Into The Fire - E. L. Todd Page 0,85

her, and I couldn’t hide the gaping wound.

“I missed you too, Ash.” She kissed the corner of my mouth gently. The touch was so slight it was barely noticeable. But it was so sexy at the same time. She was the only girl I’d ever been with that had the touch of a prostitute without the experience.

And I loved that.

***

I woke early the next morning and swung by our favorite place to pick up breakfast. Since she went to my apartment with the same intention a month ago, I thought it would be meaningful if I did it now. I wanted to erase that moment she had when she saw Lacy at my door and replace it with a much better memory.

When I walked into the bedroom, she stirred. “There you are. The sheets are cold.”

“Sorry, cream queen.” I set the Styrofoam boxes on the bedspread. “I was running an errand.”

She sniffed the air. “Mmm…something smells good.”

I opened one lid and displayed the French toast, bacon, and eggs. “I didn’t make it, but believe me when I say this is much better.” I handed her a fork before I took off my clothes and got into bed beside her. “This is how that day should have ended.”

“I wish it had.” She grabbed her food and began to eat. “Thank you, Ash. That was sweet of you.”

“I’m always sweet to you—and no one else.”

She devoured her French toast then demolished everything else.

“Hungry?” I asked with amusement.

“After last night, I’m starving. I probably burned two thousand calories just from rolling around with you.”

“Now you know why I’m in such great shape.” I winked at her.

She rolled her eyes then sipped her coffee.

“Everything okay down there?” I asked. “I didn’t break anything?”

“I may be small but I’m sturdy.”

“Yeah?” I moved my hand between her legs and massaged her gently.

“That’s not doing anything other than turning me on.”

“Then I’ll keep doing it.”

She chuckled then pushed my hand away.

I finished my breakfast then left the trash on the nightstand. She did the same then I snuggled into her side. “This is so much better than waking up alone and wondering if you woke up alone too.” I asked her the question without actually asking it. I didn’t want her to be with anyone but me. It would hurt me.

She read my mind. “I never slept with Brad.”

I tried to hide the relief on my face but it was pointless.

“Did you sleep with anyone?”

I shook my head. “No. I was too depressed to catch some tail.”

Approval shined in her eyes.

“But I jerked off a lot.”

Both of her eyebrows went up. “Oh?”

“But don’t worry.” I kissed her shoulder. “I only thought about your tight pussy.”

“Good.”

I left my face in her neck and smelled her scent. Then I moved away so I could get a good look at her face. “Why didn’t you just confront me about Lacy?”

“Why would I?” she asked. “It was none of my business.”

“But you could have mentioned it during our last fight. I told you I wanted to be with you.”

“I thought you meant in a physical context, nothing more.”

“Well, I didn’t.”

“I realize that now.”

“This entire month of torture wouldn’t have happened if you just asked me about it.”

She looked away. “I have a lot more class than that.”

I kissed her neck. “You don’t have any class and we both know it, sweetheart.” I kissed the shell of her ear then her cheek.

“I beg to differ.”

“It didn’t seem like it last night,” I jabbed.

“I only sleep with you so I’m not a slut.”

I liked that response. “You got that right.”

She turned on her side and faced me. “So…what are we doing today?”

“I assumed we would do the same thing we did last night.”

“Well…what about in between?”

This was when I was supposed to act like a boyfriend. But I was drawing a blank on how to accomplish that. Was I supposed to write her a poem or something? Maybe I could find some articles online. “Well…I got the building for my shop. The floors and walls are done. Want to see it?”

Her eyes lit up in excitement. “I would love to.”

Seeing that unconditional support just made me fall for her more. I knew she wasn’t the type of girl that was into ink or piercings. She was much more aristocratic than that. But she was excited because she knew I was. This was important to me, so it was important to her. I could never explain to her how happy that made me. “Want