Chapter 31
Claire
Bea slept for another twenty minutes after Asher rushed out of the cabin.
It’s a good thing she woke up when she did.
Otherwise I might have peed my pants. Since she’s been up, I’ve successfully taught her how to turn Twizzlers into drinking straws, and we’re on our second round of Candyland.
We’re stuffing our faces with red licorice at the kitchen counter when Asher returns.
“Hey, how’d it go?” I ask, clocking his defeated expression.
He nods toward his daughter. “Later.”
We play a rotation of board games, with zero temper tantrums from Bea (or Asher), until Ray, Zion, and Benji come over with dinner. I told Asher that I’d be happy to watch Bea so he could go out with the guys, but he insisted we all spend their last night together.
Across the bonfire, Bea is passed out on Benji’s lap, hands sticky from one too many gooey s’mores.
“Pretty soon that’s going to be you, man.” Ray tips his beer in his buddy’s direction.
Benji kisses the top of her head. “I can’t wait.”
“Here. I’ll take her to bed.” Asher taps my thigh, and I stand so he can go to his daughter.
She wakes up during the transfer and he shushes her, but rather than dozing back off, she cries out, “I want Claire.”
Everyone looks to me, where I’m frozen in place.
“Daddy’s got you,” Asher whispers.
“No. Claire,” she fusses, flinging her arms around his shoulder and making grabby hands for me.
My heart stumbles over itself. Well, this is awkward.
Asher turns and gives me a nod.
With a dip of my chin in return, I approach, arms out. Bea wraps her little limbs around my waist and neck and nuzzles into me like a cuddly koala.
When she sighs and her body goes slack, I revel in my ability to bring her comfort.
Benji taps his foot against Asher’s. “Don’t be butt-hurt, man.”
“I’m not,” he replies, though his frown says otherwise.
As I step inside, one of the guys says, “Told you you’re fucked.”
I wipe Bea’s hands and face with a wet washcloth, then rub her back until I’m positive she’s asleep.
Then I rejoin the men outside, but only to announce that I’m calling it a night.
They’re leaving early in the morning, so they all rise to hug me goodbye, murmuring about how much they enjoyed meeting me.
When Ray embraces me, he whispers, “Don’t give up on him.”
I falter, wobbling on my toes, but I protect my poker face. I wish I could ask what he means by that.
After showering away the smoky smell and blow-drying my hair, I change into sleep shorts and a camisole. I’ve only had one middle-of-the-night call all summer, and I’m praying I don’t get interrupted tonight.
I do, however, receive a picture of a rash on Kane’s abdomen with a text from Ezra that reads: Please tell me this isn’t an STI.
A phone call and a few investigative questions later, I suspect it’s simply a reaction to laundry detergent or body wash.
When Ezra tells me he hasn’t bought any new soaps or detergents recently, Kane admits that he spent the night at his boyfriend’s last night.
Ezra switches into dad mode, and in turn, I call him out for all the scandalous behavior I witnessed him and my brother get into when they were in high school, thus shutting down their little spat.
Millie laughs in the background, and since I’m anxious that she might hop on and ask me about my relationship with her brother, I fabricate an excuse about getting called into work and abruptly hang up.
I talk to my parents for a while, catching up, but before long, I’m eager to read on my Kindle until I inevitably fall asleep.
Just when I’ve gotten close to what I fear is a third-act breakup, my door opens.
Asher stands in the frame, shirtless, with a pair of plaid pajama pants slung low on his hips, looking like a wet dream come to life.
“Knock much?” I feign aggravation, then set my e-reader on the nightstand.
“Sorry. You’re right.” He steps back and closes the door, then quietly knocks.
The absurd redo has me rolling my eyes and laughing. “Come in.”
Come inside me, my subconscious screams.
He closes the door behind him, then stands at the foot of the bed, grinning.
I sling back the covers. “I could have been getting off, you know.”
He chokes, then smothers the sound with a cough. “Why weren’t you?”
I bat my lashes at the beautiful man. “I was saving my orgasm for you.”
“Fuck, Claire.” He heaves out a breath. “That’s so hot.”
He face-plants onto the bed. But by the way he nuzzles against my chest now, he’s exhausted.
That’s okay; the sex can wait.
He wraps an arm around my belly and I play with his damp hair.
The domesticity of the moment causes emotion to swell inside me, but I temper the reaction.
My breath parallels his as I inhale his pine and citrus scent and soak in the moment. But eventually I break the silence. “Did you have a good time with your friends?”
“I did, thank you,” he says into my neck. “They really liked you, you know.”
“I liked them too.”
He rests his chin on my chest, searching my face. “Yeah? Were they what you thought they’d be?”
I chuckle to myself. “Kind of. Except I didn’t realize Ray was such a zaddy…”
“Hey!” He pinches my side, causing me to squirm. “What about me? I am a daddy, after all.”
“I know, which is exactly why I can’t call you that. Plus, that’s what Millie calls”—his eyes go wide and my heart leaps into my throat—“Never mind!”
Asher groans. “You were not about to say what I think you were about to say.”
With the most serious face I can conjure, I reply, “Absolutely not.” Then mime zipping my lips.
“I should spank you for that.”
“Do it, Pretty Boy,” I tease.
Rather than throw me onto my stomach and accept the challenge, he says, “I think we should talk.” He releases me and sits up, his back pressed against the headboard.
I do the same, a hard pit forming in my stomach. “Oh? What about?”
“First of all, are you doing okay?”
“What do you mean?”
“After what happened today. With Todd and Lacey.”
Oh. That.
“Mmm. I’m fine.” I force a smile, really not wanting to get into how it triggered me. “What happened when you talked to Todd?”
He lets out a long sigh. “He stripped his funding for the expansion of the camp.”
My stomach sinks. “What? No. Ash, I’m so sorry. This is all my fault. I never meant for—”
“Stop.”
I nearly flinch at the harshness of that single syllable.
He turns to face me and collects my hands. “Do not, for one second, blame this on yourself. Todd is a lousy piece of shit.”
Tears flood my eyes, my vision going blurry.
“I’m serious, Claire. You did the right thing.”
I retract my hands to wipe at my damp cheeks and sip in air, willing my racing heart to calm down. “But I didn’t back then.”
Without responding, he rubs my wrist and patiently waits for me to continue.
“I should have told someone. And I wanted to. I just figured it would be easier to avoid him and finish school. I never imagined I’d see him again.
But what Todd did to Lacey made me so furious.
There was no way I’d make the same mistake twice.
And what you said about killing anyone who did something like that to Bea…
I felt that.” My breath hitches and a sob escapes me.
“Hey, hey, hey. It’s okay, baby. I’ve got you.” He wraps me in his arms, transferring me into his lap and rocking back and forth. “Shh. You’re safe. I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”
I believe him. But that promise has an expiration date. Because when I go back to the city, he won’t be around to protect me.