by Toni Aleo
Yup, I’m not a fan of this guy. “Well, this was fun,” I say dryly just as Aiden comes back in the room. I check my phone. “Dude, you ready?”
“Yeah, let me tell Shelli.”
“I didn’t mean to offend you,” Wes tries, and I grin at him.
“No worries, but stay away from my sister.” His eyes widen. I don’t know why it bothers me that he called me dorky. Everyone does. But this dude, he doesn’t even know me. “And Ally.”
“I thought you two weren’t together,” he protests, holding his palms up at me.
I tower over him as I grab my phone. “Doesn’t matter. Stay away, or we’ll have words.”
Did I just threaten a dude for Stella and Ally? What the hell is wrong with me?
He smirks. “We’ll have words?”
Before I can tell him I’ll kick his pretty-boy face in, Aiden comes back into the room. “Ready?”
I give Wes one last look. “Yeah, let’s go.”
Wes laughs. “Dude, your brother threatened me!”
Aiden looks over his shoulder and laughs. “Probably deserved it.”
He did, but as we head out, Aiden asks, “What did he do?”
“He doesn’t want a relationship, but he wants to sleep with Stella and Ally.”
“At the same time?”
I whip my head to him in horror. “Ah, no!”
He grins at me. “Oh well, I bet you didn’t get mad until he said something about Ally.”
I don’t answer that; I just pull out my car keys and then pat my other pocket to make sure the gym key is in there. It’s not. Shit. “Where did I put that key to the gym?” I look through the car, in my cupholder, and it’s not here. “Shit.”
“Did you leave it at your condo?”
Then it hits me. I gave it to Ally to hold for me. “Fuck no, Ally has it. Get in. We gotta catch her before she goes to the movies with NachoFuck.”
Aiden snorts. “NachoFuck. It’s like Not Your Fuck.”
I give him a dry look. “And people call me a dork.”
He grins as he pulls up the navigation. “You’ll need to go through the neighborhoods. There is a wreck on the interstate.”
“Ooh, hopefully that delayed her.”
As I ride, I chew the inside of my cheek. Something is stirring inside me, and I need to get it out. I don’t do well with dwelling. “I can talk to you about anything, right?”
I feel his gaze on my face. “Yes. It’s the truth—this car makes you look like a douche. You should have gotten a truck.”
For fuck’s sake. “Aiden,” I warn, and he laughs.
“Yeah, of course. What’s up?”
I bite my lip, pulling in a breath through my nose. “I’ve always found Ally to be gorgeous.”
“She is.”
“And I’ve always had a little bit of a crush on her.”
“Yeah, I see that.”
“But lately, and I don’t know if it’s because I’m home and she’s in my face, but it’s been stronger than usual.”
“Sure, that makes sense.”
I look over at him. “It does?”
“Yeah,” he says with a shrug. “When you’re around someone you’ve always been attracted to, it’s hard to ignore. I see the way y’all are together, and I know you’ve been fighting it, for obvious reasons. You guys are great friends. But what if you can be more than friends, and your relationship be even greater?”
I slowly nod. “I know her, and I don’t think she feels the same.”
He exhales. “Okay, that could pose a problem.”
“So, I should just keep it moving, right? Like, no sense in messing up a good friendship?”
He doesn’t answer me right away. “I think you need to decide if your friendship with her is enough, or could the possibility that your forever has been right beside you all these years urge you to see what happens.” I swallow hard. “Either way, you can’t go wrong. Take a risk or stay complacent.”
“What would you do?” I find myself asking, and he grins.
“I’m marrying the girl who has loved me her whole life. I wasn’t with her on that because she was always Shea and Elli’s little girl to me. But then she made it really hard to resist her. And when I fell, I fell hard. I risked my career and relationships with our extended family because I realized she was right and she was the one for me. But the thing is, Ash, we’re two different dudes. I love the thrill of fighting for what I want. You like everything planned out for you and easy, which is why you ignored for so long that your fiancée was a lesbian.”
“I didn’t know,” I try, but he shakes his head.
