by HJ Welch
It felt like by working things out with Ashby he had accomplished something huge. Could this be the start of a relationship that would actually stick? Trent’s heart ached with hope that it might. He rubbed his chest. It wasn’t so bulletproof anymore.
He knew it was a bit early for dinner, but Ashby had messaged a while ago to say he was having tea at the bar. Seeing as Barry hadn’t called when he was supposed to, nor responded to Trent’s text chasing him, Trent decided he would just go meet Ashby and could step out if he got a call.
His mind was preoccupied with the thought that if they had dinner early, that left them the rest of the evening to play. Trent wished he had his motorcycle here. He wanted to take Ashby on a long, fast ride, then make love on a blanket under the stars somewhere. A beach preferably. Trent had always been partial to a bit of public fucking. Not like Raiden and Levi who were always dashing into closets and spare rooms, the horny bastards. But to be out in the open with someone, to feel the elements and them on your skin, it was something else.
Trent couldn’t believe it when Ashby had dragged him out to fuck in the pool, wearing even less than the first time Trent had seen him there. It ticked all Trent’s boxes. He was starting to appreciate that Ashby did that a lot. He was perfect in so many ways.
Trent was already getting carried away with ideas of how they could stay in touch when they both had to go back to their homes. All he knew was, the more time he spent with Ashby, the harder it was going to be to say goodbye.
He was so caught up in his thoughts, he almost didn’t notice when he bumped shoulders with someone in the hall on the way to the restaurant. The white Stetson really should have given it away.
“Well, look who it is,” Kiefer drawled. “Lover boy, in the flesh. Guess you decided to come crashing out of that there closet after all,” he said with a snicker.
Trent took a step back and shook his head. “What do you want, Burton?” he asked. “Why are you even still here?”
Kiefer smiled, although it was more like a sneer. “Oh, I had business. It’s almost taken care of now. I really should thank you.”
Trent frowned. “For what?”
Kiefer grinned, showing off his perfect pearly whites. “Well, I thought I had a decision to make. But…” He shrugged and leaned in closer to Trent. “You took something of mine, I took something of yours.”
“Take?” Trent repeated, not understanding. “You mean Ashby?” His rage flared. “He was never yours and I didn’t take him, asshole.”
“Oh,” Kiefer scoffed. “It looks to me like you’ve been taking him quite spectacularly. In all kinds of places.” Kiefer shivered, that shark-like grin still loitering on his smug face. “You see, I don’t deal with public humiliation very well, TJ. Now you’ve flaunted that piece of ass for the whole world to see, I don’t want him anymore. But,” he added, “I still felt like getting even.”
Trent was angry and confused. He and Ashby hadn’t even had dinner together yet. Where had they been flaunting things? At the wedding? Had Kiefer stalked the photographs of that weekend just like they feared he would?
“I don’t give a fuck what you do,” Trent growled, stepping to move past Kiefer. “Neither does Ashby. Nothing you do matters.”
“Oh?” said Kiefer from behind Trent’s back. “Like selling this pitiful excuse for a resort? You mean things like that don’t matter?”
Trent stopped walking. Slowly, he turned back around. “Sold it to who?” he asked.
Kiefer laughed, hooking his thumbs over his leather belt and angling the gold buckle so it glimmered in the hall lights. “See, I was looking for a new owner, someone who didn’t care about sinking cash into this money pit. Hard work, as you can imagine.” His eyes flashed their first true look of hatred. “It’s a real shit hole, if you hadn’t noticed.”
Trent clenched his fists. He knew the Grand Resort wasn’t as nice as it was in its glory days. But hearing him talk like that was like hearing him insult Trent’s parents directly.
“So I sold the land instead,” Kiefer said. He bit his lower lip and looked very pleased with himself. “Much easier. In three months this place will be flattened and in three years it’ll be a shiny nuclear power plant.”
The air rushed out of Trent’s lungs. “W-what?” he couldn’t help but stammer. “You can’t do that.”
