From Ashes (2 page)

I’d seen plenty of attractive guys—Tyler looked like an Abercrombie and Fitch model, for crying out loud. But Mr. New couldn’t even be described as something as degrading as
attractive
. He looked like a god. My breath was becoming rougher, and my blood started warming as I took an unconscious step toward him. Just then a tall, leggy blonde bounced over to his side and wrapped her arms around his waist, kissing his strong jaw. It felt like someone punched me in the stomach and I was instantly jealous of whoever this girl was. Shaking my head, I forced my eyes to look away.
What the hell, Cassidy? Calm down.

“Cassi, you coming?”

I blinked and looked over to Tyler, who had his hand outstretched to me. “Uh, yeah.” I glanced back at Mr. New and saw he still hadn’t moved. The perky blonde was chatting his ear off, and he didn’t even seem to be hearing her. I felt a blush creep up my cheeks from the way he was looking at me, like he’d just seen the sun for the first time, and continued over to Tyler.

Tyler pulled me to his side and whispered in my ear, “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I reassured him, trying to slow my heart down for a completely different reason now.

He kissed my cheek and pulled away. “Okay, well let me introduce you to Gage.”

Right. Gage. Tyler dropped my hand, only to put his on the small of my back as he led me over to Mr. New and the leggy blonde.
Oh no. No no no no no.

“ ’Sup, man?” Tyler slapped him on the back and Mr. New slowly dragged his eyes from me to the guy who’d just hit him.

Gage’s eyes went wide when he saw Ty. “Tyler, hey! I didn’t realize y’all were here yet.”

Oh. Good. God. That voice. Even with that small sentence I could hear the drawl in it. It was deep and gravelly, and easily the sexiest thing I’d ever heard.

“Yeah, we just got here. Cassi, this is my cousin Gage. Gage, this is Cassi.”

Gage brought his hand out. “It’s a pleasure, Cassi. I’m glad y’all are finally here.”

My knees went weak and a jolt of electricity went through me when I shook his hand. From how he glanced down at our hands quickly, he’d felt it too. “It’s nice to meet you too.” Now that I was up close, I could see his bright green eyes, hidden behind thick black lashes and eyebrows. He was the definition of masculine. From his strong jaw and brow, high cheekbones, defined nose, and perfectly kissable lips, his looks screamed
man
. The only thing offsetting the masculinity were his boyish deep dimples, which had me hooked. Yep,
god
was the only word out there that fit him.

Our hands didn’t separate fast enough for the tall blonde, so she thrust her hand forward. “I’m Brynn, Gage’s girlfriend.” Her eyes narrowed on the last word.

I shouldn’t have, but I glanced at Gage again. His brows were pulled down in either confusion or annoyance when he looked at Brynn.
You have got to be kidding me,
I thought. I didn’t care if it had been only two seconds since I first saw him, this couldn’t be a normal reaction for two people just meeting to have with each other, and he had a freaking girlfriend. It hadn’t even felt like this with the cop who came to my door that night, and I’d thought about him for almost two years!

I squared my shoulders and dropped Gage’s hand, focusing on Brynn. “It’s great to meet you, Brynn!” I hoped my smile looked genuine. I didn’t need an enemy yet, especially if she was dating the guy I was going to be living with. But hell, I’m not gonna lie—I was already thinking of ways to get her out of the picture.

Tyler and Brynn shook hands, and she looked back to me, noticing that I was doing everything to keep from looking at her boyfriend. Tyler and Gage were catching up, and every time Gage would speak I had to force myself not to shut my eyes and lose myself in the way his voice caused chills to go through my whole body.

“So, Cassi, what do you say we go introduce you to the rest of the girls?” Brynn finally said sweetly.

Tyler looked elated; this was exactly what he wanted. “Sounds great,” I said, and stepped away from the guys. It felt wrong to walk away, but I could feel Gage watching me as I did.

“You and Tyler, huh?” Brynn nudged my shoulder.

“What do you mean?”

“Y’all make such a cute couple.” She wasn’t complimenting, she was reaching.

“Thanks, but no. Tyler and I are best friends, nothing more.”

“You sure about that? I saw the way he was looking at you, and he had his arm around you.”

“We’re just different like that. We’ve been best friends our entire lives.”

“Right. Are you going to UT too?” she asked, sounding a little too curious.