“You knew, but she was low drama. And with Ally, she’s that constant comfortable person. No matter what, she has your back. And why would you risk that for a relationship that could end?” I meet his gaze, and he gives me a knowing look. “The thing is, I know you. You’ll wait to see if she makes a move, and if she doesn’t, you’ll continue wondering if she could possibly be the one.”
His words scare the shit out of me because they’re so true. As I pull onto campus, I don’t answer him. I need to analyze this a bit before I am able to put into words what I am feeling, how his words affect me, and what the hell I want to do.
When we get to Ally’s dorm building, I’m glad to see her car parked in her spot. But what I don’t expect to see is Ally screaming at Taco, her own face clearly red even in the dark and her eyes wild.
“Holy hell, is that the NachoFuck guy?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“Ally is about to kick his ass.”
“My thoughts exactly,” I say as I pull to the curb, not even worried about parking in a space.
I throw my door open just as Taco yells, “Get the fuck out of my face! You ain’t shit.”
“Who the hell is he talking to?” Aiden asks, getting out before me. “I know he isn’t talking to Ally like that.”
Heat burns my skin as I get out of the car. I know what Ally is about to do before she does it. Her palms come up, slamming into his chest, and he falls to the ground. I would cheer her on, but this can’t be good. Not with the way he is looking at her. He gets up quickly since a crowd has gathered. I push through them, Aiden behind me, just in time to see that motherfucking asshole grab Ally by the neck.
My whole body goes taut, I am stunned to silence, and I don’t even hear Aiden yell. I know what is happening. I see it. I see everyone around me, but something isn’t clicking. Did this dude just grab Ally by the neck? It’s like I have tunnel vision, and Taco is at the end of it. If I were Darth Vader, I would choke this bitch-ass dick with the Force. Unfortunately, I’m not, so I do the next best thing.
I slam my fist into his jaw.
I’ve never been in a fight. I’ve only ever wrestled with Aiden, but I know if I were to look at him, Aiden would be proud to see Taco lying on the ground. To my surprise, though, Taco bounces up like one of those inflatable boxing toys and squares up. He wipes his mouth, a few drops of blood dripping down his jaw as his eyes narrow to slits. “Oh, I’ve been waiting for a while to kick your ass.”
“Same here, you bitch.”
He scoffs and lunges at me, catching my chin. I hear my name, but I’m in the zone. I refuse to allow this dude to think he can lay hands on Ally. I throw a punch that he dodges, but I still hit the side of his neck. I throw my left first and get him square in the middle of his throat. He gasps for breath and backs off a bit. His eyes are on fire, but I know mine match. He flings his body at me fully and knocks me back into the grass, landing on top of me. It knocks the air out of me, and then he punches me in the eye.
And fuck, it hurts. Lights go off, and I swear, it feels like he poked my damn eye out with a stick. That doesn’t stop me, though, I somehow swing and get in another blow to his jaw, causing him to fall off me. I go to jump on him, but Aiden is there, pulling me up to my feet, his arms across my chest.
“Whoa there, buddy. Calm down. The campus police are here. Relax.”
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Everything from that moment on is a blur. My adrenaline is flowing like crazy, I can’t see out of my left eye, and I can hardly breathe. I gasp for breath, and soon I’m being questioned by a police officer as I hold my eye. “He said you threw the first punch.”
I nod. “I did.”
“Yes, he did. But he assaulted me and sexually assaulted my cousin,” Ally says, and my good eye widens.
Together, Aiden and I both say, “What?”
Aiden whips his head to where the cops are with Taco, and now, I’m holding him back. Which is very hard with one hand since I’m still trying to make sure my left eye stays in my head. “You motherfucker, your ass is mine!”
Taco laughs, flipping him the bird. “Yeah, I bet it is. You love ass just like your faggot brother, you bitch!”
The cops try to settle everything down, but emotions are high. Our cop, his name is Murphy, sets me with a look. “Do you need medical attention?”
I nod, feeling sorry for myself. “If I say yes, does that mean I lost the fight?”
