Close to Me

by Monica Murphy

  “Come on,” Ash says when I still haven’t spoken and I follow after him, going through the kitchen, pleasantly surprised when he opens the back door for me.

  All I know is I was an antsy mess while he was gone, and I’m so glad to have him back. To know he’s safe and in my house. With me.

  I don’t know if I ever want him to leave.

  Twenty-Seven

  Drew

  “Why are they going outside together?” I watch my baby girl, my firstborn, follow after Asher Davis, toward the pool. They disappear from view for only a moment only to reappear, and I watch in disbelief as Ash settles himself on a lounge chair and pats the spot in between his now spread legs, a shit-eating grin on his face.

  Just like that, Autumn plops in between his legs, snuggling up close, her back to his front as Ash wraps his arms around my daughter and gives her a squeeze, dropping a kiss on the side of her neck.

  What the ever-loving fuck?

  “I think you know why they’re going outside together. They want to be alone,” Fable murmurs as she stops to stand next to me. She’s staring out the window as well, slowly shaking her head, though she’s not scowling. I know I’m scowling. I can’t believe that little shit is touching my daughter like he owns her. “I knew this was going to happen,” she adds, like the all-knowing mother figure she is.

  “What was going to happen?” I tear my gaze away from Ash and Autumn, my heart twisting in my chest. My baby girl isn’t a baby any longer. I know this. I’ve known it for a while, but it’s hard for a father to look at his daughter, and not see a precious little toddler screaming Daddy! Daddy! every single time she caught sight of me.

  Now she’s a seventeen-year-old, in her senior year, about to graduate and leave our home to go to college, and she’s sitting way too close to one of the horniest players I’ve got on my football team.

  I fucking hate this.

  “I think they’re together. As in, they’re in a relationship,” Fable says, like it’s no big deal.

  But it’s a huge deal. “We’ve got to break them up.”

  “What?” I turn to see Fable is staring at me, her green eyes narrowed, her cheeks turning pink like they do when she’s upset. “Why in the world would you want to break them up?”

  “He’s not good enough for our daughter,” I say with a fierce shake of my head.

  “Andrew Callahan, I can’t even believe you would say something like that.” The disappointment in my wife’s voice is undeniable. I just thoroughly pissed her off. “I thought you liked Ash.”

  “I did. I do. But come on. Let’s be real, no one is good enough for our daughter. None of these kids are. Hell, I couldn’t stand that little Ben Murray wimp,” I say, not bothering to hide the disgust in my voice.

  Fable rolls her eyes. I must frustrate her on a daily basis. “Ben was the sweetest boy. I adored him.”

  “I never liked him.” I shake my head, glance through the window one more time to see Ash and Autumn’s heads bent close together as if they’re kissing, and I can’t take it any longer. I leave the living room completely, heading into the kitchen with Fable hot on my heels.

  “Don’t you dare go outside and cause a scene,” she says.

  I turn to face my wife. “Like I’d do that.” That wasn’t my plan. Not really.

  Fine. I was going to head out there, make a lot of noise to get them to jump apart, and then I would’ve asked Ash to help me with…something. A made-up project, maybe.

  She stops short and makes a funny little face. “Hey, I don’t know. Just seconds ago you’re saying he’s not good enough for her and now you’re making your way to the back door like you’re going to barge outside and tell him to keep his hands off your daughter.”

  That’s a good idea too. But I’m guessing Fable’s joking. “You’re really okay with the two of them together?”

  Fable stands quiet for a moment, and I know she’s mulling it over. I trust my wife’s judgment completely. She doesn’t make rash decisions—not anymore—and we’ve been together for so long, we can usually read each other’s thoughts.

  But I’m shocked when she finally gives me her answer.

  “I’m okay with the two of them together. I like Ash. He reminds me so much of myself when I was a teenager. My mom was a nightmare, you know this, and I don’t think Ash’s mom is much better,” Fable explains.

