Rule 21

Rule 21 - (not proofread, as per usual. Ignore any mistakes, I'll fix them in the final edit, thanks).

Rule 21

Ash's time as the cute boyfriend had officially come to an end.

When I got home from work, the day after our trip to the aquarium, I went to drop down onto my bed for a nap, only for it to collapse beneath me.

"Asher!" I seethed, walking into the living room. Dev looked up at the sound of my voice and let out a wry chuckle.

"You knew about this!" I accused, but my cousin merely shrugged.

"I knew about the cups and didn't tell Ash, I'm not taking sides," he informed me and went back to looking through a manual for Ash's bike.

I heard movement in the kitchen and when Ash emerged, he was grinning and holding a screwdriver.

"Next time you put chilli powder in my toothpaste, think twice," he chided and I rolled my eyes.

"What did you do to my bed?" I asked and my boyfriend smirked.

"Oh, nothing. Just unscrewed every single bolt that holds it together," he said. My jaw  hit the floor and my eyes bugged out of my head.

"What? Put them back!" I exclaimed but he walked towards me and pulled out my hand. I watched him as he dropped the screwdriver into my palm and closed my fingers around the handle.

"Let's hope you're as good D.I.Y as you are drawing, love," he said and patted my shoulder before swerving around me.

"I can't do D.I.Y," I deadpanned, watching him drop onto the sofa.

"That's unfortunate. Enjoy the floor," he said, dismissing me with wave his hand.

I wasn't going to enjoy the floor, so instead of giving him the amusement of struggling, I went into my room and set to work on trying to work out what went where. The legs were all sprawled across the floor and the planks that held the mattress up were out of place.

"Ash," I called and he appeared in the doorway a moment later, giving me an amused smile.

"Yes, dear?" I responded with narrowed eyes and pulled myself to my feet.

"You're coming to the hardware store with me," I told him and put the screwdriver down on my mattress.

"Why?"

"Because you did this and I need another one of those bolt things," I replied, gesturing to a few of the nuts and bolts that were missing from the underside of the bed. Ash rolled his eyes, but stood aside and let me go first regardless.

Because I was so against taking a bike ride, he agreed to walk down to the local shop with me, but it didn't stop him from whining all the way there.

"You did this, it's your fault," I said as I pushed the door open and he breathed out through his lips.

"The prank is still worth it," he retorted with a one shouldered shrug. I'd taken the bolt with me to show the guy behind the till while Ash went to look at the car paint for his bike.

The guy found the bolt for me, so I bought a pack and decided to wait for Ash outside as he didn't look like he was finishing anytime soon.

I was standing outside for a few minutes before I noticed a familiar face standing outside of a bike helmet shop across the road. The person pretending to be Ash was over there, texting.

Panicking, I looked at the hardware shop to see Ash coming out. As I couldn't think of anything else to do, and if the false Ash saw me with the real Ash, my cover would be blown, I shoved the door back in Ash's face, knocking him in the forehead with the glass.

He scowled, glaring at me. I shooed him with my hands and gestured to my phone. He rolled his eyes as I quickly typed out the words 'false you'. Ash looked at his phone and rolled his eyes again, turning back in to the shop.

"Fancy seeing you here," a voice drawled. I twisted to see 'Asher' in front of me. His dark hair glinted in the sun and his mouth tilted.

"I was just picking up some nuts," I said, showing him the bag. I then grimaced and offered him an awkward smile.

"Metal nuts, not.. you know," I altered and he chuckled, looking across the road.

"I was about to call you, actually. Are you free right now?" he asked, glancing inside the hardware shop. I didn't dare look too, just in case Ash was in sight and I didn't want to look like I knew him.

"Yeah, why?"

"I'll take you for a drink, then," he offered and I smiled.

"Sure."

I sent Ash a text to let him know it was safe as soon as we were around the corner. The black haired imposter ended up taking me to a small cafe for a cup of coffee. Luckily, it wasn't the one that Nate worked in, as it may've blown  my secret if he spoke to me.

"So, when were you planning on telling me that you're Asher Toms' girlfriend?" he asked and I almost choked.

"Pardon?"

"Let's not play dumb, okay?" he said and I chewed the inside of my lip.

"In all honesty, I wasn't planning on telling you at all." He smirked and ran his finger around the rim of his cup. My muscles were tense and I glanced at my phone, which was sitting in my lap.

"Figured," was all he said, leaving us in an awkward silence. When I looked up and met his piercing blue eyes, my stomach jolted and I gulped.

"So, why are you pretending to be my boyfriend?" I asked and he smiled.

"Wouldn't you like to know," he drawled and I shrugged.

