  I wasn’t quite sure if I was about to get my ass handed to me or if she was going to burst into song.

  “I was unaware that you come from such noble blood that you can judge others based on the family they were born into.”

  Yep. Definitely getting my ass handed to me.

  “Since, obviously, you have judged me based on who my father is, I’m going to assume that it’s only fair I do the same based on your parents? Is it fair to guess that you, too, are a selfish whore who would do damn near anything for a man as long as he tosses enough money at you to keep you high and your nails painted? Or perhaps you take after your father and have such a deep gambling problem that you would be willing to sacrifice your children to keep your own ass out of trouble. Or perhaps . . .” She paused to take a deep breath, making it apparent that there was no end to her rant anywhere in sight.

  “I got it!” I shouted, not wanting to hear any more.

  I knew all about my shitty-ass parents. I had grown up in that hellhole. Never knowing if the power would be on or not, and peeling eviction notices off the front door every other week. It wasn’t anything new. But knowing was one thing; hearing her throw it in my face was a totally different story.

  It wasn’t until that moment that I realized what a true hypocrite I really was. I hated her father almost as much as I hated my own. And because of that, I was casting the same judgment I’d been fighting my whole life to escape on her. I wasn’t my father any more than she was hers. Or, at least, I hoped she wasn’t.

  “Really? Because I was just getting started,” she snapped, holding my eyes until I sheepishly looked away.

  No apology was issued, but I did put the van in gear and head to the burger place. It wasn’t because I felt guilty as fuck though. I just wanted a milkshake. Well, that’s what I told myself as I silently drove away.

  Chapter Eight

  Flint

  “YOU NEED HELP?” ASH ASKED as I settled into my wheelchair.

  “Nope,” I answered. I needed a lot more than help.

  “You know this not-walking thing has its perks,” Quarry said, stretching and cracking his back as if the drive over had taken hours instead of minutes. “Front-row parking.”

  “Y
ou are truly a dumbass,” I snarked, rolling up the short ramp to join him and Ash on the sidewalk.

  Using my remote, I closed both of the sliding back doors.

  “See!” she squealed, clapping her hands. “Party. Bus. You don’t even have to close the door behind yourself.”

  “Riiiight. I can see how you and Q have become such good friends now.”

  She burst out laughing, throwing her head back and howling loudly. I wanted to snap at her to keep it down, but it was an incredible sight to see her losing herself in a stupid, sarcastic comment.

  She laughed with her whole body; it was both amusing and bewildering. It was so fucking honest that it made me uncomfortable, yet I couldn’t tear my eyes away. She was a Mabie. I couldn’t even imagine what she had lived through with that kind of asshole for a father. Her life wasn’t great. I was positive of that. But in that second, I was so fucking jealous of her. Who in the world got to be that happy?

  “Shit!” she yelled, tripping over her own feet and falling into my lap. She tried to jump up but stumbled back down.

  “Uh,” I mumbled, helping her upright, but she slipped through my grip as she floundered around like a fish out of water. Finally, I grabbed her arms and placed her back on her feet. I held her for a second longer than necessary to be sure she didn’t fall again—or, at least, that’s what I told myself.

  “I’m sorry,” she breathed, and while it was a sexy sound, I just wanted to hear her laugh again.

  “So, I see walking isn’t your thing, either?” I joked.

  She erupted all over again. I looked away but only to hide the small smile that was growing on my lips.

  “I didn’t hurt you, did I?” she asked.

  I continued to stare at the ground as I pushed past her. “Nope.”

  “Oh. My. God,” Quarry gasped from behind me.

  I glanced back to see what was wrong, but he was staring in awe at Ash. She had a huge smile, and her eyes were leveling Quarry in a very proud told-you-so glare.

  “I bow to you.” He praised her with his hands. “In-fucking-credible.”