On The Ropes Series Box Set

by Aly Martinez

And for some unexplainable reason, my eyes drifted to his mouth. I regretted it the moment it happened, because even though his eyes heated, his smile fell. As sexy as that smolder was on him, nothing could top the laugh.

  “Soooo . . .” I spun to face his bookshelves. “You like to read, huh?”

  He cleared his throat. “Yep.”

  “Are you going to school?” I asked, dragging my fingertip over the dust-free shelf.

  “Yeah. I’m starting my second semester. What about you?”

  “Nah, not really. I’m just taking some classes online right now.”

  “Well, that’s cool too,” he said awkwardly, following me as I inspected each of his shelves.

  “I guess. I’d rather be in an actual class every day. Sitting behind the computer can get pretty boring.”

  “Yeah, well, sitting in class can be pretty boring sometimes too.”

  “True.” I suddenly turned to face him. “Hey, which one’s your favorite?”

  “Favorite what? Class?”

  “No, I mean book. You have to have a favorite.”

  “Shit, I don’t know. I’ve read so many that I wouldn’t even know how to choose.”

  “Okay. You’re stranded in a deserted train station during the zombie apocalypse. Quick, which book do you have with you?”

  “Hopefully The Zombie Survival Guide.” He laughed again, and I’ll be damned if my eyes didn’t jump right back to his mouth.

  What the hell was with my subconscious’s sudden obsession with those two perfectly plump lips?

  As if he’d read my mind, his tongue darted out, moistening them and magically drawing the slightest moan from me. Embarrassed, I glanced up to find that his eyes were sparkling with humor. Perfect!

  No, really. It. Was. Perfect.

  He was flirting. And it made my goal of seducing him that much easier.

  Suddenly, Quarry stomped back into the room, interrupting our connection. “Well, that went over like a warm bag of shit.”

  Flint stared at me for a second longer before dragging his gaze over to his brother. I, however, wasn’t quite ready for the moment to be over yet, so as he began talking to Quarry, I continued to watch Flint.

  “Was he pissed?” Flint asked.

  “First, he was relieved. Then he was mad, and then . . . he handed the phone to Eliza.” Quarry stopped and blew out a loud breath. “She was pissed.”

  I should have looked away.

  If I could go back in time, that might be the exact moment I’d go back to, and in that alternate universe, I would have immediately looked away.

  At the mere mention of Eliza’s name, I was forced to witness something utterly painful. I watched the gorgeous man I’d just been flirting with shut down. He didn’t say anything or even flinch. But as if he had been hit by a massive wave of destruction, he disappeared right in front of my eyes.

  His mask and attitude snapped firmly into place. “Well, good. You deserved it.”

  I wasn’t a fan of this version of Flint, but I was determined to lure the other him back out.

  I had to.

  “Okay, Q’s a jerk. Moving on. Since we’re here, you wanna watch a movie?”

  “No,” he answered. “I want you guys to leave so I can go to bed.”

  Okay, so maybe luring him back was going to be a little more difficult than I had originally thought. But I was up for the challenge.

  “Oh, so I had a dream that it’s going to storm tonight. You wanna go outside and watch the clouds roll in? We can even make a bet on who feels the first raindrop. It probably won’t be you since you wouldn’t be able to feel it on your legs and half your face is covered with hair. Ya know, less surface area and all. So I’m going to put my money on Q.”

  Both Quarry and Flint turned to look at me as if I had suggested sitting at the base of a volcano.

  “What?”

  “Right. You had a dream or you watched the weather this morning?” Flint snapped.

  “I had a dream, thank you very much,” I sniped back, lifting my eyebrows to pointedly note his attitude.

  “The rain better hold out for a while longer. We have over a hundred dollars’ worth of spray paint in the car,” Quarry said as he pushed the table out of the way so he could flop down on the couch.

  “Spray paint?” Flint questioned, swinging his gaze between us.

  Quarry propped his feet up on the table. “Tell him, Ash.”

