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I rip open my door just as Ash walks out of his apartment. He looks good—really good. He's wearing light brown trousers and a fitted black button-down shirt that hugs his fit chest and muscular arms.
“So, I know that your mom gave you money and blah blah blah. But come on, let me get you some stuff that’ll make you the envy of your class.” Wade’s eyes brighten and his smile grows so wide as he opens his door, too excited to wait in the car any longer.
“Charming, you’re a pig.” I laugh as I slip my grey sweats over my black booty shorts. I grab my zip-up jacket and turn to put it on when I nearly crash into Ash. I let out a squeak of surprise while stumbling backward against my pole. Ash grabs my hips to steady me, and… fucking hell, his touch shouldn’t feel as good as it does.
“Sunday,” he breathes as his hand gently wraps around my wrist.
“Fuck it,” he growls as his lips capture mine and—oh fuck. I wrap my arms around his neck as both his hands grip my thighs, hoisting me up to wrap around his waist. I moan against his mouth as his tongue slips between my lips. He presses me harder against his car, causing me to let out a grunt. His kiss is fast and hungry, and I allow him to consume me. Pulling him tighter to me, I roll my hips, causing him to whimper against my mouth. His hands are so tight on my thighs I’m sure I’ll have bruises there in the morning, but I don’t care. I want more. I need more. I wrap my
tongue around his before pulling back, dragging my teeth along his bottom lip and nibbling softly. “Goddamn it,” he whispers as he lets out a ragged breath. “Sunday,” he murmurs my name while nuzzling into my neck. I moan as I grind against him again before slipping a hand between us and running down to his belt buckle. I fumble with the buckle before moving to the zipper of his pants. In an instant, the mood shifts, and his entire body stiffens. Pulling back, I look at his panicked face.
“Mom,” Wade says from his place at the kitchen table where he’s eating his cereal. “Stop being a butthole.” Sunday makes an indignant noise, and I take this as my shot to escape her wrath.
I hear the door chime and thank whatever god is up there for throwing me a bone. I turn to greet the customer, but my already exhausted brain short circuits. Sunday walks in wearing pretty pastel-pink floral romper shorts that have a thin, white strapped top attached to them. Her long hair looks freshly colored silver with new red tips spilling down her bare, tanned shoulders. “Damn,” Janie whistles. “You coming here to tempt me, Sunday Sutton?” Janie smacks Sunday on the ass and… NO, absolutely not. Not going there. “Hey, charming.” She smiles up at me, and the smile is almost apologetic
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Glancing at my sister, I notice the red rubber bracelet around her wrist and frown, knowing what that color means. Since her diagnosis, Indy has never defined her days as good or bad. Instead, she always color-codes them with bracelets. I think it was something she picked up when she worked at the children’s hospital. Pink is the worst of the worst, like she may need to go to the hospital. Blue means she hurts too much to move a lot and needs rest. Red means proceed with caution because a blue day is coming. Yellow is a typical day; her pain is manageable, and she can get around, and purple is
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“Do you need to check for evenness?” Atlas freezes at his words and looks up at me in horror. “That slipped out. I swear I’m in tattoo-shop mode.” He gives me an apologetic look, and even though I completely get it, I’m still beating his ass later. Wait, why is he giving me an apologetic look? Why would I care? I mean… I do, but how would he know?
Sunday nods, and I accept the call. “This is Ash.” “Ashy Johnson.” I nearly wreck my car at the sound of her voice. My heart starts pounding, and my brain stops working. Sunday notices my reaction and squeezes my bicep to get my attention. I quickly turn into a parking lot and stop the car.
“Excuse me?” My eyes snap up to look at Sunday’s angry face. “Who in the fuck do you think you are to talk to him that way?” Shannon chuckles uncomfortably. “Ashy? Who's that?” I go to speak, but Sunday beats me to it. “This is his girlfriend. So why don’t you explain to me why it is that you’re calling and talking to my man in such a disrespectful way?” Holy fucking shit, I can’t breathe. “Because I’m telling you right now, I wouldn’t allow you to talk to a hog like that, let alone my boyfriend.” What is she doing? How am I going to face Shannon this weekend now that I supposedly have a
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“Okay, and? I AM his girlfriend. Not everyone feels the need to discuss trash. Sometimes, you take it to the curb and forget about it.” Holy shit… I listen as Shannon disconnects the call, but my eyes never leave Sunday’s face.
“But sunshine… it’s hardwood, and I have a bad back!” he whines, and I raise my brow. “Really? Because before we left, you were doing backflips with Wade.” He pauses for a moment. “Sporadic pain?” I flick him on the forehead before removing the blanket and lying on the bed. “My head feels like it might explode.” I moan, primarily to myself.