  “His mother is piece of garbage, and that’s me being polite,” I say tightly. I watched how that woman talked to her son over breakfast. I made sure I was facing their table. I even heard a few of the things she said to him. She tried her best to manipulate him, even crying while she said she missed him so much and wished they could be a family again. She kept saying she wanted him to come back to their apartment.

  Her behavior made me suspicious, and I could see the guilt written all over Ash’s face as she kept talking. And talking. I’m not sure why she wants him back so badly. When he’s home, which isn’t much, she yells at him all the time, even smacks him around a little when she’s completely wasted. Ash never fights back, because he’s not about to hit a woman, especially his own mother. That’s what he confessed to me a few days ago.

  Just hearing that story broke my heart, yet it also infuriated me. Yes, I like Ash. I think he’s a fucking amazing quarterback, he’s a decent kid, but he follows trouble. He also causes trouble. He’s reckless and does stupid shit, but hell, he’s seventeen. Of course he does.

  If he keeps his head on straight, he could possibly go on to do amazing things. He’s talented. Smart. His grades are decent. He has tremendous potential. I could help him with his future if he’ll let me. Guide him. Just like I plan on doing with my son.

  But if I’m being real with myself, I don’t want him with my daughter. She doesn’t need someone with so much baggage. Asher Davis comes with an entire set of baggage, and it’s loaded with a bunch of bullshit.

  “I think these two have circled around each other for years,” Fable says, her voice soft. “He’s just looking for someone to love him. To believe in him. You remember what that’s like, right?”

  She’s getting to me, and she knows it. When I was seventeen, I was a fucked-up mess. That was a full four years before I even met Fable, and my life was in the absolute toilet. Any girl who tried to approach me at school with a pretty smile and a raging crush on me, I denied them. It didn’t matter how nice or how pushy they were, or how attracted I was to them. I didn’t want any of them to get too close.

  I didn’t want them to find out my secrets.

  But Fable showed me that she really cared. That she wanted to help me. That my secrets didn’t matter. She healed me. She changed my entire life.

  For the better.

  “Drew.” Fable is now standing directly in front of me, and she’s such a shrimp. She’s looking up at me with all her love for me shining in her eyes, an imploring expression on her face, and I can feel myself start to weaken. I’d do anything she asked me to, and she knows it. “Let Autumn work her magic on him. She’s such a strong-willed, smart girl. She can help him. Just like I helped you, and you helped me. Give him—give them a chance.”

  I exhale harshly and hang my head, slipping my arms around my wife’s waist when she stands on tiptoe and wraps her arms around my neck. Pressing my forehead to hers, I mutter, “If I catch him in her room in the middle of the night, I’ll cut his balls off.”

  Fable laughs, the sound light and full of happiness. “And I’ll cut his dick off, so we’re in agreement there. I don’t think they’re at that stage yet.”

  “Fable.” I pull away a little so I can stare into her eyes. “Be real. She’s seventeen. He’s seventeen…”

  She sighs. “Maybe I need to talk to her about getting on the pill.”

  I cover her mouth before she says anything else that’ll burn my ears right off my head. “Please God, don’t make any more references to the possibility that my daughter will be having sex. I don’t think I can take it.”

&nbs
p; “Now it’s your turn to be real, Mr. Callahan.” She presses her hands against my chest, her voice lowering to a seductive murmur. “We should go to our room.”

  I frown, confused by her suggestion. “Why? Where are the kids?”

  “Well, we know Autumn’s outside with Ash. Jake’s probably already asleep. He likes to nap on Saturdays after a game. Ava went to a friend’s house right before you got here, and so did Beck,” she explains.

  Now I’m smiling. “Really?”

  Fable smiles in return. “Really.”

  “Well, let’s go have some alone time then,” I say, chasing after Fable as she heads for our bedroom, reaching out to give her perfect ass a slap. She laughs, glancing over her shoulder to smile at me, and I know I’m the luckiest man in the world.