“I can and I have,” Kiefer snapped. “You should have remembered what real power looks like before you fucked with me, boy,” he snarled. “When your pops and all his buddies start crying about their jobs and their homes, you can tell them it’s all your fault. You and that pretty piece of English ass. Oh, look! Speak of the devil.”
Trent turned toward the direction of the restaurant. Ashby was furiously rubbing tears from his eyes as he stormed toward Trent and Kiefer. He barely seemed to notice Kiefer as he marched up to Trent. “Can we talk?” he asked, his voice clipped. He came to a halt, his arms folded and his phone gripped so hard in his right hand his knuckles were going white.
Trent blinked. He was reeling from the news that what was essentially his family home was going to be demolished out of pure spite and now Ashby looked livid with him.
“Of course,” he said, bewildered. “Can I meet you back at my cabin? I’ve just got to – something’s come up.”
“Damn fucking right something’s come up!” Ashby shrieked. He whipped his arms apart and unlocked his phone with shaking hands. Before Trent could work out what was happening, the screen was thrust into his face, showing a blog article.
British socialite tempts TJ Charles away from pregnant fiancée, the headline read. Heartbroken boyfriend Gordon Pritchard tells all from London. Distraught Elsie Hadden contemplates life as a single mom. There were photos of Trent and Ashby at the wedding and one of Ashby drinking a green cocktail in the resort’s own bar, laughing.
Then there was a photo of them fucking in the swimming pool last night.
Trent had to take a step back. He was dizzy from so much bullshit.
“Pregnant fiancée!” Ashby yelled. Tears were streaming down his face. “No wonder you were so conflicted!”
“No, Ashby,” Trent shouted over him. “It’s all lies, it’s-”
The camera flash startled him so much the words died in his throat. They’d attracted a few people in a crowd.
One of whom was Dez Starr.
“TJ!” he called out. “Was one home not enough? You had to wreck two?”
The light went again and again. Ashby staggered backward. “You?” he said. Trent’s head snapped between them. How did Ashby know this paparazzi scumbag? What the hell was he doing here, in Wyoming? “What happened to your accent, Dez?”
Dez ignored him. “He must be a magnificent fuck, TJ, to turn you gay and wreck so many lives.”
“Oh, Ashby here’s a real cannonball,” Kiefer drawled, clearly delighted with what was going on. Trent had forgotten he was there. Flash! Flash! Flash! Guests had their cameras out, filming everything.
“You piece of shit,” Trent raged at Dez. “You made all that up, all of it!”
“Not the photos,” Dez said, grinning and snapping some more. “Isn’t this where your mom died? You decide to piss on her memory some more?”
Trent raised his fist before he knew what he was doing.
But then hands were grabbing him and hauling him back. His dad was shouting in his ear. Darnell, the bartender, was using his surprising strength to help. Bob, the resort manager, was shouting at everyone. Dez was still rattling off his disgusting questions as people pressed in from all sides, his camera snap, snap, snapping away.
Trent shrugged everyone off him and turned from Dez to look for Ashby. He was pushing his way out from the crowd, his phone still in his hand as he sobbed and rushed for the door.
Trent didn’t give a shit about anything else right then. Barry could fix the lies like he did before. There still had to be time for them to do something before the sale of the resort was finalized. Right then, Trent had to
get to Ashby and explain. Everything else could wait.
Dez kept hollering after him, but Trent figured someone must have held him back because he didn’t follow as Trent sprinted after Ashby.
He wasn’t going to throw a relationship away. Not again.
Not with Ashby.
27
Ashby
It was fucking freezing outside. The wind had picked up something fierce, flinging snow in every direction.
Ashby didn’t care. He wanted to hurt.
How could Trent do this to him? He should have known there was more to his freak-out than being afraid of commitment. He was just another lying, cheating-
“Ashby!”
The voice carried over the storm, but Ashby didn’t turn around. But he realized too late he had automatically been heading toward Trent’s cabin. He didn’t want to go there. He didn’t want to go back into the resort and face that zoo. He just wanted to disappear.
He was only wearing jeans and a sweater. Not enough to keep the icy cold out as he sunk to his knees in the snow and covered his face with his hands, the screen of his phone pressing against his face. His fingers and ears were already burning. He let out a wail and sobbed. He was such a fool.
