On The Ropes Series Box Set

by Aly Martinez

  Finally she came bouncing around the corner, laughing with the once disgruntled DMV employee. “You just let me know when. You can borrow his car anytime,” Ash told the woman, flashing her eyes to Quarry.

  “Hey!” he quickly shifted Mia back to her seat and rushed to retrieve his keys. “You pass?”

  “Psh, did I pass?” She gave him a disgusted look. “Tonya didn’t even make me take the test. We just took turns pulling the parking brake and sliding into the parallel parking spot.”

  Q snatched the keys from her hand. “Shut up. You did not.”

  I pushed to my feet and joined them. “You pass?”

  “You’re in a suit,” she squeaked.

  “How many more times are you going to say that?”

  “You’re in a suit.”

  Shifting my weight to one arm, I wrapped the other around her waist. “Are you stuck on repeat?”

  “I’m not sure. Get naked and let’s see.”

  “Jesus, woman. Just answer the question.”

  She grabbed my tie and pulled my head down, whispering in my ear, “I think we should celebrate my brand spanking new driver’s license by having sex in your back seat.” I smiled down at her when she added, “This. Suit.” I let out a loud laugh. Pointedly nodding toward my zipper, she let me know just how serious she was.

  “All right. Keep your pants on,” I said, backing out of her grasp.

  The woman at the camera station called her name. “I’ll be right back.” She sauntered away, swaying her ass and ensuring that as soon as I got to the bottom of the whole birthday lie, I’d be using the suit to my full advantage.

  * * *

  Ash

  “You seriously took the rest of the day off?” I asked when Flint surprised me by climbing out of the car instead of just dropping me off at home.

  He unlocked the front door and swung it open. “Yep. I told you, big deal.”

  “You called in after you saw how much I loved the suit, huh?” I made a show of checking him out before walking inside.

  “I mean, that didn’t hurt. But I’m more interested in why you’re lying to me,” he replied with a hard edge to his voice.

  I spun to look at him. “What?”

  He closed the distance between us, stopping only inches in front of me. “Your birthday is March eighteenth,” he stated definitively. “But I can’t for the life of me figure out why the hell you would lie to me about that.”

  “Uh, ’cause maybe I’m not lying,” I snapped, taken aback by his accusation.

  “Bullshit. I saw your birth certificate when you were taking your driving test. You are lying and I want to know why. Now.”

  I loved bossy Flint. I actually even loved angry Flint. But asshole Flint made me want to resort to violence. Fortunately for him, he was still wearing that suit.

  “So let me get this straight. You see something that’s different than what I’ve told you and your immediate conclusion is that I’m lying to you? You don’t ask me about it. You just jump straight to liar. Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

  “You did lie to me! You point blank told me that your birthday was in April.”

  “My birthday is in April!” I yelled, quickly losing my temper.

  “Stop fucking saying that. Your birthday was last week. What the hell are you trying to hide from me?”

  I blinked at him blankly. “Are you kidding me here? Now I’m hiding shit from you?” I said incredulously, a little bit hurt. Okay, a lot hurt.

  “I don’t know! That’s exactly what I’m trying to figure out!”

  “There is nothing to figure out!” Taking a step away, I closed my eyes and attempted a calming breath. “Listen, you’re acting like an asshole right now. Let me know when you want to talk. I’m happy to explain but I’m not sitting here listening to you toss out accusations.” I turned and stomped to our bedroom, slamming the door behind me.

  So maybe I was acting like an asshole too. I was hurt, though. Flint was the one person who knew my buttons. Yet, like a little kid on an elevator, he was standing in front of me pushing every single one of them.

  I collapsed onto our bed, toeing my shoes off then kicking them off the edge. I groaned to myself when I heard his steps against the hall’s hardwood floor. I needed a few minutes to collect myself and get rid of the bitter taste he had left in my mouth. The door slowly opened, but he didn’t come inside.

  Propping himself against the doorjamb, he said, “You’re right.”

