Chapter 36
THIRTY-SIX
ASHER
Meanwhile…
“I told you that you don’t have to knock.” Lukas practically pulled me into the house and into his arms for a hug. “It’s weird.”
“You’re all coupled up now,” I mumbled into his shoulder. “I’m trying to be a good friend.”
He squeezed me a little tighter then let me go, but not before ruffling my hair. “Okay, you win.”
Lara, always happy to see me, took her time lumbering over to me.
I gave her a quick pet then followed Lukas into the kitchen.
He grabbed a bottle of my favorite pop from the fridge and handed it to me.
Even now that I spent less time here than I used to, he still kept my favorite snacks and drinks stocked.
“How are your kittens?” Lukas asked.
“Holy terrors. What was I thinking adopting four cats?”
“You were thinking with your heart. Like always.”
I cracked the can open and took a drink. “You give me too much credit.”
Before Lukas could respond, Sawyer appeared from downstairs. He gave me a warm smile, warmer than I deserved if I were honest. He’d long since forgiven me for my Lukas-related tantrums, but I had yet to feel like I’d earned his forgiveness. Which was one of the reasons for my visit.
Well, and Jax and Blue were on a date, and I needed a distraction.
“Asher, I didn’t know you were stopping by. Are you staying for dinner? Lukas was about to order.”
“I can’t.” I could have, but I tried not to impose too much on the new couple. I knew what it was like to just want to immerse yourself in your relationship. “I actually came by to give you this.” From my back pocket, I pulled out an envelope and handed it to Sawyer.
“I know you said you forgive me for what an ass I was, but I wanted to do something nice for you, to show you how much I appreciate you standing by Lukas, even when his personal assistant was a personal pain in the ass.”
Sawyer took the envelope and cast a glance at Lukas, then at me. “Thank you. You didn’t have to do this.”
“I know, but I wanted to. You make Lukas happy, and that’s important to me.
” I’d long since let go of the idea that I had any kind of romantic feelings for Lukas.
The truth of the matter was that I’d loved him like a brother, but I hadn’t been ready to admit that.
It had felt like I was trying to replace Leo, so I’d convinced myself that my feelings for him were something else entirely.
Sawyer opened the envelope and pulled out the contents. “Tickets to a book signing, plus dinner, with the author of the Detective Marley books.” Sawyer looked at the tickets, then at me. “Are these real?”
“They sure are.”
“How did you get these?”
I shrugged and tucked my hands in my pockets. “A magician never reveals their secrets.”
Sawyer handed the tickets to Lukas, who looked at them and smiled. And then Sawyer stepped closer and wrapped his arms around me. With my hands trapped in my pockets, I couldn’t exactly return the hug which made it a little more awkward than it already was.
Not to be left out, Lara pressed forward, inserting herself between Sawyer and me, forcing him to pull away as we both laughed about it.
“You’re a silly dog,” I told her, taking my hand out of my pockets so I could give her the attention she craved. “I should get going, though. I just came by to give you those.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to stay for dinner?”
“Maybe another time. I have a cat family at home to look after, and I’ve been out most of the day.”
“I’ll walk you out.” Lukas handed the tickets back to Sawyer, gave him a kiss on the cheek, and followed me to the front door. He stepped outside with me and pulled the door shut.
“That was nice of you, but he’s right. You didn’t have to do it.”
I shrugged. “Look, I know that, okay. But he was super great about the whole…” I made a vague gesture, unable or maybe just unwilling to articulate what I was talking about.
As if Lukas needed an explanation anyway.
He’d had a front row seat to my insanity.
“I was twenty going on twelve that day. All things considered, he gave me a lot more grace than I deserved.”
“You’ve been through a lot. He knows that.”
“I have been through a lot. But you were there for me when no one else was, and I know I’ve apologized to you for how I acted, but sometimes I feel like it’s not enough.”
