Look After Us (3 page)

ONCE WE’VE LANDED AND
we’re walking towards the exit, I chuckle when I see an Ashton look-alike holding up a sign that says ‘Asshat & Ava’. Ashton laughs beside me as we near towards his brother, Tyler.

“Nice sign, dickweed,” Ashton says with a smile, humor flickering in his eyes as we finally approach.

“Thought you’d appreciate it,” Tyler says with the customary Bailey smirk. I smile when I look at the uncanny resemblance between the both of them. They have the same dark hair, the same striking green eyes, and the same build. If I hadn’t have known Tyler was thirty like me, I’d have sworn they were twins.

“Come here, man! I’ve missed you.” Tyler brings Ashton in for a brotherly hug, slapping him on the back. When they draw back Tyler’s eyes fall on mine.

“Ava, even more beautiful in person. FaceTime doesn’t do you any justice.” With arms wide open he pulls me in for a hug and I laugh into his chest.

“It’s nice to finally meet you in person too,” I say through my muffled laughter. Since Ashton lives so far away from his family, every week without fail he speaks with his family via FaceTime. They may live hundreds of miles away, but he’s still close to them.

When we let go, I almost lose my footing as Ashton hauls me away from Tyler and places a protective arm around my waist.

“Hands off, she’s mine.” I look up to him and notice the shit-eating grin on his face aimed at his brother.

“Dude, chill. I’ve got my own woman, who I’m marrying in two days. Your girl is safe.” Tyler winks at me and I laugh out loud at the leering glare he receives from Ashton before he takes hold of our suitcase and wheels it behind him. With my hand in Ashton’s we make our way out of the airport, and the moment we step foot into the Texas heat, it feels like I’ve momentarily walked face-first into a brick wall.
Holy hell it’s hot
. Feeling the droplets of sweat already forming I take off my jacket, but it does nothing to cool me down against the stifling heat. As we walk along the asphalt, Tyler turns to me, laughing lightly as he witnesses me wafting my shirt in a bid to try and keep me cool.

“Not used to the Texas heat, huh?” Tyler asks.

“You can say that again. I thought Miami was hot, but Dallas brings a whole new meaning to the word humid.”

“It sure is hot, but you get used to it after a while.”

Ashton smiles down at me, swiping away a strand of hair that is stuck to my forehead with glistening sweat. “We’ll just have to find ways to cool you down.” He leans in closer and whispers, “Preferably with ice.” I gulp hard as he takes a step back, his devilish eyes sparkling with mischief. The hot scene from
Fifty Shades of Grey
comes to mind and I suddenly want him to go all Christian on me. Imagining all the ways Ashton could pleasure me with ice, my insides tingle at the thought of his mouth gliding down my body with an ice chip in his mouth, overwhelming every one of my senses until my body turns into a sexually heightened maniac screaming out his name.

I don’t even realize we’ve come to a stop at Tyler’s extended cab truck until I feel a hand squeeze my ass cheek. I feel Ashton’s mouth on my ear, the one single move bringing me out in chills, even in this suppressed heat. “You’re such a naughty girl.” I blink through my haze and look up at him, his eyes gleaming with a sexy humor, his mouth tilting with his customary smile, a smile that I always feel down to my bones. This man owns me in every single way.
Every. Single. Way.
I love how he knows exactly what I was thinking, but according to Ashton I have obvious tell-tale signs when I’m turned on. Shaking my head with a smile, I gently push him away and head to the back of the truck. He opens the passenger side and gestures towards the open door with his hand.

“I’ll sit in the back. You sit up front with your brother.”

“Are you sure? I mean, I can sit in the back too.” He raises his eyebrow suggestively and I bark out a laugh, knowing exactly what would happen if I let him sit in the back with me. I’m sure his brother doesn’t want a live sex show happening in the back of his truck.

“Just get in the front!” Smiling, I shove his six-foot frame towards the passenger side before I get in the back and buckle myself in. Tyler starts the truck, and almost immediately a sigh of relief exhales from my lips as I feel the coolness of the air-conditioning soothe my hot and sticky skin. It feels incredible. Thank the Lord for air-conditioning.

