His amber eyes glowed from the distance as he stood there, waiting for me to come to him.
And I did.
It was like I was floating too.
Which was pathetic.
My eyes fought on what to stare at first, last, and most.
His tattoos were so pretty. I wanted to know everything about them.
But before that…
I pointed at him. “Hey. Fuck you for what you did. You know?”
“And what did I do, angel?” he asked.
“You know what you did. Don’t act fucking tough about it.”
Ash didn’t make a move or a face. He didn’t flinch.
Even when I got closer to him.
“Nice truck,” I said. “Would suck if someone scratched it.”
“Yeah, it would,” he said. “Got anything to scratch it with? Have at it. Write your name, Belle. So I never forget it.”
“Don’t push at me, Ash. That was a dick move. You took something private of mine and gave it to Miss Whitaker? Really?”
“You like to write.”
“So what?”
“She’s got a class for it,” he said. “I consider it a favor.”
“I don’t. You could have helped me clean up the mess you made.”
“First off, angel, it was a few books,” Ash said. “And second, I did offer. You refused to beg.”
“Because I’m not one of these stupid girls with their tongues wagging at you.”
That finally got a reaction out of Ash.
He half smirked. “All the more to figure the rest of it out.”
“Figure what out?” I asked.
“Everything I want to know about you,” he said. “Jump in. I’ll give you a ride.”
“I have a car,” I said. “Much nicer than this truck.”
“Your car. Right. I’m sure you paid for it.”
“And you paid for this?” I asked.
“See, now you want to get to know me,” Ash said. “There’s more than one way to break the ice, Belle.”
He reached for his truck and stepped up.
“Wait,” I said.
He turned his head and looked down at me.
I was about eye level with his ass.
Which wasn’t a bad thing…
“Don’t fucking touch my stuff ever again,” I said. “I’ll do more than scratch your truck. I’ll blow it up. I’ll take it back to where I’m from and let anyone who wants, to strip it for parts.”
“Deal,” Ash said.
He stepped back down and stood inches from me.
The smell of his cologne was so good.
Not that skunk like crap Grayson and the others would wear.
It was subtle yet… good.
“You can thank me some other time, angel.”
“For what?” I asked.
“For saving you. From everything.”
“Oh, right. You stole something from me and turned it into something amazing. My fucking hero. Spare me, Ash. Or are you going to tell me you saved me from your brother and Uly?”
“Stepbrother,” Ash said. “Keep the facts straight. And Uly? Enjoy that one. Don’t act so surprised when you find out…”
Ash’s beautiful amber eyes moved from mine.
I quickly turned my head.
“Shit,” he said.
“Shit,” I whispered.
I kind of didn’t want my moment with Ash to come to an end.
But we both had no choice.
Uly and Hil were standing nose to nose, not too far away, ready to fight.
I tried to run but Ash grabbed my arm.
“Easy, angel,” he said. “Let them work it out.”
“Why?”
“That’s some old, dirty blood there,” he said. “Believe me.”
“Tell me what that means and I won’t go over there.”
“Come here and enjoy the show,” he whispered.
His hand slipped around the front of my body.
As he pulled me, I stepped back.
I looked down at his tattoos.
There were bright and pretty orange fish on his forearm. Along with an array of blues and reds, plus what looked like purple flowers.
My left hand touched his arm, tracing the line of the body of one of the fish.
I was on fire.
Not literally - duh - but from the inside…
“What do these mean?” I asked Ash.
“You’ll find out soon enough,” he said. “Just like everything else.”
I blinked fast and came back to reality.
Uly pointed to Hil’s hand and screamed right in his face.
“Fight your own fucking battles!”
Hil lifted his other hand and put his fist to Uly’s face.
Uly laughed and nodded.
I could read his lips.
Do it. Hit me.
I pulled Ash’s hand away.
“Belle,” he growled.
“No,” I said. “This is my fault.”
I ran toward them.
But I was two steps too late.
Hil pushed his fist against Uly’s jaw to make his head snap back.
Uly already knew his move, bringing up a fist that connected with Hil’s bottom lip.
“Stop!” I yelled.
The two attacked each other then.
They were wrapped up and almost wrestling, putting each other in headlocks, trying to throw each other to the ground. Honestly, it wasn’t much of a fight at all. Almost like they didn’t want to fight but didn’t know what else to do.
“Stop!” I yelled again.
It didn’t work the first time, why would it work now, Belle?
I didn’t know.
I didn’t know what else to do.
Ash breezed by me, about to join the fun.
I pictured him and Hil ganging up on Uly.
I started to run too.
Ash jumped off his feet and slammed his knees into both Hil and Uly.
It was like he was going to jump over them.
I covered my mouth.
I had never seen someone jump that high before.
Hil fell to the ground.
Uly stumbled back but was far from being done.
The anger that swept across his face told me he was ready to fight Ash in the way he wouldn’t have with Hil.
As Uly charged, Ash put a hand out and grabbed him by his shirt.
“That’s enough,” he ordered.
