Kristen Ashley - The Will

She started moving her hands light on his skin and Jake had never had a woman whose touch was so light. So sweet. How it could be delicate and give so much, he had no fucking clue.

He just knew it did.

“You wanna clean up?” he asked.

“Yes,” she answered but she sounded like she preferred the opposite and he knew it was because she would be losing him and she didn’t like that.

But he liked that she didn’t.

He kissed her again before he lifted up to kiss her forehead, down to kiss her nose, down to kiss her throat, down to her chest and he slid out, kissing her ribs. He rolled off and kissed her stomach.

Only then did he plant a forearm in the bed beside her, lift up to look at her and order, “Hurry.”

“All right,” she replied, moving into him to take his jaw in both her hands, touch her mouth to his and slide off the bed.

He watched through the shadows as she pulled on her nightie, her panties then she grabbed her robe off the end of the bed and swung it on before she padded barefoot to the door. She was careful not to make a noise leaving the room and he knew she was careful once she left the room because he didn’t hear shit until she was back.

He had a light on and was out of bed by then. Having rooted through his bag to get his pajama bottoms, he had them on and was tying the string.

She came right to him, shrugging off the robe and tossing it aside to land on the bed before she slid her arms around him and pressed close, tipping her head back to catch his eyes.

“Things go all right with Amond at the club?” she asked as he curved his arms around her.

“He had six boys in his crew, his manager, his other manager, two bodyguards, his music director and some guy he introduced as a ‘consultant.’ He told me they left his publicist and stylist behind because they’re chicks. But they didn’t leave the rolls of fifties and hundreds behind. My girls freaked and right now, by my count, four of ‘em are gettin’ laid and the other manager, both bodyguards and the consultant are gettin’ lucky but only because they primed that luck by handin’ out cash. And by handin’ out cash, I mean I counted but quit after I got over three grand and they were far from done. My girls had a good night and it was clear they were ready to show their gratitude.”

“So I take it that it went well,” she noted.

“They all drank top shelf and by that I mean the top top shelf. The shit we gotta get outta the safe when someone’s either so drunk they don’t give a shit they’re maxin’ out their credit card on hundred fifty-dollar snifters of cognac or they’re celebrating something huge. Even I haven’t tasted that shit until tonight.”

When he finished talking, she was smiling when she repeated, “So I take it that it went well.”

He grinned into her smiling face. “Yeah, it went well.”

She pressed closer, saying, “I knew he’d like you.”

He gave her a squeeze. “Baby, he likes you and he’d like whatever made you happy, he wouldn’t give a fuck what that was.”

Her face got soft and he thought it was for Amond but what she said next proved him wrong.

“Yes, he’d like whatever made me happy.”

Fuck, but he liked to see that look on her face, that shine in her eyes, all of it directed at him, giving it to him. And what she gave him was the knowledge that he gave it to her.

He never expected this, but there it was.

And it took everything he had not to kick his own ass that he didn’t go for it before.

But he didn’t.

Now he had it.

That was where he was, that was where he had her.

So he had to focus on moving forward.

“We gonna stand here huggin’ all night or are you gonna let me get some shuteye?”

She let out a quiet giggle before she gave him a squeeze, rolled up on her toes, tipping her head way back and he accepted the invitation, dropping his to brush his lips against hers.

When he was done, she said, “I’m going to let you get some shuteye.”

Her arms loosened, his did too and they moved to the bed. He was turning out the light even as she was cuddling into him so by the time he was settled, she was tucked tight, tangled up and relaxed deep.

“’Night, Slick,” he muttered.

“Goodnight, darling,” she whispered into his skin giving his stomach a squeeze.

He reciprocated the squeeze and after a few minutes, felt her weight settle into him.

A few minutes after that, his weight settled into the bed as he fell asleep.

The next morning, I opened the door to Maude’s House of Beauty and only had one foot inside when I heard Alyssa command, “Get over here, get those fancy-assed pumps off and sink your feet in the drink, babelicious, ‘cause I…got…news.”

I looked into her excited eyes, then moved my gaze and saw she had the pedicure chair ready and even had a glass bowl filled with foamy water sitting on the ledge by the arm of the chair.

