From Ashes (5 page)

Her phone rang and she sat up suddenly. “Ty?” There was a short pause. “I need you. Can you go home?”

And there went my heart.

“I’ll meet you there, I love you too.” She wiped under her eyes and I watched as her face went into that carefully composed mask of indifference.

I held in a painful sigh as I put my truck in reverse and started home. Nothing like hearing the girl of your dreams tell someone else she needs and loves him.

The drive home was silent and uncomfortable. I wanted to touch her, hold her hand, anything. But I knew that wouldn’t help, since I wasn’t the person who had always helped her through her hard times. When we pulled into the lot and she saw Tyler’s Jeep, she jumped out of the truck before I even put it in park and ran for our apartment. I jogged after her, and immediately wished I hadn’t. Ty swung the door open and she jumped into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face in his chest. He spoke softly to her as he walked them back to their room, and though I wanted to be anywhere but near the two of them, I couldn’t make myself leave. Didn’t matter if she didn’t need me; I needed to know she was okay, so I sat down on the couch and waited for them to come back out.

They didn’t come out until it was time to leave for her dinner. I stood up when the door opened and my jaw dropped when Cassidy came practically bouncing out of the room, a big smile on her face. Had I just imagined that morning? Or did they just have that good of a time—never mind, I didn’t want to think about that.

“Ty said we’re going out, are you ready?” She beamed her bright smile at me.

“Uh, yeah. I guess.”

“Oh. Well, you don’t have to go if you don’t want to. I understand.”

Understand what? “No, I’ll go.”

“Really?” She seemed genuinely surprised; her eyes lit up and her smile changed. It softened but was even more beautiful. Then suddenly it fell and she whispered softly, “I know you’re worried about it, Gage, but I will get a job so you and Ty aren’t paying for me anymore. I’m sorry you had to be there for that today.”

What. The. Hell. Just—what?! Before I could ask where she would even get an idea as dumb as that, Tyler stepped into the living room.

“Ready, birthday girl?”

Cassidy just rolled her eyes and laughed as we all left the apartment. I’m sure Tyler was getting pissed by the end of dinner, but I couldn’t seem to do anything other than stare at her the entire night. The last thing she wanted was for her birthday to roll around, and then after this morning I was prepared to cancel on everyone tonight. But there she sat, bubbly and adorable as ever. Not one of those people would have imagined anything bad had happened to her, or that today was harder for her than she could describe. I knew how rare it was for her to break down like she had that morning, but this was blowing my mind. She was ridiculously happy; her cheeks had to be hurting from how much she was laughing and smiling. And even when Lanie got teary eyed telling Cassidy that her boyfriend broke up with her, Cassidy was sad for her, and helped her plot a girls’ night to help her get over the dick. This was her day, and a hard day, but not one ounce of Cassidy was thinking about herself. Though I still wished I could take her away and give her the opportunity to actually grieve and be upset over things that had happened, it was times like this that made me fall in love with her more.

Chapter Four

C
ASSIDY

F
LOPPING ONTO THE
couch, I sighed heavily and was grateful the guys would be gone most of the day so I could rest. Trying to avoid Gage’s knowing I was sleeping on the couch, and getting away from Tyler’s hard-on—which just
had
to continue to remind me that it was there—made for a night of practically no sleep. We’d gotten into a very comfortable routine over the last couple months, and most days it worked perfectly. Just not that day.

W
AKING UP EARLY,
I slipped out the door and went for a walk. After Tyler had helped me calm down yesterday from the shock of my mom taking all the money my dad had left me, I’d put on a brave face like I always do and went to enjoy my birthday dinner. I had felt so weak breaking down in front of Gage like that; it wasn’t like me at all. No one other than Tyler was around for my hard times, and though Gage now knew that I’d had a different home life, he would never understand everything I went through. Not like Tyler did. But like I said before, I learned a long time ago that crying only got you hit harder and longer; I couldn’t remember actually letting tears out since before I was a teenager. Then yesterday in Gage’s truck, I couldn’t hold it back anymore.

I don’t know if it was because I felt like he was getting a glimpse of how heartless my mom could be, or if her cruel texts had finally pushed me over the edge. Whatever the reason, I’d cried, and he held me in his arms, comforting me. If Ty hadn’t called me back, I would have stayed in Gage’s arms all day. I hadn’t felt so whole since Dad died, and I never wanted the feeling to end. But it did, and last night Gage went back to not speaking to me again.

I asked probably too frequently, and Ty was now saying that Gage was beginning to tolerate me, but sometimes it still felt like more than that. Or maybe it was just my wanting him so much that made me stupidly think he might want me to. Maybe I imagined how he always seemed to shift closer to me, or how in the mornings before Ty woke up, he was happier than ever. Maybe he only curled up onto the sofa to talk to me for hours because he felt obligated since I lived with and cooked for him. At first I thought his distance was because he had a girlfriend, but that option flew out the window a couple weeks after we moved in. I knew now that he wasn’t actually dating Brynn; I’d overheard him telling Ty about their disastrous dates at the end of last year. And I’m not going to lie, I grinned like an idiot for the next few hours knowing he was available. But then he wasn’t there for our morning hug and coffee and didn’t speak to me for three whole days after I overheard that conversation.