He looked at Hil and pointed. “You too. Fucking idiot.”
“It’s his problem,” Hil said.
“Fuck you,” Uly said. “Find your own fight to win. Don’t go after my seconds.”
Hil wiped his bottom lip and got back to his feet.
That’s when I noticed something.
Hil was wearing two necklaces.
They had been tucked into his shirt.
One necklace a guitar pick. Kind of like Uly’s but not really. It was a different color. A bright green color. And the other necklace?
It was a ring.
Again, kind of like Uly’s but not really.
Still… both Hil and Uly wore two necklaces… why?
Hil fixed his leather jacket and when he saw me staring at him he hurried to tuck his necklaces back into his shirt.
Then he walked toward me, grinning, his bottom lip still bleeding a little.
“Knew that would piss him off,” he said to me. “He doesn’t like when I have to show up and finish what he’s started.”
“Hil, I said that’s enough,” Ash called out.
Hil showed his hands. “I better get going, beauty. Don’t want the family dinner routine to get even more awkward. Me and Ash throwing punches over the roasted duck…”
He laughed and backed away, reaching into his leather jacket for a cigarette.
I turned my head and saw Uly staring at me.
“Walk away,” Ash said.
Uly shoved Ash back. “Don’t fucking touch me, Ash. You w
alk away first.”
Ash did just that.
As he walked by me, he glanced down at me. “This is where you get into my truck and make the right decision, angel.”
“I can’t… I don’t know…”
That was all Ash needed to hear.
He breezed right by me and got into his truck.
When he started it, the engine was the same hungry lion growl as Hil’s motorcycle.
He took off, the back wheels screaming for a few seconds.
“What the hell was that about?” I asked Uly.
“I told you I was going to handle it,” he said to me. “Just needed to talk shit out.”
“That wasn’t talking shit out.”
“Don’t worry about it, doll,” Uly said.
“I am worried about it. Was that about me?”
“Belle, are you okay?”
I turned my head and Danica approached slowly.
Her eyes kept moving to Uly like he was an animal about to attack.
“Of course that was about you, Belle,” Uly said. “Everything is going to be about you now. That’s the way it goes. They chose you. And I was the one who chose you first. So let the war begin, doll.”
“War?” I asked. “There is no war. Not for me. I’m not worth anything…”
Uly closed in on me and slid his hands to my face. “Oh, trust me, you are. With everything going on around here right now… you’re perfect. So fucking perfect, Belle. Don’t let those two sway you too much. I haven’t even shown you what I’m capable of. But I can see your new friend here is worried about you. I’ll see you around real soon, doll.”
Uly brushed his nose against mine and then walked away.
I stood frozen, begging to look at Danica.
When I did, her eyes were wide and her face was white.
“What did I just do?” I whispered.
“Belle…”
“This is all my fault,” I said. “I didn’t mean… I don’t know… they’re going to hurt each other trying to get to me. They’re… they’re everything. Danica…”
She faced me and put her hands to my shoulders. “Are you okay to drive?”
“I think so,” I said.
“Good. I’ll go grab Lizzy and meet you at your place. It’s time.”
“Time? Time for what?” I asked.
Danica swallowed hard. “It’s time for you to hear something about Them.”
twelve
I came home to no Jo.
Which wasn’t a surprise but I was hoping to see her. Even for a second. Just to know she was alive. Just to know where I was. The part of why felt scrambled, and a part of me wanted to ask her about Them.
She had to have some information about Uly, Hil, and Ash. And their parents too. Everything. Something. Anything.
The entire thing made no sense to me.
Why they were so interested in me.
Uly had saved me from Ryan and his asshole goon friends. That was one thing. But then for Ash and Hil to want to step in? Well, Ash didn’t step in on that. But still… taking a page from my notebook and giving it to Miss Whitaker? Why? Did he read it? Did he like it? Did Ash secretly write poetry or something?
And then Hil wearing the same necklaces as Uly.
And the way they fought… there was anger there. A lot of it. Maybe even a little hate. But they didn’t exactly try to rip each other’s faces off. It was more like… brothers fighting.
I paced outside, waiting for Danica and Lizzy to show up.
When they did, I laughed at the sight of Danica’s ride.
It was this red color SUV with the windows down, sunroof open, some kind of rock music blaring from the speakers. Her hair danced out of the driver’s side window and she pulled up to the bottom of the steps.
The passenger door opened and out climbed Lizzy.
Wearing a hoodie, with the hood up, and giant black sunglasses on her face.
“That must be one hell of a flu, huh?” I asked.
“I was napping,” she said. “And this bitch woke me up and said we had to come here. I’m not in the mood for this.”
She stomped up the steps and went right by me.
“Hey to you too,” I said.
Danica sat in the driver’s seat, her hands hitting the steering wheel as the song blared on. She looked at me and held up one finger.
When the song ended, she got out and shut the door.
“Sorry,” she said to me. “I can’t leave when a song is playing.”
“What?”
“It’s a thing of mine. I have to finish the song. Or else it’ll be stuck in my head.”
