I reach out and take his hand, giving it a squeeze. “What he is now is your brother,” I insist.
Ashton looks at me, something bright shining in his eyes when he finally says, “Yeah, he is.” He gives me a wide, happy smile.
“You love them, don't you? All of them?”
“Of course.” Ash chuckles. “They’re total pains in my ass most days.Especiallythese days. But, yeah, I love them. They’re my family.”
“That’s like me and Jade. You’re all lucky to have each other.” I let out a breath, something loosening inside of me that’s been coiled in my chest for weeks. This is what I needed from him. Honesty. He’s being honest with me. Letting me in.
“Thank you,” I say, breaking the silence.
“For what? The dessert?” Ashton looks at the mini feast he brought for us. We’ve barely put a dent in it. “This is nothing! Next time I’ll bring you a whole banquet.”
“No! I mean,yes, this is really sweet of you. The picnic.” I falter, trying to explain it. “But thank you for telling me that story. It helps. Getting to know you, hearing about the four of you. I don’t like feeling like I don’t know you, like you’re keeping things from me.”
His face falls. “I want you to know everything. About us. And I want to know everything about you, too. I don’t want to keep things from you, not anymore. Not ever.”
“I’m still mad, you know,” I say, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear, avoiding his eyes.
“You have every right to be. I’m mad at me, too. And I’m furious with Alec. And Seb for being such a fucking know-it-all.”
“Ash—”
“Sorry. This isn’t about me.” He blows out a breath. “I just mean, I’ll do whatever it takes to make this right. Saying ‘I’ve fallen for you’ doesn’t even scratch the surface, Babygirl. It feels… it feels like I’m underwater, when I’m not with you. Everything is muted. I can’t get a breath. And then when you’re here…” He doesn’t finish his sentence, but his gaze meets mine, and what I see there makes me feel too many things.
“You really hurt me, Ash,” I tell him, setting my drink down on the blanket. “The lying, the secrets. And then seeing you with Annika, seeing you hugging her, I just?—”
I stop, that familiar pain gripping my chest.
“You what?” Ashton asks, leaning closer to me, tracing my face with his gaze.
“I didn’t like it,” I admit. “I don’t care if it’s not a real marriage. I didn’t like seeing the two of you together like that. I didn’t?—”
He doesn’t let me finish before he grabs my face and pulls my mouth in a fierce kiss, groaning against my lips.
I mean to push him away, I do. But I pull him closer, instead, my hands clutching his shirt, all my thoughts and intentions fading away. His hands are in my hair, and he tilts my head back, angling me so that he can deepen the kiss.
“You were jealous,” he murmurs against my lips. He says it like I’ve given him something, something special. “Fuck,Babygirl,you were jealous of her, weren’t you?”
Of course I was jealous.
“That’s so hot. That you care. That you were jealous of her. But there’s no one else for me.” He pulls away to look me in the eyes when he says it, hands still tangled in my hair. “No other woman exists. It’s you. It’ll always be you.”
Then his mouth is on mine again, and this time, I open for him, letting his tongue slip between my lips. He slides his hands over my body, pulling off my jacket and cupping my tits over my bra.
“I can’t get enough of you. You’re all I want. All I could ever want.” My heart flutters in my chest at his words, and my thighs clench as he peels off my shirt. I can’t form a response before he grabs the bottom of my bra and pulls it over my head, exposing me to the cold air.
“Ash…” I pant. I want more of him, more ofthis,but we’re in the middle of the park, out in public. But then his hands are on my leggings, pulling them down my legs and tossing them aside.
“Anyone could see us,” I remind him, the words coming out in a moan. He slips my panties to the side and runs his fingers over me, and there’s no denying how wet I am.
“Let them watch.” He groans as he eases a finger inside of me. “It’ll be the last thing they ever see.” It shouldn’t make me wetter, hearing him threaten to kill someone just for seeing me like this, but it does. And I can’t hide my body’s reaction to it as his finger moves inside of me.
You’d kill for him, too.
“Fuck,” he gasps as he pushes a second finger into my soaked pussy. “I’ve missed this.”
He pulls me into his lap, fingers moving in and out of me, fucking me hard. Anyone could see me like this, naked and spread open on his lap, while he touches me. The thought should make me want to stop, but it just makes me want it more.
