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“And,” I drawled, throwing a glance over my shoulder toward him. “I love you, and I’m in love with you. You make me feel safe. You make me feel loved and cherished. You’re like the beast from the movie, and I’m the delicate red rose held so gently in big, capable claws.”
“I think that’s a compliment?” he questioned, his nose adorably wrinkled.
I laughed, though tears were burning in my eyes again, sliding fully down my cheeks this time.
“It is,” I promised. “You bring me happiness, Ash. You bring me joy. I feel protected and loved by you. I have everything a girl can ask for, and everything that I ever wanted with you. Now do you see that it’s enough?”
He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair again as we pulled into my apartment complex.
“I don’t know. I hear you, but it just doesn’t click in my brain. Maybe I should add being a dumb asshole to the list of selfish and confusing.”
I shook my head, but got distracted by the sight of two people standing in front of my door in the afternoon sun.
“What the hell?” I murmured, parking before wrenching myself across the dash to see who was there.
Ash did the same, squinting toward the railing of my apartment. You know, the same apartment we’d gone to see together. The apartment that I’d gotten because I’d loved it back then, but also because it reminded me of playing a couple while the lady showed us around it. As it turned out, they stopped doing couples movie nights at the complex before I even moved in.
“Mom?” I blurted as Ash added, “Tom.”
What the actual hell were they doing standing outside my apartment door?
Ash and I turned to each other and shared a loaded look. We were instantly back on the same page, which was just another thing I absolutely loved about him. Together, we rounded the car, got his bags, and made Mom and Dad wait as we made our way up the stairs.
“Do I want to know what you're doing here?” I called out.
Dad rushed over and grabbed the bag from me to haul it up the last few steps.
“You mentioned that Ashton was coming home this afternoon,” Mom called over Dad's shoulder. “We had to come check on him after everything that happened with his father.”
“That's sweet, but unnecessary.” Ash said with a grunt, dropping his bags by the door.
Mom rushed him, throwing her arms around him as if he were a child needing consolation.
“You know there's no love lost between me and my old man. Don't fuss over it, Karma.”
“Honey, you know I'm going to fuss. It's my job.”
Ash smiled at my mother, cradling her gently in his arms.
“I thought you were still pissed at me.” Ashton directed his words to Dad this time.
“When we heard Joe died, we had to come see how you were. I had to see how you were. I know you hated the bastard. That's why I was so surprised to hear that you'd bothered going out there.”
“Felicity,” Ashton said simply.
“Who?” Mom and Dad asked at the same time.
He blew out a long breath, then invited them in.
Chapter 43
Freya
I thought they'd never leave. Like, it'd been three hours since we got back from the airport and Ash filled them in on Felicity and Woodrough and everything that had happened. Minus the little shootout we’d endured. We left that bit of information out.
Now, we were exhausted, but holy shit, Dad hadn't threatened Ash once, even knowing that all those suitcases meant he was moving in.
After imbibing an abundance of Chinese food, we finally got up to unpack his bags.
