Page 12 of Gash (The Skulls #13)

“ How did you burn pasta?”

Charlotte asked, staring at the burnt strands of

linguine.

Lacey sighed. “I put the pasta into

the water, and I forgot about it. I went to sit with

Whizz.”

Charlotte stared at the other woman’s

face, seeing that she was blushing. “I see.”

“ What?”

“ You were doing more than sitting

around.” Staring into the pot, she saw the water had boiled away,

and the pasta was just wrong. “You might want to throw the pot

out.”

“ That will be your fifth

pot this week,” Sally said.

“ I’m trying, okay? I can’t cook.”

Lacey took the pot out of the kitchen, and Charlotte stared at the

stew.

“ Do you have bread?”

Charlotte asked.

“ Yes. Dad makes sure we have

bread in case Mom ruins dinner, or won’t let us call for takeout.”

Sally moved to the far side of the kitchen, and opened a large

cupboard. “Tada.”

Chuckling, Charlotte gave the stew a final

stir. “It’s ready.”

“ I’ll go and get

everyone.”

Carrying the large pot into the dining

room, she placed it on the center mat and made her way back into

the kitchen. Gash was entering the kitchen, and wrinkling his nose.

“What could she have possibly burned now?” he asked.

“ Pasta. I didn’t think it was

possible, but it is.” Charlotte didn’t know how Lacey had lived her

life with the way she burnt things.

She grabbed several bags of buns and

paused in the kitchen. Gash was still there, and now that he knew

the truth, she didn’t know what to say to him. Opening her mouth,

she closed it once again. What was there to say?

Heading back toward the dining room,

Gash stopped her. He held onto her arm. “Were you going to live the

rest of your life waiting for me to come to you?”

Glancing over her shoulder, she

shook her head. “I was just trying to get on with my life. I didn’t

know if Jeff was going to come back for me, or if I’d done my

time. They

kept me alive, which has always been a question for me. I’d have

been better off dead.” She shrugged. “I didn’t exactly plan

anything in my life. I’ve just dealt with everything that has come

my way. I’m still alive, so I always figured something else was

going to happen.”

She loved his touch.

The pleasure from the brush of his

fingers was making it hard for her to focus. “What about

you?”

“ I was going to kill you

because I truly believed you were part of it. Now, I should take

you back home and let you live in peace.”

“ Peace? You think going home now

will help me find peace? I need this, Gash. I need to put an end to

this.” She would beg if she had to. “What happened between us is

over, I get that—”

“ Is it?”

“ What?” She frowned,

confused.

“ Over, between

us.”

She paused. What the hell was she supposed

to say? After everything that had happened to her, she’d never once

blamed Gash. Sure, she’d been pissed at him for not remembering

their time together, but she had taken advantage of him, so she

shouldn’t expect anything, and everything with Jeff had been on

him, not on Gash. She’d always blamed Jeff, and that fucking bitch

Rebecca. From the moment she saw her, Charlotte should have

listened to her gut, and kept her away from her. She had ignored

her gut feeling, and allowed Rebecca inside.

“ I don’t know what you want

me to say?”

He cupped her cheek and pressed her

against the doorframe. His large body surrounded her, stopping her

from moving. Staring into his dark eyes, she couldn’t help but bite

her own lip. There were times she still fantasized about what those

lips felt like on her body. It had been so long since she’d felt

him. Seven long years of remembering.

“ You kept me sane. My

memory of you, and our time together. I may not have remembered it

was you, Char, but I knew I was with someone, and I wanted that

feeling again.”

“ I’m not some toy for you

to play with.”

“ I know. I’m not hoping to

take you out to play with you every now and then. I’ve found you

again, and I don’t want to lose that. I don’t want to lose

you.”

This was not what she had expected.

“There’s a lot of history—”

“ We can’t change the history that

is between us, but we can rewrite our future. Don’t shut me out.

Give me a chance to prove to you that I wouldn’t have just walked

away from you. That night seven years ago, Char, you took a part of

me with you, and I’ve never had it back.”

Gash shocked her even further as he

took a kiss. It was a tender kiss, his lips pressing against

hers.

“ I’ll take these into the

dining room.”

He brushed past her, and Charlotte grabbed

onto either side of the wall of the door frame. Her pussy was

soaking wet like it always was with Gash. Her body craved his touch

like her lungs craved air. This was a fight that she could never

win no matter how much she tried.

“ Wow, that looked kind of

hot,” Lacey said.

Opening her eyes, she found Lacey in

the doorway, arms folded and smiling.

“ You heard?”

“ Yep, I think you guys

should give it a chance. You both were torn apart from one another,

and that just completely sucks.” Lacey sighed. “We’re all in the

dining room.”