“Hey,” Ash pulls my arm away and holds my face in both his hands, looking me right in the eyes and trying to reassure me. “Hey, sunshine, it’s okay. Oh, sweetheart, I promise. Look at me.” He runs his hand over my wet face, and I sob harder.
“I know, and if I could take that from you, I would. But I promise, it’s okay; nobody cares.” He slowly helps me sit up, and I wince at my throbbing headache. “Would you feel better if I pee too? Because I’ll do it right now, just for you.”
“Sunshine, do you want me to dampen your panties?” he asks. His voice is so thick and husky that it’s doing me unfair things. “Because I aim to please, sweetheart.”
Ash sits on the edge of the bed and stares at me, his dark eyes so intense it’s almost too much to hold eye contact. “Do you want me to be your sugar daddy? Because I’ll do it if it means I won’t have to miss your face as much as I’m going to.” I’m momentarily struck silent until I see his cocky smirk and realize he’s fucking with me. I relax slightly and laugh as I shove his arm with my foot.
Flashbacks of my mom hit me with such a force I nearly fall backward. “Sunday,” I breathe, rushing over to her, dropping to my knees and cupping her tear-stained face. She looks shocked, as though I caught her doing something shameful.
“Enough,” I snap, pulling her face back to look at me. “Look me in the eye, beautiful.” I hear her breath hitch, but she does what I say. “You're done being strong for the rest of this trip, you hear me? I’m in charge and until we hit those apartment doors, I’m your boyfriend right now. You don’t have to be strong anymore. That’s my job.”
“Sunshine,” I groggily say again while trying to adjust to the dark room. “It’s time to–Ow! Fucking hell!” I whisper-scream as I hit my foot on the bedpost. I sit on the edge of the bed, only to sit on Sunday's foot, causing her to scream awake and kick me in the side, resulting in me falling on my ass on the wood floor. “Ash?” I hear her whisper into the dark as I lay on the floor, contemplating my life choices. “Yep?” I say shortly. “Was that you?” “No, Sunday, it was fucking Santa Claus. He wanted to talk to you about–– Oof!” I grunt when she slams a pillow on my face. I jerk it off
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“Why?” I whisper into her hair after a moment. I feel her shift, and for a moment, I fear she will move, and I’m not ready to let this go. To let her go. Her hug is warm and soft, and I feel whole here. I don’t want to give it up.
“Yeah.” I force out a laugh. “My abusive, selfish, cheating ex is somewhere in this resort, and I will undoubtedly have to interact with her at some point this weekend. I was hoping to have a little time to work up to it. You know, get our story straight.” I go to rub my chest, but Sunday beats me to it. I look down at her small hand over my heart and close my eyes while wrapping my hand over hers. “The story is that I’m your girlfriend,” Sunday says softly, looking up at me. “I assure you you’ll get what you are paying for.” Raising a brow, I laugh lightly.
“I brought you here because you insisted on opening your mouth while my ex was on the phone! Now leave me alone.” She recoils at my outburst, and I watch as she goes from nervous to embarrassed to stony. Her honey eyes find mine, and for the first time, they’re betraying her. Her face is tense and sharp, but her eyes… Fuck, I hurt her. “Sun–” “I’m sorry.” Her voice is so small. I hate it. “I’ll leave you alone. Maybe Indy and Wade won’t mind me tagging along.”
“Fuck me,” she commands, spreading her legs further to reveal her rain-soaked pussy. God fucking damn it, is this a fucking dream? Is this a test? Is she trying to see if I can actually finish this time?
“Sunday?” Celeste’s musical voice brings me back to reality—the reality that pulled us out of our session. Celeste called to remind Ash that he’s due to be at the rehearsal and the dinner that follows. So, I’m sitting off to the side with Wade as I stare shamelessly at the tall man standing next to his mother. The grin on his face is so big and infectious that I feel the corners of my mouth trying to pull upward.
“Don’t say that,” he whispers as the music starts. “I love you, Mom, and you deserve to be happy.” I choke over a lump forming in my throat as I hold on to my son's arm, and we make our way down the aisle. I stand where I’m supposed to and watch as Ash walks his mother down the aisle.
“You doing okay, sunshine?” Ash purrs against my neck while nuzzling his nose against my jaw. “Are you having fun playing boyfriend, charming?” I ask softly, and I feel his soft chuckle against my flesh. “Sweetheart, you have no idea how much I’m enjoying this.” He kisses my jaw before ordering another shot as his hand grips my upper thigh. My heart rate quickens at his possessive touch.