“Uh, no. I’m not planning on going to school at all.”

“So why are you here?” If it hadn’t been for the curled-up lip, she would have just simply sounded interested.

“Honestly? I have no idea. Tyler packed my bag and threw me in his Jeep. Apparently Gage didn’t care if I lived with them.” I smirked and turned to begin the introductions with the girls who were now right next to us.

G
AGE

W
HAT THE HELL
was
that? Nothing like that had ever happened to me. One look at Cassi and it felt like my world stopped. All I could think about was closing the distance between us. I don’t know how to describe it, but I needed to go to her. Unfortunately, I was frozen in place, taking in the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen. Her long brown hair was windblown, and those wide honey-colored eyes made me want to get lost in them. She looked so sweet and fragile, I wanted to wrap my arms around her and protect her from seeing anything bad in the world, but something in her eyes told me she knew too well what the world was like and could take care of herself. Which is why it was so damn confusing that she clung to my cousin like he was a lifeline.

Tyler told me he was bringing his friend to live with us, and that she was a girl. I’d remembered hearing her name over the years, but whenever he spoke about her, it seemed like they were only friends, so why did he hold her hand and kiss her damn cheek? I couldn’t even stop the growl that came from my throat when I saw it. Then freakin’ Brynn. Girlfriend? Really? We’d gone on two god-awful dates last year and I told her before school let out that I didn’t want any form of a relationship with her. I thought we’d been clear since she’d avoided me all afternoon until Cassi and Ty showed up.

When Cassi first spoke, I had to force myself to breathe. Her voice was soft and melodic. It fit her perfectly. She was petite and even with how short she was, those legs in those shorts could make any guy fall on his knees and beg. I couldn’t stop thinking about how she’d feel in my arms, how she’d look in my truck or on my horse. And yeah, I’m not gonna lie, I’d already pictured her beneath me . . . but one look at her and there was no way not to.

After Brynn took her away, it took a huge effort to stop watching her, but I didn’t want to let on to Tyler that I was already completely taken with her.

“She’s mine, Gage. Let’s get that clear right now.”

Okay, so maybe I’d been a little more obvious than I’d thought. “Thought you said y’all were friends.”

“She’s my best friend, but you’ll see. She’s mine.”

I nodded and clapped his back, forcing my hand out of a fist. “I got you, man. Come on, let me get you a beer.”

As the night wore on, I continued to get closer and closer to where she was. I felt like a creep, trying to be near her, but I couldn’t stop it. I wanted to listen to her talk and laugh; I swear she sounded like an angel singing when she laughed. I almost groaned out loud—
Angel singing?
What the hell is wrong with me?

We were all sitting around the bonfire talking and drinking. I was just a few feet from Cassi when she got up to head over to Jackie. If it hadn’t been for what happened immediately after, I would have punched Jake in the face for touching her. With one hand he grazed the front of her thigh, and with the other he grabbed her ass, causing her to stumble and fall right into me, her beer soaking my shirt.

Her big eyes got even wider and she sucked in a quick gasp. “Oh God, I’m so sorry!” The sun was setting and it was getting darker, but I could perfectly see her blush. I’m pretty sure Cassi blushing was my new favorite thing.

I laughed and grabbed her small shoulders to steady her, not caring one bit about my shirt. “You all right?”

Her eyes focused on my lips, her teeth lightly sinking into her bottom one. I wanted to replace her teeth with mine and without realizing it, I started to lean forward. She blinked quickly and glanced up, then looked at Jake on my right. “I’m fine. I’m really sorry about your shirt.”

Aw hell, this isn’t normal. She’s said all of two sentences to me tonight and I was about to kiss her?
“Don’t worry about it,” I murmured as she righted herself and continued toward Jackie, only to be quickly pulled away by Tyler as he spoke in her ear, his arms around her.

“Damn, when you said your cousin was bringing a chick, I wasn’t expecting her to be so hot,” Jake said.

“Jake, touch her again . . . see what fuckin’ happens.”

“Whoa, got it bad for your cousin’s girl already, huh? You gonna try to get with that?”

I eyed Cassi in Ty’s arms and shook my head as I brought my beer up to take another long drink. “Nope.”
Yes, yes, I am.

“Well, if you’re not, I sure as hell am.”

“Jake,” I growled.

