On The Ropes Series Box Set

by Aly Martinez

  Then I ducked as she hurled it at me.

  “Son of a bitch!” she screamed.

  I roared with laughter. “What is your problem?” I said, snatching the long balloon that she’d found inside the box from her hands and blowing it up.

  “You told me to get excited. Now you’re just being mean.”

  I tied off the end of the balloon and handed it to her. “You should be excited. There’s a clown in the backyard waiting to make that into whatever animal you can possibly think of.”

  Her glare softened as a smile grew on her mouth. “A clown? Seriously!”

  “I remember I kinda hijacked you from the one at Blakely’s party. Figured I should start making that up to you.”

  She quickly scrambled from the car, pausing only long enough to say, “Stop fucking with me, but I love you.” Not bothering to wait for me, she sprinted out the back door.

  Climbing back up on my crutches, I chuckled when I heard her scream as all of the guests hiding in the backyard shouted, “Surprise!”

  I didn’t follow her out the door though.

  I needed a minute.

  Sucking in a breath, I filled my lungs with every bit of the future I never thought I would have. Then, closing my eyes, I became lost in the present I never wanted to leave. Five years earlier, I would have never been able to imagine a day when the constant fight finally became worth it.

  Maybe she was the reason for the struggle all along.

  I remembered it all.

  I heard the gun.

  I felt the bullet.

  I saw her fall.

  In less than a second, my life as I knew it was over.

  But unquestionably, I would do it all over again.

  For her.

  “Don’t you dare hide in here. The clown just handed me a little black box.” My eyes popped open as she stood smiling in the doorway with the bright afternoon sun lighting her from behind.

  “Yeah, about that,” I said, starting in her direction. “You should probably stay out of the bounce house.”

  “Flint!” she squealed as I crushed my mouth over hers.

  For Ash.

  Chapter Thirty

  Ash

  “DID YOU HAVE FUN TODAY?” Flint asked as we lay in the weeds, staring up at the night sky.

  Rolling off his shoulder, I propped myself on an elbow facing him. “Fun would be the understatement of the century. I can’t even begin to tell you how amazing today was.” I paused. “Even your stupid boxes.”

  That day was easily one of the best of my entire life. Flint had gone above and beyond throwing me a birthday party in the back yard. Most twenty-year-old women would have scoffed at how juvenile it all was, but not me. From the clown to the bounce house right down to all of the people who came and covered a table with gifts, it was perfect.

  With the exception of the occasional cake my father had bought when I was a kid, I’d never had a birthday party.

  I’d also never had a car.

  Or a dog.

  Or a man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.

  Yet, suddenly, I had them all.

  Flint’s chest shook with humor as he pulled me back down. “You know, for a girl who laughs as much as you do, you sure didn’t act like those boxes were very funny.”

  “Oh, shut up.”

  He scooted out from under me and rolled to his side. “Also, for a woman who spent her formidable years pickpocketing and hustling for your father, you sure weren’t very careful when you put that engagement ring back in the box after finding it in my desk.” He popped a knowing eyebrow.

  Shit!

  “You knew?” I squeaked.

  He winked. “I know everything, Ash.”

  I slapped him on his chest. “I panicked, okay? I heard you coming back from lunch so I just threw it in there.”

  “Sounds like an excuse to me,” he teased, reaching out to grope my ass—a grope I quickly returned.

  Smirking, he held my gaze until I got up the courage to say, “Sooooo . . . about that ring?”

  “I’m glad you asked.” Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out yet another little black box. I’d seen the bulge in his pocket earlier but I’d seen so many of them over the course of the day that it didn’t even excite me anymore. Actually, that’s a lie. Each one excited me, but I’d given up hope that any of them actually contained a ring.

  Until he produced that one.

  “Ash, I love—”

  Snatching the box from his hand, I yelled, “Give me that!”

  “Hey!” he objected, but I jumped out of his reach before he could take it back.

  My heart raced as I slowly opened the box revealing. . . .