She was ready.

With a look back at her face, I wasn’t sure I was.

But I nevertheless hurried to the chair, took off my jacket, plopped it and my bag in the chair beside it and pulled myself up.

I barely got my bare feet into the warm sudsy water before Alyssa reached out a hand, grabbed my wrist, plonked my fingers in the bowl and announced, “Got bitch dirt, and by that I mean Donna Spear and Terry Baginski bitch dirt.”

I felt my back go straight and my eyes go wide as I asked, “Really?”

“Really. Big dirt. A freakin’ avalanche of full-on mud.”

Oh dear.

“Is it good?” I queried.

“Uh…sister,” she started, yanking one of my feet out of the tub, setting it on the pad, dabbing it with a towel then reaching straight to her cart of implements to grab some cotton wool, doing all of this talking. “Would I be nearly creaming my pants to tell you if this shit was bad?”

“Um…no,” I replied.

“Right, no. Now, listen up,” she ordered and sucked in a huge breath.

I braced, furtively looking around and seeing two of her hairdressing chairs were taken, stylists working on clients, but they were all the way across the salon so we had a least a little privacy.

My gaze went back to Alyssa when she launched in.

“Soooo, Donna’s got a best friend, they been tight for freakin’ yonks. Her name is Rita. She’s a good gal. Really like her. She’s been a client for a long time, got a couple kids who are the same ages as a couple of my kids. We did the carpool thing back in the day and—”

“Not to be rude, sweetheart,” I cut in gently. “But do I need this Rita history prior to you telling me about Jake’s ex and the woman who seems to have it out for me?”

“Right,” Alyssa mumbled and switched my feet, doing this talking. “Just to say, she’s cool. And the way she’s cool is that, first, she stood by her girl for a long time and a lotta that time was hard time. And second, you know this ‘cause you two are scary open in a way that gives me the heebie-jeebies”—her eyes came to me—“but you told me that Jake laid Donna out this weekend.”

I grinned at her “heebie-jeebies” comment, especially when it was caused by honesty between partners, and confirmed, “Yes, I know it.”

She nodded and looked back to my feet. “Okay, so Donna was cut up about this, like, in a big way. Called her girl over to moan about Jake and do it inhaling rum. Now, Rita’s been listenin’ to this sad song for a long fuckin’ time and that night, she got over it. Way over it.”

“Oh my,” I whispered.

“Yup,” Alyssa agreed then carried on with my pedicure right along with her story. “So Rita decided to perform a one-woman intervention right there, though with bad timing seein’ as Donna was drunk off her ass. But that didn’t stop her from laying it out for Donna, telling her everyone in town knew Jake was a no-go for her and was never gonna be a go for her again. She also shared that most people in town thought it was sad, and by that she meant pathetic, that Donna fell into her cougar ways. Not done, she told Donna that everyone in town also thought she was a shit mom. Thought mega-less about her because of it. Thought Jake was the bomb ‘cause he stepped up so huge in takin’ care of his kids without her help. And new talk in town was that everyone was super excited that Jake found you ‘cause folks have always wanted him to get himself a good woman, and he did. But more, they wanted his kids to have a good woman in their lives and they got that too.”

This felt very nice, that I had the townspeople of Magdalene’s seal of approval as Jake’s woman, but I was still concerned about this Rita woman laying it out for Donna.

“And how did Donna take this?” I asked.

“Not real great ‘cause Donna is not about honesty. Donna’s about denial. Gettin’ it straight from Jake and her best friend all in the same night?” She shook her head. “Had a piss fit. A big one. Kicked Rita out then called around to the rest of her crew to start moaning about Rita. Problem with that was, she did this, they all agreed with Rita and walked right through the door Rita opened to tell her that shit.”

“Oh goodness,” I murmured.

“Mm-hmm,” Alyssa replied, grabbing some cuticle clippers. “So, I’m sure it won’t surprise you that Donna didn’t nurse her hangover thinkin’ things through and deciding to get her shit together. Nooo. Instead, she nursed her hangover, walked into work yesterday morning and gave notice. Word is, she’s moving to Boston.”

I felt my entire body get tight.