For Better or Hearse

by Ava Hunter

She kisses like a monster. Hungry and electric and savage.

If you see me catching feelings for him, please send a carrier pigeon to peck my eyes out.”

He arches a brow. Leans in the doorway. Between that and his rolled-up cuffs and damp hair, it takes everything in Ash to not let her heart do that awooga! awooga! thing in her chest.

“I have many bad habits,” she offers. “I reuse tea bags. I have way too many intrusive thoughts. I bite the heads off gummy bears first, and all doors in my room must be completely shut when I’m sleeping.”

“In every new place I’m in, I take a rock.” “That’s a right proper nerd, Nathaniel.” She tilts her head. “I’m impressed. There’s nothing sexier than a rock.”

“Flattery will get you everywhere,” she breathes out as her heart slams against her ribs. “Especially into my bed.” “So fucking gorgeous,” he murmurs, taking her in his arms. “My morbid little beauty.”

He was obsessed with hating her, now he’s just plain obsessed with her. She’s so fucking beautiful and mean, it messes with his mind. She’s under his skin, and he isn’t ashamed to admit he wants her to burrow in deep.

“Can’t stay away?” she murmurs. “Must be a glutton for punishment.” He sighs. “You’re somewhat intriguing. I hate myself for admitting that.”

They’re for you. Just in case.” He can’t help but want to take care of her. Maybe it’s the doctor in him. Maybe it’s because he actually cares about this chaotic girl. The thought of her being without sugar terrifies him.

She’s a lesson in strength. Resilience. Knocking down obstacles. But he’d expect nothing else from her. Not after he’s witnessed the way she puts everyone first. How deeply she cares. How she’s perfect just as she is. That’s not his opinion, it’s a fact.

I’m truly split between adoration and complete violence.”

“Sunsets,” she answers. “They’re like nature’s last scream.”

“Okay, okay, my turn. Does anyone else think Dad’s just been holding in his farts his entire life?” “Delaney!” Claire exclaims, eyes wide. “What? I’ve never seen him let one loose!”

“Here.” She slips a hand into her pocket. When she pulls out a rock, his heartbeat turns irregular. Eyes gleaming, she holds it up. A shiny, jagged black rock.

“Try not to look so miserable,” he whispers. It takes everything in him not to bury his face in that cloud of hair.

There’s a pinch to his ass, the sharp bite of pain making him jump. Beside him, Ash maintains her placid smile. The camera flashes. “You play dirty,” he tells her, rubbing his right ass cheek. She bares her teeth. “That’s how I like it.”

They’re both smiling. That’s when he knows he’s in fucking trouble.

He’s been beside her every step of the way. As a doctor, he understands her condition. As Nathaniel Whitford, he sees that her diabetes is just a piece of her.

It means a lot. It means everything. Ash, Augustus and Nathaniel

I’m glad,” Nathaniel says, pivoting his hand so that their palms touch. “That you’re here for my grandfather. That you’re here for us.” Heat creeps up her neck at his words. “I will be. As long as I’m needed.” “You’re needed,” he rasps, pulling her hand closer.

Shooting stars streak pale across the inky-black expanse above them. Blazing a sparkling path. Ash brings her fingertips to her lips. She’s never seen anything so beautiful. Never felt so lucky and happy and free. It’s a moment. The universe is saying right here, right now. It overwhelms her. How big, how mind-blowing, how beautiful this little life can be.

“Fucking ha ha. I deserve that.” A gleam of heat in his gaze, he says, “I can’t stop thinking about you.” She tries hard to roll her eyes. “Because I made you come. Simple man.” “No.” He says it with so much seriousness that her heart promptly ceases its beat. “That’s not it.”

His beautiful creature. His dangerous obsession.

He runs a hand down her spine to the curve of her ass. “You have good bones.” A dark head pops out of the comforter. A smile curves her lips. “Thinking of carving me up?”

“There’s nothing about you that needs fixing.”

