“I can take care of myself. I’m a big girl, I don’t need you to worry about me.”
“Mel, those other women are so much more…” Her eyebrows lifted. I needed to be careful here. “Those other women are looking for sex. You can tell by the way they dress, dripping with sensuality.”
“Maybe I am, too.”
Now my eyebrows shot up. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“What? You don’t think I’m sexy?”
“I never said that.” Melody Stevens had not only grown up to be sexy, but smokin’ hot. “But if sex is what you’re looking for, why would you pick him?”
She shrugged. Now I really wanted to pummel the asshole.
“Ash, I don’t want to argue about my social life with you. We’ve never tried to control each other before.”
I ran a hand over my tired face, trying to make some sense of what she really wanted. I didn’t think we were talking about her “social” life anymore. Was she really planning to have Alex fucking Clayton be her first lay? “I’m not trying to control you. I just don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I promise, I won’t get hurt.”
“You don’t know anything about sex, Mel.”
Her eyes grew huge and she looked like she wanted to hit me as I realized what I’d just said.
“How the fuck would you know? she asked.
I shook my head. “I’m sorry. I meant to say…you’re not as experienced as those other women.”
“Too late. You already said it. I may not have had sex before, but I know what to do.”
“The guy’s a man whore, Melody.”
“Good, then maybe he’ll teach me something. And you know what, Asher? If he does, then I’ll be able to tell you all the stuff you don’t know about sex.”
I started to laugh and caught myself. She didn’t know anything about my sexual experiences with women. Having her think I didn’t know anything stung a little bit, but I’d never told her about any of the women I’d been with. I’d never thought it was something she wanted or needed to know. But I wasn’t going to go there. Sure, she knew I dated, knew I’d had sex, or guessed. It just wasn’t something we ever discussed.
Just then, her phone sang out a silly Taylor Swift song. Something about trouble. I had to laugh. Yeah, trouble was brewing. She looked at the screen. “It’s Teddy,” she said, a smile forming as she put the phone to her ear and began talking. Her brother Ted had moved to Phoenix after he graduated from Arizona State. He worked in some large real estate investment firm there now. He’d received a great recommendation from one of his professors for the position.
“You’re here? In the city?” Her eyes shot to mine and a broad smile graced her face. “Yeah, we can be there in twenty minutes.” She rolled her eyes at me. “Ash just needs to put some clothes on his scrawny body.” She chuckled and turned back to the window again. Ted must have said something insultingly humorous about me, as well because her chuckle turned into a cute little giggle that could melt the heart of any male between the ages of two and ninety. I got the hint and started to pull on my jeans. It seemed we were going out. As exhausted as I was, the prospect of seeing Ted filled me with renewed energy. He was the big brother I never had. Not that I ever wanted either of my real half-brothers in my life. They were in another universe. Non-existent to me most of the time.
“Come on, Ash, shake a leg. Teddy’s in town,” she squealed like a thirteen-year-old. She worshiped her big brother. I wasn’t jealous about that. I sort of felt the same way about Ted. He’d always been the brother mine never were. I had to remind myself that it wasn’t really their fault, though. They most likely didn’t even know about me.
Maybe Teddy could talk some sense into his little sister? Though I doubted the subject of having sex with Alex Clayton would ever come up.
CHAPTER FOUR
Melody
Seeing Ash without a shirt and wearing only his boxers did bizarre, quirky things to my insides. I’d needed to focus on what was happening outside the window, which wasn’t much, so I didn’t stare any longer than I already had. My cheeks burned at the sight of him in all that…tight, muscley skin. I had no idea guys could change that much in just two years. I’d noticed his arms, of course, but I’d never imagined his chest could be so magnificent, and his thighs, oh my goodness…so lean, yet so taut and firm. I would have loved to run my fingertips up the light dusting of golden brown hairs covering them, just to see if they were as soft as they looked.
