by A. P. Moraez
“God be with you, son,” Tom said as he crushed Ash in a bear hug then stepped back.
Ash’s shin started to quiver. He’d never really left them. This would be the first time in more than eight years that he’d be leaving them and, in some ways, it just felt all wrong, like some kind of betrayal. And it was the stupidest thing, for he knew it was healthy that he was broadening his social circle and spending time with his boyfriend, but just the thought of leaving this sanctuary he’d found in the mountains irked him in the worst way. One more reason to find Leo and put an end to his terrorism. He was soiling the only place in the whole world where he’d ever felt safe, corrupting it with his very presence. This just had to end. He didn’t know how much longer he could take all the pressure. Sometimes it felt like his presence was solid black clouds circling and closing in all around, chocking him. Like he was being watched and measured at every step.
He was snatched out of his thoughts by Jeff, who out of nowhere wrapped Ash in his log-like arms and lifted him off the ground. “I’m gonna miss you, asshole,” he said at Ash’s ear, scruff scratching him.
Ash chuckled, knowing there was no use resisting anything when Jeff got clingy and emotional. So the only thing he did was hug the man right back. “Me too, you idiot.”
Jeff put him down and let Soph and Trav both come forward to hug him goodbye. Ash’s heart almost broke when Trav, in a surprisingly bold gesture for the shy little guy, smacked a kiss on his cheek. He didn’t say anything, just hugged him and kissed him and looked at him, eyes sorrowful. Ash so got it. They’d never been apart before. Gosh. It was only gonna be a week, but it felt wrong leaving the place. Too wrong. If it weren’t for Logan’s peace of mind, there was no way in hell that he’d be doing this.
As the others said their goodbyes to Logan, Cass and Peter approached him and each hugged him in turn. “Take care, okay?” Peter said, “Don’t let those snobs get to you head too much.”
“What do you mean?”
Peter’s eyes glistened as a little smiled formed on his beard-encircled mouth. He shrugged and said, “I just know how you get sometimes. The place is gonna be crawling with rich fucks. Don’t get that get to you head, okay? Remember us. And remember who you are; who you are now.”
Ash shook his head and rushed his best friend into a tight hug, eyes stinging. How had he gotten so lucky to have all these people? People who really cared and paid attention to him? Peter was so right. Even just hours ago, nerves had started pressing down on him; about all of this. It just wasn’t him, traveling to freaking Europe to go to a prestigious, international fashion week, filled with people that wore shoes that probably cost more than the house he’d lived in for years. Those exhausting, familiar voices, all crawling out of anxiety’s mouth, had tried to trip him this morning. What you doing, Ash? they’d said. You won’t belong there. they’d laughed. You don’t belong with him. You’re never gonna measure up. You’re nothing. Only… only when Logan, in the middle of packing up their stuff, saw Ash paralyzed in the middle of the room, he’d stopped everything and crossed the space between them and cradled Ash in his arms. The kiss they’d shared then, soft and deep and reassuring, had squashed all those doubts away.
“Thank you,” Ash croaked, hugging Peter tight. “I needed that.”
Peter gave him two firm pats on the back, then broke their hug, taking a step back to let Cass have her turn.
They didn’t exchange words. There was nothing to say, really. It was obvious by the unshed tears in her eyes that she didn’t like it, exactly like he didn’t like having to go.
“Just enjoy your trip and come back safe okay?” She said, voice cracking. “And call me every day.”
He kissed her on the temple, trying for dear life not to cry, and nodded.
“Alright,” Logan said, coming to stand at his side and taking Ash’s hand. He shook Ash’s arm playfully. “Ready?”
“Yeah,” Ash said, taking a big breath.
They said their last farewells to everybody and turned in the direction of the bar.
“Duke and Ian are outside already,” Logan said, voice low, as they approached the front doors. The two butch men had kinda become a unit since Duke had been hired to protect Ash. Ash’d even risk saying they’d become friends, judging by how they seemed to always consult each other on their security plans. “Everything is set and running according to their plans. You don’t need to worry about a thing, okay?” He brought Ash’s hand to his mouth and kissed his knuckles briefly.