This whole flirting, then avoiding me thing was wearing on me, and you can’t imagine how often I wished I didn’t feel the electricity between us; it would have made my life so much easier. I knew when he was in the same room with me now; the hairs on the back of my neck would stand up before I could even hear him, and it drove me nuts. It also didn’t help that he was by far the sexiest guy I’d ever seen, or that when we would talk . . . he was incredibly sweet. That whole Southern-charm nonsense? Dear. Lord. So hot. It wasn’t like he tried to be a gentleman; it just came naturally for him. It made me laugh when he let a cuss word slip and he’d realize I was around; his eyes would go big and I swear sometimes he flinched. The fact that he was always worried his “mama” was gonna come smack him for it cracked me up, and this may sound weird, but when he’d called me “darlin’,” my heart would melt. Any other guy and I’d probably have laughed at him, but it just rolled off Gage’s tongue like a caress, and I loved it.

I loved everything about him.

I loved him.

I just didn’t know what I was going to do about him. At least when Tyler and I would have our talks, his reminders of how much of a nuisance I was for Gage usually kept my head on straight when I was around Gage for the next day or so. But after that I’d start letting myself get too comfortable around him, and then things like yesterday happened.

Looking up, I saw Starbucks was only a block away and decided to sit in there for a while, trying to figure out what I was going to do now that my backup had fallen through. Opening up my wallet, I saw I had a whole ten dollars to my name. Awesome. I knew Tyler would give me anything I wanted or needed, but I’d already been living off his parents and Gage for the past month, and I didn’t want to continue. Glancing at my wallet again, I decided. Ten dollars or not, I needed an indulgence.

I walked up to the counter and waited while the barista switched out the coffee. Just as she was turning around to me, a person I guessed was the manager walked up in a huff.

“I don’t believe this. Victoria
and
Cody just quit! I’ve been calling them like crazy all morning, and they finally answered and said they wouldn’t be back.” She slapped the cordless phone onto the counter, picking it back up quickly to make sure she hadn’t broken anything.

“Are you serious?” the barista asked, her face blanching.

“That’s half my morning crew. No one else can work mornings here! Everyone has too many early classes.”

“Excuse me?”

They both jumped like they’d forgotten I was standing there. The manager’s face instantly went into a bright smile. “Welcome! What can we get for you?”

“Well, how about an application?”

“I’m sorry, honey, but I just can’t afford to hire any more students. I need full-time employees.”

“I guess it’s a good thing I have absolutely nothing to do all day, every day,” I said with a smile so she didn’t think I was being rude.

“I need someone to open Monday through Saturday,” she said, challenging me, “six hours on the weekdays, four hours on Saturday.”

“Perfect! I’m a morning person,” I lied.

The manager gave me a once-over, her eyebrow quirked. “Have you ever worked for Starbucks or another coffee shop before?”

“No, ma’am.”

“Have you ever had a job before?”

“No, but I’m dedicated and pour myself into everything I do.” Pun
so
not intended.

“If I considered this, when would you be able to start training?”

“Right now.”

Her smile widened again and she nodded her head toward the back door she’d just come through. “Let’s go talk.”

W
E ENDED UP
talking and had a formal interview in the back room for almost an hour, and after telling me the uniform I would need to go buy, she told me to come back in five hours for my first day of training. After the week of training and two classes, I started opening six days a week, just like she said.

The boys were thrilled that I was doing something, but Tyler started grumbling soon after I started about never waking up next to me anymore. I’d rolled my eyes at him. I hadn’t been aware that waking up next to each other had become a favorite part of his day. Especially since he fell right back asleep, and I would go to the kitchen to hang out with Gage. But Tyler was my best friend; if he wanted to grumble about something like that, then I would let him. As for Gage, we didn’t get to drink coffee together but I still got my morning hug from him. Only now it was as I was jumping out of his truck when he dropped me off in the mornings.

I had protested at first, but he usually woke up anywhere from quarter ’til to five, so waking up the extra thirty minutes early wasn’t a big deal, according to him. Honestly, I think he and Ty were just terrified thinking of my walking the mile and a half to work in the dark, because they let me walk home every day. Not like they had a choice; they’d both be in class unless it was Saturday.

So that’s how we were now: Gage would drop me off in the morning, I would come home and fall asleep for a few hours while they were in classes, and then I’d make dinner for when they got home. At first, it was just the three of us, but then all their other friends started finding out that I actually cooked, and now three days a week, I cook for six ridiculously obnoxious college guys while they all take turns playing Xbox. Thank God tonight wasn’t one of those nights, because I hadn’t slept at all the night before, which meant I slept straight through their classes and then some.

“Wake up, darlin’.” My eyes flew open when Gage’s deep voice drawled in my ear.

“You’re home?” I croaked, my voice raspy from how long I’d slept.

“We’ve been home for a while, but Tyler had to go to some study group. Said he would be gone ’til eleven.”