Thank God my brother had called and yanked me out of that stupid daydream. Crushing on Ash? He was off limits. Had always been off limits. When we were younger, we’d made some silly pact to marry each other when we grew up. Even at eleven years old, I’d had such a ridiculously strong crush on him that the next day I could barely even talk to him. When he never brought it up again, well, that was enough of a hint for me not to go anywhere near that notion. When we got older, I was too chicken to bring it up again for fear he’d laugh. He’d probably forgotten all about it anyway, and never once had he given me any indication that he liked me that way. A silly, childish crush. That’s all it was.
Looking at him now, though, I had some of those old, tingling feelings in my stomach popping back up again.
“Come on.” Ash tugged me out of his apartment and down the stairs. His voice was coated with total and complete elation at the prospect of hanging with Ted tonight. I was feeling the same way. My two best friends together again.
The wind howled, and I wished I’d insisted that we stop at my apartment so I could grab a heavier jacket before we headed out. All I had on was a zip-up hooded sweatshirt and my favorite blue and white scarf. Ash had given it to me two years ago for Christmas, and I wore it practically all the time as soon as the weather started to cool down. It was made of something called viscose rayon and polyester. It was lightweight, more for fashion, not enough to keep me warm on a chilly night like tonight. We walked quickly, and I had my arms wrapped around my chest to help ward off the breeze coming from the sea.
Ash turned to me halfway down the hill. “You’re cold.”
I nodded but kept walking.
“Your nose is red,” he chuckled. “Come here.” He put his arm around me like it was no big deal, and honestly? It wasn’t. It wasn’t the first time he’d tried to keep me warm. But lately, being so close to him only made me more aware of how much I was attracted to him.
We ran and skipped down the hill towards the bar, which was no small feat with Asher’s arm around me. We laughed hysterically as I lost my balance and almost did a face-plant in the gutter. But the support of Ash’s strong arm held me up.
Ash held the huge door open as I slipped in under his arm and headed for the lounge area. Passing the warm fire they had blazing in the fireplace, I stopped for a moment to bask in its warmth and rub my hands together in front of it. Another pair of strong arms swooped me off my feet from behind then placed me back down. I turned to see my brother’s infectious grin.
“What took you guys so long?” he asked.
“Teddy!”
He took me back into his arms and hugged me tightly to him. I was in heaven.
“God, I’ve missed you,” he breathed into my hair and squeezed again. I felt his chin lift and he let me go. Only to embrace Ash the same way he had me. It was like I had two brothers. Except I’d never really thought of Ash as a brother. Never. I’d envisioned him as my knight in shinning armor more times than I could count, but never as my brother.
“It’s great to see you, Ted. How long will you be in the city? And where are you staying? You know you could always stay with me,” Asher said with hopeful eyes.
“Thanks, but I have a room at the Fairmont.”
“Whoa? That’s crazy!” I said. “That job must be paying you beaucoup bucks.”
“That, and they’re flippin’ the bill, too.” He laughed. “I’m here on business. We’re here to analyze one of the new properties that Trentco recently purchased, but I couldn’
t visit the city without seeing you guys.”
“You better not. Ever!” I said.
“That’s some business trip for them to be putting you up at the Fairmont,” Ash said.
“It is. I got a promotion yesterday. This is my first day in my new position as Financial Department Head, and they sent me on a last minute trip. I’m now one step away from VP,” Ted said with an air of confidence. I couldn’t blame him. He’d worked hard to get where he was.
“I’m proud of you, big bro.” I gave him another squeeze around the middle.
“Yeah, congratulations!” Ash said.
“Let’s celebrate! Shots? What are you drinking?” I asked Ted.
“One of those pale ales they’re promoting. I can’t stay out too late. I have an early meeting. Then I head back to Phoenix immediately after that.”
“Aw, that’s not fair,” I pouted.