  “A piece of paper? You have got to be shitting me.” I threw the box at him, but while he did bat it away, he didn’t laugh.

  I glanced between Flint’s serious stare and the tightly folded notebook paper for several beats, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. It wasn’t a ring. But what I couldn’t figure out was why he looked nervous.

  Flint sat all the way up and grabbed his crutches as I unfolded the paper.

  Newsies

  Get shot in the back.

  Become a horrible human being.

  Pineapple banana juice.

  Graffiti a building.

  Fall in love with Ash Mabie.

  Make Ash Mabie fall in love with me.

  Treat her like an asshole.

  Regret it more than anything in my entire life.

  Learn to walk again. (Not in a strawberry field.)

  Buy a house with hopes that she will come home.

  Tear up the grass to make a patch of weeds.

  Chase her to the ends of the earth.

  Make Ash Mabie fall in love with me. Again.

  Get a dog.

  Propose to Ash Mabie.

  Make Ash Mabie Ash Page.

  Spend the rest of my life making sure she never stops laughing.

  My heart stilled and the breath was stolen from my chest. A large lump formed in my throat but my lips split into an impossibly wide smile.

  Propose to Ash Mabie was crossed off.

  Oh my God.

  “Don’t say a single word until you hear me out,” he growled when I finally tore my eyes off the paper in my hands.

  Flint was kneeling in front of me using one of his crutches to balance. I awkwardly laughed, forcing tears that I didn’t know I had produced to spill from my eyes.

  “Ash. . . .” He cleared his throat then started again. “Ash, you’re twenty years old, and we’ve only been back together for a few months. It would be ridiculous to rush into something as big as marriage when we barely even know each other.”

  I opened my mouth to object, but he got there first. “Not a word.”

  “Fine,” I huffed.

  “As I was saying, it would be ridiculous to rush into something when we are still getting to know each other. But the other night, after you fell asleep in my arms, I realized that I knew enough. I know that you’re crazy, and messy, and take great pleasure in screwing with me.” I nodded at his assessment. “I also know you’re one of the kindest and most generous people on this planet. I mean, let’s be serious here, I took you to get a puppy today and you picked the ugliest, most pitiful animal in there.” He swayed his head from side to side. “Which explains a lot about why you’re with me, but it also speaks wonders about who you are as a person.

  “Ash, I know the way you make me feel and I know that I will never in a million years be able to find anyone who could even come close to filling your neon green Converse.” I giggled. “And more than that, I don’t want to. So yeah, this is probably ridiculous, and rash, and reckless, but I also know it’s exactly right.”

  He lifted a square solitaire engagement ring that I immediately recognized. “Ash, I love you. Marry me.”

  I’d always tried to be careful when it came to Flint’s mobility. He could walk with his crutches, but I knew his balance was
still sometimes an issue.

  He had just proposed though. Careful was not in my vocabulary.

  Racing forward, I launched myself into his arms, knocking him down as I fell on top of him. Julio barked from the other corner of the yard and Flint immediately started cussing.

  “Damn it. I dropped your ring.”

  “I don’t care,” I replied, sealing my mouth over his.

  He turned his head and patted the ground above him. “Ash, stop. I can’t find it.”

  “I don’t care,” I repeated, forcing his mouth back to mine.

  He rolled me over. “You better care. That’s your engagement ring and it wasn’t cheap.”

  I groaned as he pulled out his cellphone to use as a flashlight. “You know I can still say no.”

  “Got it!” he exclaimed, looping an arm around my waist to drag me back on top of him. With a huge smile, Flint pecked my lips. “What do you say? You want to spend forever with me?” He lifted the ring between us.

  “I’ll check my schedule,” I smarted, taking the ring from his hands and sliding it on my finger.

  “Your schedule?”

  “Yep,” I answered curtly, admiring the diamond.

  “Ash, stop messing around and say yes,” he growled, causing my smile to once again spread.

