Euphoria (17 page)

After quickly throwing on some khaki shorts, a t-shirt, and my flip flops, I grabbed the one suitcase that I was taking and headed out the door. I stopped and picked up doughnuts and coffee on my way to Scarlett’s apartment to help bribe her out of bed. I had no doubt that she was still snug and cozy under her covers. Letting myself in with my key, I wasn’t surprised at all to see Andi asleep on the couch. Ever since Mason had gone back to Austin, she had become a somewhat permanent fixture at Scarlett and Max’s apartment. She and Scarlett had become good friends and I wasn’t sure what was going on between her and Max. It was evident to everyone in the world that they were perfect for each other, but something kept holding them back. My guess was Max’s guilt over Evie, but anytime I tried bringing it up with him, he would quickly change the subject. Nonetheless, we had all taken her in to our circle because she was downright adorable and the sweetest thing.

Andi opened her eyes as I closed the door behind me. “Morning, Andi girl, I brought breakfast,” I greeted her.

She sat up with a big grin on her face. “Good morning, Ash. It smells delish, thank you. Are you all ready to go?”

I nodded as I walked her over a coffee. “You have no idea,” I said as I tousled her bed hair. “Not that I’m not gonna miss you guys… but you know what I mean.”

“Of course I do. I’d be excited too. Don’t worry about me and Max, we will just hold down the fort here on the Gulf Coast while all of our friends conquer the world.” She laughed softly as she took a long drink of her coffee.

“Alright, well I’d sure like it if you two held it down together,” I said lifting my eyebrows.

She rolled her eyes and shooed me away with her hand, but kept the smile on her face. “You just go wake up your pretty girlfriend. I’m doing just fine here in Andiland.”

Laughing as I walked away, I found Scarlett just as I had suspected, sound asleep in the middle of her bed. Sliding my feet out of my shoes, I slipped under the covers next to her, and pulled her tiny frame next to me. “Hey, sleepyhead, it’s time to get up,” I whispered in her ear. She groaned and rolled away from me. I grabbed her hips and pulled her back to me. “Scarlett MacGregor, you better get your pretty little ass up. We have a flight to catch to our new home.” Still refusing to open her eyes, she groaned and rolled away again. This time I climbed on top of her and was going to tickle her into waking up, but right before I did, her eyes flew open and she started cracking up laughing. Ugh! That little faker! Just for her little stunt I decided to tickle her anyways.

As she squirmed underneath me, trying to escape while laughing so hard that she couldn’t breathe, Max banged on the wall and yelled out, “Would you two please wait until you get to California to do that? I’m tired of listening to y’all having sex!” We both froze and looked at each other. Her mouth made an “o” shape as if she was shocked, and then we both started dying laughing again. Once we calmed down and caught our breath, we both went out to eat some breakfast.

Andi was still sitting on the couch, sipping her coffee and eating her doughnut, so we joined her and waited for grouchy Max to come out of his room. Sure enough, less than five minutes later, he came trudging down the hallway in his pajama pants and with his eyes half open.

“Hiya, Meaniehead Max,” Scarlett said, as he plopped on the couch between her and Andi.

He grumbled some sort of hello before Andi said, “Don’t you mean Masturbating Max?” Both she and Scarlett burst out in laughter immediately, and I tried really hard not to join them, but I couldn’t help it. That smart little mouth was one of the reasons we loved Andi so much.

Max just rolled his eyes and looked at her. “Get me some coffee, brat.”

“Get your own damn coffee, old man. You aren’t following the three F’s, so I don’t take orders from you,” she retorted smugly.

“Dare I ask what the three F’s are?” he asked hesitantly.

She gave him this over-the-top sweet smile and answered, “Feeding, Financing, and Fucking.”

He literally growled at her, taking her coffee out of her hands. “You sleep in my apartment more than anywhere else, so I do finance you in a way.” He then grabbed a doughnut from the coffee table and stuck it in her mouth. “There, I just fed you.” In one sweeping motion, he threw her over his shoulder and marched to his bedroom with her. I heard him say, “When we come out of this bedroom, I fully expect you to get me a coffee,
brat
.” Then the door clicked shut.

