To Be Needed

Part 19

Leon watched her as she talked animatedly over the phone about some parts that hadn't made it to the shop on time. He didn't notice Vince was watching him.

Vince looked at Leon and then over at Mia, then looked at Leon again. He smiled. He never knew Leon felt that way about Mia.

Leon went back to the car he was working on before anyone noticed him looking at Mia like that. He didn't want Dom mad at him. He continued working on the car, but his thoughts remained on Mia.

All he could think about lately was her. He knew Ashby was bugging him constantly to ask her out, but for Leon it wasn't that easy. It was Mia. She always seemed untouchable to him. She never dated her brother's friends so he never approached her in that way. He liked her as a friend anyway. No sense in ruining that, but lately Leon was ready to throw caution into the wind.

He wanted to ask Mia out. Take her somewhere nice, just the two of them. She deserved to go out and be treated like a woman. That punk Brian was a fool to let her go. Leon didn't mind because that only meant she was free. Free to be pursued.

Leon scowled when he thought of his most recent attempt to ask her out. They were in the kitchen early one morning before anyone was up. She was fixing a bottle for Maria. He kept opening his mouth, but nothing came out. He was so mad at himself he almost smacked himself in the head knowing Ashby would do the same if she knew.

Finally just as he was ready to ask her Jesse came barreling in, heading straight for the cereal. Then Vince came and the kitchen just got too busy for Leon to continue. He didn't want to ask her in front of everyone. He would never live it down if she said no. Besides he didn't want it to be a big deal. He had a feeling she wouldn't be too big on dating anyone right now anyway. Leon sighed heavily, not realizing it was out loud.

"Ash, I need your help," Leon said anxiously. He finally found a chance to talk to Ashby alone. It was hard with Vince and Jesse competing for all her attention.

Ashby looked at Leon worriedly. He sounded upset. "What's the matter Leon?" She sat next to him on her bed. He had wandered into her bedroom when he saw she was alone.

"I can't ask Mia. Every time I try to I freeze or everybody is always around," he said looking at the floor. It was a hard thing for him to admit. Leon never had trouble talking to a woman, let alone asking them out. But with Mia it was different. She was different. She was different from the girls at the races he's used to, well 'date' for lack of a better word.

Ashby frowned, but then smiled. She knew why Leon was having a trouble, but she doubted he did yet.

"How about I set something up for all of us to go out? Me, Vince, Jesse, and Dom. We can go to a club or something. You just stay with Mia and you can talk to her then." She offered.

Leon smiled at her. "You will? I swear to god I will love you forever if you do!" He said excitedly.

Ashby laughed. "I thought you already did. I guess I should know better than to believe a pimp like you huh?"

Leon rolled his eyes. "Oh pu-lease. Ash I gave up my pimpin days a long time ago."

Ashby smiled. She laughed when she saw Vince enter her room and Leon shot up from the bed, instantly putting space between himself and her.

"Thanks Ash, I'll talk to you later," he told her and then nodded to Vince as he rushed out of the room.

Vince raised an eyebrow at Ashby. "He finally talk to you about Mia?"

Ashby frowned, confused. Vince wasn't someone who noticed things about others until he was told. "How did you know?"

Vince rolled his eyes. "Like I couldn't know. He's been staring at her and sighing when ever he thinks no one is looking. He needs to just ask her out already."

Ashby laughed. "V it's not that easy for him. Besides he has to compete with Brian. Mia thought she was in love with him. Leon's trying to give her space and time to deal. Besides when is supposed to ask her out? Everybody's always around. I'm sure he doesn't want to put her on the spot. You up for clubbing tonight?" Ashby asked.

Vince walked over and sat down next to her. Did he want to go somewhere and dance with her pressed against his body? Was she crazy? Of course he did.

"Oh yeah," he growled before pressing his lips against hers.

Ashby moaned into his mouth, but then laughed when she heard Vince groan. Jesse had come into their room again was asking Ashby to come look at something he did on his computer.

She pulled away and glanced at Jesse. "I'll right there Jess."

Vince gave Ash his best puppy dog face. " Stay here with me. You can go look at it later," he pleaded with her.

Ashby laughed again, but pulled away. "It won't matter. He'll just come back up when I don't go down."

Vince growled in frustration. "Damn it we need to get a place of our own. This is getting really annoying. I can't even... We can't even... Damn it why can't I have to you myself for just once?"

Ashby smiled at him. "Because that's what having a family means. No privacy," she said before kissing him passionately and then pulling away.

Vince watched her go, wanting to pull her back and lock the door. He frowned at the empty doorway. I just want to be alone with her for one night. Why is that so much to ask for?

Vince decided if he wanted time alone with Ashby he was going to have to do something about it. He was gonna have to enlist everyone's help, but damn it he was going to get to spend time with her and only her for an entire night.

"What's up Jess?" Ashby asked once she stood next to him in the living room.

Jesse clicked away on his computer until he found the file he wanted. "Look, I finished your car. It's a Mazda RX7 like Dom's, but better." He said.

Ashby looked at the screen amazed. It did look great.

"Just don't tell Dom. He thinks it's just like his." He added in a softer voice in case someone in the house could hear him.

Ashby laughed. "He'll figure it out Jess. He's helping to build it remember. This looks great though. I know what color I want the paint to be too. I want that chameleon type that you showed me. I want it to go from dark green to dark purple and maybe black too. Can we do that?" She asked hopefully.

Jesse's leg started bouncing. "Oh that would be cool. We've already got the body at the shop and all the parts. I'm still waiting on some parts from Japan, but we should be ready to paint it in about a month." He said excitedly.

Ashby kissed his cheek. "Cool. Hey Jess, we're going clubbin tonight. You up for it?"

Jesse looked at her as if she were slightly crazy. "Hell yeah! Where are we going?" He asked excitedly. They haven't been out in a while.

"Don't worry, just be dressed and ready to go by nine," she informed him.

Jesse just nodded. He did some more clicks on his computer and typed some things then shut it off.

"Oh and leave me and Vince alone for a bit. I want to talk to him about something." She told him.

Jesse frowned. He didn't like that. He knew She and Vince hadn't slept together yet. He made sure of that. He didn't want that for Ashby. She deserved to be treated better than how Vince treats other women. They should be getting married before doing that. It was only right after all. Didn't Ashby deserve the best? Of course she did. Jesse knew how David treated her. What if she got pregnant by Vince? They should be a real family before that happens. He didn't want Ashby to be sad all the time like Mia was.

Poor Mia. Jesse's heart hurt for her. He knew she was still upset over Brian though she tried to hide it from everyone. All the others thought she was over it, but he heard her crying at night when she comes down to the kitchen after everyone else is asleep.

Jesse knew everything everyone tried to hide from the others. He knew how Leon felt about Mia. He saw the looks Leon threw her way when he thought no one was looking.

"Yeah okay," he mumbled, though he didn't really want to agree. He watched Ashby head back upstairs to Vince. Jesse desperately tried to search his brain for something to go in and disrupt them again.

Just as he was about to go upstairs, Dom came in from the kitchen and stopped him.

"Hey Jess, can you come out here for a minute. I think there's something wrong with my car. I just can't tell." Dom said.

He saw the intent on Jesse's face and he knew where that kid was heading. He didn't know why Jesse was always bursting in on Ashby and Vince, but he intended to find out.

Jesse stopped and looked at Dom, angry for a second, but then schooled his face into what would be concern over Dom's car.

"Yeah okay," Jesse replied and followed Dom out the kitchen door to the driveway.