Chapter 24

Kai

"W here do they poop?" Paris asked while sticking his nose to the glass separating us from the seals' tank.

"I don't know, kiddo. In the water, maybe?" Despite how cool it was seeing the seals swimming by up close, I put my hand on his shoulder and tried to pull him away from the glass, which looked dirty as fuck with all those handprints and smearing.

"Mommy said that if I need to go potty, I need to get out of the water first."

Ash chuckled from beside us, and I side-eyed him before crouching down and poking Paris's nose.

"Well, you're not a baby seal, are you?"

Shaking his head, Paris flashed me a toothy grin. "Nope."

"A baby lion, then?"

He laughed. "No, Daddy."

Pursing my lips, I hummed. "How about a baby monkey?"

Paris placed his small hands on my cheeks and leaned close until we were nose to nose. "I'm a baby goat," he whispered.

Ash was cracking up on the sidelines, and I had to hold back from doing the same before I picked Paris into my arms and lifted him to sit on my shoulders.

Checking my phone, I saw it was already past noon, meaning it was lunchtime. We had so much fun that I didn't even notice how late it had gotten.

"Do baby goats eat hot dogs for lunch?"

Paris roared a yes while kicking his legs and pulling my hair. What a little bundle of joy that kid is. And with a quick glance at Ash, who was still laughing, obviously enjoying the show, we started walking in search of food.

"Why don't you save us a table while Paris and I go buy some hot dogs?" Ash asked as we reached the lunch area. Since it was packed with other families, it sounded like a good idea.

"Sure."

Before I could say another word, Paris had already dashed toward the hot dog booth, with Ash chasing him down. My kid was a runner, and the first time he escaped us this morning, Ash nearly had a heart attack. It was funny—dangerous, but funny. Besides, he never ran too far, and I almost always caught him easily. Except that one time at the spring festival… which is better not to mention to Zoe.

I didn't plan for us to go to the zoo, but Ash had suggested it this morning over breakfast when Paris kept asking about elephants. Apparently, he dreamed about being one. Since it was Saturday, and I'd taken the day off work, we came here. And thank God for that because so far, it was the perfect fucking day. Especially because it felt like a date , and Paris, without even knowing it, was the perfect wingman. Or wingkid , for that matter. I won't lie and say I didn't take advantage of the opportunities he got us into, like taking the family ride on the zoo's train or hugging them both super close in each and every photo we took. We were all having a great time so far, so I could comfortably call it a win-win.

Squinting, I tried spotting them in the crowd and did. Paris was currently in Ash's arms while pointing over the image menu, showing what he wanted. It was amazing how fast they'd gotten along, but not at all surprising. After all, if Paris was my kid, which he was, loving Ash Sage ran in his blood.

"Hey," someone said, taking my attention away from my boys.

Turning my head, I saw a guy standing beside me. He looked a bit familiar, but not enough for me to remember his name. Noticing that, the guy pointed at himself.

"Andrew. We used to go to the same gym?"

Oh shit . Now I knew who he was. We'd fucked a few times after working out.

"Oh yeah. How are you doing, man?" To be fair, I was more familiar with his ass than his face, so no wonder I couldn't recognize him at first.

"I'm good. It's funny I met you here." He smiled and then pretended to look around before returning his eyes back to me, not being modest about checking me out. "You look really good. You know, I was so sad when you left the gym."

Not interested in having this conversation, I faked a smile while rubbing the back of my neck. "Yeah, well, I didn't like the vibe there. But I found a better place, so it all worked out."

He stepped a bit closer. "Oh, really? What place? Maybe I'll check it out?"

Now I also remembered why I'd stopped contacting him. The dude was clingy AF. Thankfully, before Andrew could sign up to my new gym, Paris ran toward me.

"Daddy! I got you your favorite."

The word "daddy" caught Andrew off guard, not that I cared, and he looked even more surprised when Ash joined us.

Holding our lunch in his hands, Ash looked between Andrew and me before smiling awkwardly. "Hey," he said, then placed the food tray on the table.