“Sorry, Mel. This is the best I can do for a visit right now. I’ll be home for Thanksgiving and then again at Christmas. The entire company shuts down for two weeks between December 21st and January 4th. I’ll have two weeks to hang with you two clowns. Listen, Ash, I’m sorry about your mom. I’ll miss her. She was always like a second mother to Mel and me. I peeked in at the memorial this morning, but I couldn’t stay long so I snuck out. I’m sorry. I knew if you’d seen me, you would have tried to talk me into staying and it was a meeting I couldn’t miss.”
“I would have understood, but thanks. She loved you, too,” Ash said then turned toward the bar and ordered two drafts for us.
“We sprinkled her ashes off the bridge earlier this evening. It was hard on him,” I whispered close to Ted’s ear.
“I wish I could have been there for him, too. He’s all alone now, Mel. You need to help him through everything,” he whispered back. His comment gave me a sick feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach. I wanted to ask why he’d said that. Ash had him, too. Didn’t he? They were like brothers.
“You make it sound like you’re not going to be around much,” I said with a pout I hoped he’d catch. I didn’t like not having my brother around.
“I’m in Phoenix now, Mel. I wish I could be here for you both, but if I want to get ahead, I need to be there. It won’t be forever. I’ll move back someday. Maybe sooner than you think,” he added that last part with a warm smile and a strong arm around my shoulders, squeezing me to him.
Asher turned back around and handed me one of the pints.
“What is it?” I asked and Ash gave me a silly eye roll.
“Blue Moon. What else? It’s the only thing you’ll drink besides Guinness or Corona light.”
That was true. I wasn’t a huge beer drinker. I preferred wine more, but since Ted was drinking beer, I guessed Ash thought we should, too. I sipped. It was cold and hit the spot as if I’d been craving it all day.
We spent the next hour laughing and talking about what we would do when Christmas rolled around. Ted suggested we take a trip to Hawaii and said he would pay. Both Ash’s and my eyebrows shot up in surprise.
“That would be so cool,” I beamed. I had the best big brother in the world.
“I’ve been wanting to go, and well, I can’t leave my two best friends at home. Can I?”
“No. You can’t.” Ash laughed. “But you’re not going to pay for the whole trip. I can pay, too.”
“You bet,” Ted said, knowing there was no arguing about it because Ash wouldn’t go if he couldn’t pay. “I’ll start making plans when I get back to Phoenix. There’s a guy I work with who has a timeshare and he already said it was available. All we need now are plane tickets.”
“This is going to be so awesome!” I squealed. Christmas with my two best friends. In Hawaii. What could be better than that?
CHAPTER FIVE
Asher
Melody, as usual, took off for the bathroom after drinking one beer. She never could drink much of the stuff before having to relieve herself. I probably should have ordered her wine, but this reunion just shouted beer to me.
Seeing Ted always gave me a sense of belonging. We were family, and having just spread my mom’s ashes out over the bay, I needed to feel like I still belonged somewhere, with someone. My mom had been all I had except for these two. Mel and Ted’s parents were good people, but they’d divorced years ago when we were kids. I never really got to know their dad well, since he’d moved to San Diego shortly after the split. But at least he hadn’t completely deserted them like mine had me. Mel and Ted would always take off for a month in the summer to spend time with him, leaving me alone. I always dreaded the month of July. Every summer, that month became the loneliest time of my life and made me feel even more like the forgotten sibling I was. Last year when Mel left for the entire summer and Ted had just started his internship with the firm, I’d thought I’d go apeshit from the loneliness.
While Mel was gone to the bathroom, I figured what better time to try and get Ted’s help with the Alex problem.
“Listen, Ted. There’s something I want to talk to you about.”
“My sister?”
“Yeah.” I gave him a puzzled tilt of my head. “How’d you know that?”
“Asher, I’ve known you practically my entire life. Do you think I can’t see what’s going on with the two of you?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You and Melody. The feelings you both have for each other. It’s written all over your faces. I’m glad you two are finally seeing the light and each other.” He chuckled and sipped at this beer.