“That’s weird,” I said. “And I didn’t take you for a rock n’ roll fan.”
“Why not?” Danica asked. “You think I like that prissy pop bullshit stuff?”
I showed my hands. “Whoa. Sorry.”
She smiled. “I’m kidding. I like everything. Lizzy hates that rock stuff. I put that on to piss her off. Must be nice to just sleep all day.”
“Yeah. Compared to my day…”
I forced a fake smile.
Danica put her arm around me. “Come on, let’s go. Time to get your heart racing and breaking at the same time.”
I opened my mouth, ready to ask what that meant, but I held off.
It wasn’t worth it.
Just inside the front door was Lizzy.
Pouting, arms crossed, her hood down, hair messy.
“Hope nobody we know shows up,” she said.
“I called everyone to come over,” Danica said. “Plus, messy hair… that’s like a hint at fucking, right?”
“It is?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Danica said. “Showing off what your hair will look like after getting crazy between the sheets.”
Lizzy let out a groan. “You’ve been listening to that old rock music too much. That’s all they ever sing about. And didn’t the dudes back then look like girls too? Hair metal… what is that?”
Danica grinned at me. “Told you she hated it.”
I led the way to my bedroom.
My face was warm the entire time, hearing them both make comments about how amazing Jo’s house was. It made me uncomfortable because this wasn’t my house. Not even my bedroom really… If they wanted to see where I lived, they’d probably end up burning all their clothes and shoes after walking through the apartment one time.
“Look at these fucking doors,” Danica said. “Fucking awesome…”
She opened the French doors and ran into my bedroom.
“Nice place,” Lizzy said to me. “I’d still run though. After what happened today… I tried to tell you…”
“Save it for in here,” Danica yelled. “Holy shit, look at this window!”
I entered the bedroom last and stood awkwardly as Danica pulled Lizzy by her arm around the room, pointing out every little feature.
Then Danica finally pointed to the flat screen TV on the wall.
“Surround sound?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I said.
“Good,” she said. “Turn it on. I’ll hook my phone up to it quick. You need to hear something before we talk.”
“Why?”
“Oh, damn, Belle, just listen to her,” Lizzy said. “I’m not in the mood for two hundred questions. Okay? Listen to their song and then let us explain some stuff.”
“Whose song?” I asked.
Lizzy groaned and plopped down on the daybed. “Just tell her, Danica.”
“Well, that ruins the fun,” Danica said. “But fine. To answer some of the stuff going through your head… Uly and Hil were really close at one time. I’m talking like brothers close. But they’re not brothers.”
“Okay… so what were they?” I asked.
“Band members,” Lizzy said.
“Band members?” I asked. “Like…”
“A band,” Danica said. “They had a band. Just them two though. Ash couldn’t play an instrument if his life depended on it.”
; “Wait… the guitar pick necklaces,” I said. “So both Uly and Hil play guitar?”
“And piano,” Danica said. “A couple other things too. I don’t know. But, yeah, they were in a band together. It didn’t have an actual name though. Someone started calling them Uze which was to make fun of the Rulz…”
“Got it,” I said. “I keep hearing about the Rulz.”
“Stupid fucking East vs. West shit,” Lizzy said. “And now Uly is kicking that back up. He wants to take them all on himself. That’s just to stick it to Hil and Ash.”
“Why?” I asked. “What do they have that Uly wants? The Rulz, I mean.”
“Maybe happiness,” Danica said. “Their new girl over there… Tina?”
“Tinsley,” Lizzy said. “Don’t play stupid. You know who that bitch is. And you know who she lives with. That’s as crazy and as shady as you can get. She’s tied right into Brooks Crest, among other things. Believe me. My parents talk about it all the time. All the legal stuff waiting to collapse around her.”
“Around Tinsley?” I asked.
“No,” Danica said. “Claire. But that’s not why we’re here.”
“Claire…” I shook my head. “This is crazy. I thought you all just spent money, went to the beach, and made fun of poor people.”
“That’s on the weekends,” Lizzy said as she stuck her nose and her right pinky into the air.
I waved my middle fingers at her. “Bitch.”
“Okay, listen to me, Belle,” Danica said. “Uly and Hil had a band together. It was their attack against this town and BFH. The rebels with guitars. Who smoked.”
“And were smoking hot,” Lizzy said.
“Still are if you ask me,” I said.
Lizzy puckered her lips and kissed the air.
I showed her my middle fingers again.
“They were really good,” Danica said. “Really popular. There was even talk of them actually becoming big. Famous and all of that. They had people interested in them.”
“How does Ash play into this?” I asked.
“Soon,” Danica said. “First… listen…”
I stepped back and sat down on the corner of my bed.
Danica touched the screen of her phone and the speakers that were positioned perfectly through my room came to life.
The echoed thud of the body of the guitar hitting a microphone made me jump.
Then came laughing.
I knew those voices.
“Fucking almost broke the guitar,” Uly’s voice said.
NOT SO Innocent (Bay Falls High Book 4) Page 12