Storm Front (The Charistown Series) (Volume 2) (31 page)

TOSSING HER KEYS in the bowl in the
foyer, Ashley wiped the sweat from her brow. The four-mile run from the shelter
to her house was an incredible cardio workout. Charistown was a beautiful town,
full of natural slopes and valleys—perfect for runners, challenging for walkers
and magnificent for sightseers. It was a picture perfect day. The early
November air was crisp and cool and the brightly colored leaves were falling
from the trees like large snowflakes.

As she unlaced her running shoes she heard the squeaks and
thumps that could only be associated with one thing. “Fuck, he has someone
here,
again
?” While his visitors had definitely lessened, Ashley’s
jealousy had spiked. With fingers clenched into tight fists, she pounded up the
stairs and through the hallway. She slammed her knuckles onto the door that
separated her from Ryan’s room, and began to shout at the wood divider as if it
would give her the satisfaction of answering back.

“Seriously, Ryan, enough is e-fucking-nough!” Ashley’s
trademark calm had finally snapped. She rarely lost her temper. Her heart raced
as small beads of perspiration trickled down the column of her spine. She had
trained herself to never let anyone see her get angry, or upset, or sad, or any
emotion other than happy or sarcastic. Those were things she could control, and
so that’s what people were allowed to see. However, right now…right now she was
angry. Her mood felt as red as the streaks in her blonde hair.

Using the palm of her hand she banged on his door. “Open
your fucking door, Ryan Baker, or so help me God, I will break it down and boot
your little ‘moaning Lisa’ out of my goddamn house!” She slammed on the door
once more. “Ryan—”

The door opened quickly and Ashley stumbled into Ryan’s
bedroom. His arm shot out and he caught her just before her stumble became a
fully-fledged trip. Her skin met his hand causing electric charges to shoot up
her arms and down her torso. Just a simple touch of his body to hers had the
power to affect her on a visceral level. Clearly the affect was not lost just
on her, if the look of desire burning in his eyes was anything to go by. Her
mind blanked, her angry words vaporized and she gasped for air that had chosen
that moment to leave her lungs. “Close your mouth, Princess, you’ll catch flies.
And by the way, her name is Sue.”

“It’s Drew,” giggled a voice from the bed.

Well, that pulled her out of her lust-induced stupor. Ryan
stood in the doorway shirtless, the top button on his jeans undone and his
erection obvious. His lazy smile set butterflies off in her belly, which pissed
her off even more. How in the hell could she be attracted to this man after all
this time—hell, after all these women? She didn’t understand it but she was,
and that spiked her anger and frustration, breaking limits she didn’t even know
possible. Would she ever be able to move on? Would there ever be a time when
looking at him didn’t melt her?

“Ryan,” Ashley seethed. Her hazel eyes flashed with anger,
her cheeks were pink with frustration and embarrassment, and her fists remained
clenched at her sides.
God
, Ryan thought to himself,
she is so
fucking beautiful
. “Are you even listening to me?” She yelled.

“Umm, no,” he admitted, sheepishly. “Can you repeat that
last part?”

“RYAN!” Now she was full on screaming, he had never seen
this before. If he wasn’t so worried that she might have a stroke, this would
actually be funny. “—then you can just get the hell out.”

Ryan couldn’t believe what he just semi heard. He had been
living with Ashley for over four years. “Wait, what? You’re kicking me out?”

“Yes! If you can’t respect the fact that I live here—that
this is
my
house…God, Ryan, what makes you think I need to hear you
fucking random girls every day of the week?” His gaze dropped to her fists,
balled so tightly they were trembling.

“I can’t stand it anymore. I just can’t…”

Ryan looked into Ashley’s eyes and saw pain. He hadn’t seen
any real emotion in Ashley’s eyes in years and in that moment he wanted to
reach out and touch her, to stop the games and finally explain that he had been
burying himself in
wrong
just to forget about the
right
that he
wasn’t allowed to have. As luck would have it, the moment cracked as did the
woman’s voice when she, again called to him from his bed. With his eyes glued
to Ashley’s face, Ryan watched as the emotion bled out of her eyes and the
ever-present mask slid back into place.

“Ash?” He reached toward her but paused when she backed away
from his touch.

“Don’t, Ry. Just…don’t. Put a fucking ball gag in their
mouths, or find a new place to live.” She turned around and stormed out and he
knew that the sound of the front door slamming was indicative of more than just
Ashley leaving the house. He had finally pushed her too damn far.

“Fuck!”

He knew in his heart that he was done playing. It was time
to stop being a pussy and man up. He’d hurt his woman for the last time. But
how did he help fix what he’d broken? How did he help heal her pain? How did he
get her to see that they were meant to be together? Most importantly…

How the hell did he get Sue out of his bed?

