Page 105 of Freaks Of Nature

Falling for him was never part of it.

Pulling the blanket up to my nose, I close my eyes and fill my lungs with his signature scent of sandalwood and spice when my phone buzzes with a text notification.

Reluctantly, I scan the screen to see that it’s from Ash, offering to take me out on my night off.

I read the text in the notification window at the top instead of opening the messaging app. He’s been checking in with me, but after witnessing Mason’s reaction to his brother touching me in the woods, I’ve been distancing myself from him, too. I stand by my conviction. I won’t be the woman who gets between brothers.

I close the screen without bothering to reply and slide my phone face-down onto the nightstand.

My fingers linger on the case as my sight catches on the wireless speaker again. I can’t believe I hit him. I don’t feel relieved at taking a stand for myself. It was over, we were done, he would’ve left… If anything, I’m more afraid of what he’ll do next.

I shouldn’t have struck him.

I roll onto my back and stare at the ceiling. In my entire life, I’ve never felt so many conflicting emotions. That look in his eyes, like he thought he deserved it, haunts me.

The sharp buzz of the front door jolts me out of my ramblings. I fling the covers aside and rush down the hallway to answer the intercom in what little I wear.

“Hello?”

“Please tell me you haven’t had dinner yet.”

I roll my eyes at his persistence. “Ash…”

“Come on, Emily. You have to eat, don’t you? I brought takeout. Let me in.”

Dammit!

I hang my head in resignation and buzz him in, then race back into my bedroom to throw on a pair of sweatpants and an oversized T-shirt.

I’m back to answer the door right as he knocks.

“See? That wasn’t so hard.” He meets me with a grin, holding up three to-go bags from the taco truck he took me to on our first date.

I shake my head but can’t fight the smile curling my lips as I step aside to invite him in. Motioning toward the kitchen, I relock the door before following.

I grab us water bottles from the fridge. Ash drops the paper bags on the table and goes for the cabinet to pull two plates from it while I take a seat. He found them on the first try.

“What did you get?” I ask, reaching for the closest bag.

“Same as last time.” He drops one plate in front of me and scoots the other one across the table.

I unroll the top and pull out the familiar wrapper. “You remember what I ordered?”

“Of course.” He slides out the chair opposite mine. “But I got you an extra one. I didn’t know how hungry you were.”

I glance back into the bag and see three more tacos at the bottom. I laugh. “Kinda starving now that I smell it,” I admit.

Ash leans across the table and snatches up the other two bags. I watch him lay out his food on the plate when my attention catches on his right hand working the wrapper off.

I gasp. “What did you do to your hand?” The skin on his knuckles is badly scuffed, like it had been bleeding.

“Eh, it’s nothing,” he replies, then chuckles. “You should’ve seen the other guy.”

Watching his eyes drop to his plate, I feel a weight settle in my stomach. I assume he means Mason, and I have. I remember the cut above his eye.

So it was from an altercation with Ash and not some random guy he let his frustration out on.

“Just a minor disagreement between brothers,” he adds, raising the taco to his mouth.