Page 62 of Surviving the Break
“Yeah.” His smile was stiff.
I addressed Hayden. “Ah, I actually planned on reaching out to you.” I shot a quick glance at Ash, who stood there trying to be supportive, placing a hand at the small of my back. “Could you meet up to talk tomorrow?”
“Of course.” He blushed again at his eagerness, and Ash’s palm on my back squeezed.
“Do you want to go pay for that?” I tipped my chin to the basket in his hand, wanting to give him an out, feeling terrible that he had to bear this.
“I’m good,” he said, never taking his eyes off Hayden.
I exchanged numbers with Hayden; then we left. I metaphorically kicked my own ass for what I perceived as me being weak. But I’d been unprepared, in a setting that wasn’t my choosing, facing not only the man I once loved and hadn’t seen in over a year, but the child I’d love until the day I died.
In all my preparation, I hadn’t planned for Jeremiah. No, getting to the point with Hayden couldn’t happen in the middle of a bargain store. The next time we met, it’d be on my terms.
Next time, I’d be ready.
THE FARM SATon twenty acres of land. We drove past it on our way to the cottage about a half a mile down the road. We unloaded the bags from the trunk and went inside, Pluto bringing up the rear.
In the hearth, a fire blazed, and the lemony scent confirmed the place had been freshly cleaned. The cottage was quaint. A simple living room, kitchen, a half-bath, and a bedroom with a master. Light wood and cream furnishings made up the decor.
I followed Ash down the hall to the bedroom. “Ash, you’ve been quiet since our encounter with Hayden. This isn’t like you. Talk to me.” I made a grab for his arm, but he pulled away.
“Have you ever fucked in a barn?” he asked.
Where did that come from? “No, I can’t say that I have.”
He swooped into my personal space and kissed me. The shift made me lightheaded, but I let him take what he needed. “I want you,” he said, before eating away at my lips again. I went with the flow, trying to remove his shirt. “Not here,” he said. “In the barn.”
I stepped back, adjusting myself in my jeans. “Why the barn?”
“It just has to be.”
“There might be people in there.”
“Or there may not be,” he countered.
“Ash.” I struggled for anything to say that would defuse his course. “The barn will be cold.”
His gaze strayed to the bed, and he snatched the king-sized comforter off it. “Problem solved.”
He was distant and internalized. It wasn’t like Ash to not express himself. I led the way.
The barn was empty, and I lit a kerosene lamp while Ash removed his clothes. I rested the lamp on a low wooden table.
“Am I yours, Max?” asked a now-naked Ash.
“Yes, of course.” I licked my lips at the sight of his hard nudity.
He spread the blanket over the hay and got down on all fours, ass facing me. He peered over his shoulder, undulating his hips as he seared me with a dark, heat filled gaze, his balls swinging like bells between his spread thighs. “Prove it.”
Ash liked to top me when he thought I needed to be reminded that I was his, but when he needed reassurance that he was mine, he all but begged for a good ass-fucking. “Ash—”
“In me, now,” he growled.
ISAT LEANINGagainst the barn wall, and Ash rested on his back with his head in my lap.
“I wanted to pound his face in,” he admitted.
“Why?” I traced the edges of his face.
