I reached her in three quick strides and wrapped my arms around her shaking body, pulling her to my chest. Neither of us said anything. We stood in the middle of the room full of instruments for ten, maybe fifteen minutes, simply holding one other. Feeling her lithe body up against mine… smelling her sweet citrus smell… was downright euphoric. For months I had dreamed about touching her again, and I was going to hold her as long as she would let me.
“Scarlett?” A guy’s voice interrupted our private nirvana. “Is everything alright?”
She jumped back out of my arms and nervously began straightening her clothes. “Yeah, Joe. Everything’s fine… just an old friend.”
“Okay, well you need to get back out to the main room. There’s a girl here needing some help,” he said. He looked me up and down disapprovingly before turning around and exiting the room.
Scarlett looked up at me and smiled weakly. “I’ve gotta go. Keep the strings… they’re on me.” Then she walked away.
Still in shock and disbelief, I stumbled through the main area of the store. Just before I opened the door that led outside, she called out, “Ash!”
I twisted around to see her across the room.
“I never stopped feeling it.” She smiled, a genuine smile this time, and my heart jumped in my chest. She went back to helping her customer and I left the store with more than just hope. I had fate on my side.
CHAPTER NINE
DREAMS
Sideways ~Citizen Cope
The Only Time ~ Nine Inch Nails
Only Place I Call Home ~ Every Avenue
SCARLETT
After Ash left the shop, an unexpected peace settled over me. I wasn’t sure exactly what happened during our encounter, but at some point, I made the decision that I didn’t want to hate him anymore. Hearing the hurt in his voice softened my outer shell, but it was when his body crashed into mine, that all of the good memories came rushing back. As he held me against his chest, I couldn’t help but think back to all of the nights I spent curled up next to his body, the way he smelled, the warmth of his breath on the back of my neck when he slept, the feel of his hand wrapped around my waist and his legs tangled in mine… all of it. I missed the nights we spent in his room ~ talking about everything and nothing, laughing at our favorite television shows, teaching each other how to play new songs. I had been completely consumed by the pain and feeling of abandonment, that I had blocked out all of the reasons that made me fall in love with him in the first place. The days surrounding Evie’s death, I lost not just one, but two best friends.
For the rest of my shift, I couldn’t get him out of my mind. I tried… Lord knows I tried, but my thoughts kept drifting back to Ash. Right before I clocked out for the night, Joe came up to me and said, “Make sure to tell Rat that I got the new amp he ordered. I’ll have it delivered to Empty’s tomorrow.”
That was when the guilt began to creep in. Even though I hadn’t done anything wrong, I knew Mason would not be happy that Ash had been there and that he would be downright pissed that I allowed him to hold me for a good while. But I had to tell him the truth. I didn’t want to hide anything from him; I had already decided that if we couldn’t survive on the truth, than the relationship wasn’t meant to be.
I loved Mason, and I wanted to be with him. From the day I had met him, he had been there for me no matter what, and I really wasn’t sure why. He had pretty much dropped his social life except for Jobu’s Rum, and dedicated himself to me, even though I never asked him to. And even after I left him the awful way that I did, he took me back without reservation the minute I showed up in his bar. No matter what connection my heart felt with Ash, I knew that Mason was the better guy for me. I owed it to him to give our relationship everything I could, and I hoped that by forgiving Ash, I could finally move on.
When I returned to my empty apartment, I took a quick shower and changed into my pajamas. Crawling into bed, I grabbed my phone, getting ready for a long conversation. I hit the top name in my favorites list and waited for him to answer. Unfortunately, after just three rings his voicemail picked up. I left a quick message for him to call me back, and then grabbed my e-reader to pass the time.
Two hours later I finished the book I started earlier that day, and I was overjoyed for the three main characters that all ended up with their happily-ever-after’s. Sure, relationships like that didn’t exist in the real world, at least not in my world, but that was the great thing about fictional books ~ they were meant to be an escape from reality. The damn thing also left me all hot and bothered, and accompanied by the fact my phone still hadn’t rang, I was frustrated and annoyed.
Not wanting to call and leave another message, I decided to text Mason instead. I hoped that maybe he had just forgotten to turn his ringer on or something and would see the text. I laid my head down and not-so-patiently waited to hear from him. Lingering thoughts of the book characters, Trey and Ethan, morphed into Ash and Mason in my head, and I wished that real life could be as easy as it was in the books. I couldn’t wait for Mason to get back the next day; things were always better when I was with him.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I hurried up the stairs to Mason’s apartment, anxious and excited to see him. He opened the door before I even had a chance to knock and picked me up into his arms
“Get your little ass in here, Angel. I’ve been so excited to see you all day,” he said as he carried me through the doorway.
Instead of responding with words I claimed his mouth with mine, open and demanding. I wasn’t wasting any time with pleasantries and “how-do-you-dos;” I needed him and had no problems showing him just that. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to either. As soon as he closed the door behind us, he slammed my back up against the adjacent wall and returned the desperate kisses in kind. After several minutes of pawing at each other and tasting every inch of exposed skin above the waist, he pulled back slightly and I growled in frustration.
“Hold on. We need to slow down… otherwise we will be finished before I give you your surprise,” he said teasingly.