Andrew probably mistook us for a family because his face paled, and a moment later, he mumbled an awkward goodbye and got the hell out of there.

"Did you wash your hands?" I asked Paris before he could touch his food and wasn't surprised when he shook his head. "Go over there and wash them." I pointed over to the washing station a few feet away.

Paris got off my lap and ran toward it while I kept my eyes on him.

"Who was that?" Ash asked.

"Just some guy I hooked up with," I answered casually, still watching Paris, who was now drying his hands.

"What?" Ash's shock came through his voice, and I turned to face him.

Looking at him, I realized that he probably had no idea I came out years ago, so what I'd just said was a total surprise to him.

"Well, yeah." I swallowed hard. "I'm past the denial phase." I tried brushing it off with a half smile that vanished as Ash remained silent.

He held my stare a moment longer, and I worried he was angry. After all, I'd denied my attraction to men, to him , for so long, and that was without mentioning all the homophobic crap I spat in his face. So, for me to suddenly be okay with it after literally punching him for loving me was a bit of an asshole thing to do, and he had every reason to get angry. But then, he smiled. A warm smile that reached his lovely eyes that I swear to God held tears in them.

"I'm so proud of you," he whispered hoarsely as Paris returned to the table. This magical moment was cut short once Ash gave his full attention back to Paris and helped him put ketchup on his fries as if he hadn't just melted my heart into a goo of mushy emotions.

The rest of the day flew by, and after spending a few more hours at the zoo, it was time to go home. By the time we parked the car, Paris was in deep sleep, and I had to pick him up in my arms to carry him in. Aiden's car was also parked in front of the house, and soon, we were greeted by him and the dogs.

"I'll put him to sleep. You two go ahead and have some fun," Aiden said after Ash mentioned he wanted to take the dogs for a walk on the beach.

Not about to pass on Aiden's generous offer, I quickly grabbed the dogs' leashes and stepped outside. Maybe I was being obvious, maybe not, but who gave a shit. It was a nice summer evening, and Ash and I were finally together.

Alone .

After twenty minutes of walking, we were isolated enough for Ash to take the dogs off their leashes and let them run free for a bit. The two wasted no time before dashing forward, playing with each other.

"He's a cute dog," I said after Pacha rolled in the sand with Aiden's dog behind him.

Ash smiled like a proud parent. "He is." He paused for a second. "His old owner abused him, so after I rescued him, it wasn't so easy. He just needed love, you know?"

Oh, baby, I know.

I nodded, then smirked. "Well, he's lucky to have such a cute owner, then."

Turning to look at me, Ash gave me a raised brow. "Cute?"

I decided I wanted to mess with him, so I wrapped an arm around his body and pulled him close in a chokehold. "The cutest," I laughed, ruffling his hair.

Ash fought to get free by hitting my chest until I let him go.

"You're an idiot." He moved his hand over his messy hair to fix it before he pushed me aside. "Always were and always will be."

"You're right about that." I bumped his shoulder with mine before shoving my hands into my pants pockets.

After we calmed down, Ash rubbed the back of his neck. "I really missed this. Us ," he said.

My heart warmed with his confession, and our stare locked. But before I could tell him that I missed him, too, Ash had already moved on to a different subject.

"My legs are killing me," he complained, taking off his shoes.

"Do you want me to carry you, princess?"

Ash's eyes shot to me, his cheeks a little bit red. "Fuck off. My legs hurt because we walked the whole day."

"I was just messing with you, Ashy ." I poked my tongue at him, and he rolled his eyes.

"Paris is more mature than you."

"I agree."

He tried pretending to be angry, but the moment I smiled at him, he couldn't keep up the act. But since he wasn't the only one tired from walking the whole day, I pointed over to a bunch of rocks. "Let's go and sit there for a bit."