  Can’t shake the worry that hangs over me about the Ash situation, though. We’ll get that figured out eventually.

  Together.

  Twenty-Eight

  Autumn

  “What if my parents can see us sitting like this?” My protest is half-hearted at best. I haven’t seen Ash in what feels like forever, but really was only about a day, and I love how he immediately pulled me into his arms.

  I’m snuggled up so close to him. We’re sitting out by the pool on one of the oversized lounge chairs, me between his spread legs, my back leaning against his chest. He’s warm, I can feel his heart beating, and his arms are strong and firm as they wrap around me.

  I don’t want him to ever let me go.

  “Who cares if they can see us? We have to tell them what’s going on between us eventually.” Ash kisses my temple, his mouth lingering, and I shiver from the touch of his damp lips on my skin. “I missed you.”

  “I missed you too.” My heart fills so much, it’s like it’s going to crack open and spill my overwhelming emotions all over the place. It feels so good to have him admit something like that first.

  Of course, he’s always been better revealing his feelings than me. I used to think he was lying all the time, trying to trick me to get in my pants or whatever, and that’s why I held back.

  Now I know better.

  “My mom is a complete bitch. I hate her.” His voice is strangely flat, emotionless, and I pull away from him so I can stare up at his face. His expression is equally lacking emotion.

  “What happened? What did she say?”

  “She tried to tell me the fight between Don and me was all my fault. Can you believe that?” Ash shakes his head, his jaw going tight. “That’s what she wants to believe, even though she witnessed the entire damn thing and knows the truth, deep down.”

  “She was there?” I’m in shock. I don’t know many details about what happened. I’ve heard a lot of rumors, and Ash has given me bits and pieces, as well as my dad, but that’s about it.

  “Yeah, she’ll deny it to her last breath, but she totally egged Don on. Told him to, and I quote, ‘beat the shit out of him’. She’ll win Mom of the Year for that one, I’m sure,” Ash says sarcastically.

  His words make my heart heavy. “I had no idea.”

  “I didn’t want tell you.” He squirms a little, and I can tell he’s uncomfortable with his confession. I wish I could make him feel better. “It sucks, when you realize just how awful your mom is. I’ve known it for a long time. I just didn’t want to face it. I’d blame it on the alcohol, or the pills she’s always popping, but no. She really is an awful person who doesn’t give a shit about me.”

  “She said she wanted you to come back and live with her,” I point out, because I don’t want to believe Ash’s mother doesn’t really love him. That has to be one of the worst feelings in the world, when your parents don’t love you. I can’t imagine.

  “She can’t stand the fact that I don’t want to be with her anymore, though I’ve been giving her signs for years. I was rarely home, always trying to stay at a friend’s house or whatever.” It’s the whatever that makes me uncomfortable. Staying with a girl, maybe? I can’t hold his past against him, but it’s difficult. I don’t like hearing about the other girls.

  “When I told her no, I wasn’t coming home with her, she started cursing me out, though never loud enough for your dad or brother to hear.” Ash sighs, and I hear so much pain in that one sound. “Then she called me a fucking piece of shit, told me I’d never amount to anything, and that I’d be nothing but a drain on whoever I was staying with. She thinks I’m at a friend’s house, like usual.”

  “Well, you sort of are.” I smile at him, wishing I could lighten the mood.

  “True.” He chuckles, his arms tightening around me. “She’s so stupid. She had no clue that a Super Bowl-winning NFL player was sitting in the restaurant three tables over.”

  She might be awful, but I don’t like hearing Ash insult his mother. “I guess she’s not into football.”

  “Nope. She never has been. That was a thing between me and my dad.” He pauses, his gaze growing distant. “Everyone at the restaurant left your dad alone, and I thought that was pretty cool. I think he appreciates it when that happens.”