Ash leaned his head back and smiled, to let him know everything was okay, even though he wasn’t sure if everything was indeed okay.
Lauren was sitting on a barstool near the front doors, probably waiting for the guys Duke had placed to take care of her and her aunt at the Hill Top to come drive her home. When she saw Logan and Ash approaching, she jumped from her seat.
“Going already?” she asked, eyes wide with sadness.
“Yep,” Logan responded, opening his other arm to one-arm hug her as she came to say goodbye to them both.
Once they’d both hugged her goodbye, she cast her eyes down for a second, as if nervous. A slight blush covered her fair-skinned cheeks.
“Ash,” she started after a second, eyes up to meet his gaze, “my aunt is waiting in the car outside. She said she wants to talk to you real quick. Would you guys mind a quick delay? She promised me it’s real quick.”
Grace? The woman had been throwing daggers at him for close to a month now. What could she possibly want?
“Do we have the time?” Ash asked Logan, who was already checking his phone.
“Sure,” Logan answered, seeming unsure. “If she says it’s just a quick chat, what could it hurt?”
Ash nodded. To Lauren, he asked, “She’s right outside?”
“Yeah, she’s waiting by the car with the guys. That’s why I didn’t leave yet. Thought I’d give you guys some privacy.”
“Alright,” Ash said with a big exhale. “I’ll be right back.”
He pushed the heavy doors open and was immediately met by the unforgiving cold of the snowy weather. Thank God that Logan had convinced him to wear the woolen hat before they left home. Nothing more uncomfortable than icy wind freezing your brain when you had no hair to protect your head anymore.
Ash nodded to the two security guys Duke had planted to guard O’Farrell’s and Tom’s home around the clock. He was horrible with names, but the guys seemed nice enough. They always nodded and smiled at him and Ash turned up here.
Duke was standing a couple feet away, talking to Ian in hushed tones. They didn’t even bother greeting Ash. Logan had probably told them what Ash was doing and why they’d be delayed for a few minutes.
Grace was standing by the curb, before the standard black Mercedes used by all the guys in Duke’s company.
Ash approached her hesitantly, trying to measure her emotions by her expression and body language, but the old woman wasn’t giving anything away.
“Hey, Ms. Taylor,” he greeted when he finally got in hearing range. “Everything okay? Lauren told me you wanted to talk to me.”
Surprisingly, she received him with a hesitant smile. It served to relax him a little. He really didn’t want to deal with her accusations right before having to fly across the globe.
“Yes, I did. I…” She paused, clearing her throat. “I’d like to apologize to you for what I said.”
Ash’s jaw dropped. He definitely hadn’t been expecting this. He quickly made sure to school his expression, though, not wanting to offend her.
“Oh, you don’t need to. I totally understan—”
“Yes, I do,” she cut him off firmly. “I was a bitch to you.”
Ash was back to impersonating a fish. And, well, how could he argue with that?
She took his lack of response as a cue for her to continue, after he checked their surroundings, probably to make sure nobody else was listening.
“I’m sorry, Ash, for what I said; how I trea
ted you. Morgan, he—” Her voice cracked when she spoke her old friend’s name. “He wouldn’t have liked that,” she continued with a trembling smile. “Not at all. And I’m sorry.”
Ash nodded, deeply affected by the clear love in her words, for how she talked about Morgan. “I understand, Ms. Taylor. He was your best friend and losing him hurt. Hell, it’s still hurting like it was yesterday, and it’s been almost a month already. I… I still can’t believe he’s gone.”
She was nodding as she wiped a stray tear from her wrinkled cheek. “And that’s why I know now what I did was wrong,” she confessed. “I lashed out on you, forgetting how close you were.” She paused, eyes brimming with tears as she held Ash’s gaze. Ash’s own eyes were stinging, probably not that different. “You don’t know how much that man loved you, Ash. How much he respected you. In a way, you were a son to him. And I know that’s cheesy, but it’s the truth. Which only makes the way I treated you and the things I said even worse.”
