The bad boy and the broken girl

Chapter 9 - Pizza delivery

Ashton POV

There is a tense silence after I speak and all the boys stare hard at me. Just thinking about the reason behind my tattoo has me frantically fighting back tears. I clear my throat and let go of my shirt.

'Anyway, we have a project to do.' All of the boys sit up straight and it returns to normal except when I look up at Cade, he is staring straight at me, his eyes seeing right through me and I have to look away from the intensity of his gaze. True to his word, Drew has brought all of the paper and we get to work sticking them together. I'm actually surprised how focused the boys are on the work. While we work, music plays in the background and when one of my favourite songs comes on I sing to myself under my breath. I notice is has gone silent and awkwardly look up from my section of the timeline to find all the boys staring at me in awe.

'Holy shit.' Noel says under his breath and I blush slightly with all their intense looks.

'What?' I question and Ryder shakes his head.

'Damn can you sing girl.' I can practically feel the heat radiating off my face.

'Sing something for us.' Caleb says and I shake my head.

'No.'

'Please.'

'No.'

'Please.'

'Fine, after we've finished this.' I say, having no intention of doing such a thing but Caleb nods enthusiastically. Half an hour later and we are done and if I do say so myself, it looks pretty good. Drew is a really good artist, like really good, so he did loads of drawings. We sit back and then Caleb sits up straight.

'Don't think I forgot. You're singing.' I groan.

'You were supposed to forget about that.' He sniggers.

'My memory is bad, but not that bad.' I glare at him.

'Please.' He begs and I shake my head.

'I don't sing, not anymore.' I add the last bit as an afterthought but Caleb notices it and narrows his eyes but says nothing.

'One song, please. That's all.' I grit my teeth and look around at everyone else, noticing they all have similar looks apart from Cade who is staring blankly, though he raises a challenging eyebrow. I can practically read the challenge in them and I sit up.

'Fine. Don't suppose you have a guitar do you Cade?' I ask sarcastically and he smirks.

'As a matter of fact...' He opens a door and disappears before reemerging with an acoustic guitar. He brings it over and goes to sit down on the couch with Caleb and Drew joining him while Noel sits in an armchair and Ryder remains on the floor. I walk over to the other arm chair and perch on the arm. I tune the guitar by ear and strum a few times. It's been a long time but it comes easily to me as I begin to sing.

When you last left me my blood was in a jar

And you kept it on your mantelpiece

I couldn't count on anyone to stand there behind me

And keep the dogs from dragging me off with them

While I slept you crept in and pulled the rug right out from under me

Then the rain stole away and took the parts that kept me functioning

My heart will be blacker than your eyes when I'm through with you

And I said, this life ain't no love song while I marched on blindly

And my knuckles dragged across the walls

And the birds up there mock me and the scenery's turned wicked

And your name is trapped beneath my tongue

All of the roads are one now, each choice is the same

All the roads, they are one now, each choice is the same

I won't show my hands now, I know this ain't a game

All the roads, they are one now, each choice is...

Take a step, take another step, take another step, not a care for where they fall

You burned me, yeah you've burned me, yeah you've burned me now one too many times

My thoughts are the cold kind, I've got storm clouds that are brewing behind my eyes

And my heart will be blacker than your eyes when I'm through with you

I take a breath when I'm done and set the guitar down, leaning against the chair before glancing up. The boys are all staring at me, mouths practically hanging open before Cade finally speaks.

'And you don't sing professionally because?' I blush and smile slightly at him.

'I'm not that good.' I say with a slight shrug and Ryder shakes his head.

'Yeah, babe, you really are.' I scratch the back of my head.

'I'm hungry. Who wants pizza?' Cade suddenly says and I breathe a sigh of relief when the attention is drawn from me. Their is a chorus of hell yeah's from the boys and Cade quickly orders some pizza. We chat while we wait and when the bell finally rings all the boys refuse to go get it. They then start arguing over who is going to get up while Cade runs upstairs to get money. I roll my eyes finally and get up. I head to the front door and pull it open to find one of the guys from school standing there with the pizza bag. He stares at me in surprise, probably wondering why I'm answering Cade's door but then he blinks and smiles lazily at me.

'Hey there.' I smile awkwardly.

'Um hi.' His gaze flickers over me, going straight to my exposed bit of skin though he can't see my ink.

'How much.' I say, trying to get his attention and he looks up at me.

'For you, nothing.' I shuffle and cross my arms which draws his gaze straight to my chest. My top is fairly low cut, I hadn't really thought about it because none of the boys had ever looked at me like this guy. Suddenly I feel a presence at my back and the guy goes slightly pale.

'Give the girl the pizza, take the money, and then get off my property.' He practically growls and the boy swallows.

'Ummm, yeah, sorry.' He hands me the pizza and I reach out and take it. His hand brushes mine and I quickly retract away from him as Cade takes the pizzas and hands them to the rest of the boys who are now in the hall. He thrusts the money at the boy who takes it and winks at me.

'Here, have our business card so you can call whenever.' He hands it to me and I glance down to see his number scribbled on it. Does he seriously carry these around in case he delivers to a hot girl. Cade tenses next to me, obviously seeing the number while I shoot the guy a disgusted look.

'Call me.' He winks, obviously forgetting about Cade and the boys who now also look pissed.

'I'm okay. Thanks though.' I shove the card at him and slam the door.

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