Page 27 of From the Ashes

He pauses and bites his lower lip. I notice that Anton, Elizabeth and the kids have quietly left. Part of me feels bad that they obviously felt like they couldn’t interrupt us. But the other part is not only grateful they didn’t, but gets a thrill that they picked up that our vibe was an intimate one. Even though I know it’s selfish, I’m desperate for any private time I can get with Zahir at all.

“Yeah?” I prompt, not sure what he was going to say.

He studies me for a moment, then appears to come to a decision. “I don’t live that far away. It’s about a fifteen-minute walk, so I didn’t actually drive. Did you…I mean…you could come back with me for a shower and a change of clothes. Unless?—”

“That would be awesome,” I cry before he can change his mind.

There’s no way I’m going to second guess a chance to spend a whole walk together and see his place. I’m probably stepping into dangerous territory, but I can’t bring myself to care.

I know I don’t deserve Zahir Delacroix. However, if he’s going to freely offer me his time and attention, I’m not strong enough to resist.

Zahir’s expression is hard to read, but I think he’s okay I accepted his offer by the little half smile that tweaks at his lips. “All right, then,” he says with a nod. “You got your things?”

My backpack doesn’t have much inside it. Mostly just my keys, water, sunscreen and a small towel, but I’ll at least be able to brush the sand from my feet with that. I grab the bag and my sandals before nodding back at him. “Lead the way,” I say.

In my chest, my heart gallops nervously. He’s extended an olive branch to me when he really didn’t have to. I absolutely cannot under any circumstances fuck it up.

So of course, that’s exactly what I do.

CHAPTER 12

Zahir

This feels like an alternate reality.Or perhaps some kind of surrealist painting.

Colton Ross does not belong in my home.

Yet here he is.

The walk from the beach was mostly quiet but surprisingly not awkward. However, now he’s standing in the middle of my living room, and neither of us seem sure what to do. I’m fully aware that the onus is on me to break the tension as this is my place. But my voice is caught in my throat as a debate rages inside me whether or not this was a terrible idea.

Because I know he shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t have opened my mouth and extended the invite. But now he is…it feels so right. So natural. Like we’ve traveled back in time to senior year.

“Uh, do you want something to drink?” I finally offer, remembering my manners. My teta would be ashamed of me for my rudeness. Well, she’ll be horrified if she ever finds out I let Colt in my home voluntarily. With any luck, she’ll never have to know.

Colt blinks, like he’s not sure if I’m talking to him or not. “Oh, um, sure. What have you got?”

“Water, juice, tea, iced tea, coffee,” I rattle off. Then, before I can stop myself, “And beer.”

Immediately, I know that’s setting a certain kind of vibe. But I can’t stop the thrill I feel when he grins in surprise. “I’ll take a beer.”

Nodding, my feet take me into the kitchen without much input from my brain. Which is lucky, because my thoughts are hurtling around my head like a tornado.

This just isn’t what I expected. Where’s the hotshot asshole lawyer that up and left overnight to move to the other side of the country to start a dazzling career? The man beside me as I pull two bottles from the fridge is almost…shy. Eager. Uncertain.

Humble.

He’s that sweet boy I’m sure I was the only one he let see back in school. Everyone else saw the captain of the debate team, a star athlete, a guy that could have been prom king if he hadn’t been too cool to run for it.

I’m the one who helped him with his chemistry homework. Who ran lines with him the single time he was brave enough to be in the school play, even just as a side character. Who held him when he had his one and only meltdown in our final year of school, sobbing in my bedroom, but refusing to tell me why. It’s pretty obvious what that was about in retrospect.

And I’m the one who looked into his eyes as we leaned in for that first kiss. Fuck, I haven’t allowed myself to think of that moment in so many years. Before it can overwhelm me, I busy myself finding the bottle opener and handing Colt his beer.

“The bathroom is just on the left, there,” I say in a somewhat stilted fashion. My messed up brain translates those words as I speak them to, ‘Here’s where I’d like you to get naked in my house.’

Unhelpful.

“There are spare towels in the closet,” I continue. “Help yourself to any products you need. I’ll pull out some sweats and a T-shirt to get you home. You can give them back when we next see Nevaeh.”

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