“Already forgotten,” Ash managed to say as he enfolded the old lady in a hug. She shivered and audibly hiccupped against his chest. “Water under the bridge.”
“Thank you,” she said, taking a step back. “I wanted to come talk to you sooner. This has been eating me up for days now. But you were all busy with your concert and everything. I didn’t wanna bother you.”
Ash smiled. “No worries.”
Her trembling smile gradually gave way to a hardened, determined expression.
“We have to stop him, Ash.” Grace’s voice was way firmer than it’d been just a second ago. “We can’t let some asshole come here and mess with us.” She checked over her shoulder again. “We can’t let him murder people we love and get away with it. We have to catch him. He has to pay.”
Ash sniffed, the cold getting to him, then he nodded. “We’re trying. He’s smart, though. It isn’t gonna be easy.”
“He can’t be that smart,” she retorted, hands clenched.
“He is, Grace,” Ash said, lowering his voice. “He is, and you have to be careful, okay? You have to take care of yourself and Lauren. Don’t get cocky and don’t do anything stupid. Morgan wouldn’t want us to be reckless in a moment like this.”
Her lips pressed into a fine line, but she gave him a curt, firm nod.
Ash relaxed a bit at her agreement. The last thing he needed was for an old lady like her to go on a rampaging, vigilante mission and get herself killed too.
“He will pay, though. I have faith in that. We’re doing everything we can and I can tell you this,” he grabbed her by both arms and made sure she was looking him in the eye as he said, “I won’t commit the same mistake again. Once I have him in front of me, one of us is not leaving the room alive.”
She stared at him, open mouthed, for a moment, probably shocked at the conviction and ardor in his words. He’d have been too. They’d known him for years now as being the shy, soft-spoken guy; a bit of a pushover, really. Not on this matter, though. His calm and patience when it came to the Lazarus family had run out a long time ago.
“Alright,” she finally said. “Alright, then.” She cleared her throat and raked a hand through her gray hair, which had been dancing in the snowy wind. “I’ll better get Lauren home and let you guys go on,” she said with a smile. “You take care too, boy, and have fun on your trip.”
“Thank you.”
She whirled around and entered the bar. A few moments later, she came back out with Logan and Lauren. They waved quick farewells at him as they got into their black Mercedes with the team responsible for their protection and drove off.
“Alright, boys,” Duke boomed, approaching them with large, quick steps, Ian at his side, “let’s get this show on the road. We’re late already.”
He led Logan and him to their own Mercedes and locked the door behind them while Ian took the front passenger seat.
They took their back seats side by side. Logan was again checking something on his phone, so Ash turned his gaze outside as the powerful engine roared to life.
Ash was staring out the window, eyes at the O’Farrell’s coat of arms with that old bullet hole marring it, waving slightly in the wind. A warm hand settled on his thigh. “What’d she want?” Logan asked, eyes concerned.
“She… she apologized to me. For the things she said.”
Duke took off already at top speed. The man really didn’t know how the words drive and safe computed together.
Logan’s expression cleared and a smile tugged at his bearded lips. “That’s great.”
“Yeah,” Ash responded, then dropped his head onto Logan’s shoulder and circled his right arm around Logan’s hard abdomen. His smell, the cold, and the roaring of the engine was making him sleepy. Logan snaked his arm around Ash’s back and brought him tight against his torso. Ash lifted his legs to the seat and leaned all his weight in, enjoying Logan’s warmth.
He felt more than heard the chuckle at his ear. The last thing he registered was Logan’s deep voice saying, “Sleep, love. I’ll wake you up when we get to the airport.”
the beautiful world of Logan Bishop
“ASH, BABY, WAKE up,” Logan’s voice reached his consciousness like a feather, so gentle it was.
He’d slobbered all over Logan’s chest in his sleep, and it was the first thing he noticed when he opened his eyes and realized they were inside the Mercedes. Duke and Ian were discussing something in the front seats, something about logistics that his brain couldn’t register yet. The side of his face that’d been pressed against Logan was all sticky and gross.