  “I know I am,” I snarked back.

  “For what it’s worth, I wasn’t assuming it was some nefarious plot or anything. I thought maybe you had lied to keep some distance between us when you first got back. I don’t know. That doesn’t even really make sense.” He ran his fingers through his hair, then used his hand to comb it back into place. “It’s just . . . I missed your birthday and now I feel like a dick.”

  “Are you ready to listen now, instead of jumping to conclusions?” I asked, sitting up and crossing my legs underneath me.

  He looked down sheepishly. “Yeah.”

  “You didn’t miss my birthday, Flint. My mother killed herself on March eighteenth, so when I was a kid, I picked a new day to celebrate.”

  His head shot up. “Shit,” he breathed, becoming unstuck and walking to the bed to join me.

  “As far as I’m concerned my birthday is April eighteenth. I wasn’t lying to you, but the fact that you automatically assumed I was. . . .” I trailed off.

  He cupped my jaw to force my eyes to his. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know.”

  “But that’s exactly the problem. There’s a lot of stuff you don’t know, Flint. You can’t always assume I’m lying or hiding shit from you every time a new truth comes out.”

  The bed dipped under his weight as he settled on the edge. “I want to know everything about you Ash. I should have known something as big as March eighteenth.” He leaned forward, kissing me all too briefly.

  “Look, we’ve been back together for two months. The get-to-know-you portion of this relationship is not going to happen overnight.”

  He lifted his eyebrows. “Sage advice from a woman who has only been in one relationship.” He smiled, kissing me again.

  “Meh. I read a lot of romance novels.”

  His head snapped back. “Do you really?” he asked skeptically. “Seriously, or are you fucking with me?”

  “No. I really do. The dirtier the better.” I shrugged.

  His eyes flashed wide as he fell back against the bed, laughing. “How the hell did I not know that?”

  “You never asked!” I defended.

  Grabbing my arm, he tugged me down, juggling me into our position.

  Sighing, he kissed the top of my head. “What else should I know about you?”

  “Well, my favorite color is neon green, but only for accessories. You’ll never catch me in a neon green shirt or dress. I prefer black with splashes of color. My favorite flavor anything is apple, but I hate actual apples. I love olives of all colors and prefer vanilla over chocolate.” I paused to tap on the corner of my mouth. “I feel like I’m missing something.”

  “Maybe the important stuff.” He squeezed me tightly.

  “I can’t tell you the important stuff, Flint. That kinda comes out randomly. Hell, the stuff you think is important might not even be the important stuff to me. But the good news is I’m here for forever, so long as you stop making assumptions, time is something we have.” I pushed up on an elbow and pressed a kiss to his jaw.

  Turning his head, he captured my mouth. “I love you.”

  “I know you do.”

  “And I’m sorry. You can have whatever birthday you want.”

  I kissed him more deeply then moved to straddle his waist. “What if I want my birthday to be today?”

  “Sorry, no can do.” He suddenly sat up, knocking me to the side as he scooted toward the edge.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Shopping. I just found out my
girl has a fetish for suits.”

  I chased him off the bed, catching him just before he was able to retrieve his crutches. “Well then, why don’t you let her enjoy this one, then go shopping.” I dropped to my knees in front of him, only to be lifted right back to my feet.

  “Because torturing her with a day at the mall then fucking her to sleep sounds like more fun.” He winked.

  I would have argued, but it did sound like fun.

  I could live with that.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Flint

  Three weeks later . . .

  “HAPPY BIRTHDAY,” I SAID, PULLING a little black velvet box from my pocket and placing it on the table after we finished lunch.

  I’d wanted to take her somewhere nice, but in true Ash fashion she’d picked a greasy burger joint with paper menus. It was her birthday though. If she wanted burgers and milkshakes, then damn it, I would make sure my girl got them.

  “Oh my God,” she breathed, staring at the box as if I’d just unleashed a venomous snake. “I can’t open that.”