“Hey,” he says fiercely, pulling her into his arms. Closing the gap between them. “I like your mess. Your chaos.” She shakes her head, her stubborn gaze flicking up to meet his. “You say that now.” “I mean it.” He kisses her deeply. The world stops.

Even if he is enamored with her. The word like is far too simple for Ash Keller. He’s completely gone for this woman. Questioning it, controlling it, seems impossible.

“What do you think happens if we fall asleep?” “We turn into pumpkins and then fucking combust,”

She is not in the market for a relationship. She and Nathaniel go together about as well as serial killers and normal brain waves.

What are you doing up?” “Oh, uh…” God, she can’t tell the woman that less than twenty minutes ago, her son was folding her up like a lawn chair.

“Love and death are so similar. The beginning. The end. It’s all a mystery. An unknown. Both are always on our minds. We don’t control the ride, the ride controls us. And no matter how hard we prepare, no matter how much we think we’ve got this, we can’t escape. Love. Or death.”

I have a voodoo doll with Jakob’s name on it. I’m so proud of you, Ash. Observe, do not absorb. Unless it’s Nathaniel’s righteous dick.

Don’t jump. I’d miss you.” She lifts her head at the sound of the deep, familiar voice. Inside, her chest is a firefly. The sight of Nathaniel on the neighboring balcony roots her. Oxygen returns to her lungs.

“Traded rooms with your neighbors,” Nathaniel says evenly, hands in his pockets. “Knocked on their door and told them they were staying next to a burgeoning homicidal maniac, and they all but begged me to stay here instead.”

didn’t want you to be alone.” “You did that?” she breathes. “For me?” He smiles, the corners of his eyes creasing. “Of course I did.”

“My grandfather isn’t here. We’re neighbors. I think you know what this means.” “I finally get to throw you off the balcony with no witnesses.”

She wants the German shepherd back. Because the golden retriever she sees in his eyes frightens her.

After only a few days, Nathaniel’s a comfort. A need. That person who can get her through anything, especially Maui. Already, he’s holding her together, igniting dopamine levels so high they edge out her anxiety.

In the dark, she smiles. He could eat her name, swallow it down into that warm, chiseled, tender heart of his and hold it there. Keep her.

Fucking feelings. He promised he’d steer clear, and look where he is. So obsessed he can’t even see straight.

“The boys,” Ash murmurs, popping a piece of croissant into her mouth. “Is that a secret syndicate that fights billionaire crime?”

What’re you doing?” Nathaniel asks, tilting a fraction closer. “Marking down how often he speaks to me,” Ash replies, eyes on the device. “So far, I have been acknowledged once, grunted at four times, and addressed by name negative three.”

“Watching you nearly die every day is fucking killing me,” he growls, tightening her laces.

He’s still trying to figure out how this woman made him go from emotionally unavailable to having feelings and tying her goddamn boots in the middle of a hotel lobby in front of his entire family and a handful of strangers.

Delaney’s like the ghost of shopping past who keeps popping up when Ash least expects it.

Ash’s heart is a balloon on a string. Lightening, lifting. For once, she feels like Maui might just be okay. Like she can get through it. Survive.

“No matter what you wear. Stomping boots. Vampire garb. White dresses that fuck up my heartbeat. I love it all.”

Ash slams a hand down. Every person at the table jumps. “Nathaniel,” Ash snaps. She can’t take it anymore. The botching of his name. Don rears back. “Excuse me?” “Your son’s name is Nathaniel.” She enunciates each syllable. Glares. “He hates being called Nate.”

That’s a good way to get smacked, dawg.” “Stop acting like a tyrant, Don, and shut up,” Claire snaps.

I’ll take weird, quirky and hilarious over rude, pretentious and self-absorbed any day.” With each word Ash lets out, it’s like a pressure releasing from her chest. Her heart. “If my presence is hard for you, then you’re a bona fide piece of shit. Live with that or choose to be a better person.”