Ash by Julieanne Lynch Page A

shaking my head. “No. Sophia.”
    The light came on for the first time inside Danny’s head, and he suddenly understood. “Well, fuck me.”
    “Yeah, I’m a whole lotta messed up.”
    “Damn, Ash, has she really gotten under your skin?” he asked, his eyebrow raised.
    I nodded, slumped back against the sofa, and sighed. “It’s like I’m sixteen all over again.”
    “Uh-oh,” he said. “But at least this time around you’re not a complete asshole, right?”
    Danny looked at me as if he were trying to make me see the good in the mess I created. He knew me too well. There was no way I could stop myself from ripping my choices to shreds. I really was my own worst enemy.
    “That’s not good, not by a long shot. I mean, let’s look at it from my perspective, forgetting your wiseass knowledge,” I replied.
    He crinkled his nose and nodded, his way of agreeing to listen to me.
    “So, let’s say, I go into work, pretend that Sophia and me didn’t happen, but she gets all antsy and in my face. Imagine how that will go down with Joe, nevermind the guys. We’ve seen how fiery she can get, right? Whichever way we look at this, I’m going to be the bad guy. I’ve never mixed work and pleasure before, and it goes against everything I stand for. I’m the hypocrite here, and it doesn’t bode well with me.”
    “Okay,” Danny remarked, and scratched his balls. “I get it. I see it from your perspective, but answer me one thing.”
    “What?”
    Danny smiled, sat forward, and spoke in a low tone. “Was it a good fuck, a blow your mind fuck, or a never to fuck again kind of fuck?”
    Yup, this was, indeed, my best friend, and he wasn’t going to let me escape this one.
    “A good fuck,” I replied. “But it’s been a while.”
    Danny smiled, patted me on the back, and stood. “That’s my boy. Now if you excuse me, I think I will use the little boy’s room and take advantage of all those male beauty products you’ve been collecting.”
    “Knock yourself out,” I shouted after him.
    “Yeah, maybe. Depends on the mood.”
    Danny disappeared down the hall.
    I sat back, trying not to think of Sophia. Yet her face, her breath, and the scent of her skin filled my head. It had only been a drunken, spur of the moment encounter, but something about her had awoken a dormant part of my soul. It was magnetic, a force like no other.
    A sense of déjà vu filled me. It would only be a matter of time before I fell off the wagon and wanted her again. Though I regretted it, I yearned to feel her against me, and that was dangerous territory.
     

 
Danny was long gone by the time I showered and cleaned up the apartment. He left a Post-It note on the hall mirror that read, ‘Remember, Connie wants you to be happy, so if banging the new girl works, then bang away until your heart’s content, or your cock falls off.’
    “Bloody idiot,” I mumbled, crumpling the note and throwing it in the bin.
    Grabbing my keys, I opened the front door and came face-to-face with someone I didn’t fancy seeing.
    “Oh, good, I’m glad I’ve caught you,” Marcy said.
    I frowned, unable to hide my displeasure in seeing her. “What do you want?”
    “Oh, nice to see you, too, Ash.” She frowned
    I pulled the door shut behind me and walked toward the stairs before I uttered another word.
    “Jesus, you’d think you would just drop the act.” She followed close behind me.
    I turned and faced her. “Marcy, is there something you want in particular? Or is this just another one of your outings where you plan on squeezing the life out of me?”
    “You never returned my call.”
    I scratched my head and shrugged. “I didn’t get the memo.”
    “Your mother assured me she would pass the message on.”
    Frustrated by her unannounced presence, I darted down the stairs, ignoring her.
    “I’m not letting this lie, Ash. You and Connie promised me access. We made a deal,” she shouted as she followed me.
    I walked out into the midday sun