Chapter 29 #2
The engine roared to life, and he patted my thigh before pulling the kickstand up and cruising forward. He took us on a roundabout route to the house, making sure that when he turned down the street, it was from the opposite direction of where I’d parked and locked my car.
My heart began racing in my stomach as we rode closer to the crowd surrounding the house. Closing my eyes, I pressed my helmet into his back and braced. The bike slowed to a turtle’s pace, and despite the roar of the engine, I could hear the voices screaming and shouting around us.
Some were yelling to keep people back. Others were screaming in desperation to get closer. His fingers found my leg once more, and he ran a thumb back and forth over the dress before I felt the sun fade from my figure. The voices began to drift away, and Asher killed the bike’s engine.
The rattling of a garage slowly muffled the outside crowd and then plunked against the ground.
“You’re good now, Princess,” Asher softly said, reassuring me. I cracked open an eye and slowly peeled myself away from his back. Prying myself off his body, he swung himself around and climbed down.
Helping me off so I didn’t wrinkle or drop the poster, Asher guided me toward the ground and then removed the helmet.
I shook out my hair, slipping my glasses back onto my face.
The moment his own helmet was off, he hung it over the handlebar and grabbed my cheeks.
He planted a kiss against my lips, and I closed my eyes, falling into him once more.
“What’d you bring me?” he asked, breaking the kiss.
I shook my head. “Not in here.”
He pursed his lips, obviously annoyed. Sighing, he grabbed my free hand, and we walked toward the garage steps. Entering the house felt like a weight off my shoulders.
Nova and Ava were sitting on the couch, loudly talking to the other three guys about who knows what.
“Hell. No.” Drake narrowed his gaze, oven mitts covering his hands that were thrown on his hips. Eyes slid Asher’s and my way.
“Even Cosi would agree with us!” Ava quickly said, climbing up to lean on the back of the couch.
“Agree with what?” I asked, kicking my shoes off by the pile beside the door.
“They think that we should all go camping. I don’t do bugs and shit,” Drake grumbled, and I chuckled as Asher began stripping out of his protective riding gear.
“I have to go with Nova and Ava on this one. Camping is actually quite fun,” I replied, and Jaxon threw a fist of agreement in the air as the two girls shouted in glee.
Drake groaned as a hand snapped around my wrist. I blinked, looking at Asher, who didn’t acknowledge me or the conversation before dragging me toward his room.
“Dinner’s going to be here any minute!” Kieron shouted as the door clicked shut.
Asher pulled his pants off and tossed them on the bed. “Show me,” he growled, walking to the closet to grab a pair of sweatpants.
“Excuse me? You don’t get to demand a present. That’s something—”
He whipped around and lifted his brows, daring me to continue. I immediately shut my mouth and placed the rolled-up poster against my chest.
“Show. Me,” he demanded again, tying off the gray sweats. I let my eyes wander down his figure for a moment, before snapping them back up to his gaze—a gaze that was intense and controlling.
“Okay,” I whispered, and pulled the poster away from my body, letting it unravel from my fingers. Asher’s gaze swept across the picture that faced him and immediately stopped moving.
His eyes widened, brightening with excitement, and a grin spread across his lips.
“This is for me?” He continued staring at it. I nodded but didn’t say anything. “Holy fucking shit,” he gasped, practically drooling.
My heart raced in my chest. I’d hoped he’d like it, but I definitely wasn’t expecting this much of a reaction.
I stretched my hand out, closer to him, offering him the option to take it from me.
His fingers mindlessly wrapped around the border, his eyes studying every inch of the picture.
I watched his gaze start at the top, brushing quickly past the black background, and then slow as it reached the grand piano.
He tipped his head and licked his lips, his chest rising faster and faster.
One set of mindless fingers traced my nearly naked body that leaned back against the piano keys.