Reaching the rocks, I climbed up first and watched over my shoulder to make sure Ash didn't slip or fall. I thought of offering him a hand but knew he'd refuse, so I sat down first, with him following me soon after. With the ocean spread before us and the sun almost setting, I was hit with a strong sense of nostalgia. God, I missed those good old days, the days before I screwed everything up.

"When did you come out?" Ash asked, breaking the comfortable silence we fell into.

"After I was out of rehab. I wanted a fresh start and didn't want to carry any secrets."

He snorted. Confused, I frowned at him. "What's funny?"

"Nothing… I just understand what you mean." He pulled his knees to his chest and hugged them close. "I know how hard a secret can be, especially this one."

"I bet." I leaned back on my arms while stretching my legs forward. I had no idea when Ash first learned he was gay and for how long he kept it a secret from me because instead of being there for him, I went out and got fucked-up.

"So, you're bi?"

I nodded.

"How'd Zoe take it?"

I wasn't expecting him to ask about her for some reason. "I think she's fine with it now, but it wasn't easy for her at first. I understand her, to be honest. But then again, we're no longer together and will never be together again, so it doesn't really matter if she's fine with it or not."

"So you're really done with each other?" Ash asked while glancing at me.

"We're raising Paris together, but other than that, yeah."

He leaned back on his arms and placed his hand next to mine, our fingers almost touching. I turned to face him, and our eyes met, and I wished I could have snapped a photo of him so I'd remember how beautiful he looked right now. The golden hour did nothing but justice with his precious complexion, painting his face with a soft hue and making his green eyes shine even brighter than usual. He was so damn gorgeous, the mere sight of him bringing back all sorts of memories. Joy, love, pain, and sorrow, all bundled together into our joint past.

"I'm sorry for everything that I did to you." The words were out of my mouth before I could even stop to think about the Pandora's box I'd just opened. "So fucking sorry, Ashy. About everything ." From pushing him away, to telling him unspeakable things, and to using his body, only to punch him afterward. I was such a jackass, and he probably hated me for it, but being the kindest man that he was, Ash responded with a soft, little smile before placing his hand over mine.

"I don't want you to feel guilty about those days. I knew it wasn't easy for you, with your family and all. I understand. I really do."

He was about to remove his hand when I grabbed it. His eyes snapped to where my fingers were wrapped around his wrist before he brought them to meet my determined stare.

"K-Kai—"

"Still, it doesn't justify the things I did to you," I cut him off.

"I know." He paused, the sound of the waves filling in the void until he spoke again. "But I chose to forgive you."

My heart beat fast as my chest flooded with warmth and love. Without thinking twice, I closed my eyes and leaned in until I was met with his perfect lips. They were like soft pillows I wanted to taste forever, but before I could dive deeper into how good kissing him felt, I was pushed back with a hard shove.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Ash snapped as he jumped to his feet.

Confused, I stared at him while trying to spit back an answer.

"What do you mean what am I doing? Kissing you, obviously," I said while rubbing the spot on my chest he'd punched when he shoved me away.

He gawked at me. "Why the fuck would you do that?"

"Because it seemed like the right moment?"

"The right moment?" His eyes went wide, and his face turned red. "You know damn well I'm in a relationship."

Hold on just a second .

"I don't know what world you live in, where you fuck everything with a pulse, but I'm faithful to Soren."

Ignoring that extremely judgmental first comment that made me sound like some sex addict, I stood up and faced him. "I thought you two had broken up."

"What?" He nearly gasped the word, his face twisting with horror. "What on earth made you think that?"

"Jesus, Ash, I don't know." My voice was dripping with sarcasm. "Maybe it was you not going back home? Telling me how much fun you had today and that you missed me? Or maybe it's because of how happy you were when I told you Zoe and I are over?"

He let out a fake laugh before shaking his head. "God, you're unbelievable," he sighed, then whistled for the dogs to come back from where they were playing.

"Why am I unbelievable?" I asked, angry, as he walked past me.

Ignoring me, he picked the two leashes off the ground.

"Hey, answer me!"

"I was being nice, okay?" he snapped. "I was happy to have you back in my life as a friend, Kai. A fucking friend ."