"Yeah, I would," I responded and folded my arms over my chest. He grunted and leaned back in the uncomfortable metal seats, letting his legs spread out in front of him.

"It pays pretty well," he justified.

"I'm sure it would pay better if you could do it right," I said and he laughed, running his hand through his hair.

"Not so shy now, eh?" he asked with a small smile and I shrank back in my seat.

"Now that everything is out in the open, no. I'm not a brilliant liar," I admitted and gave him a look. "What's your real name?" I asked and he grinned.

"Jackson," he said and cocked his head when I frowned.

"How did you know that I knew about you?" I asked and he grinned.

"Why so naive? Asher Toms doesn't settle down, it's flown around the biking arena," he said.

"So you ride?"

"No, I said it's flown around the bike arena," he corrected.

"So you watch people ride?" I tried again and he spread his hands out on the table.

"I go to the arena to do my job, then I go home," he replied. His light eyes met mine, sending me a silent challenge. I didn't know where to go with the conversation, but I didn't trust him not to hurt me.

"What job? Almost kill my boyfriend and another of the bikers?" I asked, incredulous.

"Whatever job I'm given, Alex." His tone was getting exasperated and I grunted.

"Who do you work for?" I pushed. He gave me a toothy smile, his eyes glinting with mischief.

"That would be telling," he teased.

"You know what they say, sharing is caring," I responded, pushing my chair back from the table. He watched my every movement and then glanced at the door.

"Okay, I'll share some information with you then," he said and leaned forwards. I leaned back and he frowned, beckoning me closer. Hesitantly, I moved forwards until his lips touched my hair.

"If your boyfriend races this weekend, he won't be alive long enough to see the inside of an ambulance," he whispered and then got up. I moved back instinctively and curled up my top lip.

"You're sick," I hissed and twisted to leave.

"Sick, but well paid," he responded with a smirk.

"Why? Just tell me why you're so hell bent on him not racing," I retorted and he shrugged.

"The big 'ol boss hasn't let me in on that. All I know, is it's personal," he said and slung his jacket over his shoulder. "Have a nice day and wish your boyfriend the best," he said and marched out, leaving me standing there with my mouth agape.

I text Ash, telling him where I was and he got there within minutes.

"He said he was called Jackson," I said and Ash blinked, looking at me blankly.

"I don't know any Jacksons," he told me before slinging his arm over my shoulder. "Don't worry about it, he's talking through his arse," he finished. I shrugged his arm off and let myself into the flat.

"You're talking through your arse. Are you seriously prepared to risk this all for some shitty race?" I asked and he narrowed his eyes.

"You don't know what you're talking about," he accused and I scoffed, pushing my bedroom door open.

"Then why don't you enlighten me?" I asked, placing the screw driver in his hand. He looked down at it and shook his head, shoving his at my chest.

"I'm alright, thanks. It's your bed, you fix it," he said and I pushed the screwdriver back at him. I did notice his change in subject, but considering that the guy had a death threat less than a half an hour before, I decided to let it go and grill him about it later.

"I'll just sleep in your bed," I threatened and he grinned, leaning on my doorframe.

"That's perfectly fine with me," he said.

"With a pillow barrier," I added.

"Rule twenty one, no more pillow barriers," he said and I grinned.

"Aw, you're keeping count!" I exclaimed and pinched one of his cheeks. He swatted my hand away and pushed me backwards so that I fell on the collapsed bed.

"Shut up," he said through a smirk and disappeared through the doorway.

In the end, it was Dev who helped me put the bed back together. Mainly because he said that he'd rather feed his balls to some hungry sharks than have me sleeping in the same room as Ash. Apparently, things change when you get together.

Later that evening, Ash tried to ring Jackson through the number that he gave me, but unfortunately, he didn't pick up. Dev tried to go through a list of people that would want to hurt Ash, or people Ash had pissed off. There were quite a few of them, but none that had really had close contact with him recently.

Even when I went to bed, the boys stayed up deliberating with a few beers. Dev nor Ash would tell me why staying in the race was so important, so I left them to go through their lists while I went to talk to my mum before going to sleep. On the way to my bedroom, I made a silent promise to myself that I would get Ash back for his dirty work on my bed, and work out why he would risk death to win the championships.

A/N: Not sure how long it is, but it was a good 10 pages in word? Please don't ask me for longer chapters, the length depends on how much time I've got, and how much I feel can go into a chapter. I don't want them to drag.

Please vote and chuck me a comment, it'll push me to write a bit quicker. My last exam is Wednesday, so after that, a normal updating schedule shall resume. :) Dedication for the b-e-a-u-tiful cover on the side!:)

Until next time, Wattpadians!