  “I’m sorry, Flint, but now that we are getting married, you really should start getting used to me messing around with you.”

  “Well, Ash, you either need to say yes, or get used to me not messing around with you.” He tipped his hips into mine.

  “Oh my God. You’re already threatening to withhold sex.” I laughed as he began tickling me. “Sex is not a weapon!”

  “Say yes,” he demanded as I shifted to flip so I was on top. His eyes warmed as he swept my hair off my shoulder. “Marry me, Ash.”

  Bending down, I rested my hands on his chest. Despite his playful exterior his heart was racing. Brushing my lips across his, I proved once and for all that I was not clairvoyant. Not even my dreams were bold enough to conjure that moment. “Yes,” I whispered.

  Flint’s breath hissed from his lips as his hand gripped the back of my neck and took my mouth in a languid kiss. It didn’t turn frantic or desperate like it usually did with us.

  We didn’t need the rush anymore.

  There was plenty of time in forever.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Flint

  Three years later . . .

  “FLINT! WE NEED TO GO. Eliza just called and she needs a ride to that press conference thingy. Till has to be there early to set up the gym,” Ash yelled up the stairs.

  “Thingy.” I laughed to myself. “I know. We have to go early too,” I replied, closing my computer. Snagging my suit coat off the back of my chair, I grabbed my cane to head out of my home office.

  “What?” she yelled again. “I thought Till and Slate were the only ones that had to be there early?”

  “As his agent, it’s kinda my job to be there.” I gingerly made my way down the stairs to find her standing in the kitchen with a half apron tied around her waist. “Don’t you look like Betty Crocker?” I smirked.

  “Hey, I take my job as head rainbow cupcake maker very seriously.” She blew the hair out of her eyes.

  Using my thumb, I rubbed the flour off the tip of her chin. “I can tell.” Hanging the hook of my cane on the counter, I put my hands under her arms and lifted her to sit on the counter.

  “Don’t knock over my food coloring!” she squealed.

  I glanced over her shoulder, noticing that it was too late for the red. “I’m not,” I lied, taking her mouth. “So did you think any more about our talk this morning?”

  “It was two hours ago . . . and I’ve been baking. So, no.” She pecked my lips.

  “Come on, we can work in a quickie now.” I moved my hand between her legs, rubbing against the seam of her jeans.

  She swatted it away. “One, we have to go. Two, even if I agreed, birth control doesn’t just stop on demand. And three, I’m not conceiving a baby on the counter next to Quarry’s celebratory cupcakes.”

  “Does that mean it’s a yes?” I asked, raking my teeth over the sensitive flesh of her neck.

  She moaned sensually, but pushed me away. “No. It means I’m still thinking. Now, can you let the dogs out while I finish packing up these bad boys?”

  I groaned, accepting my temporary defeat. “Does Q know you made rainbow cupcakes? The media is going to be there, Ash. I’m relatively sure he was assuming you’d make something a little more masculine for his professional boxing announcement.”

  Her mouth fell open in amused outrage. “Of course he doesn’t know! That’s the entire point of making rainbow cupcakes!”

  I shook my head in humor. Some things never changed.

  Heading to the back door, I clapped my hands and called, “Julio. Rico. Let’s go!” Julio came barreling around the corner with our one-eyed pug, Rico, hot on his limping heels.

  Closing the door, I started toward our bedroom to nervously change my tie for the tenth time, when a knock at the door rerouted me.

  “That’s Liv! Can you open that for her? She probably has her hands full,” Ash called, but before I even got to the foyer, Liv had already let herself in.

  “Too slow,” she said, walking in carrying half of a watermelon shaped like a basket. Various fruits were carved into flowers, complete with a pineapple bumblebee on the top.

  “Wow. That is. . . .” I began laughing, unable to complete the thought. “Rainbow cupcakes and a watermelon fruit basket. I see you and Ash have been conspiring.”

  She giggled. “Wait until you see what Eliza had made.”

  “Holy shit, you got her in on it too?”