Why did hearing him say that word hurt so bad?

"Well, you sure didn't make it seem like it with how you were all over me today."

His jaw tensed before he once again turned his back to me and began walking away.

Swearing under my breath, I picked up his shoes, which he left behind.

"Ashy, hold on just a second," I called after him, worrying he was going down those slippery rocks too fast.

"Stop calling me that!" he rasped back as I chased him down.

"At least put your shoes back on. The rocks are slippery."

He tsked. "I can manage just fine— Ah !"

I nearly had a heart attack when he slipped, but luckily, I moved fast enough to catch him before he completely fell and crushed his head on the rocks. My pulse was still high as I held him close in my arms, and Ash wasted no time before trying to push me away. But the second he moved, he hissed in pain, and we both noticed the blood on his foot.

"Shit," I said while examining the cut that seemed deep.

"It's fine—"

"It's not fine." I took off my shirt. "It's a nasty wound, and you're bleeding." Ignoring his protests, I wrapped my shirt around his foot, using it as a bandage to stop the bleeding. Once done, I looked at him.

"We didn't bring any phones with us, so I'm going to carry you back home, okay?"

Grinding his jaw, he crossed his arms over his chest and diverted his gaze away from me. "Fine," he said with a deep sigh.

Ash wasn't exactly a small guy, but thanks to CrossFit and him being smaller than me, I'd manage. With him on my back, we began making our way home. The first ten minutes were dangerously quiet, and I assumed he was plotting ways to murder me, but then he spoke.

"I didn't mean to snap like that. You just… took me by surprise."

"That's alright. I'm sorry I surprised you."

"Yeah…" He wrapped his arms tighter around me. "I'm here 'cause Soren went to visit his parents without me," he said, surprising me with his words.

"Why?"

"He needed space."

I knew I hated that guy.

"Why would he need space from you ?"

Ash shrugged, and I could feel his body tensing. "He's struggling with a lot of things, and sometimes the pressure is hard on him, so he went there."

I snorted. "What the fuck? Isn't he a billionaire or something? Can't he just get a massage— ouch !" I whined when he slapped the back of my head. "What was that for?"

"It's for you being an asshole! A massage doesn't cure depression."

Oh, crap.

"So did you have a fight or something?" I asked.

"Yeah, and it ended with him leaving the house."

Pissed off because listening to Ash speak about that idiot was worse than waking up with a shitty hangover, I grunted.

"So what was it about?"

Ash was quiet for almost a minute before speaking.

"I told him I wanted kids, and he said no."

I had to pause from walking, then peeked at him over my shoulder.

"He said no?"

Ash nodded, and the defeat on his face pained me.

"What do you mean he said no? Isn't it something you're supposed to decide on together?"

Ash shrugged before pressing into me closer.

Never mind the fact I had no idea Ash even wanted kids, but to learn that he needed to give up on it because Soren didn't want them? What the fuck?

"Maybe he'll change his mind?" I said, trying to cheer him up as I continued walking.

"Soren isn't the type of man to ever change his mind."

His statement was so unbelievably cold that it sent shivers down my spine. Why was Ash with that guy? I then remembered the first time I'd met Soren. It was after Ash and I got stuck, and he came to our rescue. He told Ash to get in the car, and right there, I didn't like him. Sure, I was high as a kite back then, but still sober enough to hate how controlling he was over my Ashy. After Ash got in the car, Soren told me all kinds of crap, but one thing I remembered even now.

He's better off without the likes of you, and I'll be damned if I let you or anyone else get in my way.

Back then, I thought the man was full of crap. Apparently, he wasn't. Almost five years later, and he'd managed to do just that. To isolate Ash away from us, his family. I'd had a hand in it, too, but I knew it was bigger than me.

I placed my hand on top of Ash's wrist, my thumb caressing his skin.

"Have you ever thought about breaking up with him?"

"I'd never break up with him. I love him," he answered so fast and with such confidence, leaving no room for mistakes.

