From Ashes

“I told you she was mine and you wouldn’t back off!”

“Once again, you hurt Cassidy. Do you know how much I hate you for everything you’ve put her through over the years?” I stepped closer so our chests were touching and lowered my voice so it was practically a growl. “You let her get beat. You almost let her die by their hands. You broke her heart over and over again because she found someone she wanted to be with. And when you weren’t getting any, you broke her heart another way by breaking whatever fucked-up bond the two of y’all had by bringing home another girl . . . forcing her to leave . . . and almost letting her die again.” I backed up a step when his body started vibrating. I wasn’t finished with him yet, but I wasn’t about to get in a fistfight with him out in public. “I never understood why she needed you in her life, and it pissed me off more than I could ever care to explain. But I don’t have to worry about it now; she finally sees you, Ty. So, I guess I can thank you for that at least. I’ll never have to watch her run to you again. Thank God.”

“She’s mine. She’ll always be mine. You weren’t there for everything in her life. You didn’t take care of her . . . keep her alive. I did!” He hissed, “I’m what’s best for her. I’m what’s safe and familiar and comfortable to her. Cassi will always come back to me. I look forward to the day she runs from you to me. And trust me, that day will come. When it does, I’m not letting her go again.” Before I could speak, he continued. “So enjoy her while you have her, because in the end, it’s me and her.”

Screw being in public. My hands curled into fists and I took a step toward him but Ethan stepped up and pushed me back, saying, “Let it go, Gage. Just let it go.”

“It’ll always be me and Cassidy. You’ve got a temper; you think with her life she’s going to want to be with a hothead just waiting to explode? Or that I would let her go into a life where she would get the same treatment she had for twelve years?”

“I would never touch her that way and you know that!” I shrugged Ethan off and stepped back up to my cousin, grabbing the collar of his shirt in my fists.

He glanced down to my shaking hands and scoffed. “Actually, I don’t, and she has no idea what she’s getting into with you. The minute she catches a glimpse of your anger—because we both know she didn’t see anything that morning at your place—she’ll be gone and I’ll be there to hold her and take her away from it, like I always have.”

“And let me guess, you’re go

He tapped my clenched fist and Ethan put his hand on my shoulder to pull me back again. “Like I said . . . temper.” With a twisted smirk, Tyler pulled my hands off, turned, and headed back the way he’d come.

“Seriously, Gage, no hard feelings or anything, but your cousin is a dick,” Ethan said as he slapped me on the back. “C’mon, we gotta get to class.”

I watched as Tyler rounded the corner, then checked my watch. “Nah, I’m go

“Need to go unwind? We can grab a beer.”

“I’m go

Ethan smirked. “Yeah, I bet Cassi is much better at helping you calm down than a beer.”

“Smartass.”

“Have fun unwinding, Gage.” He winked as he started backward, then suddenly stopped. “On second thought, Jackie’s already home waiting for me . . . unwinding sounds like a damn good idea right about now.” He gri

I checked my watch again and took off for my truck, hoping I made it to Starbucks before Cassidy started walking home.

C ASSIDY

“LORI, YOU OKAY?” How could she walk out of the bathroom smiling? She’d just puked.

“I’m great! Sorry I had to run out in the middle of taking the order though.”

“No worries, do you want to go home now, and I’ll work your last two hours?” I really was exhausted; Gage and I had hardly slept that week—not that I was complaining—and I was looking forward to getting a nap in before he got home in a few hours.

“No way! You didn’t even take your lunch, and don’t think I didn’t realize you clocked out for it and continued to work. Seriously, Cassi, I’m fine. Go home! I’ll see you next week.” She popped a piece of gum in her mouth and started rocking out to the song playing throughout the café as she went about washing her hands before fixing the pastry case.

Pregnant women. I swear, they’re crazy.

I glanced over at one of our newer guys and grimaced. He made perfect drinks, but I made a mental note to never put him on bar again during a Friday morning since he tended to take his time on each one. This was only my second time working with him, but one of the other shift leaders said he’d done bar really well a few times during the afternoon, then again last weekend; however, I’d had to take over for him four different times when we got slammed.

“Hey, Jesse, want me to get you caught up before I go?”

His almost-black eyes widened slightly with relief, but he kept his face composed. “You can say it, Cassi, I suck at this.”

“You don’t.” I laughed and moved in front of the bar where the two espresso machines sat side by side, steaming milk on each machine and getting espresso shots ready as well. “You’ve only been on bar a few times and it’s been during dead hours. First few Monday and Friday mornings will be a little overwhelming, but you’ll get it.”

Jesse blew out a deep breath and grabbed two of the cups to make tea. “And there you go putting me to shame in no time at all.”

“Jesse,” I said softly, and caught his eye before turning to grab the shots and dump them into cups and start new ones, “if I’ve been embarrassing you because of this, let me know. I really was just trying to help; I know how stressful it can be.”

A deep laugh rumbled out of his chest and he smiled crookedly at me. “You’re not embarrassing me. I feel like I’m just makin’ an ass outta myself in front of you.”

“Uh, you’re not. You’re learning, like we all had to.” I called out three drinks for the café and gave two to the girl at the drive-thru register as Jesse handed her the two teas. His arm brushed mine so I took an u

Jesse began making the last two drinks sitting on the bar and I purposefully took my time cleaning and restocking the area so I could watch to see if there was anything I could pick out that he could change to help on his times. Unfortunately, there wasn’t. He just needed to speed up, and now that he had all the drinks down, I had no doubt he would. He called out the two drinks, cleaned up, and for the third time since he’d started making those last two drinks his right hand went down to his leg and touched it quickly before he sighed heavily and kept wiping down the bar.

“Your phone vibrating?”

He glanced over his shoulder with that crooked smile that was really too adorable for his own good. “That obvious, huh?”

I shrugged. “Maybe I’m just observant.”

“Maybe . . . or maybe you’re just checking me out.”

My eyes widened and my stupid cheeks instantly filled with heat. “Uh, no. Definitely not.”

“Not like I haven’t been doing the same to you.”

“Jesse . . .” I began to tell him about Gage but his grin and laughing eyes fell as his hand went back to his leg. “You know I don’t mind if you check your phone as long as it doesn’t interfere with taking or filling orders. If you want to run to the back and take a ten-minute break, I’ll cover.”

He glanced down to his thick-banded watch. “Cassi, you were supposed to be off five minutes ago.”

“Well, whoever it is obviously needs to talk to you if they’ve called you four times in a row. I’m fine, go take a break.”