Murphy looks bored while Aiden scoffs. “Dude, you didn’t lose. It was a tie…that I’ll break!” he says, yelling the last part.
Murphy now sets Aiden with a look. “Do you want to go to jail?”
Aiden backs down as Murphy looks to me. “Go to the ambulance. And you, what’s your name?”
Ally pats her chest as she wraps her arm around Angie. “I’m Allison Titov, and this is Angela Paxton. We want to press charges against him.”
Angie looks terrified, but then Aiden is there, hugging her close to his body as another cop guides me to the ambulance. I don’t hear anything else as I’m being taken care of. I worry for Ally and Angie. I’m also livid about what happened to Angie, but it makes sense. She really had been acting as if something happened that night, and if I had known it was Taco, I would have kicked his ass earlier. I can’t even fathom how he could have hurt Angie—or even more, grabbed Ally by the neck. It doesn’t seem to register. Sure, he’s a fucker, but I never saw him as a threat to two women I care about very much. Soon, though, I can’t think of any of that because the verdict is in, and I need to go to the hospital.
I’m feeling more and more that I may have lost the fight.
The Force may not be present inside me when I need it the most.
When the EMT explained he thought I may have split my cornea, my dorky, weak-stomach self passed out.
The more time that passes, the more I realize I’m not the fighting type.
I bruise like a peach. Shit, I’m more like Ross Geller than I thought.
Because of my little episode, they have me under observation, and the beeping of my heart monitor is driving me fucking crazy. I don’t know why, it means I’m alive, but I know that since I can see out of my right eye as I watch the Jets play the Wild on the TV hanging on the wall. My left eye is hidden behind one wicked-sexy white eye patch.
Not.
I look like a broke-down pirate. Why couldn’t the patch be black?
I somehow lost my phone, so I’m bored out of my mind and I really wish someone were here. I’m worried about Ally and Angie…and my car. Hopefully, Aiden grabbed my car. I really hope Taco is in jail. Though, I heard that if he presses charges, I could go to jail. That would be fantastic. Right when I got a car, a place, and two jobs, bam, I catch a charge.
I’m winning at this adulting bullshit.
More and more, I think I should have stayed in California. For one, I wouldn’t be lusting after my best friend. I wouldn’t have gotten in a fight, and I wouldn’t have an eye that is falling out.
Yes, I’m being dramatic. It’s the meds for pain.
When there is a knock at the door, I look to it just as Ally pops her head in. When she sees me, she sighs deeply and quickly comes over to me. She wraps her arms around me, almost climbing in my lap as she squeezes me. “You left.”
“I really didn’t have a choice. They made me.”
She squeezes me even tighter. “I was so worried.”
I nuzzle my nose in her shoulder, taking in her scent and basking in her softness. “Funny, I was actually just worrying about you and Angie.”
She swallows hard as she pulls back, her knee on the bed between my legs. She rubs my jaw, and her mouth turns down. “They took Taco in. Angie is pressing charges, and he’s pressing charges against you.”
I make a face. “You hit him first, though. Why aren’t you catching charges?”
“It somehow didn’t come up, so I didn’t say anything,” she says, thankful. “I drove your car here, and Aiden stayed with Angie at the police station. Your phone is in the car.”
I take a deep breath as I look up at her. “Are you okay?”
She nods eagerly. “I’m fine. How are you?”
“My eye hurts.”
Tears gather in her eyes. “I’ve never seen you fight.”
“I basically kicked his ass,” I say more confidently than I feel, and she grins. “I know you’re impressed by my manly fighting skills—and now the patch.”
Her grin grows. “I’m in awe of you.”
Her words seem to mean more than she intended, but another knock sounds on the door, and the doctor comes in. Ally sits in the chair as I get examined. When the doctor clicks his tongue, I feel I might be fucked. “You have a small tear, real small, which is the best-case scenario. That can heal, no problem. You’ll just need to wear the patch for a week or two. Use the drops I prescribe, and don’t take off the patch.”
My shoulders fall. “Can I at least get a black one?”
He laughs, blowing his gray locks out of his eye. “Yeah, I can make that happen. Can’t have you walking around looking like a broke pirate.”
