Fast Burn (Burned Duet 1)

My heart pounded in my chest at the thought of Asher having my number. I wasn’t sure I liked it, but I also wondered if he already had my number, then why hadn’t he reached out to me yet?

Leo: Leo isn’t here right now

I snorted, a laugh escaping me so loud and brash I almost scared myself.

Elodie: Great. You made me laugh, and now I’m in pain.

Leo: Shit. Sorry. :(

My stomach rumbled, and I glanced at the top of the screen, seeing the time.

Elodie: It’s all good. I need to go get something to eat. And you should be in class.

Leo: I’m in French class. Kind of boring without you copying my work.

I grinned like a little girl who’d just been given her favorite ice cream.

Elodie: I’ll be back before you know it.

Leo: Good. Message me later, okay?

Elodie: Okay

I locked my cell and pushed out of my bed, going slowly so I didn’t cause any more damage than I already had. My head pounded as I made my way out of my bedroom and into the kitchen/living room section of our trailer. Mom was sprawled on the sofa, her boyfriend next to her as he rummaged through stuff on the table, and by stuff, I meant drugs.

“What the fuck happened to you?” Mom’s gritty voice asked.

I didn’t intend to tell her the truth, not that she’d care anyway. “Fell over at school,” I murmured, grabbing the loaf of bread and package of ham I’d bought a couple of days ago. I’d only had one sandwich from it, but there were only two slices of bread left and a tiny bit of ham. I should have known they’d eat it.

I huffed out a breath and made the best sandwich I could. It would curb the hunger for now because it wasn’t like I could go out in the state I was in.

Mom laughed, the sound broken, and her boyfriend joined in. They thought it was hilarious, which was the exact reason I didn’t tell them the truth. I hated being home in the day, especially when they were here, but I had nowhere else to go. At least I was relatively safe here, right?

They were still laughing when I went back into the bedroom, and even the thin door didn’t stop me from hearing them.

“Fuckin’ hate you,” I murmured at the door, but I wasn’t talking to it. I was talking to the two people on the other side. My mother should have been the one person in this world who I could have gone to, but she wasn’t. The last time I’d confided in her, and she’d actually listened and given me advice, was so long ago I could barely remember it.

I took a bite of my sandwich and moved back to my bed, intent on sleeping the rest of the day away. But as I pulled the covers over me, my cell screen lit up again, and my heart almost exploded.

Unknown: Hey, Elodie. It’s Asher. I realized this morning…

All I could see was the preview of the message, which meant I’d have to click on it and open it to be able to read the entire thing. And I was scared. Scared to open it and see what it said, but also afraid of what it meant. He’d seen me at my most vulnerable, and he was the only person in the world who knew my secrets, and yet he hadn’t told anyone a single one of them.

Did that mean I could trust him?

I took the plunge and opened the message.

Asher: Hey, Elodie. It’s Asher. I realized this morning I told you to call if you needed anything, but I didn’t give you my number. So this is my number. Call if you need anything, okay? A x

My shaking hand reached for the reply button, but I couldn’t bring myself to click it. He’d know I read it and hadn’t replied, but right then, I had no idea what to say. I had no idea what to do. So instead, I stayed silent and locked my cell, pretending he wasn’t there on the other end.

Chapter Ten

ASHER

Laughter rang out in the small cab of the Humvee, and I joined in. We’d been in this part of the world for nearly two months, and so far, all we’d done was make sure the villages were safe and given them supplies when they’d needed them.

But there was something different about the patrol today. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end the closer we got to the next village, and my gut told me to not go any farther. I was trained to look danger in the eye and tackle it head-on, but that didn’t mean my body’s instincts didn’t kick in and try to make me run as far away as I could get.