Instead… “I need to run over to the hospital,” murmured out of his mouth. “Come with me?”
“Umm, yeah. S-sure,” Ashley stuttered like the disappointed star struck fool she was.
Was this how it started? That thing called codependence? With her needing more than he would ever be able to give? Was she falling for a guy who was more like her father than she’d thought? Was she more like her mom than she’d dreamed?
But she wanted to meet Tripp’s mother. So, Ashley nodded, swallowed hard, and shoved her needs back and away, down where they apparently belonged. They’d certainly lingered there long enough, like all of her adult life. Ha. What a joke. She wasn’t an adult. She was just her mother’s daughter.
Chapter Forty-One
Tripp tucked his wrinkled shirt into his wrinkled pants. He’d showered alone, which he hadn’t expected, not after making love the way he and Ashley had. She’d gotten quiet and had politely declined his invitation to join him.
But what the hell could she expect? Him to declare undying love after knowing her less than a week? Sure, there was a definite physical attraction between them, a powerful magnetism he couldn’t deny. But adrenaline was a potent aphrodisiac. It messed with people’s heads and their hearts. Everyone knew that, and this had been a week full of some hellacious adrenaline spikes. He hadn’t been thinking any clearer than she had. So what if he’d come close to saying the L word? Not that he didn’t love Ashley. Tripp knew damned well that he did. But he wasn’t the right man for her. From the first moment he’d seen Ashley, he’d known she was an angel, that he’d always be the sinner. When it came down to it, he loved her enough to let her go.
As if things weren’t strained enough between them, someone had posted a video to YouTube. Since it claimed to have been taken in Alexandria, the local news stations were airing it. Wasn’t that just special? The poorly shot clip of him had already garnered thousands of views and comments. Also, a terse invite to the inner sanctum of Alex Stewart’s office, first thing come morning. That ought to be fun.
Ashley sat at the end of the bed, staring at the TV on the credenza across from her, watching the grainy image of an unidentified man dressed in black defending a homeless Vietnam War vet over the weekend. Tripp watched himself toss those two punks into the Potomac again, like the garbage they were. He was proud of what he’d done. Those kids deserved what they’d gotten, and the old guy they’d slapped and kicked around, deserved a helluva lot more than just one night in a homeless shelter. But he’d been thankful for the assist. Grumpy, but thankful.
That was what kept Tripp on the streets after dark, grumpy old men and stupid young guys. Women who thought they were safe when they weren’t. Honest hard-working people who’d lost track of time and stayed too late at work.
His glance strayed to Ashley. She’d popped in and out of the shower after he’d finished in the bathroom. Her wet hair was now braided and curled into a shiny, tight knot at the back of her neck. She was back in jeans and her light gray Henley. His jacket lay like the child of divorced parents, bereft on the bed between them.
“Would you like to stop and grab something new to wear before we go see Mom?”
She shook her head. “No thanks. I don’t have any cash with me. It’s in my bag, and my bag is…”
Still at his place. “No worries. My treat.” Knowing her need to be in control, he back-pedaled on that offer. “Or you can pay me back.”
“No, Tripp. I’m fine,” she insisted, her voice as tight as that braid. “Let’s just go.”
The dreaded fine, pure poison in conversation with any woman. Trish had certainly used it enough. In her language, it meant, ‘fuck off.’ With Ashley, it most likely meant, ‘Leave me the heck alone.’ Which somehow, made Tripp feel worse.
Unlike Trish, Ashley deserved a white picket fence, a cute little family, and security, not a guy like him. Tripp was a driven loner, still more GI than civilian. Still prone to over-the-top PTSD issues, he’d proven over and over that he was as rough as a cob and short-tempered. Hell, his family was nothing to be proud of. He refused to give what he didn’t have to offer. Ashley deserved more. End of story.
“Come on, then,” Tripp said as he lifted to his feet, his arm stretched out to her, his fingers fluttering for her to take his hand.
Ashley stood, but kept her hands to herself. “Let’s go.”
Well, damn. It’d been a long time since Tripp had to deal with the cold shoulder. Sucking in a gut full of tolerance, he gestured toward the door. Words were no longer necessary. There was nothing he could say that would make this night better. Maybe he’d take Jameson and Maddie up on that offer after all.
The hospital was just a couple blocks up the street from the hotel. Tripp called his mom for Trish’s room number, after he parked his truck in the attached parking terrace. The elevator ride up to Intensive Care was quiet. At the ICU nurses’ station, he checked in and asked about his mom. One of the nurses said she was with Trish’s doctor in the family room across the hall. Shit. What now? Go in alone? Drag Ashley into a private and potentially embarrassing family discussion?
Tripp didn’t want to see his mom without Ashley at his side. Not that he needed her to save him, but her being a woman would surely help Andy. Taking a chance, he wrapped an arm
