Ashes - Book 1 by Leslie Johnson Read Free Book Online Page B

immediately takes my grin as an invitation to run up to me. I can’t help myself. I drop to the floor and give her a good petting. Ghost simply yawns and licks a paw.
    “I’ll help in a second,” I promise.
    “Actually, I think we’re almost done. I was just giving you a hard time. You really should see your face when you look at that man.”
    I wrinkle my nose.
    “Unwrinkle that nose, missy,” she says, grinning at me. “It’s not a good look, plus it’s a lie.”
    I stick my tongue out at her.
    “Seriously, Beth. You’re fighting too hard. What are you really afraid of?”
    I let out a laugh with zero humor. “Oh, let me count the ways.” When I don’t add to it, she lifts an eyebrow, urging me to go on.
    “Okay. One. Relationships ruin things for 99.9% of the people involved in them.” I point a finger at her. “You’re in the 0.1%, so don’t look at me like that. But you have to know what I’m saying. People get lazy in relationships and don’t try so hard. At first, you’re putting on make-up and shaving your legs and he’s holding in his farts. After a while, your legs look like a cactus and he’s taking a dump with the door open.”
    Stephanie howls with laughter.
    “Two,” I go on. “The other person in a relationship has the power to make you supremely happy, ready to kill someone, or have you sucking your thumb, crying for days.” I notice that Steph is looking at me more seriously now. “I’m not giving some penis owner that kind of power over me.”
    Stephanie begins to chew her bottom lip and searches through the utensil drawer for something.
    “Three,” I say, when she opens her mouth to look like she’s about to speak. “I don’t think humans were designed to mate for life. Sex with the same person all the time gets boring. Just look at my mom and dad.”
    Stephanie has been tossing the salad furiously. With that, she stops and points the salad tosser thingy at me. “No. You don’t get to do that. You don’t get to cling to your parent’s screwed up marriage and believe that all marriages are like that.”
    “It’s not just my parents’ marriage. It’s all their friends’ marriages too. Every single one of them were wildly in love in the beginning of their relationship.” I sneer out the word. “But then they had kids and the years keep floating by. Look at how many of them stayed married or are like my parents and are screwing everything that walks on the side.”
    I notice that Stephanie is looking pale and I mentally kick myself. “Well, there are a few of them that are still in love and are really happy,” I try to assure her. “That will be you because you guys love each other so much, and you’ve been through hell to be together.”
    She gives me a weak little smile and I decide I better shut this down. I was in bitch mode again. Not a very good friend. At all.
    “I’m sorry, Stephanie. I was just ranting because I’m afraid I’ll end up like my parents. I know they seem happy on the outside, but living at home was like living in an Arctic cave. And they aren’t screwing around behind each other’s back, I know that too. It’s just hard for me to think about my parents having an open relationship and …”
    Having sex , my mind finished for me. There are some things people’s kids just shouldn’t know.
    She begins to cut the lemon cake for dessert and I take the potatoes from the oven. “Don’t apologize, Beth. We all have the things in life that hurt us and make us lose trust. You can always share them with me and I want you to. Plus, it’s a good reminder that I should shave my legs more often. You know, don’t let the little things get lost.”
    “Or …” I wiggle my eyebrows at her “… come to the salon and finally get a wax. You keep saying you want to try a Brazilian. Why not enjoy the power of not having to shave for an entire six weeks. My treat.”
    I can tell she’s still on the fence, so I give her a little nudge over to my