Love Thy Neighbor (30 page)

She sounds so dejected that I reach over
Asher’s lap to take her hand. I say loudly, “Then they’re stupid
because you’re beautiful and smart.”

Ash looks over at me with a soft expression,
his eyes suddenly gooey. I shoot him a dark look through furrowed
brows and shake my head discreetly. It dawns on him. He clears his
throat and scowls again.

Good boy.

Max snaps, “What do you need to date for
anyways, Isa? You’re still a baby. Don’t sweat it til you’re older,
honey.”

Oooh, shitballs.

I know he was trying to be the supportive
brother, but not only did he call his sister a baby in front of his
friends, he implied that she needn’t worry about dating…ever.

All the girls gape at Max. Their expressions
say surely he’s lost his mind. Suddenly, an Isa I’ve never seen
before emerges. Her eyes narrow at Max and she spits, “I’m not a
damn baby, Max! I’m fucking nineteen. I’ll be twenty in a few
months…and I’ve dated. A lot! And I’ve kissed guys too. Watch!”

She turns, grabs Asher’s face with both
hands and pulls his stunned face down to hers. She kisses him with
enthusiasm. He doesn’t move a muscle. Too stunned to react, he just
sits there and takes it and I want to burst into laughter. So I
do.

This is the funniest thing
ever
!

I love that my family is not the only one
with anger issues.

Isa lets go of Asher’s face, turns to her
brothers, flips them both the bird and exclaims, “Vete a la
mierda!” before standing and stomping down to the ladies room.

Now, I don’t speak Spanish, but it sounded
like she told both her brothers to fuck off and by the look on Nik
and Max’s faces, I’d say I’m right on the money.

Nik’s face pulls into a frown as he mutters,
“What the hell did
I
do?” He points to Max and accuses,
“He’s the knucklehead.”

Leti looks devastated. She turns to Max and
demands, “Fix this!”

Maria says to Max through a humorless
chuckle, “You’ve done it now, Maxie Boy. Have you ever heard of
finesse? Because you need it. In bucket loads. No wonder you don’t
have a girlfriend.”

Max opens and shuts his mouth like a gaping
fish. At least he has the grace to look guilty. Tina moves to stand
but I hold out my hand and say, “Stay. I’ll check on her.” Without
waiting for a response, I head over to the VIP ladies room.

As soon as I walk in, I see Isa sitting in
one of the armchairs looking sadder than she should be. I plop into
the chair next to her and state, “That was quite a show, honey.”
She shrugs and I go on, “I gotta say I liked it when you told your
brothers to fuck off.” She cracks a smile and I admit, “But my
favorite part was when you made out with Ash.”

Isa covers her face with her hands and
bursts into laughter. I laugh with her. We both laugh so hard that
we cry. Once I get my laughter under control, I ask, “What was that
about, babe?”

She puffs out a frustrated breath. “I’m sick
of them treating me like a child. I know I’ll always be the baby of
the family, but there’s a point where it needs to stop. The
over-protectiveness. The babying. It’s too much. I hate it.”

Nodding in agreement, I say seriously,
“Well, now they know. That’s for sure. I think you might need to
say something to Asher though.” I chuckle at the memory of his
expression. “He looked seriously freaked out.”

I imitate his wide-eyed, stunned expression
and we burst into laughter again. She says softly, “You call him
Asher.”

Shit. I did, didn’t I?

With a small smile, she goes on, “No one
calls him Asher except Mom.” I open my mouth to try to explain
myself but she cuts me off by saying quietly, “That’s really cool.”
And somehow, I know she’ll keep my secret.

Standing, I pull her up with me and pull her
to my side. I hold her hand and say, “I could use a drink.
C’mon.”

We walk out of the bathroom and over to the
bar.

***

Someone clears their throat and I look
up.

Nat stands smiling behind Isa, holding onto
her hand in a show of support. Isa says to the entire booth, “I’m
sorry for making a scene. I apologize for almost ruining your
night.” She turns to me looking sheepish. “Sorry, Ghost. You were
the closest guy to me who wasn’t a relative and I was making a
point.”

Giving her a small smile and rubbing the
back of my neck awkwardly, I say, “Well, I guess you sure showed
them, huh?”

Isa smiles a megawatt smile at me and I see
Nat lower her head as her body shakes with silent laughter. Nik
clears his throat and says, “That’s okay, honey. I know I forget
you’re a woman now and…” His face softens as he continues, “…I know
you’re not a baby anymore.”