The white lace lingerie did barely anything to conceal my body, but instead of feeling embarrassed or worried, his lingering stare and dilating pupils emboldened me. His smile widened while he read the words beneath the stage that Izzy had green-screened beneath the piano.
“I’m about to turn into that cliché teenage boy, but this is going on my ceiling,” he muttered to himself. I was practically non-existent to him at the moment.
“I’ll go get some tacks or something. Do you know where they are?” I replied.
He threw a thumb over his shoulder. “I think there’s some of that blue sticky putty in the kitchen.” His eyes never left the poster.
Giggling quietly, I silently walked out of the room and down the hallway. Drake was now in front of the sink, washing the dishes that he’d burned food in. His gaze narrowed at my approach, and he turned his nose up.
I rolled my eyes as I began pulling open random drawers.
“What are you looking for?” he asked, refusing to look at me, but offering help.
“That sticky stuff you can use to hang things up on walls without creating holes.” I pulled open another drawer.
“YOU ALREADY GOT IT?” Kieron shouted from the couch.
“Yes, I did,” I replied as Drake tugged open a drawer and snagged a package of the putty.
“And I didn’t get to see the finished product?” he whined, slumping backwards.
“Obviously not. It wasn’t for you.” I grabbed the putty from Drake and smiled appreciatively at him.
“What’d you get? What are you talking about?” Jaxon asked from the kitchen as Drake returned to the dishes. Though I could tell he was listening to the conversation.
“None of your business.” I turned to head back down the hallway when a shirtless Asher poked his head out of his room.
“A naughty poster!” he gushed and then snapped back inside the bedroom.
“A WHAT?” Jaxon, Drake, and the two girls all blurted out.
Asher’s head popped back out of the room. “She’s practically nakey.” He wiggled his brows like a little kid and then disappeared again. My cheeks burned red-hot as I walked as quickly as I could away from everyone else.
I wasn’t sure who said what as I blocked out the embarrassment and rushed into the bedroom.
Glaring at a giddy Asher, who was lying on his bed, kicking his feet up behind him, I walked over and threw the package at his back.
“Ow,” he whined, rolling off his stomach. “Why would you do that?”
“Why would you tell them what it is?” I shoved my hands on my hips.
He rose from the bed and opened the putty package. “Why would I not tell them? My girlfriend gave me a naked poster of herself. What guy doesn’t want that?”
“I’m not entirely naked.”
He shrugged his shoulders and pulled some blue putty into pieces. “Close enough. Besides, that’s part of the point. Because now, I can also show the guys and it’s not technically inappropriate.” He grinned again and stood up on the bed.
“Yes, it still is!” I gasped as he began sticking the poster to the ceiling.
“You have a bra on, and your hand is covering my delicious dessert I love eating. So, again, what’s inappropriate about it?”
“Because that’s all that is covered! And the bra is quite see-through and lacy. You can practically see everything anyway.” I pointed at the picture as he stuck the last side up.
“So, it’s okay for you to show Kieron this, but I can’t?” he shot back, lifting his brows and facing me.
My mouth opened, ready to argue, but words wouldn’t come out.
He jumped down from the bed, a wicked grin across his face. “Yeah, Kieron isn’t very good at keeping secrets.” Asher walked toward me, and I closed my mouth.
“I wasn’t sure which one I—” My shoulders sagged.
He held his hand up, stopping me. “I know. I won’t let anyone else see it if you really feel that way.”
“It’s your poster. Do what you want with it.”
His fingers shot around my chin. Grabbing my cheeks, he tugged me closer to his face.
“Cosette, it makes it that much more special to me that you wanted the opinion of someone who’s known me for most of my life.
I know you didn’t show it to him for the reason that you gave me this poster.
I also know you didn’t tell him what you were putting on the bottom of it.
My point is, this means a lot to me because I know how much effort you put into it.
Plus, it’s definitely out of your comfort zone.
” He gently released his hold on me, and I slowly nodded.
“You did a good job,” he whispered and quickly kissed me.