Hurricane Weather

WITH THE GANG all relaxing in the
family room of Max and Janie’s house—stomachs full and spirits high—Ashley
couldn’t help but to look around at her
family
. She loved that Max and
Janie had finally been able to get their shit figured out and find true
happiness with each other.

Kyle was a different story altogether. Between his dry
cracked lips, his slightly green pallor, his bloodshot eyes, and his overall
rundown appearance, Ashley yet again had a strong suspicion it was no longer
just alcohol running through his blood. She’d have to talk to the girls about
him in the morning during their Starbucks “therapy” session and then their spa
day that they were finally making the time to take. Janie was even taking off
from work for this event, which made the day all the more special for the
ladies. Ashley found it easier to worry about other people’s problems because
it kept her mind from traveling to her own issues.

During halftime of the Eagles game, Julie, Lyla, and Janie
went into the kitchen to get refills for the drinks. Even though Ashley could
hear the giggles of her girlfriends down the hall she couldn’t bring herself to
smile. She hadn’t been feeling like herself lately and pretending to be someone
she wasn’t was beginning to take a lot more effort than it used to. If she were
being honest with herself, which was something she tried extremely hard
not
to do, and it was something she was getting really fucking sick of. Thinking
about the people in this house, her friends, even more…they were her family,
she knew deep down, they would love her if she stopped pretending, but the real
question was…could she love herself? Could she ever forgive herself for all of
the pain she caused in her past? Did she even deserve to be happy when he no
longer could?

When the weather forecast announcing the upcoming arrival of
Hurricane Leo came on the television Ashley’s world went silent as she felt her
insides go rigid and her heart begin to thud quickly in her chest. The ba-boom
ba-boom ba-boom of her heart and the whooshing sound of her blood through her
ears were the only two noises that infiltrated the complete stillness of the
space around her. She looked down only to see the fierce trembling of her
interlocked hands, but was completely powerless to stop her shaking.

Upon hearing the forecast, Ryan quickly dropped his vision
to the beautiful woman sitting curled into herself on the plush carpet by his
feet. While he couldn’t see her face, he could see her arms looped around her
long legging covered legs. Her hands were tightly clasped and shaking like
leaves on a tree in a windstorm. His mind cleared of any and all thoughts other
than protecting the woman sitting before him. Without any care to the
consequences of his actions, or the questions in the eyes of the surrounding
witnesses, he slid his tall body off of the sofa and onto the floor behind
Ashley. As if it were second nature, he pulled her between his jean-clad legs
and wrapped his strong tattooed arms around her. Holding her tight, he breathed
in her familiar scent and promised himself, this time…this time he would do
right by her.

The pair was quiet—not a sound came from either one, but
their silence screamed pain. It was evident that not
everyone
in the
room was clued in to what just happened between two of their closest friends,
but by the quiet that blanketed the once cozy space, it was obvious that the
coming storm was going to bring a whole lot more than just rain.

“Ashley, darling.” Danny stooped to his knees and cupped her
chin in his huge palms. “Look at me, little one. You are not alone. You’re
surrounded by people who love you.” Ashley barely registered Julie’s close
proximity until she felt soft hands on her own tightened fists.

Julie’s soft, maternal tone sent warmth to the pit of
Ashley’s belly. “This time, sweet girl, we’ll get through it together.” As fast
as the warmth had come, it left, leaving numbness and fear shrouding her like a
plastic bag. She needed air. She needed quiet. She needed to get out of the
house. Standing on shaky legs, she blindly made her way to the front door.

“Umm, I’m sorry to do this but I need to leave. I’ll see you
guys later.”

Ryan’s heart clenched at the complete lack of emotion in
Ashley’s tone. He did what he promised himself he would always do for Ashley.
He got up, rested his hand on the base of her spine and supported her as she
silently walked out the door into the dark of the night.

She quickly strode to the car through a haze of numbness
until she felt the warmth of a hand on the base of her spine. She knew it was
Ryan. While she couldn’t express it in words, she was grateful for his presence
in the dark night.

God
, Ryan thought to himself.
Of all of the names
in the world, they name a hurricane that’s gonna hit Charistown, ‘Leo’? What
are the fucking chances?

Once they arrived home, Ashley quickly darted upstairs and
holed herself up in her room, cutting off any contact between them. He shook
his head as he began his mental preparations for both Mother Nature’s storm, in
addition to the storm that was currently brewing on the second floor. He wasn’t
sure which one would bring him to his knees, but he had no doubt that by the
week’s end he would be on them.