“Ashby!” Trent bellowed again. Within seconds, those strong arms that Ashby had come to adore threw themselves around his body. The scent of Trent’s leather jacket filled Ashby’s lungs.
He shoved him away.
“Fuck off, you liar!” Ashby screamed, hiccuping as he cried. “You bastard!”
But Trent came right back, kneeling in the snow with him. “None of it’s true, Ashby, I swear on my fucking life! There’s no baby. Elsie and I hooked up years ago, and there is absolutely no one now but you!” His hands fluttered uselessly like he wanted to grab Ashby’s shoulders or face but didn’t know if he should.
Ashby swallowed, not daring to trust him. “Why should I believe you?” He was shivering so violently he could barely talk.
Trent pushed his snow-dusted hair away from his face. He was so gorgeous it broke Ashby’s heart. “Did you leave your boyfriend behind in England and cheat on him with me?” Trent asked.
Ashby saw red. “No!” he yelled over the wind. “No, I fucking did not. He cheated on me. We’re done, over. I came here to get away from him!”
Trent took a shaky breath and held his arms open. “Please come here,” he begged. “That’s what Dez does. He lies and he hurts people and he says gross stuff about my mom so I’ll punch him and give him another scandal.”
Ashby licked his lips. He was so cold now he couldn’t think straight. There was so much snow whirling around them he struggled to make out anything aside from Trent. He looked so pained. Ashby wanted to believe him so badly.
“You swear,” he said, hating how pathetic he sounded. “You swear there isn’t a secret baby and a jilted girlfriend.”
“On my mother’s grave,” Trent said. Were there tears in his eyes too? Trent didn’t cry. But his chest shuddered and he rubbed his eyes. “On my mother’s grave, Ashby. I have never and will never lie to you.”
His mother’s grave? Fuck, Dez had said something about Trent’s mother’s memory, too. Ashby could feel the pieces falling into place. Trent’s mum was gone. That was the rift between him and his dad.
“Oh, Trent,” he said. It felt like his heart cracked for him. “I’m so sorry.” He was sorry for his mum. He was sorry for jumping to conclusions. Why would he believe Trent had a pregnant girlfriend when he knew the part about cheating on Gordon was a lie? He should have taken a breath and thought before losing his shit.
Trent shivered. “I’ll explain everything. Please, just let me take you inside.” Trent shook his head. “I’m fighting for you, Ashby,” Trent said through gritted teeth. “I’m not letting that asshole take you from me. I won’t let that other asshole take my home, either.”
“What?” Ashby asked, confused. He couldn’t stop shaking. The wet snow was seeping through his jeans.
Trent held his arms open again, and this time Ashby gave in and threw himself into them. “Come on,” Trent grunted, hauling him off the ground and walking them, tripping and fumbling, to his cabin. Ashby was still shivering and hiccuping. Trent rubbed his arms and hugged him to him tightly. “It’s okay,” he murmured over and over. “It’s okay, Ashby. I’ve got you.”
The second they were inside, Trent wrapped his arms around Ashby again and hugged him with his entire body. The cabin was only illuminated by a couple of lamps Trent had evidently left on when he’d left the place earlier. It was blissfully warm. Ashby trembled and cried.
“I’m so sorry,” he said.
“No,” Trent said firmly. He stood back and scowled at Ashby. For a second, he was scared. But then Trent shook his head and ground his teeth. “You should be mad. My life’s a fucking circus. I’m sorry.”
Ashby swiped angrily at the tears on his face. “I’m fucking done with arseholes controlling my life!” he shouted.
Trent broke into a smile. “Yes,” he said. “Fuck those bastards.”
Ashby was still quivering, but he was laughing as well now. The fury was still there, but he was through with being scared and letting other people make choices for him. He’d also had enough of crying already.
“I’ll have my family’s lawyers eat them alive,” he snarled. “I’m going back in there and giving that dickhead a piece of my mind.”
Trent cupped his face. “As much as I would love to see that,” he said, “the best thing we can do is be calm, happy, and not give douchebags like Dez the satisfaction of getting a rise out of us.”