Max stands and wraps Isa in a big hug. They
hold each other and talk quietly for a while and I know they’ve
worked it out when I see them both smile.

When they take their seats, I reach for my
cola. I take a sip just as Max says, “Hey Ghost, where’s Tasha
these days?”

I open my mouth to speak and swallow at the
same time. I choke on my drink, coughing and sputtering. Some cola
goes up my nose and the rest ends up all over me. Nat bursts into
laughter. She shakes her head, muttering, “Spaz.”

Getting my shit together, I clear my throat
and tell Max, “I don’t see her anymore.” I don’t know where it
comes from, but I can’t seem to stop myself from saying aloud,
“Actually, I’m sorta seeing someone.”

And as soon as I say it, I wish I had one of
those magic poof balls that the villains use in the old time
movies. You know? The ones that go poof making a huge cloud of
smoke giving the villain time to disappear.

Yeah. Those.

Nat stiffens by my side and I see Isa smile
big. Suddenly I’m bombarded with questions. Max leans forward and
asks incredulously, “Seeing someone? As in dating?”

I nod and Trick says wide-eyed, “Wow. Who is
she?”

I open my mouth to answer but Nik cuts me
off by asking, “How long you been seeing this broad?”

Scowling at Nik, I suddenly want to smack
him for calling Nat a ‘broad’. Only
I
get to call her a
broad because she’s mine. She’s a…I would say lady, but…yeah, no.
Let’s call her a spitfire.

Tina looks dreamy-happy when she states, “Oh
Ghost, honey, we need to meet her!”

Mimi side-eyes Nat and repeats, “Yeah. We’d
love to meet her.”

Lola looks from me to Nat looking sad. She
says sulkily, “Well that sucks.” Trick nudges her and she amends
her previous statement to, “I mean that’s great.” Forcing the
fakest smile I’ve ever seen her wear.

Maria and Leti look like they’re about to
burst from happiness. And I suddenly feel courageous. I tell them,
“Yeah, she’s- uh- she’s something else.” Reaching under the booth,
I squeeze Nat’s knee and go on, “She’s fuckin’ funny and cute as
hell. She yells at me all the time. Doesn’t take my shit.” I feel
Nat’s hand cover mine. Her thumb caresses the back of my hand and I
continue, “She listens to me even when I’m being an ass. There’s
something different about this one. I want her. To keep. She says
she loves me.”

All the girls gasp and make gooey faces
while clutching their hands to their chests. All except Nat and
Mimi, that is. Mimi smiles gently and Nat remains stone-faced.

Tina leans forward and asks quietly, “Do
you? You know? Love her?”

Squeezing Nat’s knee again, I reply, “She’s
teachin’ me how.”

If Tina could melt into a puddle, she
would’ve just now. Shit, she actually looks like she could cry.

Max looks shocked. So does Trick. And
Nik.

Okay, they all do, and normally I’d give a
fuck or two, but not a single fuck was given this day. If she’d let
me, I’d tell them all right now that she’s mine.

And I’m keeping her.

***

Oh. My. Fucking. God.

Did that just happen? Did Ash just tell
everyone that he was dating me and that I was teaching him how to
love?

Swoon, baby.

That right there was swoon-tastic. He is
so
getting laid tonight. I might even beg to suck his cock.
I know how much he likes that.

If I’m being honest, I like it as much as he
does.

I take a sip of my drink just as Ash slides
his hand from my knee up my thigh. I try to swallow but it goes
down the wrong way, so I sputter and cough my ass off. I cough long
and hard for a good minute when Ash throws my previous insult back
at me. He chuckles and mutters, “Spaz.”

Still holding my thigh under the table, he
slides it a little higher, looks down to me with a scowl and says,
“Did you lock my car?”

Suddenly horny and confused, I tell him,
“What the fuck are you talking about, asshat?”

He sighs loudly and the whole booth looks up
at us.

Why is he making a scene?

He says, “There’s a way to lock it. My baby
gets stolen, it’s on you.”

Oh! I get ya, baby. Wink, wink.

I glare at him and say, “Well, if you’d
shown me in the first place, you wouldn’t be questioning me right
now.”

Ash shakes his head, exhaling loudly and
muttering, “Ain’t gonna be a next time.” Then nods his head. “Come
on.”