  I nudged it a little closer. “Yeah, you can.”

  Tears filled her eyes. “Flint.”

  “Just open it.”

  She shook her head and bit her lips.

  “Ash, open it.”

  “No!” she yelled then pleaded into my eyes, “Are you sure? Like really really sure?”

  I smiled, pushing the box even closer. “I’m positive, Ash. Absolutely positive.”

  She looked back down, sucking in a deep breath before extending a shaky hand to pick it up. “I love you,” she whispered.

  “I love you too,” I replied, waiting for her reaction as she slowly pried it open.

  Staring down with tears in her eyes she exclaimed, “You asshole!”

  I burst out laughing. “Ash, baby, we’ve been together for three months. Did you really think I was going to propose at a burger joint on your twentieth birthday?”

  “No!” she snapped, then looked away and mumbled, “Maybe.”

  I continued laughing, but took her hand and lifted it to my lips.

  “I’m glad you think this is funny,” she bit out, pulling the silver dog bone from the box. “What is this?”

  “One step at a time, speedy. I figured maybe we could get a dog until you’re old enough to legally drink at your own wedding.”

  “Just so you know, there was no guarantee that I was going to say yes.”

  “You cried.”

  “So?”

  I winked and pulled the box from her hand. “You were gonna say yes.”

  She rolled her eyes then laughed. “I was totally going to say yes.”

  “That’s really fucking good to know for future reference.” I reached back into my pocket and her eyes grew wide again. “Oh God, stop! It’s not a ring.” I revealed a small pink collar and twisted the silver dog bone onto the loop. Her shoulders fell and I laughed all over again. “I should not have started with that damn box. I had no idea that you would assume it was a ring.”

  I’d known with 100 percent certainty she would think it was a ring. Ash had found the engagement ring I’d bought her while she was snooping around my office at On The Ropes. I knew because she put it back in the box upside down, and then spent the rest of the day tearing up every time she so much as looked in my direction. I got the best sex of my life that night. She rained I love yous over my entire body, focusing the majority of her attention on my cock.

  I got hard just thinking about it.

  “I thought we could go pick out a puppy. I’ve never had a dog, and I figured maybe you’d want one. But. . . . I mean, if you don’t—”

  “No! I do. I really do,” she interrupted, snatching the collar from my fingers.

  “Are you sure, because you didn’t seem too excited?”

  Leaning over the table she planted a kiss on my lips. Tucking the empty box into her purse, she said, “Let’s go get a dog.”

  * * *

  I drove Ash to a pet store where I had full intentions of buying her a small and fluffy lap dog—something yippy that she could fawn all over. However, she refused to even go inside, stating that there were plenty of dogs at the animal shelter just waiting for a new home. So after a quick search on my phone, we were on our way to the adoption center at the local pound. Ash painfully paced up and down the rows of caged animals, apologizing to each and every one for not being able to take them home, before finally settling on the ground in front of a Chihuahua puppy. She sat there for several minutes, poking her fingers through the chain link and letting him chew on the tips.

  “You want that one, baby?” I asked when she started to push to her feet.

  She pointed to the dog next door. “No, I want that one.”

  “No,” I said firmly, even though I knew exactly how worthless it truly was.

  “Yep.”

  “No,” I repeated.

  “Yes, that’s our dog. Isn’t he handsome?” she cooed.

  “Damn it, Ash. I said a puppy.”

  She cocked her head to the side and folded her arms over her chest. “It’s my birthday. You don’t get to argue with me on my birthday.”

  I let out a huff, knowing she had a point. With a groan, I turned to the woman who worked there and said, “We’ll take him.”

  Ash clapped, bouncing on her toes as they began preparing the adoption paperwork on a sixty -pound, three-legged basset hound named Julio.

  “I can not believe you picked that dog,” I mumbled an hour later while we stood waiting for our brand new bundle of slobber to be brought out.

  “Don’t you dare talk about Julio. He’s perfect.” She hugged me.