  “We’ve lived here long enough that when he goes to a local restaurant, no one’s fazed by him anymore. When we first moved to the area, everyone would approach him no matter where we were. They were always asking for his autograph, wanting to take photos with him. Beck didn’t get it. He wanted to know what was so special about Daddy.” I laugh, running my fingers up and down Ash’s arm, which is draped over me. “Now when people approach my dad, they usually want to talk about the high school football team.”

  I hear the rumble of a laugh in Ash’s chest. “That’s funny.”

  “I know.”

  We grow quiet for a while, and he plays with my hair while I stroke his arm. It’s warm outside, with a breeze that cools us off every couple of minutes, and I think I can sit out here forever if he’d let me.

  “Did the argument really start because of a pack of cigarettes?” I ask a few minutes later, my voice soft.

  Ash sighs, and it’s a ragged sound. “As stupid as that sounds…yes. That’s exactly how it started.”

  Realization dawns and I sit up in a flash, turning so I’m facing him. “I haven’t seen you smoke once since you’ve been here.”

  “Gave it up.” He shrugs one shoulder. “When you get the shit beat out of you for a couple of cigarettes, you realize they aren’t worth the risk.”

  Huh. Maybe that’s why he’s been so touchy.

  A sympathetic sound leaves me and I reach out to cradle his cheeks in my hands. His stubble prickles against my palms, and I study his face, examining his wounds. The swelling in his lips has gone down and they look normal, which is good because we’ve been kissing each other a lot. The cut above his eye doesn’t look as angry as it did, the redness faded. The bruises have faded too, especially his black eye, though it’s still visible, and gives him a dangerous air.

  Ash doesn’t say a word as I quietly drink him in. It’s like he knows exactly what I’m doing, and that I need to do it, so he lets me look my fill in silence.

  “I hate that he hurt you,” I whisper, unable to even say the jerk’s name. “He should rot in hell for what he did to you.”

  His mother isn’t much better, but now is not the time for me to say that.

  “So should my mother for encouraging him,” Ash says for me. He turns his head and presses a soft kiss to the palm of my hand, making it tingle. “Don’t waste your time hating them. They’re not worth it.”

  He’s so right. And even though this conversation was hard to have, I’m glad we had it. We need to be real with each other. It’s the only way we can move forward. And that’s what I want more than anything. To move forward.

  With Ash.

  “I’m going back to school Monday,” he admits.

  I lightly stroke his cheeks, my hands dropping away from his face completely. “Are you ready for that?”

  “I have a shit ton of homework to catch up on, but yeah. I’m ready. I need to get back to no
rmal.” He hesitates, and I notice that he swallows hard, as if the next words might be difficult to say. “Your dad is going to take me in with him and we’re meeting with Adney on Monday too. See what we need to do to get me out of my mom’s house for good and into the temporary care of your parents.”

  I’m shocked. My parents want to take him in completely? If they knew about us, they might try to put a stop to it. “Why would Adney know anything about that?”

  “She deals with kids from shitty families all the time. She actually called your dad Thursday afternoon and told him if he needed to talk, she had plenty of advice to give him about my situation,” Ash explains.

  Oh. That probably happened because of my confrontation with Rylie and the subsequent conversation with Brandy. Which I never did mention to Ash. “I hope she can help my parents—and you.”

  “I hope to hell she can too.” He shifts, his head moving closer, his mouth hovering just above mine. “I wish we were really alone.”

  “Ash,” I chastise him, but a shiver moves through me because I wish we were really alone too.

  “You know you want it.” He grins, that familiar, arrogant smile, and I’m desperate to kiss him.

  But I’m also afraid my parents are watching us, so I can’t risk it.

  Not yet.

  “Found any condoms yet?” I tease.

  He chuckles. “Nope. Know where I can get some?”

  “Maybe we should go shopping later,” I suggest.

  He raises his brows. “For condoms?”

  “And other stuff,” I say with a little shrug. Though I really don’t want to go into the local CVS and pick up condoms. People I go to school with work there on the weekends. They don’t need to know our business.