Chapter 14 Ashton
I tossed and turned throughout the night, waking up over every little sound. It wasn’t that I was in an uncomfortable position, but it was knowing that Chanel was here with me and she was under my watch that kept me vigilant throughout the night.
I had taken that woman away from her family and friends and moved her under my protective wing.
I didn’t take that shit lightly, because I was determined nothing would happen to her.
Whatever was going on was related to my marriage and me; I knew that with certainty.
I would be damned if I would allow that shit to blow back on her.
Titan was on the same page that I was because he slept in the room with her all night.
I went to check on them at one point, and she had left her door partially open.
Titan was right there at the foot of her bed.
He lifted his head and peered an eye open when I stuck my head inside.
Although I knew I had been quiet as hell, he didn’t let anything slip past him.
Now that I was awake, I wanted to see what she wanted to get into today.
I glanced in her room and saw that neither she nor Titan were in there.
I headed downstairs and heard her voice coming from the breakfast room.
There was a beautiful view of the lake from that room, and I knew she was enjoying it.
I stopped in the kitchen before going to her. She had been up cooking already. Chicken sausage, oatmeal with cranberries, toast, and boiled eggs were all in warmers, ready to be eaten. A fresh pot of coffee was brewing, and it smelled good.
My heart tugged in my chest. This was the type of shit that I missed.
The kind of stuff that Muffin used to do in the early years of our marriage.
The traveling and away games had taken a toll on her because she needed me close by.
It was a struggle for her whenever I went away, and she didn’t like traveling to the away games as much.
Muffin had always been the clingy type, even when we were in our teens.
She was a woman who needed her man in bed every night, holding her, loving her, and reassuring her.
I had thought we would be able to work through that shit. I was wrong.
I fixed my plate, seeing that she had already fixed hers based on the missing sausage on the warming tray. I could hear her talking to her cousin while I fixed my juice and grabbed a water bottle.
“No, Tommi. I swear that I cannot think of a single person who could have gained access to my apartment. Uh-uh . . . I revoked his access a couple of days after he left my apartment. No, Darius doesn’t even know where I live, so it can’t be him.
” She laughed and listened for a while. I wondered who the person was that had their access revoked, and why she had to do it.
I headed into the breakfast room where she sat at the table running her finger around the rim of a coffee mug. She didn’t see me but kept staring out the window as she listened. One of her legs was crossed over the other one, and she idly bounced her foot back and forth.
“You haven’t found anything? What about the security cameras?
” She scoffed before she replied, “How convenient the cameras up there weren’t working on that day.
I haven’t had any issues with the camera before.
This was premeditated, and I’m willing to bet it was the same person who vandalized my car.
Those cameras weren’t working either.” She sighed loudly before stating, “Okay. Talk to you later. Love you too. Okay. I won’t.
” She giggled, ended the call, and sighed again.
“Hey, you okay?” I asked, announcing my presence as I set my plate at the end of the table closest to her.
She turned and smiled at me. “Yeah. I’m fine, thanks.”
“Surprised that I didn’t startle you.”
Her eyelids grew heavy, and she licked her bottom lip. “I smelled your cologne before I saw you.”
I didn’t know what to say about that. Based on her facial expression, I thought it was best not to respond to that comment. “Did you have a good night’s sleep?”
“Honestly, it was the best sleep that I’ve had in a while. I doubt that I could have slept that well at home after all that’s happened. I wanted to say thank you again, and I’ll have to find some way to repay you for your kindness and compassion.”
“You don’t repay people for kindness and compassion. It’s either in a person’s heart to do it or not.”
“I know. But I just want you to know how much I appreciate you.”
“I already know.”
“Thank you. How about you? Did you sleep well?”
“Yeah, I’m good.” I didn’t need her to know how often I woke through the night, worrying about her. I was good now, and that was all that mattered. “So I overheard your conversation. They haven’t found anything?”
“No,” she replied sadly. “I just knew they would find something from the security cameras. What was odd was that the cameras at the facility were running on a loop, but what was alarming was that the cameras in my hallway were out altogether. That hasn’t happened since I’ve been living there.”
“That definitely sounds like an inside job.”
