10. Asher #3
“What’s wrong?” I asked sharply as I heard her cry from the other end of the phone.
“Nothing, I don’t think,” she said and then pulled the phone away from her ear to mutter something to Sophie.
I didn’t say anything, busy thinking.
What made a ten-month-old grumpy and how could I fix it from where I was?
“I can hear your frown from here,” she chuckled on the other end.
I let out a grunt and before I could decide what to say my phone started ringing. I pulled it away to see the Facetime request from Sutton. I answered it as quickly as I could. Sutton had her hair pulled back with a scrunchie and hardly any makeup on.
The woman was fucking stunning.
“I thought this might help you believe me.” She moved to sit in a chair beside Sophie’s highchair. I could see both of them with how she was holding the phone. Sophie’s face was red and it looked like she had been rubbing her eyes and crying. “Better, Grizzly?”
I ignored the nickname, even though it kind of made me want to smile. “Hi, sunshine,” I said as I watched Sophie, who had a frown on her face. “Why are you grumpy tonight?” She started squawking and slapping her hands on the chair.
“She was like this for Iris today too, apparently,” Sutton said as she brushed her hand over her head.
I loved watching her with her daughter. They were so connected and Sophie looked at her like she had hung the moon. I was starting to understand the feeling.
“That’s no good, sweet girl,” I said as Sophie seemed to notice the phone.
She squawked again and reached toward me.
Which warmed my heart. “You aren’t supposed to be grumpy.
You’re too sweet.” She babbled some more, like we were having an actual conversation.
“You have to be nice to your mum.” Her frown started to fade and though I couldn’t see her feet, it looked like they were kicking.
“I’ve been trying to get her to stop screaming for an hour and one Facetime call with you and the frown disappears.” Sutton shook her head. “She probably knows she can’t beat you in the frown department,” she added with a smile.
“I own the frowns, sunshine, you need to keep smiling.” But even as I said the words, I smiled softly at her as she picked up the toy on her highchair and started shaking it, still babbling.
“I bet she’ll eat some banana now as long as you stay in view. Are you good to stay on the phone?” Sutton asked.
“As long as you need.”
Someone would’ve had to rip this phone out of my cold dead hands to get me to leave.
She sent me a small smile before she slid some fruit onto Sophie’s tray. Sophie kept the toy in one hand but picked up the food and started humming as she shoved some in her mouth. The redness in her face started to go down.
“Heard you saw a picture of me tonight,” I said once things were more settled on her end.
Sutton’s face flushed and she looked down.
“I hate that I’m not there so you can look me in the eye,” I grumbled.
That got her to at least look up at me. “Noah likes to make fun of me for being so closed off. Jaxson thought Noah might appreciate the photo evidence of me being incredibly uncomfortable as I turned down that woman.”
She waved her hand. “It’s fine. I don’t have any reason to be bothered. You don’t have to explain yourself to me.”
“I may not have to, but I want to all the same. I did not take anyone home tonight, which should be obvious since I’m sitting here talking to you and Soph, but I wanted to be very clear.”
She let out a sigh and some of the tension in her shoulders disappeared at my words. She bit her lip and nodded at me.
I had to hold in a groan. Seeing her bite her fucking lip made me want a taste.
What kind of sound would she make if I bit her lip for her?
“Ash?” she asked, pulling my attention back to her eyes. I raised my eyebrow because clearly I’d missed something but she just shook her head at me.
“Tell me about your day.” I deflected to a demand, which was what I was used to.
Instead of being bothered by it she just started telling me everything that happened.
About a funny phone call she had and something one of the staff did.
As she spoke my mind wandered to where else she might like to be demanded.
The thought had me shifting in my chair.
I focused back on the conversation and she didn’t seem to mind my occasional grunts of reply.
She was talking about mundane, some might say boring stuff, and yet I never wanted her to stop. I loved the sound of her voice. Maybe I could find a way to record it and play it at night. Would that be crossing a line?
I managed to keep her on the phone for another half an hour before Sophie started demanding her attention and she had to start her bedtime routine. I didn’t tell her that I would have given anything to be there doing that with her rather than in this hotel room.
Sleep evaded me as I stared at the ceiling and plotted my next move to spend time with Sutton again.
Because you should want to hang out with your friends.