“You’re hungry?” Ash sat up and raked his hand through his hair. “What time is it?”
“Shit, it’s almost nine.” I tossed my phone back onto my bedside table. “We’ll get up and get you some breakfast.”
“Where’s Mom?” Ash threw the covers off.
Thank fuck we were both fully covered. I was in my pajamas, and Ash still wore his clothes from last night. This would have been a million times more awkward if we had both been naked.
“She said she and Daddy are sleeping in.”
Ash caught my eye, and his look said it all.
They were hungover.
“Well, it looks like you’ll have to hang out with us today. How does that sound?” Ash stood and stretched his arms above his head. His pants slipped down around his hips, and his shirt rode up, exposing a strip of skin.
Goddamn, he was sexy.
“Yay!” Riley jumped up and down, clapping excitedly. “You mean all day. Likeall day?”
“All day.” I tore my eyes from Ash’s body and focused on our sister. I climbed out of bed, half-heartedly trying to tame my hair with my hand.
“I like when you’re friends.” Riley beamed at us.
“So do we.” Ash shot me a tender look, then turned back to Riley. “Do we want waffles or pancakes for breakfast?”
“Pancakes!”
“With strawberries or chocolate chips?”
“Or,” I cut in, “both.”
“Both. Both both!”
“Then let’s go make some breakfast.” I held out my hand and came around my bed.
“I’ll meet you down there. I’m just going to change.”
I nodded to Ash as Riley dragged me out of my room and into the hallway, babbling about fruit and maple syrup.
After breakfast, we took her to the park, where we played some chasing game that was part tag, part hide-and-seek and seemed to get more complicated the longer we played.
We did tea time, played with her toys, and puppy-piled on the couch while we watched some kid’s movie Riley could quote word for word, which told us how many times she’d seen it.
Spending the day with Riley was some of the most fun I’d had in years. And the best part was getting to see that side of Ash I’d only had glimpses of before. The sweet side that used to be reserved for Riley.
I loved knowing he trusted me enough to show him his true self. All his life, he’d built walls to protect himself. To see him stripped down and justbeingwas amazing.
We suffered through another family dinner. This time it was turkey leftovers. I’d made Ash a snack before dinner so he wouldn’t be forced to live on stuffing and bread again. When the meal was done, Crystal and Dad excused themselves, and Ash and I tackled clean-up.
“I can’t stay here tonight. Not again,” I scooted closer to Ash, pressing up against his side.
It was risky. Our parents were home, and Riley was wandering around, but I wanted sneaky cuddles.
Ash shifted closer to me and dropped his cheek on the top of my head.
“You want to go out tonight?” he asked softly.
“I guess.”