Fighting Shadows (On the Ropes #2)(28)

“Oh, hush. You’re only as old as you act,” Ash sassed back.

“They’re neon green!”

“Yep! And they match mine.” Ash flashed her a grin. “Twinsies.”

“Dear Lord, help me,” Donna whispered, staring up at the sky.

Ash giggled, walking over to me. “Hey, you haven’t painted anything yet.”

“Yeeeeeah,” I drawled. “Painting isn’t exactly my thing.”

“Don’t think of it as painting, then. This is self-expression!” She snatched the can from my hand and sprayed a bright-yellow mark on the brick.

“Ah, yes. A line. Self-expression at its finest.”

She laughed. “Shut up! I was just trying to get you started.”

“Look, my artistic abilities are limited to diagraming molecules in chemistry.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m not great, either. I just write words then decorate them with colors. But hey, it’s fun. They are tearing this baby down. Let’s help her go out in style.” She lovingly patted the wall.

I chuckled to myself, and a bright smile spread across her mouth.

God, I wanted to taste that mouth. My cock thickened at the thought.

“Just draw anything.” She picked the green can up off the ground and wrote the word dream in huge letters. “See? Easy.”

“Uhh . . . Ash, can you come here for a second?” Max called out.

“Yep,” she replied then looked back at me. “Just draw the first thing that comes to mind.” She walked away, dragging the tip of her finger across my back and shoulders.

“The first thing that comes to mind,” I repeated to myself, watching her ass sway as she disappeared around the corner.

But I had nothing.

My mind was absolutely blank.

There was no pain.

No ache in my chest.

No pity.

No hate.

No bitterness.

I was numb.

And it was incredible.

Ash Mabie was quickly becoming my own personal brand of lidocaine.

I stared at that wall for several minutes but never painted a single word. Instead, my eyes stayed locked on that single solitary line.

I drew in a deep breath, releasing it on a laugh.

“Shit. You’re smiling,” she cursed when she reappeared at my side.

I turned to face her. “It happens sometimes,” I teased, but her eyes flashed to the ground in the most unlike-Ash way possible. It immediately set me on alert.

“Are you okay?” I asked, looking over her shoulder.

“Yeah, I’m fine, but I have something to tell you, but um . . . I’d really like to try something first.” She began to chew on her bottom lip.

“Ash . . . what’s going on?” I asked as I heard Max cussing around the corner.

“I really want to kiss you,” she rushed.

My lips tipped in a smile. Oh, I had plans to be doing far more than just kissing her, but right then, I really f*cking loved that she had ideas of her own.

“Okaaaay. Right after you tell me what has you all worked up, I’ll see what I can do to make that happen.” I caught sight of Donna peeking her head around the corner and jumping away as soon as we made eye contact.

“You’re gonna be pissed though,” she whined and then let out a loud huff. “I don’t have enough time to make you laugh again. You have no idea how much work that is.”

I narrowed my eyes at her.

“So, really, it’s now or never.” She took a step forward.

I leaned away. “Tell me what the hell is going on,” I demanded when the way she was acting began to unnerve me.

Her shoulders fell. “Quarry’s drunk. He and Max were playing cards and betting shots. Well . . . it appears Q sucks.”

“What!” I exclaimed, backing up and knocking the cans of spray paint over.

“He kinda just puked . . . all over himself.”

“We’ve been here an hour!” I yelled at her as if it were somehow her fault my brother was a raving idiot.

“Like I said, he’s apparently really bad.”

“Son of a bitch,” I mumbled to myself as I pushed past her.

Sure as shit, I found my fourteen-year-old, tattooed brother covered in his own puke and laughing about it while he was sitting on a cardboard box with a homeless man.

I had two options.

As I looked up at Ash, who was nervously toying with her hair next to me, I realized I was really f*cking sick and tired of my default choice.

“Ash, help me get some towels out of the van,” I snapped. “Do not let him out of your sight,” I said to Max, who was laughing at whatever the hell Q was slurring.

Max saluted then replied, “Not a problem.”

I headed to where we had parked in the alley behind the condemned buildings.

“I’m sorry,” Ash whined. “In Max’s defense, Quarry does not look fourteen.”

“He doesn’t look twenty-one either!” I shouted over my shoulder.

She groaned, but her footsteps continued to crunch against the gravel behind me.

After using the remote to open the sliding door, I went to the passenger’s side, maneuvering myself in the tight space between the door and the building.

“Little help!” I called out to Ash, who had absolutely no way of getting around me.