“All right, all right. Chill, Gage. I won’t touch her and you heard her . . . she’s fine.” Jake leaned forward to grab another beer out of the ice chest and settled back into his chair, his eyes already off Cassi and onto Lanie.

After a quick glance to see Cassi and Tyler still quietly talking, I got up and walked back to where all the trucks were parked. I took my wet shirt off and hung it off the bed of my truck before grabbing a clean one out of the backseat. When I turned around, Tyler was walking up to me.

“I’m real glad you’re here, bro,” I said.

“Me too.” He took a long drink out of his can before setting it down on the tailgate. “We couldn’t get here fast enough. Cali was really starting to wear on me; I was ready for someplace new. And hey, I know I’ve said this, but I appreciate you letting us room with you. I know you could’ve had anyone share your apartment with you, and he probably wouldn’t have brought a girl with him.”

“Don’t worry about it, you’re family. To be honest, I was kinda surprised when you said you were coming to Austin to go to school with me. After you started refusing to come to the ranch with Aunt Steph and Uncle Jim the last few years, I just figured you didn’t like us much anymore.”

“Nah, it had nothing to do with you. I just hated leaving Cassi behind. Sorry I made you think that though.”

I took a deep breath, reminding myself Cassi
had
followed him to Texas. “Really? I don’t get it, Ty, you said she was a friend. Then she follows you here, and now you’re saying you wouldn’t come visit because you didn’t want to leave her? How come you never just told me how it really was with y’all?”

“It’s complicated; we really were just friends. But she needed me; I couldn’t just leave her. And I’m in love with her, man.”

Holy hell. I felt like someone had just knocked the air outta me. How was I already so into this girl that it physically hurt to think of her being with Ty? With anyone, for that matter? Seriously. This was not. Fucking. Normal. “What do you mean she needed you?”

Tyler sighed and shook his head. “Like I said, it’s complicated.”

We both looked up when we heard girls squealing and splashing. Some of the guys were throwing them into the lake, and I couldn’t stop myself from going to Jake when he picked Cassi up and threw her over his shoulder. My hands were already balled into fists for when he put her down. Her long hair was hiding her face as she pounded her little hands on his back.

“Put me down! I’m not wearing a suit!” She sounded so determined for a little thing that I almost smiled. Almost. “I’m serious, put me down!”

“Jake, I told you not to touch her. Put her down.” I was standing right behind them then. Cassi grabbed the top of his jeans to push herself up and look at me, but Jake turned so he was now facing me. She was trying to kick him as well and his hands high up on her thighs had my hands fisting again.

“Come on, Gage.” He sounded annoyed. “All the other girls went in.”

“She doesn’t want to—” Jake slid her down, causing her shirt to ride up high on her back. I choked on my next words, and at least two other people gasped behind me.
WHAT THE HELL?!

Tyler grabbed Cassi and started pulling her away. He looked at her sympathetically, and when his eyes met mine they looked worried. Cassi’s face was bright red again and her lips were smashed together tight as she let Tyler lead her to his Jeep.

Jake looked at me like I was insane; if it wasn’t for the other guys having the same reaction, I woulda felt like it too. I turned and followed Tyler and Cassi to the Jeep, waiting until I was sure no one could hear us. “What the hell did I just see?”

Tyler helped her into the Jeep before going to the driver’s side and opening up his own door. Cassi was looking straight ahead, her jaw still clenched.

“Ty, man, what was that?”

“Nothing, we’ll see you whenever you get back to the apartment.”

“That wasn’t nothing!”

He sighed and stepped away from the door, leaning close so she couldn’t hear him. “Look, we were trying to avoid something like this, but since you already saw, I’ll explain it later. But this is exactly what I was getting her away from, so I’m going to take her back to the apartment now if you don’t mind.”

I didn’t wait for anything else. I practically ran to my truck, grabbed my wet shirt as I put the tailgate up, hopped in, and drove back with them. A million things went through my mind on the way back to the apartment, and each one had me gripping the steering wheel hard. It was dark enough that I couldn’t be sure what I’d seen, but it looked like bruises. Lots of them. I’d heard of people with some illnesses who are covered in them. I tried to think of what it could be and thought about her too-small frame. If her face didn’t look so healthy, I would have been sure it was that. But the way Tyler talked about not wanting to leave her behind, I couldn’t dismiss it either. I refused to think about the obvious; there was no way someone would hurt her. I’d hunt them down if they did.