For the second time in less than an hour, Scarlett and I just looked at each other stunned. “Well, I’m kinda sad we aren’t sticking around to see how this plays out,” she finally murmured. I nodded as I finished off my coffee, “Yes, I have a feeling it’s gonna get a little interesting.”

I stood up to throw my cup away and she followed. “I just need to shower and get dressed and I’ll be ready to go. Give me like forty five minutes.” I kissed her forehead and swatted her ass as she retreated to the bathroom.

As promised, a little less than an hour later, Scarlett came out of her room, dressed in a long black sundress and sandals. I took one look at her and was reminded of why I was so ecstatic about this move. I was going to spend the rest of my life with her. “You look beautiful, butterfly. Are you ready to do this?”

She chewed her bottom lip nervously. “Yes, but I kinda wanted to tell them bye before we left,” she said nodding her head towards Max’s bedroom door.

“Max is taking us to the airport, silly. Remember, so that Andi can keep the car.”

“Oh, right… sorry. I’ve just been so crazy making sure everything is ready for us when we get there, I completely forgot about the car and stuff.”

“Just knock on the door and tell them we are about ready to leave.”

Just a couple of minutes after she knocked, they both came out of his room, grinning like giddy adolescents.

“You crazy Californians ready for this?” he asked, his mood obviously improved.

“Yep, I just need to throw Scarlett’s suitcase in the trunk, and we are good to go.”

“Well, let’s do this,” he said, patting my back as he walked by me.

I honestly didn’t think they had just had sex, Max had more respect for Andi than that, but I did think it was leading there soon. I did notice that Andi had grabbed the leftover cup of coffee, warmed it up in the microwave, and handed it to Max before we all walked out the door. It appeared it was a day for new beginnings for all of us.

SCARLETT

Thankfully Ash and I had shipped most of our stuff to his sister before we left, so all we had to take on the plane was one suitcase each with a couple changes of clothes and our toiletries. Our flight was direct from Houston to Oakland and from there we took a taxi to our new apartment. Crys and Will were there waiting for us with our boxes when we finally arrived early afternoon. They had both really been a godsend in helping coordinate the entire move. Even though they lived like four or five hours away, they had driven up the coast one weekend to apartment hunt for us. Pictures online could be very deceiving and we were also not familiar with the neighborhoods, so they had taken notes and pictures and sent them with their overall gut feelings on the different places. Once we chose a place and paid the deposit and rent, they spent another weekend furniture shopping. I didn’t want to get to our new home and sleep in a sleeping bag our first night, so again they had made the trip to get our place furnished.

When the taxi dropped us off in the parking lot of the apartment complex, Ash and I kind of stood there a minute just looking at each other. The moment was almost surreal, after all of the months of planning, we were about to walk into our new home in California! Then a voice broke through our moment, “Ash! Scarlett! We are up here!” We pulled our gaze from each other and up to where his sister and brother-in-law stood waving on a second floor balcony.

“Let’s go home, butterfly,” he said as we both began walking in their direction.

I had seen many photos that Crys had sent of the surrounding area as well as the apartment itself, but it just seemed different seeing it through my own eyes… better. As soon as we walked through the door, we were both engulfed in hugs and kisses by Crys. She squealed about how excited she was and how she hoped everything was perfect. Will, with his usual laid back disposition, waited for us to get into the apartment before saying hello and how happy he was that we were going to be closer.

Finally, I had a chance to look around at the place. I was instantly in love. Crys had done an amazing job of decorating and getting everything set up. The living room was very contemporary, a lot of straight edges and a ton of color, and I dug the vibrancy of it. The kitchen was an extension of the living room. Many of the smaller appliances were candy apple red and she had decorated with a splash of animal prints; again, I was very pleased.