As we set off, I remember the offensive nicknames Ashton and Tyler greeted each other with in the airport. Shifting forward slightly, I say, “What’s with the nicknames?” Ashton looks back at me with a smile as Tyler sniggers softly. “They’re just nicknames we used to call each other to rile each other up. So, growing up I was always dickweed, Ash was asshat … and Christopher was bitch-tits. Although Chris hated that nickname,” Tyler says. I smile at the mention of Christopher. Christopher was their brother who died in the war five years ago. He was an Army Medic and was one of the youngest serving men to become a general surgeon. Ashton told me that he was an academic genius, so much so that Christopher graduated high school at sixteen, graduated college at eighteen, and just before his nineteenth birthday he was enrolled on the U.S. Army Health Professions Scholarship program. Ashton said medical schools all over the country were fighting over him, but they never stood a chance, as it had always been Christopher’s dream to serve his country as a U.S. Army doctor. Fast forward to seven years later and he was being deployed on his first tour in Afghanistan as a full-fledged surgeon. Tragically, he never made it out alive.

Blinking through my thoughts, I sit back in my seat and listen to Ashton and Tyler as they reminisce about their teenage years, laughing along at the stupid crap they got up to. The closeness I see between them makes me smile, but a part of me—a small part—makes me feel resentful of the family I was given. I don’t have memories like Ashton’s … all of my memories are tainted with bad times, recollections that until very recently plagued my every thought. But that is all in the past now. I have so many more things to look forward to, things that include my daughter and the beautiful man sat in the passenger seat, who’s husky laugh is filling the truck, laughing at something Tyler said. I have my own family now. A new family.

After a twenty-five minute journey we finally pull up at Ashton’s parents’ place. We all get out of the truck into the oppressive heat, and I look up and admire the house with squinted eyes, shielding the sun with my hand. It’s a western ranch-style house and I love how the rich stone and wooden beams make it stand out amongst the other nearby houses. Just standing here in the open driveway gives it a homely feel. It’s inviting. My eyes travel towards the porch and I see Ashton’s mom bounding down to us with a huge smile on her face, her arms wide open.

“There’s my baby boy! Come and give your momma some sugar!” Ashton laughs as she engulfs herself in his arms, pressing motherly kisses against his face. “I’ve missed you, my beautiful boy.”

“Mom,” he complains with humor. I see Tyler walk past rolling our suitcase behind him, and murmurs, “Momma’s boy,” before walking in the direction of the front door.

“I heard that, dickweed!” Ashton shouts to Tyler’s retreating back.

Once Ashton’s mom has had her fill, she turns away and fixes her eyes on me, eyes that are full of pure affection. “Ava, it’s about time I got to meet you in the flesh. How are you, doll?” Heat envelops me as she pulls me into an embrace.

“I’m good thanks … hot as hell though.”

“Don’t I know that,” Ashton pipes up from behind his mom, winking at me.

Ashton’s mom pulls away, laughing at her flirtatious son. “Let’s get you out of this heat. It’s the hottest during this time of day.”

Ashton puts his arm around me and we make our way towards the porch steps. As we continue towards the front door, Ashton’s mom turns to us with a slight frown creasing along her forehead.

“Where’s Lily-Mai?”

“Oh, she’s at Disneyland with her dad,” I say.

“That’s a shame; I was looking forward to finally meeting her. She’s such an adorable little thing,” she says as she walks through the door. I smile at the thought of my baby girl. I miss her terribly already and it’s only been twenty-four hours since I dropped her off at Sebastian’s. I’m tempted to call him to check on her, but I’m determined to make it through the entire weekend without dialling his number. I can spend the weekend away from my daughter …
I can
…

“You want to call Sebastian don’t you?” Ashton’s words halt me in my steps. I look at him and notice the shit-eating grin on his face.

“No …” I’m lying and he knows it. It’s taking everything in me not to take my cell out from my purse and call him. I’ve become the mother I never wanted to be—the irrational and overprotective kind. But I can’t help it. Lily-Mai came into this world fighting for her life, and it’s made me somewhat extra protective of her. Even after almost two years, I still panic at the slightest sign of sniffles. Thankfully, I’m engaged to a doctor, so he’s usually able to reassure me when I let my irrational side get the better of me.

“Baby, just call him. You won’t be able to enjoy the weekend until you do.”

“And you don’t think I’m being irrational if I call him?”

He smirks, his green eyes sparkling with amusement. “I never said that.” He briefly looks down at his watch. “But, you should call him, preferably in the next ten minutes.”

