We rodeto a taco van on the outskirts of Rock Springs. It was close to a park, and it had a picnic area where we could sit and talk. Maybe I should’ve taken her somewhere fancier, but I didn’t want to feel cooped up, and it was such a nice, warm evening, I wanted to experience that with her.
I ordered our food and carried the tray over to the bench where she waited for me, watching my every move, much like I had when she got out of the car twenty minutes earlier. Aislynn’s eyes tracked me, and I wondered if she was committing me to memory, just like I did with her.
I rested the tray on the picnic table and handed her a can of Sprite, watching as she opened it and took a long pull. “I’m warm,” she murmured, going into the small bag that crossed over her body and pulling out her sunglasses.
I threw a leg over the bench seat, parking my ass beside her and asked, “How was your last day at work?”
She shrugged. “It was okay. Tristan, Maeve, and Mam came to meet me after and took me out to dinner.”
I gave her a wolfish grin. “I know.”
She rolled her eyes and took a bite of her taco, chewing slowly and swallowing. “Tell me what happened with the boys and their mom.”
I took a bite of my food and chewed while thinking about what to say. All I had was the truth; there was no point dressing it up. Aislynn had a right to know what I was dealing with and how complicated my life was.
“The weekend the boys visited, they admitted how bad things were at home. Their mom’s addicted to smack, and things haven’t been great for them.”
Instead of recoiling or looking down her nose at me, her face took on a look of concern. “How are the boys doing?”
That was the last thing I expected her to say. Any other woman would’ve asked where they fit into all that shit, but Aislynn didn’t seem fazed at all.
“They seem okay,” I confirmed. “I flew back with them to Cali to see how bad things had gotten. Made ’em pack their shit and we flew home the next day. I gave Breanna the choice to stay and kill herself with drugs, or to come back with us and I’d get her help. She chose to stay.”
Aislynn closed her eyes slowly. “Jesus, those poor boys. I bet they were hurt, though the fact she’s here now tells me she changed her mind, so that was good, right?”
“She didn’t change her mind exactly,” I corrected, taking a swig of my soda to fortify myself. “Seemed her man owed money to some bad dudes. They shot the house up in a drive-by and killed him and a couple of his buddies. Bree got hit, too, but luckily the bullets didn’t hit anythin’ vital. I had to deal with that, get her medical treatment organized, and then look for a rehab facility.”
Her hand shot out and covered my hand. “I’m sorry, honey,” she breathed. “It must’ve been a difficult time for you all.”
I just looked at her, my throat burning at the care she was showing my boys and me. Never once had she made it about her or asked what she was supposed to do about it. Instead, she’d sat, listened, taken everything in, and showed empathy.
This woman was something special.
“How are you doing?” she asked. “You weren’t sleeping too well before. Has that improved?”
I shook my head. “I was plannin’ on visiting the VA in Rock Springs, but with everythin’ else happenin’, I didn’t get the time. I will though.”
“Good,” she said with a small smile. “You need to look after yourself, especially when you have two teenage boys to care for. You can’t be what they need if you’re run down.”
I intertwined our fingers together and looked down at where we were connected. “You don’t need to worry about me,Dubheasa.”
“Of course I do,” she whispered. “I lo—” She stopped herself from saying the words, but we both knew what they would have been.
My mouth went dry.
“Any word on the job market?” I asked, swiftly trying to change the subject.
“I’ve applied for a few, but only recently. I’m thinking of taking a break while I work out what I want. I’ve got the money from Sketch, and my dad left me an inheritance, so I’m good for a while, and Callum’s offered to buy me out of the bar; in fact, all my brothers and Mam have offered to help me out. I may even work at the bar for a few months while I plan my next step.”
My chest twisted at the thought of her working at the bar. Aislynn was beautiful, and I knew men would hit on her. I’d already witnessed the effect she had on the opposite sex, and if we weren’t together, I couldn’t stop her from dating. Hambleton was full of bikers from the Speed Demons. Most of them were friends of her family, and she’d known them for years, but they took on new recruits every month. If I’d seen everything she was in one glance, it stood to reason that other men would too, and fuck me if it didn’t make my blood boil.
“Why are we avoiding the one subject we’re here to talk about?” she asked.
It was just like myDubheasato not want to play games. Before I could stop myself, I blurted, “I don’t want to end it.”
Aislynn looked as shocked as I felt. Jesus, I’d come here with every intention of pulling back, but I was a selfish bastard because there was no way I was letting her go. I’d always taken what I wanted, fuck the consequences, and Aislynn O’Shea wasn’t going to be the exception.
“It’s gonna be hard for a while to see a lot of you,” I vowed. “It may only be a few hours here or there, but if you move back to Hambleton, it’ll be easier ’cause you’ll only be a thirty-minute ride away. Eventually, you’ll meet the boys, so it won’t be an either-or deal. You just need to get through until then. I’m not gonna make promises I can’t keep, Ash, but I’m tellin’ you I’ll try to make more of an effort.”
