31. Asher
Asher
It took another two hours for Maya to walk through her plan, get Will’s approval, and give Sutton all her timelines. Once she left, we ordered lunch and everyone worked hard to keep Sutton’s mind off it and Sophie giggling, staying back until after dinner too.
I watched silently, trying to keep my own cool so I could support her in the way she needed.
But I was fuming.
How dare her ex put her through this.
How fucking dare he put Sophie through this.
What he wasn’t expecting was me. And I would stand in his way. There would be no shared custody, there would be no weekend visits. If the courts didn’t work, I would figure something else out.
It had irrationally hurt my chest when Sutton mentioned telling Sophie about her sperm donor one day. Sophie was incredible and no one would ever make her feel unwanted, not at least while I was alive.
I was hoping to convince Sutton that Sophie didn’t need to know anything other than me. But that was something to tackle down the road.
“Asher?” I looked away from the kitchen window to see Jaxson leaning on the counter behind me. I scrubbed a hand over my head and then turned to face him. “Everyone is going to head out. Sutton just took Soph upstairs for bed.”
I pulled him in for a quick back slap before we stepped back and bumped fists. I didn’t usually initiate touching with anyone other than Sutton and Sophie, but today I had just been reminded of how lucky I was to have these people in my life. “Appreciate you being here.”
He rolled his eyes. I knew he wanted to tell me there was nowhere else they’d rather be. “Meet at Clinch at six tomorrow morning.” He shot me a look, likely knowing that my anger needed an outlet. I nodded as we made our way to the front door where everyone else was preparing to leave.
“I’m taking Iris home,” Noah announced, the woman’s arm already looped through his. I lifted my eyebrow at Noah and he rolled his eyes. “Relax, Dad, I’ve got my car, not my bike.”
“Would be a shame if someone put conditioner in the gas tank of your bike,” Quinn taunted with a sweet smile on her face. Knight tried to hide his chuckle by tucking his head in her neck.
“That’s diabolical.” Noah looked at her with wide eyes.
She just shrugged. “Would that stop it from running and ruin the engine?” She held up her hands. “Just asking for a friend.”
“The fact that she’s still smiling is making me more scared.” Oli gulped, watching her.
Quinn shot him a look. “He’s an idiot for riding that thing.” It seemed to be the one thing that Noah didn’t take her opinion on.
“His head is too pretty to be destroyed,” Iris said. She’d been watching the whole thing with humor in her eyes. “You should listen to Quinn,” she told Noah as she reached up and patted his cheek.
“Guy can’t catch a break,” Noah muttered as he waved and started out of the house, everyone filing out behind him.
I bent down and gave Thor a scratch on the head before meeting Quinn’s eyes. Without waiting, she stepped toward me, giving me a quick hug. “Give us a call if either of you need anything.”
Knight gave me a slap on the back and then took Quinn’s hand, whistling for Thor, and they headed to their car.
I closed the door behind them and went in search of Sutton. She was leaning in the doorway to Sophie’s room. The lights were off, the sound machine was on, and Sutton was watching her deep breathing.
She didn’t glance over at me but I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and she leaned back, resting her weight into me. Sophie hadn’t really napped today so Sutton had said she would go down early. Considering it was only seven thirty, she was sleeping hard.
Both of us stood there in the quiet, watching Sophie’s chest rise and fall. The bunny I’d bought was sitting on the drawers beside the crib, facing her.
I leaned down and pressed a kiss into the top of her head. “I’m not going to let anything happen to her,” I vowed.
“You can’t—”
I spun her around, cutting her off, my hands going to either side of her face. “He will not get to her. Do you understand?”
She bit her lip, her eyes trying to read mine. I wasn’t going to tell her the lengths I would go to for both of them, but she must have believed what she saw there because after a moment she nodded.
“What do you need?” I asked, keeping her head between my hands. She kept it together well but I could see the stress in her smile, in the way she held her arms over her stomach like she was holding herself together.
She let out a deep sigh. “I don’t know.”
I grabbed her hand, pulling her behind me toward my bathroom. “Sit.” I pointed toward the counter, then went to the bath.
They’d put in a large clawfoot tub when they’d done the renovations.
I didn’t care as I’d never taken a bath in my life.
But I was glad I had it today. In hopes of having Sutton here, I’d bought a bunch of bath shit.
She’d mentioned liking baths on one of our calls but that hers hadn’t been really worth soaking in.