“Listen here, you fake, sorry ass, little hussy! You ever talk dirty about my man again, and you ain’t gonna have the ability to threaten to sue me! I’ll knock every one of those fake-ass teeth out of that good-for-nothing mouth of yours!” I scream as Ash takes me out of the bar, through the hall, and into the elevator. “Are you going to put me down?” I ask once the elevator doors close. “Not a chance in hell,” he mutters. “I’ve seen how fast you can run.”
“Oh, no.” He grins. “I’ve been doing everything to hear that laugh through our walls at night. You ain’t muffling it here, too.” Oh, that was way too sweet. Ash must realize what he said because he clears his throat and sits back down. “You want me to put a barrier up?” he asks, gesturing to the space between us.
“Just let him hold you, Mom. Ash is strong, and he already said he won’t let anything happen to you.” Disowned. He is disowned. He and his fucking chicken can go find their way together. I glare at him with the intensity of a thousand suns as Celeste hops up and helps me to Ash.
“What is it, sunshine?” he asks, tucking a lock of wet hair behind my ear while the other is firmly and protectively holding my ass. What is it? I don’t know. Maybe it’s just all the emotions and everything he’s given me today. Talking to Wade so that he came back to me, taking my kid on this board as many times as he asked, or somehow knowing that despite my apprehension, this here was the free feeling I needed. “I… I think I like you.” His entire demeanor changes, and you'd think I told him I'm pregnant
the look on his face. All of his color washes from his face, and I feel him become rigid. You have got to be kidding me. I smack his chest, “Relax, charming, as a friend,” I lie, wishing to god this man would just drop me in the ocean and let me drown. “I just never thought we would get past what we were before, and it’s nice.” He relaxes almost instantly, and god, please, just kill me now. He smiles softly and nods, “I’m happy we did too, sunshine.”
My mind thinks back to Sunday, and I try my damndest to figure out what in the fuck to do about this. She likes me? I know she said she meant just as friends, but I’m not a fucking idiot. She saw my face, and I embarrassed her. Goddamn it. No relationships and no Sunday. And here I am, throwing both of those rules out the window.
“Ash,” Wade’s voice is cool and firm as he speaks. “If someone like Josh comes again... If someone hurts me, hurts her like he did... I’ll kill them.” My heart sinks at his words. “Did he hurt you?” Wade winces slightly before shaking his head. “Never around my mom, and never enough to leave a mark she would see. She would’ve gotten herself killed trying to protect me if she knew, and she'd still kill him if she found out.” She won’t have to; I’m going to kill him. “I don’t matter, though. Mom does. I need to keep her safe, and she’s safer here. Yeah, Josh is here, but so are you, and so are
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“Wow,” I marvel as I step closer. “This healed really well,” I state while running a finger over the lines of the dragon. I feel the shiver run through her at my touch. It isn’t an unpleasant shiver; I can tell by the way her body leans into me. “Ash,” she whispers as I brush my lips over her shoulder. “What are we doing here?” I run my hand up her thigh, and she gasps, resting her head back against my chest. “What do you want to be doing?” I murmur as I nibble on her ear. “Uh–mm, fuck…” she pants, and I slip my hand under her towel and find her pussy. I slide my fingers over her already wet
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“God, this fucking ass,” I growl, leaning down and biting her ass cheek while slapping the other. Sunday cries out while pushing back against me, and I have to bite back a moan. “Fuuuck, you naughty little thing,” I growl, and I press my mouth to the back of her pussy and taste her arousal. It’s enough to drive me feral. “Fucking hell, sunshine, we don’t have time for this, but I’m going to make sure you feel what you do to me.”
Ren smiles warmly. “Like I’ve given him the greatest thing ever. He’s so excited. I found out, and I was so scared. I started making a pros and cons list and when he got home, he was like, ‘What’s all this?’ and when I told him.” Her voice cracks, and her eyes go glassy. “He said, ‘I’m going to be a daddy?’ and he fell to his knees and kissed my stomach. Like, zero hesitation.”
“Wade,” I snap, gripping his face in my hands. “What happened?” “He... He was hitting her,” Wade sobs. “I tried, and she’s… the blood and...” I let him go and rush into the dance floor, to find Sunday unconscious on the floor. “Fuck.” I slide to my knees in front of her and check her vitals. “Oh my god, baby,” I choke, looking at her bloodied and bruised body. “I’m sorry,” Wade chokes out as he stands over us. “Ash, I’m sorry, I wasn’t here fast en–” “Your mom has a medical bag in that closet. Get it and bring it to me. Wade, bud, I will comfort you as soon as I get her stable, okay? Did
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“Yeah, and look where that got me. Ash, you don’t want this mess, and I can’t blame you. But don’t expect me to open up and let you in when you’re so quick to push me away when I open myself to you.”