  I was going to kill that kid. A long, torturous death where I squeezed lemons into his eyes and made him recite poetry. I shot him an angry glare he seemed immune to. Then I made a mental note to talk to him about getting one of those force fields it seemed I would need if I was going to pursue Flint.

  And I was absolutely going to pursue Flint Page.

  I’d made that decision about two point one seconds after he’d dived out of his van in an attempt to protect me.

  Me.

  A girl he barely knew, yet a girl he was willing to do anything for to ensure my safety.

  He could be broody all he wanted, but I knew deep down that an amazing man existed.

  I smiled tightly. “We . . . um. We were just gonna go tag a few buildings.”

  Flint narrowed his eyes and tilted his head to the side. I recognized that look. He was about to shift to full-fledged asshole.

  “Quick! Take cover, Q. Incoming!” I yelled, diving behind the chair.

  The room filled with laughter, but judging by the lack of my moan, none of it was Flint’s. I peeked around the chair to find him sitting as stoically as ever.

  “Oh, come on, Wheels. That was funny.” I stood back up and walked toward him.

  He cracked his neck, and the muscles in his jaw twitched. “Stop calling me Wheels.”

  “Maybe Legs, then? It doesn’t really fit, but I like the paradox.”

  His eyebrows almost hit his hairline. “Paradox?”

  “Yeah, it means contradictory to what—”

  “I know what it means. I just didn’t figure you did.”

  “Wow. Judgy McJudgerson strikes again,” I deadpanned.

  “I didn’t mean . . .” he started only to stop and huff.

  “Right. Well, anyway. Yes, I’m taking your brother out to tag a few buildings, but before you get all preachy on me, they are being torn down next week. No harm, no foul.”

  “No harm until you get arrested,” he bit back.

  “Oh please. No one cares about those buildings. Besides, Max and Donna said they’d pull lookout in exchange for some burgers. Don’t you worry about a thing. I have it all planned out up here.” I pointed to my head. “If you’re worried, you could always come with us.” I bounced on my toes and waggled my eyebrows. “You know, just to make sure we stay out of trouble. I mean, I totally understand that you’re allergic to fun. But you could always pop an antihistamine or something.” I tossed him a smile, which went unreturned.

  When he didn’t offer any kind of retort, I did what I did best: I kept talking.

  “Also, I would like to formally retract my earlier statement. You can keep the beard.”

  His dim eyes perked the slightest bit, and a tingle traveled over my skin.

  There he was.

  “How generous of you.”

  “It really gives you a certain worldly, terrorist feel.”

  “Perfect. That is exactly what I was going for.” He smirked.

  Sarcasm wasn’t what I wanted, but it was a step in the right direction.

  “I now believe it’s actually the bad attitude holding down your hotness. I think if you just stepped up your happy factor a smidge, you could really be a ten.” I was trying so hard not to laugh, but a small giggle escaped before I could catch it.

  His lips finally lifted at the corners, sending excitement thrumming through my body. I was winning the war he didn’t even know we were fighting.

  Victory was within my reach.

  And he was my prize.

  “Yeah? How much is a smidge, exactly?”

/>   “Oh, I don’t know. I’m not an expert or anything. Maybe like . . .” I paused, tapping my chin. “Maybe just increase it by say . . . ninety-nine percent or so?” I finished as seriously as I could.

  “Really? Ninety-nine percent?” He busted out laughing.

  I closed my eyes and sucked in a deep breath as if I could physically absorb the sound. I didn’t need the extra laughs; I produced more than enough of my own.

  But that one was his.

  I wanted to keep it forever.

  “I think you have problems,” he teased when he sobered.

  I absolutely did. And the newest one of them was sitting directly in front of me.

  It was no coincidence that I was standing in his apartment. Sure, Quarry thought it was his idea, but I’d planted that seed days earlier. It had started out with subtle questions here and there about where Flint had disappeared to, but by that morning, I had talked Q into a full-blown conspiracy theory in which Flint was lying about his injuries in order to collect disability checks from the government. Sweet, naïve Quarry had fallen right into my trap. He’d no longer been able to resist knowing the truth about where his brother was really hiding out. It had taken a few days longer than I would have liked, but I’d patiently sat back and let Quarry lead me to Flint.