I glanced at the clock and gasped when I saw I’d slept for six hours. “Crap, I’m so sorry. Let me make dinner.”

“No way, you do too much for us. Besides, I was kinda hoping you’d let me take you out tonight.”

“Out?”

“Yeah, I wanna go driving.”

My face fell. “Oh. Okay.”

He chuckled and pulled me off the couch. “Go change, we’ll grab some food on the way.”

“Where are we driving to?”

“Not sure, we’ll see when we get there.”

I gave him a confused look but rushed into the bathroom to rinse off my body since I still smelled like coffee. Even though it was the middle of November, it was still pretty warm, but I’d already learned far too well that could change quickly. So I pulled on some jeans, rolling up the bottoms, and a light long-sleeved deep-V-neck shirt before grabbing my jacket and running back to the living room.

“Ready!” Gage’s smile stopped me in my tracks. Dear Lord, he was so handsome. And there were those dang dimples again. Those things alone could reduce me to a puddle on the floor.

“If you want, we can go eat somewhere, or we can just grab some burgers.”

“And you aren’t going to tell me where we’re going?”

He put a hand on the small of my back as he led me out of the apartment. “I don’t even know where we’re going, Cass. Really. I just wanted to go for a drive with you.”

“Fine, don’t tell me. Burgers are fine.”

Gage chuckled and shook his head as he shut my door.

Okay, so he was being serious. He really did just want to go for a drive. We’d drive, and if we came to a T in the road, he told me to choose which way to go, and every now and then we’d take a random road just because it was the first one we’d come across in a while. After a little over an hour and a half, it was already dark outside and he pulled over into a small field.

“Uh, is this the part where you kill me and leave me in the woods?”

“Now, why would I do that? Who would keep me fed?”

I smacked his arm and he pretended it actually hurt. “Rude.”

“You in a hurry to get home?”

“Doesn’t matter.” Lie. I didn’t want this night to end. We’d kept the windows down and sang to the radio. I’d propped my feet up on the dash, and Gage had his arm resting behind me on top of the seat. In between songs we’d tease each other, and I don’t think either of us had stopped smiling since we’d gotten in the truck. Tonight was simple and perfect. “Up to you.”

“Well then.” He put his truck into park, turned it off, and got out.

“Where are you going?” I asked as he rounded the front, coming to me. He opened up my door and stepped back, waiting for me to join him. When I did, he reached in the back and pulled out a blanket.

“Why don’t you join me?” He climbed into the bed of his truck, reaching down to give me a hand as well. After we were sitting down, our backs up against the cab, he wrapped the blanket around us and I snuggled closer to his side.

I was wrong.
Now
it was a perfect night. “I like this. It’s so quiet and peaceful.”

He grunted an agreement and held me tighter. “Makes me miss the ranch.”

“When are you going back?”

“Christmas probably. You gonna come with me?”

“I don’t know, I haven’t even thought about the holidays. I’ll probably have to work. I do want to go though; you
did
promise to teach me how to ride.”

“I’ll teach you a lot of things there. How to ride, how we take care of the place, how to shoot.”

“Shoot?” I leaned away and looked at his face, my eyes wide. “Guns? Like, real guns?”

“Uh, yeah. Do you not want to?”

I was shaking just thinking about it. “Are you insane?”

“You shouldn’t be scared of them. Guns should be respected, not feared.”

“Gage! They kill people!”

His expression deadpan, he said, “Cars kill people too, Cass.” He sighed and pulled me to his side again. “They do, but it’s the people who do the killing. Anything you come in contact with on a regular basis can kill someone.” His voice got soft and he started making lazy circles on my arm.

“But that’s just it—things I come in contact with on a regular basis, which makes them normal. I’ve only seen a gun on TV, so they’re definitely not normal to me.”

“Cassidy, I have two in my room.”

“
What?!
Why? Why would you need them in your room?”

Gage laughed lightly. “To protect you, darlin’. You should see in our house on the ranch. We have so many we don’t know what to do with them all.”

“Gage, that’s weird. Why do you have them?”

“It’s not weird. This is Texas, I assure you it’s common. Out on the ranch, they come in handy with things that wander onto the property that shouldn’t be there. But here, they’re just to protect us if someone breaks in.” He chuckled and rubbed my arm. “Why are you shaking?”

“I rank guns right up there with spiders.”

Gage laughed louder. “Well, I’ll help you with the guns. But I can’t help you with your fear of the last one, except to come runnin’ when you scream because there’s a spider on the wall.” He raised an eyebrow at me.

“That evil bastard jumped at me!”

“Cass, it was microscopic.”

“Doesn’t matter. They’re nasty and have too many legs.”

“Perfect . . . guns don’t have legs.”

“It’s not like that automatically drops the scary factor and makes them okay all of a sudden! God, I can’t believe you have them in your room.” I whispered the last part to myself.

“You’ve been there for over three months now, and you had no idea. It’ll be fine.”

“But now I know they’re there,” I reasoned. “Way different.”

“I promise they won’t hurt you.”