Ashby took a long deep breath in and out. Then he cupped his hands over Trent’s. “You’re the expert.”
“Unfortunately,” Trent agreed. “Though I’ve not been very good at this recently.”
Ashby shook his head. “I’ll follow your lead. We’ll be a united front. Much harder to break that way.”
Trent nodded. “I’ll stand by you anywhere,” he murmured.
Ashby bit his lip, staring into his brown eyes. Then he placed his hand over Trent’s bulletproof heart. “Why me?” he asked.
A smile twitched at the corner of Trent’s mouth. “You’re one in a million,” he said. “And…I think I’m finally ready to stop running.” He closed his eyes and took in a breath, then opened them and smiled. It changed his whole face. He was no longer scary or intimidating. He was warm and caring. “We’re the Venn diagram, remember? Ain’t nobody like us.”
Ashby had to laugh at that. “Now that is the truth.”
Trent gently pulled him closer to him, allowing their lips to meet for a sweet kiss. Ashby still felt awful, though. “I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions,” he said. “I was too ready to believe the worst about you.”
Trent cocked his head. “I think you were too ready to believe someone would do the worst to you,” he said. “You need to stop dating fuckheads.”
Ashby spluttered out a laugh. “Bloody hell, Trent Charles,” he said. “You don’t talk much, but when you do, you make a lot of sense.”
Trent nodded. “True.”
“Besides,” Ashby said. “I don’t plan on dating anyone else for a very long time.”
“Is that so?” Trent asked, leaning in for a more heated kiss.
“Take me to bed and I’ll show you how much I mean it,” Ashby said, grabbing his leather jacket.
But Trent sighed. “As much as I would love to,” he said. “Dez Starr was only part of the awfulness that’s gone on tonight.” He stepped back and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Kiefer was gloating how he’s sold the resort.”
Ashby glanced back toward the door they had just come through, like that might give him answers. “Isn’t that a good thing?” he asked. “Won’t another owner actually take care of the place?”
“The new owner is going to level the resort and build a nuclear power plant.”
“Motherfucker!” Ashby cried before he could help himself. “No! Eve
ryone will lose their jobs. What will happen to the community?”
What would happen to Maeve and Darnell and Kadie and Skye? Ashby was even worried about Bob, the hopeless manager. His kid may have been on the mend now, but Ashby knew about American medical bills. He’d probably be paying those off for years. He needed this job, just as much as Maeve and her cats, Trent’s dad and Merlin.
But Ashby was surprised to see Trent looking just as upset as he felt. “This place is my folks,” he said gruffly. “It’s all my dad has. It’s…it’s all we have left of my mom.”
Ashby swallowed the lump that had risen in his throat. He grabbed Trent’s hand and squeezed it. He understood now. “Then we fight for it,” he said. “We stop letting these bastards dictate our lives. Come on. There has to be something we can do. If there isn’t a manager here to talk to, I’ll find one elsewhere.” He sniffed. “I’m very good at speaking to managers.”
Trent laughed and pulled him in for a passionate kiss. “I love you,” he murmured.
Ashby blinked. But Trent didn’t look shocked or like he was scrambling to take it back. If anything, he looked a little dazed.
“I-” Ashby said. “I think I might love you too.”
Trent kissed him softly. “Good,” he said. “A lover and a fighter. I knew you were perfect.” Ashby could only stare as Trent leaned over to the coat rack and offered him his ski jacket. “Sorry, it’s not pink,” he said.
Ashby put the black jacket on even though it was too big. “I’ll wear anything into battle,” he said, his confidence growing by the minute. “You should see me in a dress. I’m a fucking Valkyrie.”
Trent licked his lips. “I bet. Come on. Let’s go see what kind of carnage we left in that place.”
Together, hand in hand, they marched through the snow. Several times, Ashby almost allowed himself to feel guilty about overreacting to the article. But then he came to the sudden epiphany that his rage had been a good thing. He hadn’t rolled over and taken it. He hadn’t slunk away weeping. He had come out swinging.