My eyes furrow with a frown as I scrutinize him. “And why should I call him within the next ten minutes, huh?” I fold my arms over my chest, suddenly feeling suspicious.

He shrugs nonchalantly. “No reason.”

“Ashton,” I reprimand, not buying his casual demeanor. His smirk explodes into a grin.

“Okay, me and Caleb have a bet to see how long it will take you to call Sebastian to check on Lily-Mai, and if you call within the next ten minutes I’ll win a hundred dollars.”

I gently hit him in the stomach, outraged, which only causes him to huskily chuckle. “Oh my God, I can’t believe you two! Using my insecurities as your own personal gain. You should both be ashamed of yourselves.” I go to turn away and head on inside, but his strong grip stops me from going any further.

“If you call him now, I’ll make it worth your while.” His words pique my interest and I look at him, intrigued, my expression straight-faced. “How?”

“I’ll split the winnings. Fifty-fifty.”

“Seventy-thirty and you have to buy me something pretty,” I say with a whisper of a smile ghosting along my face.

“Damn baby, you drive a hard bargain, but what do I get?”

“You get
me
.”

His smile spreads and he pulls me flush against his chest. “Deal. So damn worth it,” he drawls before pressing a single kiss against my lips, leaving them tingling when he pulls away.

“Now call him, woman.” I laugh at his alpha demand as I reach into my purse for my cell. Pressing Sebastian’s number, I wait for the call to connect.

“Just be glad I’m so irrational that I can’t wait another minute to check on my daughter, and that I don’t mind taking Caleb’s money, otherwise this would be forty shades of wrong.” He smiles as he gets out his own phone, no doubt texting Caleb demanding that he coughs up his cash.

Once I’ve spoken to Sebastian and I’ve been rest assured Lily is fine and I’ve heard her sweet little voice on the phone, I finally disconnect the call.

“Is everything okay?” Ashton asks as we make our way inside, his fingers clasped in mine.

“Yeah, she’s fine. They’re just on their way to Magic Kingdom.”

He looks down at me with a purposed stare. “Now that you know she’s okay, can we enjoy our weekend?” He presses his lips to my mouth and whispers, “Where I plan on getting you drunk and naked.”

My eyes burn with a heat-filled lust, and in response to his words my fingers tighten in his.

“Come on …” he says with a laugh, pulling me inside. He leads me towards the living room where a little boy—who looks like a miniature version of both Ashton and Tyler—greets us.

“Uncle Ashton!” Ashton lets go of my hand and lifts his nephew up in his arms, his face almost splitting in half with pure happiness. “Hey, Junior. How’s my favorite bud doing?”

Junior is Christopher’s son. Junior’s real name is Christopher but Christopher nicknamed him Junior to avoid confusion when he was born. Well, that’s not accurate. Ashton told me it took Christopher and his girlfriend, Jo, six weeks to figure out a name for him. It’s quite amusing, that after six weeks they went with the most obvious name. It sure does beat Stir Mix-a-Lot though, which was the nickname he was given for the first six weeks of his life.

“Where have you been? We’ve been waiting
all
day for you.” I giggle at Junior’s over exaggeration of the word
all
.

“I’m sorry we kept you waiting little man, but we had to get in from Seattle on a plane.”

“Where’s Seattle?” Junior asks with innocent confusion.

“How about you get the globe from my old room and I’ll show you where it is?”

“Okay!” Junior jumps from his arms with a look of determination on his little face, but he doesn’t get very far when Ashton pulls his eager body back towards him.

“Hold on, where are your manners?” Ashton pivots his head in my direction. “Junior, this is Ava, my fiancée. Ava this is Junior.” He returns his eyes back to Ashton. “Do you remember speaking to her on FaceTime on your birthday?” He turned six last month and I remember wishing him a happy birthday while Ashton was on FaceTime with him.

His eyes grow wide with familiarity but he’s silent, overcome with shyness as he clutches hold of Ashton by the thigh. I crouch down to his level and hold my hand out.

“Hi, Junior. It’s finally nice to meet you.” He looks at my hand warily and Ashton has to coax him to take it. I smile when the little hand of Junior’s shakes mine. Then he looks up at Ashton and asks, “Can I go and get that globe now?”

With a nod of the head, Ashton says, “Yeah.”

Junior runs through the house and up the stairs like a man on a mission, and I can’t keep the laughter from bubbling from my lips at his eagerness.