ASHTON
I step outside, the cold biting at my skin, but it’s nothing compared to the s**t storm still brewing in my head. Blaze is finally asleep. Took a whole lot of talking, a couple of threats, and one really well-timed punch to the ribs to get him to f*****g stop moving. I don’t even know if it was the exhaustion that finally knocked him out or if he just gave up trying to fight it.
Probably the latter.
Because Blaze? He doesn’t stop. Not for pain, not for exhaustion, not even when his own goddamn body is shutting down. But tonight?
Tonight, it broke him.
And if I’m being honest, it’s breaking me too.
I let out a slow breath, rolling a cold beer between my fingers before tossing another to Nic. He catches it without looking up.
"Where’s Blaze?" he asks, popping the tab.
"Asleep
