When we’d gotten the call about the missing kid not even a half mile from us, we’d started out on foot.
And the moment that I’d seen the girl out in the middle of that pond, fighting for her life, I hadn’t even hesitated.
Which had been why I’d lost my phone and my keys somewhere around that small body of water.
I’d have to wait for my sister to get home, or wait for Sammy if he found my actual set, before I could even get her spare set to get into my place.
In the meantime…
I walked over to the drawer that she’d indicated, opening it and staring in awe.
Ashe had been truthful when she’d said that they were my clothes.
I’d expected the clothes to be minimal, though.
They weren’t.
There were shirts, sweatshirts, and sweatpants galore. There were even a few pairs of my boxers. Ones that I hadn’t seen in so long that I knew that they were old.
Very old.
I pulled out a t-shirt, staring in awe at it.
It was one from my high school years.
It said ‘Benton Football’ on it in bold red letters.
I fingered a hole that I remembered putting into it, grinning widely.
The shower turned off, but I ignored it and continued to go through each shirt until I got to one that was familiar and would fit.
KPD SWAT.
A black shirt with simple white lettering.
But I knew for a fact that I hadn’t given that particular shirt to Ashe.
Hell, I didn’t remember giving half of them to Ashe.
Some, I remembered handing over to her at certain times.
The Benton High football sweatshirt that I could see on top of the pile? I’d given that to her senior year after a football game.
I heard movement behind me and turned to see Ashe standing there, grinning like a loon.
“You gave that hoodie to me when Linnett was standing right next to you,” she said softly. I stared at her, naked, watching me. “You saw me shivering and shrugged out of it, handing it over like it was the most common thing in the world.”
I remembered. “Linnett gave me so much shit for it that night.”
“Because you wouldn’t let anybody wear it.” She laughed. “I remember. It was a rule by the coach. Y’all got new hoodies, but you couldn’t ‘give them to your girls’ because ‘bitches didn’t give them back.’”
I laughed, remembering my coach’s words.
He’d said almost exactly that.
“Linnett hated me after that. Like for real, no going back, always going to hate me forever,” I said. “That was the beginning of the end for us.”
“I know.” She grinned. “I saw the look on her face when you gave that to me. I knew the moment that I slipped it on that she was going to lose her shit on you later.”
“I’d been putting her off for months,” I explained. “She wanted it so bad, but I wouldn’t give it to her. I wouldn’t even let her wear it when we were at home because I knew that she was going to try to keep it.” I paused. “And I was so fuckin’ scared of that coach. He was ex-military, so he had this way about him. I only realized later that he was an ex drill sergeant. When I got into basic, I realized rather quickly why that was such a big deal.”
She giggled then, causing me to roll my eyes.
The t-shirt in my hands was forgotten as I dropped it onto the dresser.
Her eyes went to my already hardening cock and lit with excitement.
She came running at me seconds later.
Laughing at her playfulness, I caught her in midair and twisted us so that we were falling onto the bed, her underneath of me.
We landed with a solid thump, bouncing softly a few times before me settling solidly between her legs.
“My dick’s no longer cold,” I informed her.
She shifted her lower body, grinding her bare pussy along my growing erection.
“I can tell,” she teased.
I smoothed my hand down her hair, sifting my fingers through it.
“I love you.”
Three simple words.
A feeling that wasn’t simple at all.
I couldn’t even explain the depth of my feelings for Ashe.
The woman meant the world to me. And even having her with me as I saved a kid? That felt like it was everything.
Her eyes went soft, and she cupped my face with her hands. “I love you, too, Chevy.”
I snorted. Then pressed my lips down onto hers.
As I was kissing her, I moved my hands down between us, removing the towel that was around my hips.
It didn’t go far as I tossed it somewhere near the side of the bed.
But I couldn’t find it in myself to care as I slowly started to grind my pelvis down onto her mound.
“Ford,” she breathed, her breath skittering across my lips.
Her hands went to my shoulders, her fingernails digging deep.