After leaving the police station, I’d tried to hang onto my resolve to go back to the way things had been before I’d met Ash. I’d tried going out to one of the clubs I’d regularly frequented, but the second a cute little twink had sidled up to me and put his hand suggestively on my arm, I’d felt sick and had practically shoved him off me. I’d gone home and begun the process of cutting Ash out of my life in other ways.
And failed miserably.
There would be no going back to my old life.
Because I’d never really been that man. That untouchable guy who’d fucked anyone who caught his eye and had cloaked himself behind a veil of crude humor and insincere charm.
It wasn’t that Ash had changed me— he’d found me. He’d made it okay for me to be the Aiden who’d had a shitty childhood and was still tormented by the loss of the little brother he hadn’t been able to save. There’d been no need to hide behind a carefully crafted web of lies and false bravado anymore.
No, I wasn’t going back, because the old Aiden would try to forget Ash with an endless string of men, piles of money, and meaningless validation in the business world.
I didn’t want to forget Ash.
I wouldn’t be able to, anyway.
He was as much a part of me as any vital organ.
Now I just had to figure out how to live without him.
Live without a vital organ? Yeah, good luck with that, Aid.
I told my inner self to shut the fuck up and reached for the bottle sitting between Jake and me.
“Aiden?”
I froze in place at the sound of the familiar voice coming from behind me.
No… it couldn’t be.
I told myself it was just my head fucking with me and not to turn around, but something inside me had me spinning on the stool anyway.
I registered several things in those milliseconds it took me to confirm what I was seeing.
Ash was really here, not even a full ten feet from me— standing in the vaulted wooden entryway of the large lodge. He looked tiny in that big open space.
He was still barely recognizable with the bruises that marred his skin and the too-big clothes, including what looked like his hospital gown, that hung from his body.
And he was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.
“Ash,” I breathed.
I practically leapt off the stool when I saw him sway. I reached him before he collapsed, but had only a split second to figure out where to grab him without hurting him, since there was still no cast on his arm. I managed to wrap my arm around his back and dropped to my knees at the same time his own gave out. He cried out when his arm bumped my chest.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, tears filling my eyes. I pressed my lips against his forehead. “I’m sorry, baby.”
He shook his head and began to cry as he pressed his face into my chest. “I didn’t mean it, Aiden. I didn’t mean any of it. The letter, the restraining order—” His words were cut off as he tried to suck in a deep breath. As badly as I wanted to hold him against me, I eased back so I wasn’t putting too much pressure on his body.
“Aiden, let me see,” I heard Jake say as he dropped down on the shiny wooden floor next to me. “Lay him down.”
I couldn’t see past the tears in my eyes as I nodded my head. “His arm, it’s broken,” I blurted out. “They were supposed to cast it.”
I knew I probably wasn’t making sense, but Jake just put his hand on my shoulder briefly before he focused all his attention on Ash. Ash, for his part, barely seemed to notice Jake because he just kept talking to me.
“I tried to stop him, Aiden. I really tried.”
Fear ratcheted through me. “Tried to stop him from what, baby?” I asked.
I heard a startled cry and lifted my head to see Lucky. He was standing just inside the lobby doors. His hand flew to his mouth. “Ash?” he whispered. He buried his free hand in Bear’s fur. The big dog nudged his leg, then sat down, tucking his legs under him obediently.
“Lucky, I need my backpack from my truck,” Jake said quickly.
“Is that Ash?” Lucky asked, completely distraught.
Before I could answer, Jake said firmly, “Lucky, I need you to get my backpack so I can help Ash.”
Either Jake’s tone or his words snapped Lucky out of it because he nodded and then turned tail and ran back out of the lodge, the big black dog trailing right behind him.
“The business, Aiden. He said he’d hurt your business. I tried to stop him,” Ash blurted. His features were pinched with pain and his uninjured hand was trembling as it fluttered around. I grabbed it and held it in mine to stop the shaking.