"But don't you think your relationship is… unhealthy?"

"No one knows what goes on inside a relationship other than the couple themselves," he answered coldly. "I don't expect you or anyone else to understand why I'm with him."

Ash was either in denial of how toxic his relationship was or refused to admit it. Either way, he reminded me of myself when I couldn't admit to having a problem with drugs. The first step in treating addiction was admitting you had a problem, and if I had to be the one to force that admission out of him, God be my witness, I'd fucking do it because Ash deserved better.

Fuck that.

Ash Sage deserved the fucking world. And that world didn't include a six-foot-three motherfucker who was standing near his parked car in front of our house.

"Put me down," Ash said, panicked, as soon as he spotted Soren, too.

"What? No. You're hurt."

"Put me down right now!" He spanked my back, but I wasn't about to drop him to the sand with an injured leg.

We probably caused a scene because we caught Soren's attention, and he began walking toward us with a furious expression on his ugly face.

"Why do you have your hands on him?" he barked, his finger pointed at me.

"He's injured, you dipshit," I snarled back while watching the fury on Soren's face switching to worry.

"What?" Ignoring me, he moved straight to Ash, who was already off my back, standing on one leg while using Soren for support.

"I-I'm fine, Soren. It's just a scratch."

Soren palmed Ash's face, his eyes sizing him up in seconds before he turned a blaming look my way. "What on earth have you done to him?"

Pissed off, I fisted my hands. "Oh, shut it, you fucking airhead," I grunted before rolling my eyes. How dare he blame me for something I didn't do?

"Will you both calm down?" Ash tried to limp between us when Soren ignored him and continued staring daggers at me.

"Oh, don't worry, Ashy . I'm calm, unlike this bitch." I cocked my head at Soren, digging how his jaw twitched and his brow ticked. What a loser.

"Kai!" Ash scolded me.

"What?" I snorted, crossing my arms over my puffed chest. "Not my fault this insecure pussy gets all defensive the minute he's faced with another man."

Soren's eyes widened so much I thought they'd pop out of his ugly head before he ground his jaw. He looked like he was a minute from exploding, and I fucking loved it.

"I'm going to file a report against you," he said, thinking he was threatening anyone. What a joke.

"Soren, I just slipped over some rocks when we walked the dogs."

Speaking of the dogs, they were going wild and probably about to wake up the whole neighborhood.

"You said you were at the house," Soren hissed, finally taking his attention away from me. "But here I come back to find out you lied and spent your days with him ?"

"Hey, don't raise your voice at him," I cut in, pointing my finger at his entitled ass.

"You stay out of it," Soren snapped while grabbing Ash's arm and pulling him close.

"He's hurt." I stepped closer, putting my hand on Ash's shoulder.

"Guys, stop fighting—"

"Don't touch him." Soren pushed my hand away from Ash, and on instinct, I punched the son of a bitch right in the face.

"Soren!" Ash cried when he got on his knees, trying to help that loser back to his feet while I waved my hand, easing the ache in my knuckles. I was fucking rusty when it came to punching dickheads.

"Why the fuck did you do that?" Ash shouted at me just as Aiden came running out of the house.

The dogs' loud barking probably got his attention.

"He pissed me off," I mumbled, trying to look away from Soren, who spat some blood on the sand before standing back up.

"What on earth happened?" Aiden asked, out of breath after reaching us, his eyes jumping between us three.

"You're going to regret this," Soren hissed, voice ice-cold, which I admit scared me a little, before he turned toward Ash.

Grabbing him, he lifted him off his feet and took him away like he was some sort of a doll.

"Soren, my dog—"

"I'll take care of it later," he cut into Ash's words, silencing him.

I was ready to charge at him again when Aiden placed his hand on my chest, stopping me from taking another step and forcing me to watch Soren put Ash inside his car before stealing him away.

Again .

Pissed off, I clenched my fist so hard my nails dug into my flesh, but not even that stopped me from thinking the same thought again and again.

I wanted this motherfucker dead.