Mer Tales 01 - Everblue

Azor’s right-hand man. “Colin, pull the car into the garage. If Fin is around, I’m sure he’s got his own set of keys.”
    “ Oh, right,” Colin said and got back into the Jeep. I cringed when he ground the gears.
    Within minutes, our get-away vehicle was locked up tight in the fortress guarded by bored mermen anxious to drag me back to my tomb.
    “ Now what?” Tatch whispered.
    I looked over at Ash’s house and spotted her dad’s truck driving away. He was the last to leave the house this morning. Ash was home alone.
    : : :
    Against my better judgment I stood on Ash’s front porch, my pulse pounding in my veins. I tried to remain somewhat hidden by the trellis so none of Azor’s goons would see me as I prayed everything would go over smoothly with her. If she didn’t respond right, Tatch and I would have a whole bunch of explaining to do.
    The door slowly opened and her honeysuckle scent hit me like a wrecking ball. At the sight of her, my mouth went dry. All I wanted to do was kiss her right then and there.
    “ Fin?” Ashlyn gasped as she blinked back at me in disbelief.
    “ Hi.” I tried to sway her with a charming smile. “This is really embarrassing, but I need a little help.”
    At first she didn’t respond. Then her gaze slowly panned down my torso towards my feet and back up again. “You’re—why don’t you have shoes on? Or clothes for that matter?”
    “ It’s a long story. Can I come in?” I pretended I was cold and faked a shiver.
    She motioned for me to come inside, shuddering from the gust of chilly air herself. I graciously stepped around her and walked over to the couch as she stood at the doorway. When she didn’t move, I patted the couch cushion next to me. Robotically, she closed the door and limped over to the couch to sit down. Her location put her back conveniently towards the stairs.
    “ What happened to your leg?” I asked to fill the stony silence.
    “ Oh,” she said and stopped. Her eyes darted to her leg, then back to my naked knees and bare chest. “I had an accident.”
    “ Are you all right?”
    “ Yeah, I’m—” She swallowed as the confusion visibly flashed across her face. “Are you in trouble or something?”
    “ Oh, of course not,” I said with a laugh. “My good for nothing cousin is pulling a joke on me. I was in the hot tub and he locked me out of the house to be funny. I thought I saw you earlier, so I came over here instead. Could I possibly borrow a shirt? I have a feeling he’s not going to let me in anytime soon.”
    “ Oh.”
    Ashlyn furrowed her brow and shimmied forward to stand up when I spotted Tatch darting up the stairs.
    “ That looks really painful. Are you sure you’re okay?” I quickly asked, getting to my feet to help her.
    Our hands touched as I cradled her elbow, pulling her up and close to my side—away from the direct view of the stairs. Her breath trembled as we stood by one another.
    “ Yeah, I’m fine,” she said softly. Her eyelashes obscured the deep green eyes peering down at the floor.
    Our faces were inches apart and everything in me wanted to press my mouth to hers. She stood there, her lips terribly inviting. I had to do something before my body took over and our entire plan unraveled.
    “ Was it a car accident?”
    “ Oh . . . no.” She swallowed, her cheeks flushing an adorable shade of pink. “I fell out of the boat into the water.”
    “ What were you doing on the lake in this weather?” I asked and then wanted to take it back, sounding more like a parent than a concerned friend.
    She crinkled her nose. “Worried about Tatchi actually.” Then, like a spark hitting a dry patch of brush, anger ignited in her eyes and she pushed me away. “Where is she anyway?”
    I tried to bring her closer to me again, but she stepped backwards.
    “ Doesn’t she have access to a phone or even a postage stamp to let me know what happened to her?”
    “ I—” My brain went blank, leaving me mute. There wasn’t an excuse good enough to assure her we didn’t purposefully abandon her.
    She laughed callously. “You two just disappear over night without a word and have no concern that I might be worried sick about you? Is she at the house right now?”
    Instead of heading towards the stairs to get me clothes, she began to hop towards the door on one foot. “She’s going to get a piece of my mind when I see her. No word this entire time! And then you have the audacity to show up here, unannounced,