  “Come on, Flint. Go with us. Just think about it. We can paint all of our troubles on that building then watch ’em knock it down.” I crossed my arms over my chest, pushing my breasts up.

  And like a moth to a flame, his eyes dropped.

  Flint raked his eyes over my breasts and slowly up to my eyes. I gathered my long hair and twisted it, pulling it over my shoulder. Holding it with the ends just above my nipple, I led Flint’s eyes right back down to my chest.

  “Ash, if you think he is going to graffiti a building, you have lost your fucking mind. He once turned himself in to the principal at school for accidentally making a pencil mark on the desk,” Quarry said, falling into hysterics at his own joke.

  But I was focused on the guy in front of me, who seemed just as interested in my boobs as I was in him.

  “You have to come,” I whispered, and his lips twitched. “It can be your newsie for the day. And I’ll even let you have first pick of the paint colors,” I added.

  “Seriously, give it up. He’s not coming.”

  Oh, he was coming.

  I innocently batted my eyelashes as I pressed my bottom lip out in a pout.

  “You’re ridiculous,” Flint said, shaking his head.

  My shoulders fell as I feigned defeat, but I was nowhere near done.

  His eyes flashed wide as I took a step forward and leaned down. Stopping just a breath away from his mouth, I raked my teeth over my bottom lip before I whispered, “Please come.”

  “Ho. Lee. Shit,” Quarry gasped behind us. “You told me you were a lesbian.”

  “Nope. Just didn’t want you getting any ideas,” I answered without tearing my eyes off Flint.

  The side of Flint’s mouth tipped up in a mischievous grin, and his eyes twinkled with something else completely. Leaning in even closer, he said, “Fine. I’ll come.”

  Game over!

  A huge smile spread on my face, and I started to back away, but Flint caught the back of my neck, dragging me forward.

  “And eventually, Ash, you’ll come too.”

  My breath hitched.

  I was wrong. I might have conned Flint into hanging out with me, but as he backed away, holding my gaze with a sexy-as-hell smirk, I realized that Flint Page had just completely hijacked my victory.

  Cheater.

  Chapter Eleven

  Flint

  THE DRY SPELL WAS OVER.

  Thank.

  Fucking.

  Christ.

  I had no idea what the hell Ash Mabie wanted or, better yet, why she wanted it from someone like me, but I knew with one hundred percent certainty that I was going to give it to her.

  She was hands down the strangest woman I had ever met. The jury was still out on her sanity, and her social awareness might as well have been nonexistent. She simply said whatever-the-hell thought was passing through her brain at the moment her mouth opened.

  But God, she was gorgeous.

  She was terrible at flirting, and she’d more than proved that back at my apartment. But then again, that might have been the best part. Even as she licked her lips and awkwardly thrust her boobs at me, she was unbelievably confident. Watching her try to get me to go out that night had been as humorous as it’d been cock hardening. She was a woman with a clear mission and didn’t give one fuck what she had to do to complete it.

  Really, it worked out well for me, because I had full intentions of giving her that one fuck.

  Which was exactly why I’d ended up in front of a brick wall, holding a can of spray paint while I listened to her argue with a middle-aged homeless woman over a pair of shoes.

  “They were buy-one-get-one-free, Donna.”

  “Green though? You couldn’t have gotten black or brown or something? I’m fifty-seven years old. Girl, these shoes are for kids. I’m surprised they don’t have cartoon characters or some shit on the side.”

  “Oh, hush. You’re only as old as you act,” Ash sassed back.

  “They’re neon green!”

  “Yep! And they match mine.” Ash flashed her a grin. “Twinsies.”

  “Dear Lord, help me,” Donna whispered, staring up at the sky.

  Ash giggled, walking over to me. “Hey, you haven’t painted anything yet.”

  “Yeeeeeah,” I drawled. “Painting isn’t exactly my thing.”

