The Vincent Boys (The Vincent Boys #1)(27)

Beau

“I don’t know that they will ever recover from that,” I said as I held open my truck door and helped Ashton inside.

“What?” she asked, frowning down at me.

Did she really not know what I was referring to or was she trying to act like it was no big deal? Because it was a big deal. My showing up tonight was a step I’d taken knowing Sawyer would find out about it. I hadn’t cared about the repercussions. I just couldn’t stand the idea of Ashton having no one but people who had no idea what she was going through or feeling surround her. She had needed me.

“They’ll talk, Ash,” I said carefully, waiting to see if she’d just been so broken over her Grana that she hadn’t thought about the statement we had made walking out of the church together.

She shrugged her shoulders. “So. That’s what they do, Beau. They talk. They’ll get over it.”

Damn if I didn’t want to crawl in and press her back against the worn leather seats and kiss her until we were both begging for more. But even I didn’t do it in the church parking lot. Closing the truck door I made my way around the front of the truck and climbed inside.

I didn’t ask if she wanted to go home. I was taking her to my place instead. Mom was working tonight and I wanted Ash in my room. I wanted to see her in my space. Know what that felt like. Smell her close even after she’s gone.

Ashton scooted over until she was up against my side. “Where we going?”

“Does it matter?” I asked instead of answering her.

She let out a small, sad sigh. “No. Not really. Just so I’m with you.”

My chest thumped against my chest and the possessive beast inside me roared with pleasure. She was mine, dammit. I had to fix this. I couldn’t give her back to Sawyer.

“I want to see you in my room. I want my pillows to smell like you. I want to have the image of you laying back on my bed imprinted in my memory.”

Ashton tilted her head back to look up at me. I glanced down at her big green eyes before looking back at the road. “When did you get all sweet and charming?”

Since I’d been buried deep inside the only girl I’d ever loved. I didn’t tell her that though. She wasn’t ready for me to repeat my feelings again. She’d frozen up on me the last time I’d told her how I felt. “Don’t tell me you are just now figuring out how charming I am?”

She snickered and pressed her mouth against my arm to keep from laughing louder. I loved hearing her laugh. Especially after seeing her fall apart and listening to her weep earlier. That had torn me apart. I didn’t want her sad. I didn’t want her to have to feel any pain. I just wanted to protect her from everything. I knew it sounded ridiculous but I couldn’t help the way I felt.

Pulling my truck in between the oak trees that led into the trailer park where I’d lived my entire life, I leaned down and kissed the top of Ashton’s head. This was the way it should have been all along. Ashton beside me. It was meant to be this way.

“So what are we going to do in your room?” Ashton asked.

I opened the door and slipped my hand over her thigh and pulled her to me as I moved to get out.

“Monopoly?” I replied with a smirk.

Ashton put her hands on my shoulders and I pulled her against me and lowered her to the ground. “I stink at Monopoly. You know that.”

She sucked at Monopoly was more like it. Sawyer always let her beat him when we’d played as kids. Not me. I always took every dollar she had. Ashton didn’t like things to be easy. She liked the challenge. I recognized that even back then.

“Yeah, you do,” I agreed and put my hand on the small of her back, directing her to the front door. “We could play strip poker.”

Ashton laughed and shook her head. “You always beat me at that too. Well, poker at least. I’ll be naked in less than fifteen minutes.”

“Okay, you sold me. We’re playing strip poker,” I interrupted.

“If you want me naked you don’t have to beat me at cards,” she replied teasingly.

Hell, yeah. That was my girl. “Deal. Strip,” I demanded as I closed the door behind us.

Ashton threw her head back and laughed. The sadness lurking in her eyes was gone now. That’s what I’d wanted to accomplish. Well, I wanted her naked too, but it hadn’t been my top priority. That came in second.

“Can I have a drink first?” Ashton asked, running a hand up my chest.

“I guess if that’s what you really want,” I replied, lowering my mouth to drop kisses along her jawline before nuzzling the soft skin behind her ear.

Ashton’s hands slipped behind my neck and she arched against me. We might not make it to my bedroom if she kept this up.

“I changed my mind,” Ashton whispered, before slipping her hand down to my jeans and tugging on the button.

“You sure?” I asked, nipping at her earlobe.

She shivered in my arms and nodded.

This could never be wrong. It felt too right.

“I want these off,” she whispered as she unfastened my jeans and started tugging them down. I wanted them off too, but not in my living room. I wanted her back in my bedroom. On my sheets. So when she was gone I could smell her.

“To my room,” I replied as I kissed a trail down her neck. The small shiver that ran through her only excited me more. I reached down and grabbed the hem of her short dress and pulled it up so I could cup her ass. Both soft cheeks were bare. I froze and stared down at her while I slipped my hand down and found the thin strap.