Nodding, she followed Lacey to

the main rom. Whizz, Gash, and Sally were already there, waiting for them. Taking

a seat, she accepted the bowl that Whizz handed her. The chicken

stew looked tasty, and her stomach growled.

She sat beside Sally, who was handing

out the bread rolls.

“ It has been a long time

since we had a good, home cooked meal.”

“ Angel did the last one.

She sent home some soups and lasagna,” Sally said.

“ Okay, okay, I get it, all right?

I’m trying, and Angel is even trying to teach me how to cook.

Nothing is working.” Lacey glared at each of them.

“ I can cook,” Sally said.

“How about I give it a try for the next week, see what you

think?”

Whizz tilted his head to the side.

“You can cook?”

“ Yeah,” Sally

said.

“ I’m game if you are,”

Whizz said, turning to Lacey.

“ We’re supposed to be

looking after her.” Lacey sighed.

“ I can’t stand anymore

takeout food, and we can’t expect other women at the club to cook

for us.”

Charlotte glanced across the table to

see Gash laughing. “You were totally unlucky in picking one of the

few women at the club that can’t cook.”

“ I wasn’t originally part

of The Skulls,” Lacey said, glaring at him.

Smiling, Charlotte dipped her bread into

the sauce and listened to the couple debate with each other about

how they were going to keep on eating for the remainder of their

lives. It was funny to watch. Whizz and Lacey were very much in

love, and Charlotte saw the bond between them. Sally was giggling

as well, and the atmosphere around the table was one of friendship

and love.

“ This is really good,”

Sally said.

“ I’m pleased. It would

taste great with pasta as well.”

Lacey sighed. “It’s good with

bread.”

“ Did you burn the pasta on

purpose?” Charlotte asked, trying to repress laughter.

“ Totally. I love my bread,

my carbs.”

“ She’s totally lying,” Whizz

said. “She can only handle some coffee in the morning, and pouring

cereal into a bowl.”

“ You do realize that you

will pay for this,” Lacey said, looking at Whizz. “I can find other

ways of making sure you’re not a happy man.” Lacey raised a

brow.

“ Ew, gross, you took it to the

gutter,” Sally said. “I have young, delicate ears.” She covered her

ears and had a disgusted look on her face.

“ Do you see what I have to

put up with?” Gash asked.

Smiling, Charlotte enjoyed the

feeling of having a family. It had been so long since she’d felt

this happy, and being around Gash and his club helped. In that

moment, she no longer felt sad or in need of taking out revenge on

the bastard who had ruined her life. At least Gash knew the truth.

The reality of their situation

crashed through, and Charlotte lost her appetite. Leaving the bread

in the bowl, she listened to the conversation around the table without

saying anything. At the end when she made to take the dishes, Whizz

stopped her. “You cooked, we’ll clean up.”

“ You go and freshen up,”

Lacey said. “I left some clothes out for you. They should fit, or

they might be a little bigger.”

Nodding, Charlotte made her way toward the

bedroom. Lacey had already told her where she’d be sleeping that

night. Opening the door, she made her way toward the bed, and sat

down. Sinking her fingers into her hair, she closed her eyes,

taking deep breaths.

You can do

this.

You can do

this.

Squeezing her eyes closed, she

concentrated on her breathing, and was instantly taken back to a

memory.

“ You said it would get

easier.” Charlotte sobbed the words out as best she could. It had

been two weeks since she had last tried to take her own life, and

the pain hadn’t gone away. Doctor Williams had promised her that

she would start to feel better.

“ Charlotte, I promised it would

get easier, but I said it wouldn’t happen right away. It’s going to

take time.”

She gripped her head,

screaming as loud as she could. “I’ve got to go. I’ve got to help

him. He doesn’t know, and he’s in prison.”

Doctor Williams touched her

knees, and she couldn’t help it. She lashed out, hitting him hard.

Charlotte attacked him, needing to get out. She only landed a few

blows before he took over, pinning her to the chair. The door to

his office opened, and she saw the nurses waiting to inject her

with something to make her relax. She didn’t want to relax.

Charlotte wanted them to miss, to kill her, or let her take the

needle and finally end her life.

“ Stay back,” Williams

said, shouting at his employees.

“ Sir—”

“ This is what she wants, isn’t

it, Charlotte? You want us to react so we give you an opening that

means you can take your own life?”

He held her tightly so

that she couldn’t move. Williams was damn strong for a doctor, and

she had underestimated him. Tears spilled from her eyes.

“ Let me go!”

“ No. I’m not going to let

you destroy yourself.”

Gritting her teeth, she

watched as the nurses left his office, and all fight left her. She