“Not in the way you’re implying.” She follows me into the bathroom, shedding her clothes on the way.
“He wants you, Siren.” I shuck out of my jeans and boxers before reaching in to turn the shower on.
“He wants to fuck with all our heads. Leering at me pisses you and Jase off. That’s why he’s doing it.”
She’s delusional if she thinks he doesn’t want her, but I’m done with this convo. Ares has no place in this moment with me and my girl. “Be careful around him.”
“I always am,” she says, removing the last of her clothes.
My eyes drink my fill as she steps toward me. Ashley Shaw has a rocking body to match her perfect personality, and she’s the full package. “Fuck, you’re sexy.”
“Right back at ya.” Stretching up, she kisses me before stepping under the flow of water.
I close the door behind me as I come up behind her, my hands gravitating to her body like a missile.
We indulge in round two in the shower. This time, I fuck her from behind, pressing Ash up against the tiled wall with my hand over her mouth to stifle her moans and screams when she comes.
After we dry and get dressed, we unpack and change the bed linen before leaving the house hand in hand. I take her for pizza and ice cream, and then we watch the latest blockbuster at the state-of-the-art campus movie theater. We make out in the back row like we’re fifteen again, and I lavish her with affection, hoping it might help to distract her.
“This was fun,” she says, taking my arm and wrapping it around her back when we leave the theater.
“It was.” I tweak her nose as I lead us toward the parking lot. My cell pings with an incoming call as we approach my truck. I glance at the number flashing on the screen and my stomach dips. “Get in the truck, sweetheart.” I hand her the keys. “I need to take this call.” She sends me a withering look as she plucks the keys from my fingers. “Don’t, Ash.” I peck her lips. “Trust me to handle things.”
She closes her eyes for a few short beats before nodding. I swat her ass as she walks off, laughing when she flips me the bird over her shoulder.
I walk off to the side as I press the answer button, accepting Jose’s call before he hangs up. Angering the new VP of the Sainthood would not be a smart move. “Hey, what’s up?” I ask.
“We need to meet. Usual place. Thirty minutes. Don’t be late.”
He hangs up before I can barter for more time. Fuck! I kick a couple of lose stones across the parking lot. After a few beats, I compose myself and walk to my truck.
“What is it?” Ash asks the second I climb behind the wheel.
“Nothing for you to worry about.”
“But I do worry. It’s eleven o’clock at night, Chad. No good comes from calls received that late.”
Turning in my seat, I clasp her beautiful face in my hands, hating to see the troubled look in her eyes. I had only just put a smile back on her face, and one call has extinguished it. “I don’t want to fight with you, Ash. We’ve been through this before. We’ve both already said what we need to say.”
“This is dangerous, Chad!” She wraps her fingers around my wrist. “You could get hurt or killed. Saint Lennox warned you to back away. He is the son of the last Sainthood president. The one rotting in a shallow grave for his sins. Saint almost lost his life that night. He knows what he’s talking about. If he says steer clear, then you should steer clear.”
“I’ll be careful.” I repeat what I’ve said to her countless times when this argument has arisen.
“That’s an oxymoron when it comes to gangs and drugs, Chad, and you fucking know it.” Her body language is rigid as she sits stiffly in her seat and turns her head away from me.
Sighing, I start the engine and reverse out of the spot. “It’s late. We’re both tired, and it’s already been a trying day. Let’s not end it arguing.”
She says nothing, silently steaming as I drive us home.
I don’t kill the engine when I pull up to the curb at our new house. I’m already going to be late because it’s a good thirty-minute drive to the meeting point on the far side of Lowell from here.
We sit in silence for a couple of minutes until Ash turns to me. “You know I’m only arguing with you because I worry.”
I nod. “I know, but you should trust me to handle myself.”
“It’s not you I don’t trust. This is so risky, Chad.” She reaches over the console for my hands. “What good will you be to your mom and Tessa if you’re dead or behind bars for drug offenses?”
“It won’t come to that,” I say through clenched teeth.
