Page 70 of Surviving the Break
I’d get harder remembering him sitting naked in a chair across the room while I lay spread out on his bed in nothing but my denim jacket, masturbating. Ash had a thing for me in that jacket. I’d come, making a mess of things, and he’d unfold himself, crawl up the bed and curl over me with one hand gripping the headboard and slide into my body. Sucking my pearl into his mouth to clean off the splatter of cum that coated it.
But what brought me to climax were the small memories that our love was built on. Ash grabbing my waist and placing noisy rapid-fire kisses all over my face before ducking and leaving a room. Or him saying, “I want to be in you.” And me questioning why. “Because it’s the best place to get lost,” he’d reply.
The lilt of his words, the pitch of his voice, the way it rose an octave higher at the end of every asked question. Those were the guilty pleasures that saw me peak and spill into my hand. I’d fall asleep with his name slipping from my lips and my tears soaking my pillow. I missed him.
Pluto’s growl snapped me back to the present. He was losing patience with me being lost in my head, and after I got up off the bathroom floor, washed my face, and brushed my teeth, I went down to one knee to hug him to me. He sniffed, then whined low in his throat until I let go of him. “What’s the matter?” I stuck my nose under my armpit, nearly bringing up bile. “Fine,” I grumbled, again, removing my underwear and stepping into the shower, turning the spray to hot.
Now clean, Pluto pushed me out of the bedroom with a nose to the back of my leg. We got downstairs, and I filled his bowls with food and water. He sat there, staring at me with his tongue out. “I’m not hungry. You eat,” I said. He made no move. “Eat, Pluto,” I tried again. He lay down and rested on his paws.Stubborn dog.I made a bowl of cereal and dropped unceremoniously into the chair near him. He leaped to his feet and began eating. Begrudgingly, so did I.
With my last spoonful approaching my mouth, I paused after hearing keys enter my front door. Justin walked in with purpose.
“I’m sorry it had to come to me breaking and entering, but you left me no choice,” he said instead of hello.
“It’s not breaking and entering when you have the key,” I bit out. “I’m surprised it took you so long.” My chair legs scraped against the wooden floor as I rose to walk my dish to the sink.
When he didn’t answer, I found him rubbing Pluto down, whispering, “Good boy.”
“Are you andmydog plotting against me?”
“You forgot him outside last night, Max. I let him in and told him to make sure you got your ass up today.”
I ducked my head.
“What’s going on, Max? You’ve been back a while now, and other than that frantic call asking for Ash’s elevator code, I haven’t heard from you. I call, and you don’t answer, or if you do, you tell me you're asleep and then hang up. Your lights are always off, but your truck is in the driveway.”
“Are you spying on me—”
“And Ash is avoiding Damon.”
My head snapped up. “Is he okay? Ash?”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “Why wouldn’t he be?” He placed a palm on my forehead; I swatted him away. “I’m not sick.”
“So tell me what’s going on with you two.”
I sighed, running a hand through my too-long hair. “Have a seat.”
I filled Justin in on everything, and he sat there with his thinking face on. “Sounds like you’ve tried everything short of going to Paula’s—”
“I can’t. Not yet, at least. I’m sure it’ll get that bad, but I’m not there quite yet.”
“She won’t shun you, Max—”
“Not yet, Justin.”
His lips thinned, but he left it alone. “We’ve gotta get you two in the same room. What about the new site? The apartments for the girls at the clinic?”
“What about it? The guys are working overtime on it. Should be done soon.”
He smirked. “I’m sure you’ll need Ash to stop by and take a look at the progress. Give his approval on some things.”
“Yeah. I suppose.”
“Give me a day and time, and I’ll make sure he’s there. He won’t turn this down. It means too much.”
“How will you get him there?”
“Damon will help me.”
