“She’s not as tough as she wants everyone to think,” I sigh. “She’s just good at faking it.”
Wren pats my back as I walk over to Ash, and she smiles up at me as she uncrosses her legs for me to sit down beside her. I don’t sit right away though, I’m almost scared to get too close.
“Can we have a second?” I ask Bity, and he nods before kissing her forehead and walking away.
Everyone else disperses, and Shannon walks in holding Trip.
“I’ll watch after him tonight. You two probably need to talk.”
Ash looks a little distraught by the thought of losing her child for a whole night, but she nods and lets her walk away with the sleeping boy in tow.
I finally sit down beside her, and she turns so that her leg lightly rests atop mine. I’m surprised contact with me doesn’t make her cringe.
“I’m so sorry, Ash,” I murmur through a choking strain.
“Tag, it’s not your fault. It’s not like Damon’s the first old sleaze to cop a feel either,” she jokes, trying to downplay the severity of the situation.
“You know that’s not all he was trying to do. I don’t see how you can even look at me right now.”
She takes my hand in hers, and she pulls it close to her lap as she stares at me without any fear tainting her perfect eyes.
“This was not your fault. You’re not your father. You saved me… again. It seems to be a habit you’ve formed. I love that about you.”
My heart almost flips up to my throat. I could have sworn she almost told me she loved me. It’s almost impossible to catch my breath now.
“Let’s get some sleep. We’ll deal with all this shit tomorrow,” she says sweetly.
Without Trip in my room, I don’t have any reason to ask her to sleep with me anymore.
“If you don’t mind, I’ll stay with you tonight. I sure as hell don’t want to be in the bed Damon was in until it’s burned and replaced.”
She says it with a jokingly light air, but the fear in her touch proves she needs someone tonight. I’m just glad it’s me.
“With the way things have gone lately, I wouldn’t sleep anywhere else.”
She smiles lightly, and I tuck her under my arm as we walk into the room—together.
***
Ashiara
His cock is hard as a damn rock right now, and I can see it trying to break out of his pants as he sleeps peacefully beside me. I can picture my lips on it, my hand on it, and me on it. This is torture!
“Good morning,” he murmurs while turning over to hide his erection.
“Morning. I was about to go check on Trip. Anything in particular you want for breakfast?” I ask, hoping he didn’t catch my spying eyes and reddened cheeks.
“Um,” his cheeks flush for some reason, but he smirks and shakes his head. “I’ll just have some fruit and go for a run.”
“What?” I ask with a goofy grin.
“Nothing,” he says smiling.
I climb out of bed and throw myself together as he walks through the house with his glorious upper body exposed for all to see.
“Damn,” I groan to myself.
***
Tag
Ash’s lips are in a pouting motion when I walk in from a run on the beach, and my cock instantly hardens, pulsating painfully.
“What’s that look for?” I ask while walking toward her.
She looks up, and her cheeks stain red as she stares at my body, her eyes raking me over.
Hurry up and get off those fucking painkillers.
“Oh… I was reading the stuff about me.”
“The gold digger stuff?” Wren chirps as he walks in guzzling a bottle, sweating just as much as me after our run.
Bity bursts out laughing as he overhears us, and Ash’s lips exaggerate her sexy pout. Does she not know what she’s doing to me?
“I’m rich and you had my baby. There’s going to be a lot of gossip for a while. Don’t let it get to you,” I murmur softly while grabbing the bottle of water Erica proffers on her way to the chair.
“It’s not the gold digger stuff. I know I’m not a gold digger. It’s the pictures they dug up of me in high school. They’re terrible.”
Amazing.
Those tabloids are trashing her and she’s not the least bit fazed by it. Damn, I’m in love. I understand what Melanie meant now when she said Ash was the only one strong enough to be with me.
“Let me see,” I say teasingly while walking toward her.
“Hell no,” she laughs while tucking them under her body.
“Really? You think I can’t lift you?”
“I know you can, but you won’t because you don’t want to see how terribly tragic your son’s mother once looked.”