“Ash . . . Again?” I asked him, not complaining one bit. “Already?”
He drew his head back and looked down at me, his blue eyes crinkling as he smiled. “I might need some motivation,” he teased, his fingers dipping between my legs.
I huffed out a laugh. “You need no such thing.” My fingers traced his jaw. “Should we have the talk?”
Ash looked at me and then down to where his hand was moving gently between my thighs. He looked back up at me quizzically. “Um . . . now?”
I chewed the corner of my lip as he didn’t stop the thrusting of his fingers. “We do seem to communicate better when we’re in bed . . .”
He huffed out a laugh before he kissed me, dipping his head into the crook of my neck before he leaned back and extracted his fingers. I watched him lick them clean and then wink at me when he saw me watching closely. “Delicious.” He propped his head in his hand as he lay beside me. “So, Red. Do you want to be my girlfriend?”
“No.”
Ash laughed out loud, tipping his head back as he did so, and I giggled beside him. When he calmed down, he saw me grinning at him and dropped another kiss on my lips. “Brutal.”
I smiled as we lay beside each other, both of us completely comfortable being naked beside each other. I’d never had this. I’d had one or two one-night stands, a couple of relationships, but I’d never had this level of ease with someone — this comfort. I felt like I could tell him anything, and even more, I knew he’d listen.
“I asked my mom about my dad,” I told him, keeping my voice low. I saw him become more alert, but he didn’t say anything. “She told me he knows about me, but isn’t interested in getting toknowme.”
“Then he’s an asshole.”
He said it with complete conviction, and I wanted to hug him. “That’s what Ava said.”
Ash nodded. His finger brushed over my collarbone. “Gray asked Onyx,” he said. He seemed unsure about telling me, but when he saw my surprise, he gave a small smile. “We’re not complete assholes,” he added. When I went to speak, heanticipated my question, shaking his head. “No. Onyx didn’t tell him.”
I frowned, tearing my eyes away from him. Did I believe him? Gray asked? I realized that I believed he would ask. That was new. “Okay.”
His hand cupped my chin, bringing my face back to meet his. “Hey, the guy doesn’t deserve to know you. It’s his loss, Red. Okay?”
My hand caught his, our fingers linking automatically. “You think so? Even after everything? Shouting at your cousins, being a—”
“Brat.” He grinned at my look of outrage. “It’s okay, you can say it.”
“I was not going to saybrat.” I sniffed as Ash lay down beside me. Both of us on our backs, staring at my ceiling. “I never wanted to know him,” I admitted. “I figured out pretty young that he didn’t want anything to do with me. Gloria, my mom, never spoke about him, and that was okay. You stop asking after a while.” I pulled the sheet over me, smiling when Ash immediately lowered it past my chest. “Hound,” I murmured. “But that night I spoke to your brother, I knew he knew and . . .” I shook my head. “It justgotto me that there was someone else who knew, and I didn’t.”
He was on his side again, watching me. His fingers skimmed my arm gently. “I can ask Onyx again.”
He seemed reluctant, but the fact that he offered made my heart swell. “No.” This time, I was the one who grabbed his hand. I brought his fingers to my lips, kissing his knuckles. “I don’t want to know. It’s as you said, it’s his loss.”
Ash kissed me, and soon we were wrapped up in each other again, and things were going perfectly until my stomach rumbled so loudly, I was sure they’d have heard it at the football house.
Ash drew his head back, one brow raised as he looked me over. “Wow. Something you want to tell me?”
My hands were over my face, my cheeks burning with embarrassment. “Oh my gosh, I am so sorry!”
Ash laughed as he rolled over and sat up. “You’re hungry, let’s get you some food.” He stood, and I admired his perfect body. He had a smattering of bruises from yesterday’s game, but he was fit. Really fit. I was back to being hungry for a whole different reason.
I watched as he looked around for his clothes and then realized he was getting dressed. “Why are you getting dressed?” I asked as I sat up. “Ava isn’t here.”
He hesitated for a moment, looked around the room, and then his gaze dropped to the floor. “Um . . . I need to go to the football house to eat.”
Swinging my legs over the bed, I stood. I grabbed a shirt and pulled it on, and then my discarded panties. “Why? I have pizza here from yesterday. I can heat it up.” I saw his dubious look and rolled my eyes. “EvenIcan heat up pizza.”
I walked past him to go to the kitchen.
“I had two slices yesterday, and not much else,” I told him as I walked. “Which is why my body wants more carbs.” I turned to see him following me; he was only in his boxer briefs, the material clinging to his thick thighs.Good grief. “I am definitely only on salad next week.”
Ash was watching, and the intensity of his stare was making me nervous.
