Page 77 of For Your Consideration

“You’re doing it,” I mumbled. “I’ve never had support like this before. I mean, of course from Iris, but…this feels different.”

I thought my words would soften him but instead a dark look passed through his eyes. He opened his mouth but Sophie’s little coo stopped whatever he was going to say.

“I’m going to say this out loud in case I need your help remembering.”

He gave me a look, waiting.

“There is nothing I can do about custody right now, there is no way for me to control it. Which means that I need to try and not worry.”

“I’ll remind you. We’ve got you, Sutton, both of you.”

His intense gaze was a lot, so I nodded and pushed myself off the couch, moving over to bend down beside Sophie.

“But Maya is good, right?” I looked up at him. He had twisted on the couch, both his arms resting on his legs, hands clasped.

“Don’t know, never heard of her. Which is fucking weird, so I’ll be questioning Will. But if he trusts her then so do I.” He gave a definitive nod.

“You’re going to question him? With what, a glare?”

My joke to lighten the mood worked because when I smiled, he shook his head and said, “You’re underestimating the effectiveness of my glares. Makes most men cave.”

“Right, but these men don’t seem too afraid of you.”

“You should ask in the group chat. Pretty sure they say they’re scared of me at least once a week.”

I was about to roll my eyes at him but Sophie’s cry pulled my attention. She was on the ground, rubbing her eyes. Honestly, she’d been doing better than I expected for this time of night. Iris had said she napped a little later than normal which had worked in my favor tonight.

“I should get her home.” Sophie reached out for me so I swiped her up off the floor, rested her on my hip, and gave her a kiss when she dropped her head into my shoulder.

“You can stay,” Asher offered as he pushed off the couch.

“I need to get her home for bathtime and I didn’t bring anything with me for that.” Before he could reply, I kept going. “Plus, a little routine will be good for us. If you want, I can call a car instead of having you—” I stopped when he sent me a look. “Can you drive us home?”

He gritted his teeth but didn’t say anything, instead giving a nod. He helped me pack my stuff and then carried Sophie out to the car. He got her settled, gave her a kiss, and then closed her door. He then enveloped me in a hug, holding me tight against his chest for a moment, before he pulled away and ushered me into the car.

We didn’t talk on the drive back to my place, but he did pass me the cord without a word. I didn’t sing along this time but at least it kept me awake.

He rolled his eyes when I told him we could get inside on our own and instead helped me get Sophie and all her things back into the apartment.

As he turned to leave, his hands were in fists, almost like he wanted to reach out to me or was reluctant to go.

“Thanks for having us at your place, Ash.”

“Anytime, sweetheart. Lock the door.”

With that he left and headed back down the hallway. I did as he said and then went to focus on getting Sophie in bed.

My eyes still hurt from crying, and I was more than ready to call it a night. Even if I did feel a little lonely without Asher.

21

Asher

Ihadn’t slept last night after dropping Sutton back home. I’d thought about camping outside her apartment in case she needed me but I pushed that away. She said she was going to try not to worry, so she wouldn’t call me.

But I could worry.

I’d just found them and someone was threatening to take Sophie away.