Eleven
Asher
Dinner had been surprisingly fun.
Porter shared stories of growing up, while we shared a lasagna platter. Whenever it was my turn to share my past, I remained vague—not the best student but a bright one, graduated this past spring, considered that the Marine Corps could be my ticket out—and he didn’t press for more.
Before we knew it, the restaurant was closing—yes, we spent hours there—and we headed back to the townhouse he and Nico shared. Porter even opened the car door for me, not just when we left the restaurant, but when we got back to his place after parking in Nico’s designated spot.
But now?
Now the nerves were settling back in, nice and cozy in the pit of my stomach.
Would he take the couch? Should I offer to take the couch? I probably would fit on it better.
Last night had been so easy; I just fell asleep.
I clutched the front of the blazer as we made our way to the back door of his townhouse. Porter walked beside me, his steps matching mine pace for pace, and once we reached the back, he pulled open the glass door and unlocked the main one, pushing it open and letting me step in before him.
He flipped on the light, illuminating the kitchen, and pulled the door shut behind us. I watched as he locked the door.
“You okay?” he asked, and I realized my gaze was fixed on the door he just locked.
Forcing a smile, I looked up at him, making my eyes meet his. “I’m good. Tired.”
He nodded. “Me, too. Long day.” I wondered if he was just as unsure about what to do from here as I was.
If only Avery were here.
There would be none of this awkward do I or don’t I.
“You maybe want to watch a movie?” he asked, shifting in his spot. Still though, his eyes remained on mine. “You know, relax a bit before bed.”
I was going to fall asleep, there was no sense denying it.
If I woke up in the morning and he was still in the bed, would I be okay with it?
“You can say no.” His voice dropped a level and his eyes shifted to my lips. I licked them nervously.
I may not know him exactly, but I kind of did. I knew his family. I had a good idea of his character. I didn’t for a second believe that he would do anything that I wasn’t okay with.
So I shrugged, trying really hard to be more flippant about it than my nerves actually were. “Okay.”
Porter
She was out.
Like the flip of a switch, Asher zonked out within ten minutes of the movie starting. At least tonight. she’d gone ahead and was laying down before doing it.
When we got back, she changed into what likely were her sleep clothes, and it wasn’t the leggings and hoodie she wore last night.
Nope.
Tonight, it was skin tight bike shorts under a baggy as hell t-shirt. I knew she had bike shorts on only because when she came back into my room after changing, a corner of her shirt was tucked in the waistband. It was a damn good thing I’d already been changed and settled on my bed with a pillow over my lap because if not, I would have definitely made the girl run for the hills.
What she wore was no different than something my sisters would wear to bed, but it was just different on Asher.
She had braided that thick mass of hair of hers over her shoulder and her face was scrubbed of what little makeup she’d worn to the game. Without the effect from eye makeup, her eyes weren’t as bright—the reds and blues in the green orbs didn’t pop as much—but they were still the most intriguing mix of colors I had ever seen in someone’s eyes.
She’d crawled up the foot of the bed to the side of the bed she’d used the night before, avoiding my eyes as she moved under the sheets and duvet. She curled up on her side facing me, her head on the pillow and her hands under her head, and she turned her attention to the television.
I should be a good guy and finish the movie in the living room.
But I wasn’t always a good guy, and right now, I really wanted to stay right here and watch her, movie be damned.
I couldn’t say I ever had a girl I wanted to impress as badly as I did Asher. Girls were easy in high school. And Mo? Mo was easy, too, as much as I liked the girl.
But Asher?
Asher was different.
She colored her arm and pierced her face, but there was more to her than what she was showing the world, and I wanted in on her secrets.
Now, when she slept so damned comfortably in my bed, she was the most relaxed I’d seen her since watching her sleep last night. She held the world on her shoulders otherwise.
Was she a challenge I wanted to take on? Because she would definitely be a challenge. She was not like the other girls I had and, in all honesty, I wasn’t all that put off by it.
With Asher, I would have to move slow. There wasn’t a doubt in my damn mind about that. Pair that with how often we could possibly see one another…
I’d be moving really fucking slow.
Not at all interested in the movie, I grabbed for the remote and turned the television off, sinking down to lay in bed. At the last minute, I decided to slide under my sheets. I’d try hard to stay on my own side.
Move to the couch, asshole.
Nope. Not doin’ it.
I lay on my back and folded my hands together, resting them on my chest, and turned my head to look at Asher.
Who was she?
What secrets did she hold?
And would she ever get comfortable enough to let me know them?
Or, would I get bored with the chase eventually, and let her keep them?
I wasn’t a patient man by any means, but I was willing to ride this one out and see.