  “Don’t think of it as painting, then. This is self-expression!” She snatched the can from my hand and sprayed a bright-yellow mark on the brick.

  “Ah, yes. A line. Self-expression at its finest.”

  She laughed. “Shut up! I was just trying to get you started.”

  “Look, my artistic abilities are limited to diagraming molecules in chemistry.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I’m not great, either. I just write words then decorate them with colors. But hey, it’s fun. They are tearing this baby down. Let’s help her go out in style.” She lovingly patted the wall.

  I chuckled to myself, and a bright smile spread across her mouth.

  God, I wanted to taste that mouth. My cock thickened at the thought.

  “Just draw anything.” She picked the green can up off the ground and wrote the word dream in huge letters. “See? Easy.”

  “Uhh . . . Ash, can you come here for a second?” Max called out.

  “Yep,” she replied then looked back at me. “Just draw the first thing that comes to mind.” She walked away, dragging the tip of her finger across my back and shoulders.

  “The first thing that comes to mind,” I repeated to myself, watching her ass sway as she disappeared around the corner.

  But I had nothing.

  My mind was absolutely blank.

  There was no pain.

  No ache in my chest.

  No pity.

  No hate.

  No bitterness.

  I was numb.

  And it was incredible.

  Ash Mabie was quickly becoming my own personal brand of lidocaine.

  I stared at that wall for several minutes but never painted a single word. Instead, my eyes stayed locked on that single solitary line.

  I drew in a deep breath, releasing it on a laugh.

  “Shit. You’re smiling,” she cursed when she reappeared at my side.

  I turned to face her. “It happens sometimes,” I teased, but her eyes flashed to the ground in the most unlike-Ash way possible. It immediately set me on alert.

  “Are you okay?” I asked, looking over her shoulder.

  “Yeah, I’m fine, but I have something to tell you, but um . . . I’d really like to try something first.” She began to chew on her bottom lip.

  “Ash . . . what’s going on?” I asked as I heard Max cussing around the corner.


  “I really want to kiss you,” she rushed.

  My lips tipped in a smile. Oh, I had plans to be doing far more than just kissing her, but right then, I really fucking loved that she had ideas of her own.

  “Okaaaay. Right after you tell me what has you all worked up, I’ll see what I can do to make that happen.” I caught sight of Donna peeking her head around the corner and jumping away as soon as we made eye contact.

  “You’re gonna be pissed though,” she whined and then let out a loud huff. “I don’t have enough time to make you laugh again. You have no idea how much work that is.”

  I narrowed my eyes at her.

  “So, really, it’s now or never.” She took a step forward.

  I leaned away. “Tell me what the hell is going on,” I demanded when the way she was acting began to unnerve me.

  Her shoulders fell. “Quarry’s drunk. He and Max were playing cards and betting shots. Well . . . it appears Q sucks.”

  “What!” I exclaimed, backing up and knocking the cans of spray paint over.

  “He kinda just puked . . . all over himself.”

  “We’ve been here an hour!” I yelled at her as if it were somehow her fault my brother was a raving idiot.

  “Like I said, he’s apparently really bad.”

  “Son of a bitch,” I mumbled to myself as I pushed past her.

  Sure as shit, I found my fourteen-year-old, tattooed brother covered in his own puke and laughing about it while he was sitting on a cardboard box with a homeless man.

  I had two options.

  As I looked up at Ash, who was nervously toying with her hair next to me, I realized I was really fucking sick and tired of my default choice.

  “Ash, help me get some towels out of the van,” I snapped. “Do not let him out of your sight,” I said to Max, who was laughing at whatever the hell Q was slurring.

  Max saluted then replied, “Not a problem.”

  I headed to where we had parked in the alley behind the condemned buildings.

  “I’m sorry,” Ash whined. “In Max’s defense, Quarry does not look fourteen.”

  “He doesn’t look twenty-one either!” I shouted over my shoulder.

  She groaned, but her footsteps continued to crunch against the gravel behind me.

  After using the remote to open the sliding door, I went to the passenger’s side, maneuvering myself in the tight space between the door and the building.