I got the temperature right, put in some bubble bath, and then looked at her. She was sitting on the counter, watching me with a happy look on her face. “I’m going to go grab the baby monitor, then pour you a glass of red wine, and you’re going to have a bath,” I demanded.
When I turned to go, she reached out and grabbed my wrist, pulling me to a stop. I looked back at her with a raised eyebrow. If she was going to argue…
“Thank you, Ash.” Her tone was soft, and it looked like there were tears in her eyes.
“Please don’t cry.” I leaned forward and gave her a kiss on her nose, getting a small laugh out of her.
“They’re tears of appreciation.”
“How about just not tonight.” I sent her a look before I started out of the room again. “Get in the tub,” I demanded.
Four minutes later I came back to find Sutton in the bath. The bubbles came just above her breasts and her head was resting on the back of the tub, her hair piled into a bun. I enjoyed the view for a moment, relishing in the fact that I was able to give her a place to relax.
I placed the baby monitor on the counter and then made my way over to her. Her eyes opened, watching me. She took the glass of wine I passed her and I cleared my throat.
“I’ll take the monitor so you can—”
“Do you want to join me?”
“I want you to relax.”
“I’ll relax with you.” She gave me a shy smile.
“I’ve never had a bath,” I said, my voice gruff.
“Not surprised you aren’t a bath kind of guy.”
She was laughing until I started to get undressed. She just watched as I shucked off my shirt, unbuttoned my pants, and then was standing in front of her naked.
“No wonder I’m sore,” she muttered as she stared at my cock, getting a smirk from me. It was already hard but my focus was on her.
So if she wanted me in this bath, then I was going to get in the fucking bath.
“Move forward,” I grunted as she moved toward the middle of the tub. I got into the water, hissing as the heat hit my skin. “It was not this hot when I started it.”
She chuckled as I settled behind her and she came to rest on my chest. “I know.” She let out a contented sigh as my arms wrapped around her. “I turned up the heat because it wasn’t hot enough.”
I placed a kiss on her neck and then shook my head. “Feels like I’m sitting here just to boil myself alive.”
She snorted. “I think you’ll be okay.” Her hand had come up to grip my forearm while she used the other to run her nails up and down my arm, sending shivers down my spine.
As we sat there in comfortable silence, there wasn’t any sexual tension. Well, I always wanted her but this was about comfort, making sure she was cared for. It was a testament to our deep connection that I could sit here without feeling like I wanted to crawl out of my skin.
Her head was resting on my shoulder and she let out another sigh. “I can’t imagine today without you and your friends. I mean, I guess Maya wouldn’t be my lawyer at all, but I hope you get what I’m saying.”
“I get it,” I assured her. “So, Soph turns one next week.”
She moved her head, tilting back to look up at me. “You remembered that?”
“I asked you when her birthday was.”
“That was early on in our friendship.”
I glared down at her. “Don’t use that word.” She just smiled back. “What are you doing for her birthday?”
“Oh, I was just thinking of having a cake with Iris. I don’t have a moms group or anything.”
“Why don’t you do something here?”
“Here?”
“Your place is too small.”
“For Iris and me?”
I cleared my throat, trying hard not to be offended.
“And me.” She opened her mouth, closed it, then opened it again, so I kept going.
“Quinn would be offended if she wasn’t invited.
” She bit her lip and nodded. “And Noah was texting the group chat about what he could buy her to become her favorite and he didn’t even know it was her birthday.
” She nodded again, a thoughtful look on her face.
“Sutton.” I begged her to say something so I could stop talking.
“You really want to have it here?” I shot her a look and she let out a sigh.
“I was always going to invite you, Ash.” I lifted an eyebrow.
She probably was, but she would do it last minute so that if I said no she could use that as an excuse for her disappointment.
Too bad I would move anything around to be there for them.
“If you’re sure,” she said in response to my look.
“Tell me what decorations you want. Or better yet, I can just give you my card and you can get what you need.”
“Ash—”
“I’m not arguing about this. If I think you aren’t using my money to buy decorations for my house then I’ll just buy a bunch of extra stuff and it’s going to be wasteful.”
She let out a sigh and rolled her eyes, turning her head forward again. I rested my chin on the top of her head. “Fine.” She grabbed my hand and placed a kiss on the back. “I really like where we’re at.”
“Me too, sweetheart.” I placed a few more kisses on her neck. There was nowhere else I would rather be.