I point to him, grinning. “I thought the same thing!”
He pats my knee. “Follow up with this doctor tomorrow. I’ve sent over the referral for you, and he’ll see you again at the end of the week after the swelling goes down. Also, no more fights.”
I press my lips together. “Will do.”
“All right, let me get you discharged.”
He leaves the room, and Ally hops back up, wrapping her arms around my neck. I hug her tightly, and soon I feel her tears on my neck. “Ally, I’m fine.”
She sobs against me, and my heart breaks. She doesn’t cry often. “Why did you fight him? You know he wears that ring just for fighting.”
I pull back to look at her as I bring my brows together. “I didn’t know that. Would have been nice to know.”
She shrugs. “I thought you did, and he’s just such a dick. Now, you’re a pirate.”
I laugh. “At least I have both legs. And another thing, three pirate jokes a day is all I’m giving you.”
She chokes on a sob. “Wait. Three? I need at least ten.”
I scoff as I squeeze her hip. “Hey, you’re lucky you’re getting three. You’re the reason I’m a pirate, so hush.”
More tears fall as she takes in a deep breath. “You fought him for me?”
I chuckle. “Duh? Who else would I fight him for?”
“Angie. He sexually assaulted her.”
“I didn’t even know about the assault until way later. I saw him put his hands on your neck, and I lost it.”
Her green eyes swim in tears as she holds my gaze. “You did?”
“Fuck yeah,” I say with a grin. “No one gets to touch you, Ally. No one.” She blinks, her expression confusing. “Come on, you know I’d fight anyone for you. I’d lose eyes, legs, fingers, and toes for you, you crazy ass.”
She doesn’t smile the way I want her to. Something flashes in her eyes, something I’ve never seen before, and her hand comes to rest on my cheek. A tear rolls down her face, and I catch it, giving her a wide smile, but still, she doesn’t smile. She searches my eye intently. The mood changes almost instantly, and I find that I’m holding my breath. It’s like hours are passing as our eyes stay locked. When she moves, I know my right eye widens as her lips come for mine, but I d
on’t stop her.
It’s like my body explodes as her lips touch mine. Her lips are tender. Soft. Plump. Everything I’ve dreamed they are—that is, when I allow myself to dream. Her other hand cups my face, and my hands come up to her hips, holding her to me. I take over the kiss, sweeping my tongue along her lips, and she sighs against my mouth in such a soft but dick-tickling way.
Sparks. Yeah, they’re burning me, they’re so bright and hot.
Her lips, her body under my hands, it feels… I can’t even describe how it feels. I’m so overwhelmed all of a sudden, but one thing is for sure—it feels right.
When a knock comes at the door, we part almost immediately before my whole family fills the room. My lips burn, as does my body, and I try to get my wits about me, which is extremely hard as Ally turns her back to us. I look at my family; they’re all yelling, but all I can hear is my heart beating in my ears. I need to get it together. Did she mean to do that? I glance at her, but she doesn’t look back at me.
Did she mean to do that?
Did she fall on me? Lips first?
Am I higher than I thought?
Wait. What just happened?
Chapter Sixteen
Ally
I can’t breathe.
Oh my God.
Holy shit.
I just did that.
I just kissed Asher Brooks. My best friend. The dude I’ve been in love with for so long I can’t even fathom why the fuck I waited so long to do that.
Oh my God. It was… It was… It was everything.
I hold my lips with my hands because I almost feel like they may fall off and die from the perfection they just felt and witnessed. I can still feel his tongue against mine. He deepened that kiss with a quickness I’ve never experienced. I can still feel his hands at my waist and the way his lashes kissed my cheeks.
I did not plan that. I wasn’t expecting to grow the balls and take what I wanted. I also wasn’t expecting to be so overwhelmed by his actions when he saw Taco grab me. Asher isn’t a fighter, but he fought for me. Me. I know that I would fight for him—shit, I’d kill for him—but that’s because I love him. With my whole heart. I never expected him to do it for me. I never really thought he’d have to, but he did.