Isa moves out of the booth trying hard to
hide her smile. Ash stands and I follow him out. I meet Tina’s
eyes, and mouth, “
Asshole
!”

She throws me a sympathetic look and waves
to me. Running to catch up with him, I tell him, “You could’ve
warned me, Ash.”

He shakes his head and says, “Need to be
inside you, pretty girl. Now.”

Taking hold of my forearm, he almost drags
me out of the club and over to his shiny black Impala. A word to
describe this car. Hot. Sex incarnate would be another.

The doors unlock and he walks around the
car. He sits in the passenger front side, pushing the bench seat
back as far as it’ll go. He pats his lap, looking up at me through
hooded eyes.

Oh, I like this.

The parking lot is dimly lit but if anyone
walked past his car, they’d see us pretty damn clearly. And that
makes this all the hotter. He unbuckles his shiny silver belt,
undoes the top button to his jeans, lowers his zipper, then reaches
into them and pulls himself free.

Damnnnn!

Every time I see it, my heart skips a
beat.

It’s a nice dick. Thick, long and strong.
And it’s all mine.

Careful of my head, I climb over to straddle
him. Once my knees are settled nicely, he slides his hands down my
back, under my dress to cup my ass. He stills before he looks up at
me, his expression stunned. He says hoarsely, “Pretty girl, please
tell me you haven’t been sitting at the booth all night without
panties on.”

I smile the most angelic smile I can muster
and his head falls back with a groan. My dress is moved up, bunched
around my hips. He lifts me a little, positions himself at my entry
and before I can say a word, he drives home. I reach up to clutch
his shoulders, close my eyes and moan loudly. He doesn’t move a
muscle. I lower my face to his neck and feel his pulse thumping
through my lips with every sensual kiss I place there. Running my
tongue up the side of his neck, I stop to kiss his jaw. I breathe
him in, a strong and completely male scent. Woodsy and musky and
totally panty-wetting. Knowing it’ll drive him crazy, I nip his
earlobe and whisper, “I love you, Ash.”

His arms tangle me up, he groans long and
thrusts up into me, so deep that my eyes flutter back as my core
clenches around him. My pussy weeps happy tears. He reaches up and
holds my chin down to him. His kisses are wet and sexy. His tongue
plunders into my mouth using the same rhythm as his thrusts. My
breathing turns erratic, my core clenches tight and I moan into his
mouth.

He reaches down between us and presses his
thumb to my clit, rolling it in soft lazy circles. My face heats,
my heart races and I gasp suddenly when my core contracts
uncontrollably in release. Ash growls into my mouth. He says, “My
dirty girl. I fucking love you like this. All mine, baby.”

I whimper as he captures my mouth in a
possessive kiss that rocks my very soul. He mutters into my mouth,
“Here it comes, pretty girl. All yours.”

His thrusts become erratic, his arms tighten
around my back and he holds me tight as he finds his release. I
feel him jerk inside of me and it heightens my already blissful
high.

His body relaxes against mine, his breathing
steadies and his shoulders slump. He pulls back to search my face
and says, “This is mine,” then he reaches down to cup my still
impaled pussy, and it’s so hot that I gasp a little before nodding
vigorously.

Somehow, he doesn’t look convinced but he
nods lightly before he demands, “Lips, baby.”

Leaning my face closer to his, I suddenly
move back and ask, “Why’d you do that? You know, in there?”

Confusion settles over his face. He sighs
quietly, “I really don’t know. It felt like a compulsion. Like I
couldn’t stop it.”

Nodding in stunned disbelief, I whisper,
“That’s an acceptable answer.”

He blinks once before his wide new Asher
happy smile appears. I grip the front of his shirt and rub my cheek
against his. I move slightly so our noses touch and run my nose up
his, softly and sweetly. I ask him quietly, “So, I’m still your
obsession?”

His hands rub my back in long, soothing
strokes. Pecking a small kiss on my lips, he answers, “The one and
only. Never stopped, pretty girl.”

Swallowing hard, I suddenly start to sweat
when I ask in a barely-there whisper, “You’re trying hard,
right?”

He presses into me in a deliberately slow,
open-mouthed kiss that would set anyone’s tongues wagging. He
replies, “Yeah. I am. Which makes me think you’re worth it.”

I smile into his mouth and utter, “I
am.”

We both chuckle at my cockiness. A second
passes before I say, “Ash?”