❁ Asher ❁

My soaked clothes weigh a ton by the time Junie opens the door, and I step into the inner walkway. She locks the door behind us and leads me to her apartment. Even drenched with the chilly rain, I can barely keep my eyes open. I stumble upon entering her apartment. Junie’s hands are on me, and I see her face only inches from mine. I think I try to kiss her, but I don’t know if my lips find hers. The world swims in my medicated head until everything goes black.

Sometime later, I open my eyes to find myself surrounded by blood red. My hand reaches out to touch the blurred color, finding the hard surface of a wall. I pull back my hand and force my body to roll onto my back. I lift my head enough to see I’m alone in Junie’s bedroom.

Sitting up is out of the question, and I can’t even form a word. I roll onto my side and inhale Junie’s familiar floral scent. Relaxing immediately, I close my eyes and allow sleep to take me.

When my eyes open later, daylight is gone, and I can no longer see the red walls. I turn enough to look into the adjoining room where a TV flickers. Junie is nowhere to be found, but I spot a cat in the corner of the bedroom. His eyes reflect light from the TV, giving him a menacing appearance.

Junie said his name was Couch Potato because she couldn’t come up with something better. I stare at him until my eyes won’t remain open any longer. Sleep grabs me easily in this place, surrounded by Junie’s presence. I wonder if she’s alone in the living room. I think to call out to her or get up and find water to drink. My throat is so dry, but I don’t speak or crawl out of bed. Instead, I sleep like I haven’t slept in weeks.

Later when I wake, I immediately force my body into a sitting position. Junie is nearby, and I’m not sure how I ended up in her bed or even what I’m wearing. My fingers find unfamiliar fabric, and I wonder if she has men’s clothes lying around her place. Is this an old boyfriend’s shirt I’m wearing? I do know I’m naked underneath; meaning my first time nude around Junie was as a result of my overuse of sleeping meds.

“Junie?” I call out in a rough voice.

The cat jumps down from the dresser and hurries out of the room. As he flees, Junie stumbles over him and toward me. I watch her shadow fumble in the corner before a small lamp illuminates the red room.

“Here’s Gatorade,” she says, opening a bottle for me as she sits on the edge of the bed.

Taking the drink, I study her drowsy face. “Were you sleeping?”

“Yes. I’d have crawled in next to you, but this is a queen bed, and you wouldn’t get out of the middle.”

“Why didn’t you wake me?”

“I tried,” she says full of exasperation. “I shook the bed. Sounded my alarm. Insulted your manhood. Nothing worked. You just babbled something about incorrect algorithms and stayed asleep.”

“Sorry,” I mumble, downing the fruit punch drink. “What am I wearing?”

Junie hears something in my voice and lifts an eyebrow. I don’t know what she thinks I’m implying, but a long moment passes before she stands and walks out of the room. Returning a minute later, she kicks off her slippers and sits back on the bed.

“It’s four in the morning, so I want to sleep. If you move over, I’ll join you. The couch is no good for overnight sleep. It’s more of a napping spot.”

I hand her the empty bottle and notice the living room is dark now except for a soft blue light.

“You stripped me.”

A grumpy Junie only shrugs before turning off the corner light. “You were sopping wet, and I couldn’t have you soak my bed. It wasn’t easy getting those clothes off when you were barely conscious,” she says, climbing in next to me and pulling back the covers. “I washed your things, so you’ll have something to wear in the morning.”

“What am I wearing now?” I ask again.

“My boyfriend’s old shirt.”

“Yeah?” I mutter, annoyed by her obvious lie.

“Sure. Why not?”

I rest my head on the pillow and wish I could see her in the dark. “Are you angry about what happened or is this how you are in the middle of the night?”

“Both,” she says, and I feel her fingers against my arm. “You’re wearing one of my mom’s old nightgowns. She used to be really chunky, and I still wear her giant stuff when I’m on my period. I figured nothing else I had would fit you. Oh, and the nightgown is covered in pink pandas. You’re adorable.”

Hearing humor in her voice, I relax under the warm blankets. This isn’t how I imagined spending my first night in bed with Junie Voss, but there’s something comfortable about feeling defenseless with her. No woman has ever seen me so vulnerable, mainly because no woman has ever pushed me to the brink of my control.

‧:❉:‧ ♂ ♀ ‧:❉:‧

❁ Junie ❁

Stripping Asher Ferrer naked will go down as one of the top highlights of my life. He is more toned than I expect, though I don’t have the chance to examine his every muscular curve. I barely get him to the bedroom before he loses his balance. Once his clothes come off, Ash is ready to topple into bed. I rush to the bathroom to grab two towels and return to find him hunched forward and ready to hit the floor.