In addition to the living room and kitchen, the apartment had two bedrooms. I first peeked into the secondary bedroom that we had requested to be set up as an office-slash-studio. We both wanted a place where we could escape to do homework and to play music. The room had a very Japanese garden ambiance which I though was just perfect. Finally, I stepped into the master, and I was breathless. It was everything I could’ve ever imagined and more. The furniture all had a dark chocolate finish and she had chosen a palette of blues for the bedding and décor. The queen-sized, four poster bed in the middle of the room looked like something a Disney princess would sleep in. In addition to the fluffy pillows that covered the bed, a light blue organza had been draped around the top of the posters for a faux canopy appearance. The room was filled with an overall serene and tranquil ambiance; it was impeccable. The same aura of the master flowed over into the en suite bathroom. Blues and dark brown towels hung from the towel rack, and it made me feel like I was in a day spa.

As I eventually finished my solo tour, the three of them waited for me in the living room, their faces eagerly awaiting my verdict. I didn’t say anything, I just picked Crys up and swung her around in a circle, kissing her cheek as I sat her down.

Ash was beaming. “I think that means she likes it, sis,” he joked.

Crystal laughed. “I hope so. I think I like it better than my house. Will and I may just stay here and send you guys to our place to the munchkins.”

“I love my nephews like crazy, but there’s no way in hell I want to live those beasts. I wonder who their parents could be,” he teased.

“Oh, shush your mouth, little brother. Soon enough that will be you, and I can’t wait to remind you of your comments,” she said with a smirk. She then turned her attention to me. Will and I did a little bit of grocery shopping for the basics, but of course you’ll need to go get all of the stuff that you like. We just wanted you to have food to eat in case you didn’t make it to the store for a few days.”

“I really can’t thank you enough for everything. The apartment, the décor, the groceries… everything; you’ve made this the easiest move across country in history. I’m so very grateful.”

“Think nothing of it, I had a blast doing it,” she replied with Will nodding in agreement next to her. “But I do know that you both probably want some time to get settled in. We were thinking that we could all grab a bite to eat so that you don’t have to dirty up your kitchen, and then the two of us got a hotel room for the night instead of driving back. We plan to thoroughly enjoy a night without children.” She grabbed Will’s arm and gave him a silly, pervy wink.

Ash cut her off before she could say anything else. “Okay, that’s enough of where that conversation was going. I think that’s a fabulous idea, I’m starving. Let’s get something quick so that Scarlett and I can get unpacked and check out the new place fully.”

An hour later we were fed and saying final thank you’s and goodbyes to the two of them as they dropped us off back at our new home. We already had plans to visit them for the July fourth weekend so we knew that it wouldn’t be long before we saw each other again. Completely exhausted from the day’s activities and the stress that had built up prior to the move, Ash and I both showered and passed out before nine o’clock that night. Wrapped securely in his arms, I got the best night of sleep of my entire life.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Where I Come From ~ Passion Pit

Awake My Soul ~ Mumford & Sons

MASON

Life in Austin was good. Ever since I had been back, things seemed to be moving along near perfectly. The guys and I picked up our friendship like I hadn’t been gone and musically we seemed to be clicking like never before. We got back in the studio almost immediately and began working on the songs that I had written while away. It felt so good to be making music with my closest friends again; I knew without a doubt it was what I was supposed to be doing.

It took them a little while to adjust to the new and improved Rat, the one that didn’t care about partying, getting drunk or high, or girls. Okay, that wasn’t completely true. I still was very interested in females, the problem was the one female I truly wanted wasn’t available to me. No matter how hard I tried to tell myself to move on, to leave the past in the past, she always seemed to find her way back in my thoughts and dreams. Even though we didn’t see each other regularly any more, Scarlett and I still texted daily and even talked on the phone occasionally. I knew that the continued conversation made it even harder to let go, but I needed her friendship and support even more.

I did try to go out with a few girls that either Aaron’s girlfriend, Sophie, set me up with or girls I met at the gym, but it always felt so forced. I had made the decision that I wasn’t having anything to do with groupies or any girl that I met at one of our shows. If and when I did find someone, I wanted them to go out with me for me, not because I was the lead singer of a band. Another bit of good news I received when I returned was that Bentley had moved her bitch ass to Los Angeles. I was not looking forward to having to see her on a regular basis, so her being gone made things that much better.