"It's hard to believe he made it out of prison alive," Ash commented.
"He barely did. The doc had to patch up a stab wound when he wandered back into town. You alright Andy?" Brax called across the yard.
"Yep, fine," he answered clutching his side and heading in the opposite direction.
"Not sure you needed to put the boot in mate," Brax mused, focusing on Ash once again. They watched Andy slink off out the side gate before Ash turned a questioning look to Brax. He'd thought Brax would be more upset about his guard dog getting a touch up. Not that Andy deserved his concern. "Kyle told me about what happened. I think you impressed him." Really? Ash shrugged.
"Better than having him tear shreds off me I guess." Now it was Brax's turn to raise an eyebrow. "He warned me off Denny." Ash couldn't hide his smile at the irony, Brax grinned too. He knew about Ash's preferences because Ash had told him. That was the thing about prison. If everyone knew you were gay, nobody cared. But if you hid it and they found out you'd been keeping secrets, you were in big trouble. He'd seen blokes bashed nearly to death because of it.
"He's obviously unaware then."
"No. I mean he was, but I told him last night. He was hassling me about Denny again. Where is he anyway?"
"He's gone to work."
"Seriously?" The bloke was unbelievable. Hadn't he heard of time off? He was the boss for Christ's sake. He needed to give himself a break. "Well when he gets home, tell him I'm stealing his bed." Ash took a step towards said bed, ready for some serious shuteye when Brax stopped him.
"Hey," his former cellmate said, grabbing his arm and becoming very serious all of a sudden. "You've made your point with Andy, now make sure you let it go." Ash shrugged him off. He'd keep his hands to himself if Andy did.
xxx
Maybe it was falling asleep with Kyle's scent in his nostrils that made Ash dream of him. He couldn't remember specifics, just that he and Kyle had been there and that they were happy. Suddenly he was aware that he wasn't alone on the bed. Ash sprang up off it, waking Kyle in the process. Kyle? What the hell was he doing here?
"What? What is it?" Kyle grumbled. Ash didn't know what to say, he actually felt like a bit of an idiot for his overreaction reaction.
"Nothing. What are you doing here?"
"I wasn't gonna sleep on the lounge and I didn't want to wake you. Though maybe I should have, you drooled on my pillow..." Ash ran a hand over his mouth and stared at the pillow.
"Sorry."
"I was kidding..."
It was dark outside, he hadn't meant to sleep so long.
"Shit! What time is it? Have you heard from Denny?" Ash searched around for his phone. "I didn't mean to sleep all day..."
"Yes, she's fine." That was a relief. Ash scrubbed his hands over his face. "I'm still getting used to not sleeping on alert. I haven't had a good night's sleep since Brax left lock up..." Kyle watched him thoughtfully. Shit, Ash hadn't meant to admit so much.
"You missed him."
"I guess. At least I knew he wasn't gonna throttle me in my sleep. I'm gonna go take a shower." He wasn't even sure how long it had been since he'd had one.
Once he was out of Kyle's room he tried calling Denny.
"Hey Den. Just checking in. Call me if you need anything." She wasn't answering her phone. Ash didn't let it worry him too much, Kyle had assured him she was okay.
The water brought him to his senses he hadn't expected to wake up with Kyle beside him. Was it weird for a straight guy to do that knowing he was gay? Or was he reading too much into it? Ash rinsed his hair and forgot about it. Whatever would be would be.
xxx
The following day he ran into Denny outside the bait shop. She was tinkering with a boat motor. He called to her and she looked up with grease smudged across her forehead, it made him smile. She didn't return it though.
"What's happening Miller?" he said, attempting to lighten the mood.
"Ash," she nodded. It wasn't the enthusiastic greeting he usually got.
"What's wrong?"
She sat her tools down, put her hands on her hips and fixed him with a serious look.
"You have to ask?"
"Well yeah," he frowned, "I'm not a bloody mind reader." She glared at him. "What?"
"You beat Andy up, that's what. I told you it was my fault."
"Hardly," Ash scoffed. "It was one kick. He got up and walked away didn't he?"
"That doesn't make it okay."
"I don't get it. Don't you want him to leave you alone?"
"Even if I do, beating the crap out of him isn't the answer." Ash was at a loss. He'd done this to help her but she was less than impressed. He thought she'd be pleased she wouldn't have to deal with Andy's octopus hands again.
"I'm sorry?"
"I'm not the one you need to apologise to." That was out of the question.
"If you think I'm gonna say sorry to that creep, you've got another thing coming." She stared at him defiantly. "Don't look at me like that. I was only trying to help. He's the one that hurt you, not me." This wasn't fair. Why couldn't she see he only had her best interests at heart? He'd do anything to keep her safe. And now she was looking at him like he was the enemy. How did he fix this? He didn't want to fight with her. "I'm sorry I've upset you. I honestly thought I was helping. I'd never do anything to hurt you Denny, don't you know that?" He needed her to believe that because it was the truth. He'd been down this road once before and he couldn't let it happen again. He saw her expression soften and then she stepped forward and hugged him.
"I do. I do know that." He held her close, needing her to know how important she was to him.