"That's my man," Ash panted, easing himself out of me. "It's ok, Cy. I got ya." Then he flopped down onto the bed beside me. "C'mere, babe, let me take care of you."
I rolled toward him, pressing my head against his shoulder. "That's why I love you," I panted. "That is why I'll always love you."
"Because I made you cum three times?" he asked around a weary laugh.
"No." I pushed my arm across his waist, hugging him as best as I could. "Because your first thought is to take care of me."
Ash turned to kiss the top of my head. "Always, babe." Then he sucked in a breath. "Shit. And you have to lift up for a second so I can reach Lucy. My boyfriend needs his cute little doggy to cuddle with."
Yep, I lifted my head. Ash managed to call Lucy over, then came back so I could resume my place on his shoulder. Once I was comfortable, he tucked Lucy right up against my chest, petting her back before caressing my head.
"I promise that I will never leave you again, Cy," he whispered so softly I almost missed it. "I couldn't handle it."
"None of us," I told him. "No matter what, Ash, you can't leave us, because we work best together."
"Only if you promise to never leave me," he said.
"Swear on Gran's grave," I told him.
"Yeah," he breathed. "Me too. I want to grow old with you. All of you."
Chapter Forty-One
Iwoke up before the alarm went off the next morning. Clearly, I was getting used to these "mom" hours, but it gave me the chance to get dressed for church before Luke even stirred. Today, we had to pick up Faith, so skipping Sunday service wasn't an option. Deciding I would be the nice one this time, I snuck out of the room with the intention to head downstairs and brew coffee.
But in the hall, I found Billy wandering back from the other bathroom wearing nothing but his underwear. The man clearly hadn't slept yet, never mind the tattoos that covered his entire torso. A few even traveled down to his thigh, and the style made me think gangster or some Japanese mafia. Something dark and intimidating.
Billy noticed my inspection and spread his arms to offer me a better look. "Don't make your boyfriends jealous," he teased.
"Why are you up?" I asked, changing the subject to something I wouldn't lose.
"Berto's fixated on the corruption in town, but I think there's a different angle. While Cobalt is busy chasing the law, I'm chasing the law-breaking." Billy walked right up to me, standing just a little too close. "Simmons is using corruption to force you off this land. He has people in his pocket. The question is how. What do they owe him, and how do I remove that power? That asshole is so sure he can't be touched that he won't see me coming. If he bought these people, then I can buy them away from him."
"Big fishes in little ponds don't do so well against sharks," I mumbled, starting to like the analogy more and more.
"Fuck sharks," Billy said. "I'm the goddamned Leviathan. So we start stripping his childish little toys away. We make it known that fucking with Southwind is a very bad idea, and we make surethatsimmers in these redneck rich boy circles a bit."
I just reached up to pat his arm. "Just don't forget to sleep sometime, ok?"
"Just trying to keep the same hours as Joey," he explained, turning for his door.
"Who's Joey?" I asked his back. "He one of the guys on your team or something?"
For the first time in my entire life, I saw a real, honest smile touch Billy's lips. One that wasn't the cruel kind. "She, Vi. Josephine. The only person I let tell me what to do..." He opened the door. "Well, besides you."
So Billy was in love, I realized as I continued downstairs to make that coffee. The only question was whether or not he could honestly feel that emotion. His brain didn't work like other people's. He might be damned good at faking it, but Blaze was far from stable. He was also one of the most trustworthy people I knew. If he said something, you could trust it. The problem was that most of what fell from his mouth tended to be threats, not promises.
Needless to say, I wasn't shocked that Billy declined to go to church with us. Darnell and Cessily were not the religious types either. Berto, however, was driving his own car so he could give Emily a ride. Faith coming home meant the truck would get packed, which was how the guys ended up taking my car while Luke and I rode there in his truck.
When he stopped at the crossroads, though, Luke let out a heavy sigh. I looked over, then rested my hand on his thigh. He pushed a smile to his lips, but something was bothering him. That he wasn't trying to hide it said a lot. I just wasn't quite sure if it meant he was that nervous or upset, or if it was simply that he trusted me enough to let me see.
"What's wrong?" I asked as the truck started moving again.
"I'm out now," he told me. "Everyone knows about me and Cy. I haven't been hiding things with Ash either. You and I are a public couple, but everyone at church is going to know that I'm bi, Violet. Every single person." He glanced over. "It's different in town. Feels a bit less like God is watching."
"Or that people are judging," I said, showing I understood. "We'll make it through this."
"I just don't want to cause any more problems for Faith," he explained. "I mean, yeah, it hurts when people say shit to me. Especially the ones I respect. Still, I can deal. I made my choice and I'm not going to change my mind. Faith is different. She's finally stopped hating school."