His statement took me completely by surprise. What look was he talking about? Maybe he’d mistaken my angst at Melody’s sudden urge to want to loose her virginity to some loser and her excitement at the prospect of said urge as something else. Whatever he saw, I didn’t want him to think that Mel and I had anything other than what we had. Pure friendship. Twisted, but pure. Twisted in that she told me things that girls don’t usually confide in a guy. Like wanting to lose her virginity.
“We don’t…have…feelings…like that,” I said, very slowly, not sure why he’d even assume that Mel and I were in that kind of relationship. “We aren’t seeing each other. Not that way.”
“Oh? Sure could have fooled me. My bad, then.”
“Why would you say that, Ted?” Had I given any indication that I wanted to be with Mel romantically? Was I sending off some sort of beacon that lit up, shouting, “she’s mine!” just because I didn’t think she should lose her virginity to a creep like Clayton?
“Look, Ash, you and Mel…you belong together. Everyone else sees it, why don’t the two of you?”
I shook my head. “Mel and I are and always have been just friends. You know that. Besides, Mel’s not my type.”
“Not your type. Okay. If you say so.” He smirked. “So, then, what about my sister?”
Listening to Ted reveal something as awkward as his opinion about me and his sister had me strangling on my own words. Suddenly, I didn’t want to tell him about that asswipe Alex and Melody’s plans to have him be her first lay. After what he’d just said, he’d probably just think I was jealous. Besides, now that I thought about it, telling Ted about Mel’s virginity and her plans with Alex was probably something she’d never forgive me for. Ted was, after all, her big brother. And if I knew Ted and the way he always protected his sister, telling him she wanted to fuck some man whore like Alex Clayton wasn’t going to go over well. So I decided to take a sharp right turn, so to speak.
“I’m going to let her start playing alongside me, I think,” I said quickly after a brief thought. It was something I’d thought of earlier when we were playing in the street. “In the club. She’s become quite good, and her voice is like silk.” All of that was the truth; it just wasn’t something I needed to clear with Ted. But it was something to talk about other than Alex fucking Clayton, which I now knew I couldn’t bring up. “I haven’t told her yet. I was going to tell her tomorrow. Just thought I’d mention it to you tonight since you’
re here.”
“That’s great. I’ve always thought she should be singing with you. I’m glad you’ve decided to let her. I’m sure she’ll be thrilled.”
Ted knew me too well. It wasn’t that I didn’t want her singing with me before. Well, let’s be honest here, I didn’t want her singing with me because I didn’t want us labeled as a “couple.” Not in the sense of a relationship type of couple, but a performing duet. And not for my benefit. For hers. She was good, and with the right connections, she could be well on her way to a great career and a recording contract.
“Well, I think she needs a chance to be seen, even if it is in that small club,” I said, though I wasn’t entirely sure that club was right for her. I wasn’t convinced she’d get the exposure she needed. “She needs a break. A break out, I mean.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean.”
“She’s good, Ted. I mean really good. As in, ‘top of the charts’ good. She needs someone bigger than me, but she’s gotta start somewhere.”
“Don’t sell yourself short, Ash. With or without Mel beside you, you shine. And who knows, maybe you need each other more than you realize, and you know I’m not just talking about music.”
“Not that again.”
“My sister needs you, Ash. I can’t be here to protect her anymore.”
My eyes shot to his. He was back on this again? “You know I’ll always look out for her. But why are you pressing this? I told you, Melody and I could never have that kind of relationship. We get along great, always have, but there’s never been any intimacy between us. Sure, we kissed back in sixth grade, but after that, we knew it would never work. We both felt it and have always stayed clear of that path.”
“I just want to make sure my two best friends are happy and safe. I’m in Phoenix now. I can’t be here to look after her. Our dad is back east and probably could care less, and mom is, well, in a world of her own these days.”
Beautifully Undone (The Beaumont Brothers #3) Page 3