  She nodded proudly. “Let’s just say, right now, a table-top ice sculpture of Quarry riding a unicorn is out for delivery.”

  My eyes went wide as I gasped, “No way.”

  “Yep,” Ash confirmed, walking over to take the fruit from Liv.

  “You do understand that I’m trying to market him as a professional heavyweight boxer, right?”

  They burst out laughing, throwing each other high fives.

  “You two are horrible. This is his career we’re talking about,” I said sternly as they continued giggling. With a resigned sigh, I gave up on the worthless attempt at a lecture. “Okay, let’s get out of here. I need to see this sculpture.”

  * * *

  Ash

  “Where the fuck is he?” Till boomed as we all huddled in Flint’s office at the gym.

  Eliza paced the floor while Flint ran damage control, assuring the numerous media outlets that Quarry was on his way.

  If he really was though, none of us knew. Quarry was officially two hours late to his own press conference announcing his much awaited transition to professional boxing.

  Over the previous three years Q had dominated every single facet of the amateur boxing world. He’d been widely followed because of his connection to Till and Slate, and Q did not disappoint. He was a virtually untouchable beast who was equally as charismatic inside the ring as he was out of it. Gracing the pages of sports magazines everywhere, he was the new golden boy in professional boxing, even though he had yet to even step in the ring. When Flint scheduled an exclusive press conference months earlier, the boxing community went nuts with hopes and speculation that Quarry would in fact finally make the crossover.

  Hopes that we all shared. Slate had held Quarry back for as long as possible, determined that his rise was not going to be the slow uphill climb Till’s had been. And as much as it ticked Q off, thanks to Slate and Flint, he already had six-figure contracts in the works.

  But that was all assuming we found him.

  “I’m going to kill him. He’s bitched for two years for this, and now his dumbass doesn’t show. That’s it. I’m dropping him. He wants to act like a little fucking prima donna, he can find a new trainer.” Till ran a rough hand through his hair then kicked over an empty chair. I quickly gra
bbed the brick and frame off Flint’s desk, tucking them into his drawer before they ended up broken on the ground.

  Liv came walking back into the room with her father, Leo, right behind her. She nervously knotted her fingers as she said, “Okay, he’s not at his apartment. And no one answered at Mia’s parents’ either. Her car was parked out front though, so I’m pretty sure they’re together.” She shrugged. “I honestly have no idea.”

  “I tried tracking his phone—” Leo said and Till quickly interrupted.

  “Why didn’t you do that two fucking hours ago?” Till’s eyes narrowed in a murderous glare that I thought only Flint possessed.

  Leo stepped toward him, crossing his thick arms over his chest. “It’s dead, jackass. Calm the fuck down. It’s a goddamn press conference. You can always reschedule.”

  But it wasn’t just the press conference. No one had heard from Quarry since he and Mia went out to dinner the night before. Till was worried, and judging by the hole Eliza was pacing in the floor, so was she.

  “Right,” Till bit out, storming past him.

  Just as he got to the door, Johnson came flying around the corner and announced, “We found him. We need to go now.”

  * * *

  Quarry

  “Don’t you fucking touch her!” I yelled through the burn in my lungs. Stepping protectively in front of Mia’s lifeless body, I blocked her from view.

  “I’m not going to ask you to step away again.” I watched his hands form the words but my brain was no longer able to process rational thought.

  No one was taking her from me.

  I sucked in a hard breath then snarled. “Back. The fuck. Up.”

  “You need to leave.”

  My chest heaved as I frantically tried to find a way out of my nightmare, but my mind was riddled with memories of her tiny body seizing in the passenger seat of my car as I rushed her to the hospital. “Fuck you. You’re not touching her. Ever.”

  “Quarry, please. She’s my daughter.”

  “She’s my life!” I roared.

  Her mother stepped forward, tears streaming from her deep jade eyes—Mia’s eyes. “And you think she would have wanted this?” Her words never made it to my deaf ears, but I heard her voice break all the same.