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Ash.
I swallowed hard, agitated and yet thankful as fuck to see him standing before me when I opened the door. He wore my favorite olive-green shirt…
“Rhett,” he whispered my name, but I stepped back to let him enter rather than falling into him like my entire body desired to do.
He set his bag aside while I flipped the locks, and he pulled me against him before I’d fully turned.
Any fight, all thoughts of self-preservation fled, and I gave over to my need for him. The warm solidity of him settled the deepest reaches of me I hadn’t realized still ached. He claimed I was his rock, but Ash was my escape, the only safe place I could trust with my feelings.
“Love you,” I murmured, my cheek on his shoulder and eyes stinging.
Pulling back, he held my face in his hands, searching as he always did for words I most times couldn’t give.
“I’m fine,” I claimed through the tightness wanting to close off my throat.
His soft smile stated he knew I lied—and I didn’t argue. “Crawl back into bed. I’ll join you in a minute.”
I did as told and managed to stay awake until he slid beneath the sheets, pressing up against my chest.
Winding my arms around him, I rested my forehead to his and closed my eyes. “I felt…lost without you. Needed you, baby,” I whispered my truth.
He brushed his lips over mine in a tender kiss. “You’ll always have me.”
“Don’t leave me,” I murmured, already half asleep and uncaring of the thoughts slipping free.
“Never,” he promised.
I was the little spoon when I woke, something that rarely happened, and I lay still, savoring the closeness of Ash’s body, his heavy exhales heating my scalp.
Our fingers twined over my heart, and for the first time since leaving him back at home in order to be with my dad, peacefulness settled into my bones. I’d slept like the dead, unlike the previous couple of nights without my lover beside me.
While allowing my body to slowly wake, I enjoyed the warmth of his embrace and the silence surrounding us. My mind always perked before the rest of me, so I focused on what needed to be done while Ash continued to sleep.
Dad had refused to speak about a service, hadn’t made any arrangements as far as I was aware. Those would be the top priority. I didn’t know what Mom’s last wishes had been—if she’d even had any. Hell, I wasn’t even sure my parents had burial plots or if they preferred cremation.
Both Mom and Dad had dozens of friends, hundreds of acquaintances…it would be best to have donations to a worthy cause rather than flowers.
Brain firing on all cylinders, I sped through possibilities and different plans concerning wakes and funerals to help Dad make decisions.
“Your thoughts are loud,” Ash muttered, his hot breath wafting the hair on the back of my head.
“Sorry.” I lifted our twined fingers to my lips and brushed them over his knuckles.
“It’s okay.” He kissed my neck. “There’s a lot to do in the next couple of days.”
“Mmm,” I hummed and rolled to face him. Gorgeous, sleepy hazel eyes peered at me, trying to read into the deepest reaches of my soul same as always, but I still felt contentment, a lack of grief even though I faced burying my mom.
He released a heavy sigh, seemingly relieved at my peace. “You’re okay.”
“I am.” I kissed him, just a caress of lips. “But only because you came. You didn’t have to.”
“Of course I did. It was only a red-eye with one quick layover. I wish I could have made it sooner, but there weren’t any direct flights. You seemed surprised to see me—didn’t you get my texts?”
“I shut my phone off after I sent you the message about my mom. I just wanted to sleep uninterrupted.”
“I’m not sorry for waking you up.”
“Neither am I.” Our foreheads tipped together, and I closed my eyes. “Thank you.”