Ash

by D.J. Krimmer

“Unless you wanna und...

“Just shut up and tattoo me. I have an appointment at three, and if I have to hear Torch bitch that you have a tattoo for Ren and I have nothing for her, I’m g...

“Thank god,” she whispers and crashes into me. I stand still, in complete shock, as her body melts against mine, her long arms wrapping around my chest. “Sun–” “Help me,” she whispers, and I notice her body shaking. “Please, he’s coming. I’m so sorry. Please just play along. I will owe you.”

My eyes widen, and my heart might shoot out of my chest. I have to stifle a moan and close my eyes as her tongue slips past my lips. Fucking great, all the blood’s going straight to my cock.

I slide my hand to the back of her neck and deepen this kiss, caressing her sweet tongue with mine, and I feel her knees buckle.

“Sunday.” He snaps, and I don’t like how her name comes out of his mouth as if he owns it. “We need to talk. Now.”

“Josh, I have nothing to say to you. Stop harassing me. We’re done.” So, this is Josh? He looks familiar, but I can’t remember where I’ve seen him.

“Sunday–” “Hey!”

“My girl told you politely to leave her alone. I’m not going to be as nice when I tell you to fuck off.” I warn through gritted teeth. Josh stares at me for a long minute before giving Sunday one last look. “I’ll talk to you later,”

“I’m so sorry.” Sunday gives me an uneasy smile as her cheeks pinken. It’s fucking adorable, and it’s making me want to kiss them.

“Hey,” I give her a suggestive smirk. “My mouth is available to you, any time.” I wink and laugh. Her mouth drops, and she slaps me in the chest.

“You liked it!” I call to her retreating figure as she heads toward the piercing area. “You have no proof of that!” she scoffs out.

“Your tongue down my throat would suggest otherwise, sunshine.”

“Don’t flatter yourself, charming. Had Derek been the one out there, my tongue would’ve been down his throat.”

“Does consent mean nothing anymore?”

“Well, I'd like to see Derek make your knees buckle. That’s right, I felt them! You swooned.”

“Can Derek not be part of this discussion?” Derek sighs

😂😂😂

was tired from the running, and you wouldn’t know how to make a girl swoon if your life depended on it.”

“Oh!” I let out a laugh. “I’ll have you know I’m the swoon master!”

“They have webinars held to teach my swooning practices!” ...

“Hey, Ash,” Atlas says between laughs. “So, can I find your practices on YouTube? I mean, maybe I need to brush up for Ren.”

😂😂

pick up my phone, and I can’t help but chuckle at the text.

You’re watching an alien documentary. I’m going to need to watch and discuss this with you at great length.

I am in my underwear

Are you trying to deter or entice me here, sunshine?

“You feeling a little tug on that red string there, sunshine?” I ask softly, and she scoffs.

“Shut up. You’re going to miss important information.”

“Oh my god, Ash! They could’ve been here all along!” I chuckle lightly and delete the text thread with Melissa before blocking her. “Okay, sunshine,”

“Hey, sunshine,”

“Too much alien fun last night, charming?” I smirk playfully as I yell for Wade to get the lead out.

“No,” he smiles softly. “The aliens were fine. But your snoring was god awful.” Snoring? My mouth falls open before my lip curls as I rear back in offense.

“I do not ...

“Sweetheart, either you snore, or a construction crew got ahold of your phone at about two this morning and started jackhammering near it.”

😂😂

“Then why not hang up the phone, you idiot?”

“Because,” he says, just above a whisper, “Then I couldn’t say I spent the night with you.”

found her in the bathroom, curled up on the floor, sobbing while using the bathroom fan and shower as noise to hide her cries. She was exhausted, beyond exhausted. I think at that point, she was working over a hundred hours a week

between her multiple jobs, and Indy had been sick with a chest cold. I remember pulling her from the laying position on our old peel-and-stick bathroom tile.

I sway my hips and grab my pole as the song changes on the speaker. It’s not often I get to dance at my level since I’m always teaching. I effortlessly swing around the pole before sliding down, rocking my hips to the beat. I drop to my knees, grabbing the pole over my head and sliding around the floor before pulling myself back up the pole. I hear metal hitting the floor and jerk my head to find Ash scrambling to grab his keys.

“Hey, charming. Where’s my kid?” “H-home,” he

He trails off, and I give him a sly smirk as I turn myself upright.

“Charming,” I purr flirtatiously. “Am I swooning you?”

“There’s a distinct possibility that my knees are a little weak.” I release my hold on the pole as my feet touch the ground and laugh lightly. “A little pole dancing is all it take...

turning off the music. I reach down to grab my sweatpants and can’t stop the smirk on my face when I hear Ash breathe out, “Jesus fucking Christ...

grab my zip-up jacket and turn to put it on when I nearly crash into Ash. I let out a squeak of surprise while stumbling backward against my pole. Ash grabs my hips to steady me, and… fucking hell,...

I feel the heat on my hip as his thumb runs over my waistband. Flashes of me slamming into the mirror as his mouth covers every inch of me go through my brain. “What are you doing?”

“Sorry.” He clears his throat and looks around the studio. “You’re really good. Ever think about doing it professionally?”

My face falls, and I watch the mortification appear on his now ghostly white face.

“O-oh my god, no! I didn’t mean… Not that there’s anything wrong with strippers. I lov...

“I was a stripper, but I made more money teaching,

and I like not working late nights because I get to be home with Wade.” I shrug, and I slip my socks and sneakers on.