Page 71 of Hash

My body grows taunt.

There isn’t a place for them here?

I’ve felt like I’ve done everything I can to make them feel welcome and included. Hell, every single one of my brothers and their women welcomed them with open arms.

“Gotcha,” I respond, closing down to not let the hurt show. I move my arm out from under her and release my hold on her. “We should go check on Cormac, and I can get you two home.”

“Wait, what?” Aisling asks, sitting up on an elbow as she looks at me confused.

“You don’t feel comfortable here. I’m going to take you home.”

Aisling’s hand grabs my forearm as I move to get out of bed, holding me in place. “That’s not what I meant, Lachlan.”

“Then what did you mean?” I ask, my eyes glued to the wall.

“I meant there’s no room for us here.” She waves her hand around the room. “You have one pillow on your bed, a thin blanket and there’s nowhere for Cormac to sleep.”

Huh.

I guess she has a point.

“I’ll give you Cormac not having a place to sleep, but I don’t need two pillows. You don’t even use one when I’m with you. You sleep either on my chest or my arm until it feels like it’s going to fall off.”

“You know what I mean.” She rolls her eyes. “Honestly, when I first came in here, it looked like a guest room. Where is all of your stuff?”

“You’re looking at it.”

Growing up we didn’t have a lot. We never went without what we needed, but there wasn’t any extras for things we wanted. The mentality of you’re good if you have everything you need to survive trickled into adulthood. I’ve never been one to be attached to material things. Unless it’s my bike or Mustang.

“It doesn’t bother you that it doesn’t feel homey?” she asks as she tugs on my arm, pulling me back down on the bed.

“How real do you want me to get right now?”

“Sorry?” she asks, sounding confused.

“How real do you want me to be with you?” I try again.

“I want you to be as real as you can be.”

“The only place that’s ever felt homey to me is your house.”

“That’s probably just because of Cormac. We can make this room more homey.”

I shake my head. “It’s not him. It felt like that eighteen months ago.”

Aisling stares at me for a long moment. She’s searching for something, but I’m not sure what.

“Do you want to stay the night at my place tonight?” she asks, breaking the silence.

Inside, I want to roar and pump my fist up toward the sky. I feel like I’m finally winning.

“Yeah. Do I get some milk before bed?” I ask, my voice gravely.

Aisling’s lids lower as her eyes move to my mouth. “If you’re a good boy, I’ll feed you before bed.”

“I’m always on my best behavior.”

Chapter