“So… tell me about how tonight went.” I change the subject, giving Shadow a kiss on her head before setting her down on her paws. She ambles away until she reaches her bed on the floor beside the fireplace.
I follow Ash into the kitchen and sit at the table, watching him gobble down the pasta until the container is mostly empty.
“It was fucking gold. We went about thirty miles north to some rich fucking college town and sold to this frat that was having a house party. We made almost three fucking grand tonight.”
“Wow,” I breathe out, completely shocked at the amount they were able to make from kids barely out of high school. I’m grateful that Ash was kind enough to include Roman in his exploits, but it makes me uneasy, especially with the warrant out on Roman.
“Just, please be careful. D-don’t let him get caught. Okay? Promise me, Ash. I can’t have him being picked up again.They can’t take him from me again.” Panic begins to crawl up my esophagus as the words leave my lips.
I won’t make it if he’s taken from me again.
I’m barely holding on to my sanity as it is.
Ash stares at me for a beat before dropping the Tupperware on the counter and meeting me by the table.
Gripping my hands in his, he bends low to meet my gaze. “I fucking promise you, Amira, nothing will happen to Roman. I won’t let it. I will take the fucking charge before I ever let him be away from you again. Understand?”
Ash’s declaration brings tears to my eyes and gratitude to my heart.
“Thank you,” I whisper, barely able to hold back the emotion choking me up.
He gives me a tender smile before spinning back around to the counter and sealing up the food.
“Where are you going?” I ask, watching him stick the pasta back in the fridge.
“Just for a drive… Or maybe I’ll go harass your cute neighbor,” he says, shrugging his shoulder as he lays out his options. “But I’ll come back. Just make sure you leave Shadow’s bed out so she doesn’t hog up the couch. For a tiny fucking dog, she takes up a lot of space.”
“Sage probably isn’t even home right now. And, okay, sorry about that. I’m so used to sleeping with her, but whenever you’re here, she seems to prefer you.”
“Why wouldn’t she be home?” he asks, ignoring the second half of my sentence.
I give him a strange look before thrusting my shoulder into a shrug. “I don’t know. She’s busy on the weekends.”
At least that’s what I’ve come to notice.
Every weekend, she leaves her home around ten at night and comes back sometime before five in the morning, but I keep that to myself since what Sage does is none of our business.
“Hmmm,” Ash grumbles before waving me goodbye and slipping out of the front door, promising to come back before the sun rises at seven.
After I, once again, engage the locks, I call Shadow to follow me to the room, shutting off each light as I go.
Steam from Roman’s shower flows out from under the bathroom door, warming my feet as I walk down the hall to our spare room.
Shadow’s black little head shoves open the door, jumping onto the bench at the end of the bed to snuggle into her pink fur donut-shaped cushion.
Kicking off the emerald green fuzzy house slippers Roman recently bought me, I pull back the quilted navy-blue duvet and slip underneath. The cuffs of my black sweatpants ride up my calves as I shimmy under the blanket, twisting uncomfortably around my knees.
I’m fixing my pajamas when the bedroom door pushes open, and Roman’s wet, shirtless form enters the room. Droplets of water drip down his soaked hair, leaving tiny dark dots on the carpet as he steps farther into the room.
“We match,” I mumble sleepily, staring at the same black sweats on his legs that are on mine.
His deep chuckle tickles my insides, but what really gets my heart fluttering is the slow dip of his chin and the teasing slowness of his lips falling toward me before their weight lands on mine.
Roman steals my breath as he parts my lips, the tip of his tongue hesitantly reaching out to touch mine.
He’s always slow during these sensual moments, making sure I’m aware of every single movement, every touch and kiss, before continuing. Still, when his weight lands on top of me, the pressure of his chest causes my heart to stutter painfully. That’s when fright takes hold of me and the moment between us crumbles to dust.
“Roman.”