“Sorry,” Ash mumbled as he cleaned himself with his jacket sleeve. Cheeks burning in embarrassment, he tried to lean back from Logan to give him space he probably wanted after having his expensive jacket all messed up by him.
Logan simply chuckled and brought his hand to cup Ash’s jaw, then he leaned down and their mouths connected, Logan’s tongue heavy on his mouth in a brief, yet intense kiss. Sometimes his intensity took Ash’s breath away, exactly as it did now.
“Sleep okay?”
Ash nodded, trying to get a hold of his emotions. He didn’t want to sport a hard-on when Ian and Duke were just mere feet away, closed in a damn car.
“Yeah. Where are we?” he asked just as his still sleep-addled brain caught up to their surroundings.
“We just got to the airport,” Logan explained. “Duke is just talking to the other teams and checking if everything is safe before we can get out and head to the plane.” He finished with a jut of his chin to the window to Ash’s back.
Ash spun around in the seat and gasped.
There were other eight exactly-matched black Mercedes waiting outside. A quarter of a mile away, in the runway, was the biggest plane Ash had ever seen. Not that he’d seen any many in real life before, but that thing was a beast.
Mouth still dropped, he turned back to Logan. “That is the plane we’re traveling in?”
The corners of Logan’s eyes crinkled. “Sure is.” He chuckled. “If you like seeing it from the outside, wait until you see the inside.”
“What’s on the inside?”
Logan pressed a smiling kiss to his lips. “You just wait.”
“Hey, boys,” Ian twisted his neck from the front seat to speak to them, “they just gave us the all clear. Let’s go.”
Ash opened the door and got outside. Logan got out and circled the car until they were together again, hand in hand. A couple moments later, they were surrounded by Duke, Ian and five more of his men. More were getting out of the other cars and coming in their direction. Duke started toward the plane in front of them, and they followed. Again, the uneasiness at what his life had become struck him. Logan apparently sensed his nervousness, for he unashamedly hugged Ash to his side, covering him in warmth as they walked to the aircraft. “Relax,” he whispered in Ash’s ear. “There’s nothing to worry about.” He squeezed their intertwined hands. “I’m right here.”
Ash nodded and tried to relax. Their group finall
y got to the gigantic plane. It was from a company with a fancy name Ash had never heard of. They’d extended stairs for them to climb. They were taller than any house in Hoofslope.
Once they got in, the security guys went about their business, checking every corner, leaving Logan, Ian and Ash to themselves. Ash gasped — like, audibly gasped — when he got the first look at the inside of the airplane. It looked like a mixture of the poshest room he’d ever been in and the inside of a gigantic bus. Everything smelled money, from the leather of the many seats to the screens adorning every wall. The interior was all made of some sort of dark wood that had probably been varnished. It was so clean and shiny that Ash could see their reflections in it.
“Logan!” someone called from behind them.
Logan turned them around, since he was still hugging Ash, and deep laughter came from him, reverberating through their connected bodies.
“Daniel!”
Logan freed Ash for a moment as he hugged the lean, tanned man who’d called him by his first name.
“This is Ash, my partner,” Logan introduced. “Ash, this is Daniel. We’ve been flying together for years now. I wouldn’t trust anybody else with long trips like me.”
“Nice to meet you,” Ash greeted, shaking Daniel’s hand.
The man laughed, turning narrowed eyes at Logan. “Flattering me won’t make me forget you haven’t come to poker night in months.”
“I said I was sorry!” Logan defended himself. “Things just have been… kinda crazy lately.”
“Yeah, I bet,” Daniel answered, eying Ash.
Ash’s cheeks flushed when he got what the man was implying.
“Anyway, we’re having another one two weeks from now. Lemme know if you can make it.” To Ash, he turned a blinding smile, “Make him come. And come yourself, too. The more, the merrier.”
Ash only smiled at him, confused beyond belief at receiving an invitation to go to a pilot’s house to play a game he hadn’t the faintest idea how to play.
Daniel winked at them and said, “You guys should settle down and get ready for takeoff. It won’t be long now.” Then he disappeared toward the cockpit.