“Ash, call off your stupid whore,” Gina snaps, but I don’t even turn around to look at her. She isn’t worth my time. “You will listen to me or you will regret it!”
Ash is standing there, leaning against the passenger door of the car, grinning like mad. “I don’t think so, Gina,” he says, but he isn’t looking at her. He’s looking straight at me as he tells her, “You and I are done. For good. I’m with Star now, and she’s right. You should go to hell.”
Behind me, Gina’s still screeching at us, but all I can see is Ash and how good he looks. He grins at me, and lets his gaze wander from my eyes all the way down to my feet and back up again, the suggestion clear in his eyes. I give him a saucy little wink and watch as he throws back his head and laughs.
It’s the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen. All at once, I want to throw myself at him, wrap my arms around his shoulders and my legs tight around his waist, and French the hell out of him. The need is like a hook in my belly, just below my navel, and it tugs me straight to him.
Oh, what the hell, I think. And then I do just that.
Ash
That was fucking amazing. I’d never seen Gina’s face look like that in my entire life. It had done some weird thing, like she’d sucked on a lemon while trying to shit a brick at the exact same time. And Star had been classy as fuck while she was putting Gina in her place.
It had been hot as hell, especially right afterward, when Star had wrapped her legs around me, pinning me to the car with her weight. She’d rubbed up against me like a cat, and it made me want to do all kinds of things to her. And judging by the things she’d whispered in my ear as Gina had let out a huff and stalked off, I’d be getting to do everything I’d pictured real damn soon.
Especially since one of the things she said was “You know what Ash? Fuck dancing. Why don’t you take me home and fuck me?”
Goddamn, I think, replaying the scene over again in my mind. So fucking hot. I need to drive faster.
Luckily the streets are pretty empty. But it isn’t surprising. It isn’t like Avenue is known for its nightlife. But even though the drive is going pretty quickly, it feels like I’ve already been in the car for an eternity. I’m half tempted to just pull over on the side of the road and pull Star into my lap. Get started on the fun a little bit early.
But when I look over, the suggestion on the tip of my tongue, Star just smiles at me, and my stomach does that weird flippy thing it’s been doing an awful lot lately.
Fuck, I’m in love with her. Every time I look at her, something moves through me, and all of a sudden I don’t give a shit that she lives two states away. I’ll follow that girl to the end of the earth, if she’ll let me. I reach over and lay my hand on hers on the bench seat between us. Her skin is warm and smooth beneath mine. My hand’s all rough and calloused, especially after all the work we’ve been doing on the house. But hers feels like silk. She flips her hand over under mine, and I link our fingers together. Then I tug our joined hands up, and, looking over at her, I press my lips to the back of her hand.
She squirms a little in her seat and a laugh bubbles up out of her. It sounds like music to me. “Watch the road, jerk,” she says, and I wink at her as she tugs her hand away, and I turn back to the road. The sun is sinking behind the horizon, and the light is getting dim. As we drive, the streetlights start blinking on one by one.
It’s a nice night.
But it’s more than that somehow. It almost feels like a beginning.
Star leans forward and turns on the radio, and as I drive she fiddles with the dials, finally settling on an oldies station. She leans back in her seat, and as soon as she’s out of reach, I reach over and switch it to a classic-rock station. Star turns and says, “Hey!” as AC/DC starts blasting through the speakers. I grin and glance over at her. She’s glaring at me, but I can tell by the smile that’s tugging at her mouth that she doesn’t mean it. Soon enough her glare fades and she rolls her eyes, reaching out and twisting the dial, turning down the volume to a much lower level.
The song ends and the DJ switches over to Metallica and, from deep in the caverns of Star’s bag, her phone rings. She leans forward, digging through it until she finds it, and sits back clutching the phone in her hand. But she doesn’t answer it right away. It just keeps ringing. I look over her. She’s staring down at the screen, her brow furrowing.
I reach over and touch her leg, but she doesn’t look up.
“Hey,” I say, glancing back at the road and then looking back at her. “What is it? What’s wrong?” I trail my hand up her leg to where her free hand rests. I lay my palm over the back of her hand, then trail my finger down until my pinkie is linked with hers.
She just shakes her head and touches her thumb to the screen, answering the call. Bringing it to her ear, she murmurs, “Hello?”
And that’s the last thing I see that makes sense. Suddenly, everything is a cacophony of noise and movement.
Everything around me spins, turning upside down again and again and again. Beside me, Star is screaming, and there’s the sound of metal against metal. Tearing. Cracking. Shattering.
And then, suddenly, everything stops. The chaos is gone. And then there’s nothing but silence and stillness and pain.
So much pain.
And then all I can see is darkness.
Sometimes, a single second is all it takes.
And everything changes.
Chapter 19
Ash
I try to open my eyes but I can’t.
I can’t focus.
All I can see is flashes. Flashes of light and of darkness. All I can hear is the thunder of my heart and snatches of voices. But they’re all talking over one another and it’s like I’m in a dream, like they’re all out of order, out of sequence. Or that I am.
“—other. We’re his pa—”
“—e’s crashing. We need to in—”
Someone’s crying. Sobbing. I want to reach out, to move.
But I can’t.
I’m trying so hard that the shock of the jolt, of my body jerking without my permission stuns me and I start to fall back in on myself.
“—eed to get—”
“—epped for sur—”
I try to follow the voices, try to make them make sense, but it’s no use.
They’re fading.
Everything’s fading.
No.
No.
No no no, I think. I try to scream it but the words won’t come out.
The light is gone now. The voices, too.
Fuck, I think as I slide into the darkness.
It’s happening again.
Star
When I wake up, I do it slowly. I’m groggy. Sluggish. I feel like I’m deep under water, and it’s a struggle to fight my way to the surface. To consciousness.
But slowly, I edge my way back, bit by bit. And finally, finally, I open my eyes.