“Asher.” Lukas grabbed me by the shoulders and stared into my eyes. “Listen to me. You are family. Family forgives. You don’t need to apologize anymore. Okay?”
I let out a shaky breath. Sometimes it was still hard to think about Leo or to talk about him, but I was getting better at it as time went on.
“I understand why he wanted to keep me away from people in the industry, but I’m kind of mad that he kept me away from everyone.
I think things might have been easier on me.
If it wasn’t for you… you were the only thing that kept me from feeling alone. ”
“You’re family, Asher. And not because of who Leo was. You’re family because of who you are and nothing will ever change that. Just maybe don’t kiss me again, okay?”
I rolled my eyes. “Jeez. Kiss a guy who thinks of you like a brother once and he never lets you live it down.”
Lukas ruffled my hair. The asshole. “What are big brothers for?” His voice was strangely thick with emotion, and I thought about teasing him about it, but instead I flung my arms around him and gave him a quick, tight hug.
When I let him go, we both cleared our throats and pretended that we were totally fine and not at all about to cry. Lukas stayed on the front step until I was gone. I knew because I kept looking back at him. It made me warm inside since that was something Leo would’ve done.
Once I was home, I heated up a couple mini pizzas while I had a shower and then I sprawled out on the couch and let the kittens climb all over me while I pretended to watch a movie.
I must have fallen asleep at some point because I woke to familiar voices whispering and the couch dipping with someone’s weight.
“He’s so cute,” Jax whispered. “We shouldn’t wake him.”
“But I want to tell him about our date,” Blue said.
At this point, I had to admit that they were shitty at being stealthy, and maybe that was the point.
“He’s so sleepy, though. Look at him.” Jax had moved closer and he was obviously somewhere near my head. “He’s so peaceful.”
“The only peace I care about is having a piece of that ass.” My voice croaked in an unsexy way as I reached for Blue. My eyes opened a crack, and I had to blink them into focus.
“Awww, we didn’t mean to wake you,” Jax said, looking not at all sorry.
“But now that you’re awake, did you want to hear about our date?” Blue leaned down and kissed me.
My eyes finally adjusted and I spotted the hickey on his neck.
“Now that I’m awake, you’d better tell me about it,” I grumped, lacking all seriousness.
“You heard him, Jax. He wants to hear about it.” Blue got up off the couch and before I knew what was happening, Jax bent down and scooped me up, blanket and all, and carried me bridal style to the bedroom.
We spent most of our time at my apartment because it was the biggest, and I didn’t hate having them here.
“Well, you see, first we had drinks.”
“That’s boring,” Blue said as Jax tossed me on the bed. He whipped his shirt off over his head and climbed on top of me, straddling my thighs. “He took me to this spot where teenagers probably go to make out and we fucked in the back seat.”
“Cars are fucking lousy to have sex in, for the record,” Jax stated as he peeled his own shirt off and flicked the button open on his pants. “But let’s start at the beginning and give you all the juicy details. Blue left a few things out.”
Jax stripped himself out of his pants and stood there stark naked, his hard cock on display. He grabbed it and I watched him give it a short, soft tug.
“Like what?” I asked, breathless. “What did he leave out?”
“Well, first, we kissed in the front seat. Blue’s hands were all over me. Show him how you kissed me, Blue.”
“With pleasure.” Blue lowered himself down and plunged a hand into my hair. He tugged me up a little as he slanted his mouth over mine and licked his way inside.
Blue kissed me slow and deep, and with his whole body.
He rocked against me, grinding our cocks together.
He kept going until I thought I was going to die from lack of blood and oxygen to my brain.
And then, when I thought we were going to move on to something else, the bed dipped and Jax stretched out next to us.
“Hmm, nope,” he said. His fingers slid up my neck and he tilted my head his way. “I think it was more like this.”
And then Jax kissed me.
All night it went like that. First Blue would do something, and then Jax would do the same thing and try to one-up him. And despite how hot it was, how wrung out I felt afterward, above all else, they made me feel loved.