Page 45 of Trusting Skulls (Rebel Skull MC #8)

Chapter Forty-Three

Lexie

M y gaze drifts softly over the hazy image of Ash as he talks to JD on the porch. Every few seconds the wind blows the curtains open long enough for me to get a clear view.

JD walks in, leaving Ash on the porch by himself. He spins in a circle, his hands shoved in his pockets. On the second time around, he spots me. He gives me a little wave.

“Ash wants to see you,” JD says, standing in front of me. There’s no beating around the bush with these people.

I turn back to Ash. We stare at each other for a moment. My mind tells me to hurry up and say yes, but my heart whispers to take a pause. He jumps off the porch and walks over to the window, pressing his hand against the screen.

It takes me a minute to realize that he’s a mere breath away from me. My hand slides behind the gauzy curtains and presses against his palm. He’s warm and real, and most of all, he’s here. He never gives up on me.

JD clears his throat. “Do you want me to throw him off the property? ‘Cause I’ll do it.”

Ash flashes me a smile, hearing him.

“I was just soaking in the moment. Jeez, so extreme. Ash, would you like to come in?”

He doesn’t even wait for me to finish my sentence before he’s running toward the door. It opens, and he slides into the kitchen.

It makes me giggle.

JD looks at the ceiling in disappointment. “I said to approach her calmly. This is not it,” he scolds.

“Shit, I’m sorry. When I saw her pretty face in the window, my brain shut off.”

This doesn’t make JD any happier. “Now I’ve got to worry you’re going to turn into a complete idiot every time you’re around her.”

Ash smiles wide. “Don’t worry. I won’t lock her in the basement.”

A laugh bursts from my chest, and I can’t stop it. “Oh, oh, god. That was good. Oh god, I’m sorry. I … ugh, I can’t stop.” I hold my stomach.

JD walks over and thumps me on the end of my nose. “Brat.”

It only makes me laugh harder. “I’m sorry. You’ve got to admit that was funny!”

JD doesn’t agree. “I’ll be outside,” he says dryly, but he turns and winks at me before he walks out the door.

Ash bounces on his toes nervously and shoves his hands in his back pockets.

There’s something special about Ash Taylor. He makes me feel like the luckiest girl in the world. Maybe I should start acting like one.

“If you help me to the couch, we can sit together.” I hold both of my hands out to him.

He stares at me for a moment and then jumps into action. He pulls me to stand and then helps me with my crutches. “Does it hurt?”

“It did the first week, but it doesn’t really hurt now.”

Once we’re settled with my legs resting over his lap, we stare at each other. No words are needed. We’re just happy to be sitting next to one another.

“I was wondering if you’d like to go on a date tomorrow night?” he finally asks after several minutes.

My face falls faster than I can correct it, and Ash frowns.

“It’s not that I don’t want to go out with you. I just don’t want to go out there, you know, into the world.”

“That’s okay. We can stay in. I’m okay hanging out with you here.”

“Thank you,” I whisper, resting my head on his shoulder.

“I’ve been worried about you.”

“I know. I’m sorry my parents kept you away, but I didn’t have it in me to argue with them. I’ve been really … tired,” I tell him, not wanting him to know how out of it I have really been.

He pushes me off his lap gently. “Sit forward. I bet your stiff from being in bed so much.”

The minute his fingertips dig into my shoulders, I let out an embarrassing groan.

“Ah ha. It was a good thing I stopped by when I did. You’re all knotted up.”

“Oh my god, that feels so good.”

I can hear the smile in his voice when he says, “How did you survive without me?”

I’m already too relaxed to respond to his flirting.

By the time JD and Elizabeth come inside for lunch, I’m a giant bowl of mush.

“Do you want me to carry you to bed?” Ash asks.

I nod, unable to open my eyes.

Elizabeth and JD both laugh lightly. “She looks so peaceful,” I hear Elizabeth say.

I am. This is the best I’ve felt in a very long time.

All without drugs. Ash and his hands are the only medicine I need.