  “We’re going to have to buy him a new collar. I don’t think this one is gonna fit.” I pulled the pink collar from my pocket, accidently on purpose dropping a black velvet box to the ground. “Shit,” I cursed. Her back went stiff. “Damn it, you weren’t supposed to see that yet.”

  “Flint,” she whispered, bending over to pick it up.

  “Well, I guess it’s too late now.” I kissed her forehead. “Happy birthday, Ash.”

  Her eyes sparkled with tears as she slowly opened the box. “You asshole!” she declared for the second time that day, lifting a Volkswagen key from the box.

  I burst out laughing all over again. “What? You thought that one was a ring too?”

  “I hate you,” she mumbled, then joined me in laughter. “You got me a car?”

  “I’m getting busy at the gym and it’s becoming harder to match up our schedules so I can run you around all the time. Plus, you can’t drive mine because of the hand pedals. This just made sense.”

  She threw her arms around my neck. “I’ve never had my own car!”

  “It’s pretty sweet too,” I told her proudly. “Go see if Julio is ready and let’s go home and check it out. Q and Mia should have dropped it off by now.”

  Pushing to her toes, she placed a lingering kiss on my lips. “Thank you. For Julio, for my car, for you.”

  “For me?”

  “Yeah, especially for you.” She kissed me again before skipping away to the front desk.

  I should have been the one thanking her.

  * * *

  “What the fucking hell is that?” Quarry asked when we arrived back at the house.

  Ash struggled to lift the dog out of the back of the car. “His name is Julio and shut your face . . . and your hands,” she snapped.

  He’s adorable! Mia signed, settling on the driveway where Julio promptly covered her in sloppy kisses. I never in a million years would have chosen that dog, but he definitely made it easy to see why Ash did.

  I looked over at Quarry, who was watching Mia’s tongue bath in disgust. I wolf whistled to grab his attention. “Where’s her car?”

  His eyes slid to Ash. “Shhhh.”

  “She already knows, jerkoff. Now where is it?”

  He tipped his head toward the garage.

  Using the panel on the outside wall, I
typed in the code to automatically open the door.

  Ash’s head popped up as the garage door lifted. Nestled inside our garage was a black convertible Volkswagen Beetle with a custom license plate that read: Wheelz.

  Much to my dismay there was already some asshole who’d claimed wheels. My eye twitched when the lady at registration suggested substituting the z. I eventually succumbed to the pressure.

  “Shut up.” She stood up, tossing Julio’s leash to Mia, and then jogged over. “Shut up,” she repeated, snatching open the door to reveal the custom neon-green floor mats that had cost a mint.

  I didn’t have a ton of money, but she needed a car, and I wanted her first one to be something she loved. Ash deserved to have something that was all her own. Not a hand me down or something she picked up on sale. She deserved something that was created custom for the crazy woman who would be driving it. Well, actually she deserved more, but it would take time for me to give her that. Thankfully, according to Ash, time was the one thing we had plenty of.

  “Flint, this is too much,” she said, gripping the steering wheel and running her hands over the dash.

  I rounded the hood to the passenger side. “Christ, this thing is tiny,” I complained, attempting to fold my body inside.

  “I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but can you . . . I mean, can we . . . afford this?”

  I smiled at her concern. “I put a chunk down, then we’ll make the payments. It might cut into my suit budget, but we’ll survive,” I teased, but for quite possibly the first time since I’d known her, Ash didn’t laugh at all.

  “I don’t know what to say. I mean, you told me you bought me a car, but . . . I just didn’t expect. . . .”

  “Expect what?” I asked, popping open the glove compartment and retrieving a small black velvet box.

  She swallowed hard when she saw it. “I’m not even going to get excited this time.”

  “You should probably get excited, Ash,” I said, offering her the box.

  “Stop,” she whispered, warily taking it from my hands.

  Staring deeply into her eyes, I urged, “Open it.”

  Nervously chewing on her bottom lip, she popped open the top.