“Yeah,” she says, sticking her tongue out at me.
“I can think of amuchbetter use for that tongue,” I say.
She smirks.Little brat.
But taming her isn’t why I’m here at the moment, so I reach into my pocket and pull out an envelope, which I hand to Ella.Sebastian does the same.
“What’s this?”she asks, brow furrowing as she opens mine.
“Test results,” I say, my voice gruffer then I intended.Clearing my throat, I add, “I get tested regularly.We both do, just as a precaution, and we want you to know we’re clean.”
“And there’s nobody but you in our lives right now,” Bash adds.“If you’re willing and you’re on birth control, King and I thought we could talk about ditching the condoms—”
“Yes,” she says.
A smile grows on Bash’s face.“That easy, huh?”
“Yes.I trust you.Both of you.And you should know I went to a women’s clinic and got tested right after Joel and I broke up,” she says, reaching for her purse.“Even though I’m on the pill, I always made him use condoms, and I’m clean.The test results are in my email.Just a sec—”
I stop her from getting her bag by tugging her up to stand in front of me.“I believe you, baby girl.”
Bash stands, too, and we hug her between us.
“So next time we fuck you,” he says, “we get to fuck you bare, huh?”
“I can’t wait,” she says, her beautiful brown eyes shining as she looks between us.
“But you’re going to have to,” I tell her.“Someone has work tonight, doesn’t she?”
“Shit,” she says, glancing at the clock above the door.“I wasn’t paying attention.”
I can already see her panicking, calculating bus routes and how long it’ll take her to get to the pub.
“Come on, baby girl, I’ll take you to work.”
Shaking her head of curls, she says, “No, you don’t want to drive all the way to Bellefleur before going home.”
“I thinkIcan be the judge of what I do and don’t want to do,” I say in a stern voice.
“You’re right.”She sucks in a breath.“Thank you, Daddy.I’d appreciate a ride, if that’s what you really want to do.”
I kiss her forehead.“Let’s go.Bash, do you want to come with, and grab some dinner?There’s this pub in Bellefleur with an excellent server.”I cup Ella’s ass and wink at her as I say, “She doesn’t even mind when I get handsy with her.”
“Naw, you go on, though.”He walks out with us, though, and before Ella climbs into my car, he tugs her tightly against him and kisses the breath out of her.
My friend might be doing a few things wrong by not confiding in us, but at least he’s loving our girl right.
Eleven
Ella
My fingers ache from playing for so long after cleaning at Dorado Terrace all morning, but how can I resist?I miss my keyboard desperately, but I’ll never get it back.And in the meantime, it’s a real joy to play on an actual piano.
I take a break to rest my hands.I also sip some water, because my vocal cords are tired, too.
It’s amazing—I’m still working just as much as I always was, and a lot of my free time is spent with Kingston and Sebastian.Yet I have more energy for songwriting and creativity than I had before.Maybe because I’m not constantly fearing that I won’t be able to pay rent?I’m back in my apartment, but the landlord gave me—and everyone—a substantial break in our rent through April, due to the myriad issues the place had for so long.He made no secret about his ire with Bryan being such a fuckwad of a manager.The good news is that another manager has already taken Bryan’s place—and it’s Mrs.Dali.Now that’s a woman who will get shit done.
Grinning to myself, I practice the chorus of my new song again.