“That’s what Tommi is going with, too, and working from that angle. I feel like there’s something she’s not telling me, though, and that pisses me off.”
“You can’t be upset. She has a job to do, and she doesn’t need anyone getting in her way.”
“I just hate feeling like a victim, Ashton.”
“You’re not—and you don’t have to surrender to that possibility.
But I promise you when we figure out who’s doing this, there will be hell to pay.
I doubt it’s going to be much longer. Whoever is doing all of this is going to slip up somewhere and be caught on camera, online, or in person.
They won’t be able to hide for long, and the more confident they grow in the belief that no one knows who they are, the easier it’s going to be for them to make a mistake. ”
“Thank you. Tommi said the same thing.”
“Don’t worry about all that. Let your cousin and her team do their job. I want you to think about this as a mini-vacation and all access to the athlete of your choice for the best article you’ve ever written.” I shot a smile her way.
She winked and replied, “I can do that.”
“And I’ll make sure of it.”
She smiled at me and nodded before she pulled the coffee mug to her lips. We sat in silence, lost in our thoughts as I finished my breakfast.
I grabbed her plate and mine when I finished. “You don’t have to do that. I can wash the dishes.”
“You cooked.”
“And you allowed me to stay in your home and eat your food.”
“It was a pleasure to have company up here. You were great company last night on what could have been a rough one for me,” I confessed.
“Well, you were definitely great company for me, and you made my night much easier by taking my mind off my troubles,” she admitted.
We carried our dishes to the kitchen, rinsed them, and put them away before we cleaned the rest of the kitchen. When we finished, we sat down and talked for a while about our individual careers and influences before I suggested that we take a swim in my heated indoor pool.
“I don’t mean to be callous, but I have no idea how she could screw up and walk away from such a luxurious lifestyle and a generous, handsome, and sexy husband.”
I stopped swimming and turned to see her sitting on the edge of the pool. She was kicking her feet gently back and forth as she watched me. I couldn’t lie; Chanel was starting to get to me in the worst way. I wanted her, and I knew she knew that.
“Oh, you think I’m sexy?”
“Everyone knows that. When the world talks about the sexiest basketball players, you have to know that you’re up there in the top five . . . always.”
I swam closer to her and placed my hands on either side of her legs. “I’m not asking about what the world thinks. I’m asking what you think.”
“Please, I think you’re a’ight,” she teased, waving her hand. “I mean, you do have excellent genes, and it’s clear that you take very good care of your body.”
“Coach keeps us on a rigorous workout routine.”
“And having an indoor court at your home, an in-home gym at your main house, and an indoor and outdoor pool in both locations doesn’t hurt.”
I had shared those details with her while she was interviewing me for the article.
I pushed back from the edge of the pool a little, and she looked disappointed. “It doesn’t. I keep myself on a strict routine as often as possible. It’s too easy to get lazy and lose good habits.”
I was tempted to say something about her body and beauty, but I knew that I was setting myself up for trouble. I refused to go down that path. So instead, I suggested we head outside and play with Titan because he needed some exercise.
“In the snow?” she balked.
“What better way to get exercise than in the snow?”
“You know, since you didn’t tell me where we were heading when we left Cherokee Springs, I’m glad that I brought a variety of clothing. Because I had no idea we were coming to the snow, but I did pack for it.”
“Good. Go get dressed, and we can head out.”
“Mm . . . I’m still not feeling being out in the snow.”
I chuckled. “Girl, you can handle that shit. You’re built for it.”
She lifted an eyebrow. “Oh, am I now? Who’s been checking who out?”
She bit her bottom lip and stood up. I watched as she pulled her bikini bottoms out of her ass and sashayed to the door. Only then did I notice she was watching me watch her. She looked over her shoulder with a beautiful, shy grin and winked. “See you soon.”
I waited another few minutes before I pulled my ass out of the heated pool with my traitorous ass dick that was swollen.
After playing with Titan, we played a few rounds of UNO, a game of Clue, and then NBA2K26 before we showered and took a nap. We met up in the kitchen to cook lunch after our nap.
“Do you always eat healthy?” she asked as I prepared the salad that would go with our club sandwiches.