Unaccustomed to wrestling with a full-grown man, I’m probably rougher than I need to be. Drying him off quickly, I take extra time with his thick hair. Asher keeps distracting me by nuzzling his face against my chest or trying to kiss me. He babbles about how the rain washed away his crippling fears, and he’s a free man now. I ignore his words and avoid his frisky fingers on my butt. Later, I’ll giggle at the way he felt me up. For now, I need to dry him off before he collapses on my bed.

“You make me smile,” he says after I slide Mom’s old nightgown over his head.

“You make me smile too. Do you need something before you sleep?”

“Kiss me like you mean it, Junie.”

Cupping his face, I lean down and give him a quick kiss. “I’m not taking advantage of you in your time of need.”

Asher smiles and says something about how he wants to taste every inch of me. Then he falls silent and flops onto the bed. I check to make sure he’s breathing before covering him with my favorite red plush blanket.

I expect Asher to sleep for an hour or two. He changes positions occasionally, and at some point, he crawls higher on the bed. I cover him up again, ignoring his bare ass begging for a pinch. I will not take advantage of this poor man! I’m a good person, and he deserves respect even if he owns the most pinchable ass in the creation of asses.

When Mallory shows up after the storm dies down, I show her my sleeping guest.

“You need to learn to say no to him like you do to me,” she whispers while we stand in the kitchen.

“Why?”

Mallory considers my question and then shrugs. “I guess you don’t. It’s not like you were super busy before meeting him and he’s put a damper on your lifestyle.”

“True,” I say and sip coffee to get rid of the chill from when Asher soaked me. “He looked so miserable when he showed up. Sad and pathetic and sexy and very wet and I couldn’t send him away.”

“Yes, you could have. You chose not to.”

“Fine, Miss Honesty, I chose to let my delicious acquaintance slash maybe boyfriend sleep over rather than leaving him in a thunderstorm with no transportation home. Hmm, when I say it aloud, I wonder why I agreed.”

“Why is he sleeping exactly?”

“I think he’s sick.”

“You two are sharing a romance to end all romances. I can’t wait until he pukes all over your favorite blanket and you get to clean it up. Wow, will I be jealous then or what?”

“You’re seething with jealousy now, and it’s a great look on you.”

Mallory shares my smile and then peeks in on him again. Shaking her head, she walks to the door.

“I’ll leave so we don’t wake up Prince Charming.”

“Text me while we watch Snapped. I’m lonely over here while he sleeps and CP watches him sleep. So very lonely.”

Mallory winks at me before disappearing out the door. Hours later, we get bored of texting about killer women and whether any of them might be innocent. Soon, I turn off all the lights except for my blue lava lamp.

I use my phone to see in the dark bedroom. Asher remains covered up, though he’s now on his back. My fingers slide effortlessly across his forehead to remove hair from his eyes. I don’t want to wake up the darling man.

Except I can’t fit on the bed with him resting squarely in the middle. I gently attempt to wake him from his slumber. A bounce on the mattress. Calling his name. Setting my alarm and letting it ring near his sexy ear. If I didn’t see Asher breathing, I’d think he was a blasted corpse.

“Asher, move over,” I grunt, shoving at his body and making no progress. “What a bed hog.”

Giving up, I shuffle to the living room where I turn on the TV and cuddle up on the couch where I’ve spent so many hours today napping.

I take forever to fall asleep. Mostly, I’m worried about Asher’s exhaustion. What if he’s actually sick and I don’t help him, and he dies, and it’ll be my fault for not doing whatever needs to be done for whatever sickness he’s suffering from? Every time I start to doze off, I’m certain Asher calls out for me.

Eventually, my eyes stay closed, and I dream of my old math teacher trying to kill me because I know her secret. Throughout my ordeal, Mallory narrates the situation just like on Snapped. After an hour, I’m startled awake by the sound of Asher’s voice.

I’m not sure if I really heard him until CP flies out of the bedroom, terrified by a man in his domain.

Asher proves more coherent than hours earlier, and I finally get a spot in my bed. The awkwardness I ought to feel never happens, mainly because I’m exhausted from dozing all day and never sleeping well.

I don’t know how long he remains awake. We don’t speak, but he does take my hand and holds it under the pillows. I smile in the darkness, thinking of how gentle Asher can be. He’s worth a second chance, and I’m worth having a man like him.