CHAPTER NINETEEN
“Are you sure you still want to have your Halloween party next weekend?” Cameron asked as they pulled into an empty parking space behind the Grasshopper Junction Café.
Waking up to Asher’s warm, powerful body spooned around him had been the best feeling in the world. Jerking each off in the shower had come in a close second. Given his way, he’d still be in bed, naked, and doing something a lot more fun than sleeping.
In fact, that was exactly where he’d be if his mother hadn’t called to make sure they were meeting her and his father for breakfast.
“Why would I cancel the party?” Opening the door, Asher unfolded himself from the driver’s seat and twisted to stretch his back.
Cameron bit his lip as he exited the vehicle. He didn’t want to sound paranoid, but he worried about Kyle arriving unnoticed, especially with everyone in costumes. “Never mind.”
Meeting him at the front of the vehicle, Asher grabbed him by the back of the neck and pulled him close, bending to rub their mouths together in a chaste kiss.
“There will be plenty of security, and no one gets in without an invitation. Everything will be okay.” He took his mouth again, this time in a heated, lingering way. “I promise.”
Cameron was inclined to accept anything Asher said when he kissed him like that. “Asher, back off.”
His eyes rounded, but he dropped his hand and nodded as he took a measured step back.
Breathing in deeply through his nose, Cameron held it for a heartbeat, then released it through his mouth.
He was already half-hard, and all Asher had done was kiss him.
Not wanting to embarrass himself in front of his parents, he closed his eyes and repeated the breathing exercise a couple of times.
Once he felt more in control, he opened his eyes, smoothed his hands down the front of his blue-and-white checkered polo. Lastly, he touched the two buttons at his throat, then checked to make sure his collar still lay flat.
Smirking, Asher held a hand out to him. “Nervous?”
Cameron frowned. “No.” Yes. Obviously, I’m nervous. “What’s to be nervous about? Why? Do I look nervous?”
The smirk stayed in place. “You look perfect.”
Between the compliment and Asher’s palm pressed against his, he managed to mostly relax by the time they had reached the entrance of the café.
A few people glanced in their direction when they stepped through the door, but no one openly stared this time.
Apparently, the fact that Cameron had someone in his life was yesterday’s news, and the good townspeople had already moved on to better and more salacious gossip.
His eyes instinctively went to his usual booth at the back of the diner, but he found it already occupied.
“Over there.” Placing a hand on his shoulder, Asher turned him to the right.
Cameron groaned and immediately took a step back toward the exit. “I changed my mind. I’m not even that hungry.”
Having breakfast with his parents while his mother interrogated him about every aspect of his life would be bad enough. Having Nico and Natalie there to back her up just felt like cruel and unusual punishment.
With the hand still on his shoulder, Asher kissed his temple and gave him a little push. “Go on, Cam. It’ll be fine.”
He said that now, but he’d only had a taste of Sarah Stone’s brand of mothering. Cameron would bet a week’s worth of blowjobs that Asher wouldn’t make it through the entire meal without blushing or choking on his pancakes at least once. With Nico and Natalie there, neither of them stood a chance.
Winding his way through the tables, he approached the crescent-shaped booth in the corner with no small amount of trepidation. “Morning,” he mumbled. “Dad, this is Asher Dare.” He waved a hand between them. “Asher, this is my dad, Mark. You know everyone else. ”
“Good morning,” Asher said easily, reaching across the table to take Mark’s hand. “I’m glad to meet you, Mr. Stone.”
“Same here but call me Mark.”
They all scrunched together, making room for Cameron to slip in beside his mother, leaving Asher huddled on the end.
Everyone already had coffee, except his mother who sipped orange juice through a straw.
No one looked to be in any particular hurry, and Cameron groaned inwardly when he realized he wouldn’t be going anywhere until they decided to release him.
“Cheer up,” his mother admonished, picking up a menu from the middle of the table. “It’s breakfast, Cameron, not the Spanish Inquisition.”
“Not yet,” he muttered under his breath, but he fell silent when Asher’s hand landed on his thigh and squeezed. “So, uh, what happened to your trip?”
The last he had heard, his parents were supposed to be up in Oklahoma for a wedding.
A second or third marriage, if he remembered correctly, of someone his mother had dated in high school.
Cameron shook his head, a fond smile pulling at his lips.
Only his mother would attend her ex’s wedding, and only his father would agree that it was a good idea.
“We were just packing up the car when we got the call that the wedding had been canceled.” His mother sniffed indignantly, as if she’d been the one left standing at the altar. “I just don’t understand. Who calls off their wedding the day before they’re supposed to be married?”
“I’m sure lots of people have done it, Mom.” Natalie lifted her coffee mug to her lips to hide her grin. “Did they say why they were canceling?”
“Not a word.” Sniffing again, she stabbed at her orange juice with the straw. “It’s just rude. What if we had already left?”
Across the table, the elder Mr. Stone rolled his eyes. “So, Cameron,” he said, drawing everyone’s attention, “how did you two meet?”
“At an estate sale.” Technically, it was the truth, even if he’d left out all the finer details.
“At Asher’s house,” Natalie said.
“Then, Cam followed him to the club,” Nico added.
Cameron glared at him as he filled his and Asher’s empty mugs with coffee from the carafe in the center of the table. “Why are you even here?”
The smile on Nico’s face stretched until his eyes crinkled. “Your mom invited me.”
“Well, of course, I did.” His mother pointed a stern finger at his best friend. “You’re a good boy, Nico.” She stated it as more of an order than a compliment. Then, she turned her attention past Cameron to Asher. “An estate sale? Are you selling? I know a very good realtor. ”
Asher chuckled. “No, ma’am. Nothing like that. It sounds a lot fancier than it was. Really more like an indoor yard sale.”
His poor mother looked so disappointed. “He’s being modest.” Cameron leaned sideways to bump her shoulder with his own. “He lives in Preston Hollow,” he staged whispered. “It was exactly as fancy as it sounds.”
“What is it that you do?” his dad asked as he stirred an ungodly amount of sugar into his coffee.
“I’m a writer, sir.”
“Oh, anything I might have read?”
Cameron ducked his head to hide his smile. He knew how much Asher hated that question. He also knew his dad was full of shit, because he loved the Marshall Kane novels almost as much as Cameron did.
For his part, Asher took it all in stride, rattling off a few of his bestselling titles.
“Marshall Kane.” His dad nodded, clearly trying to play it cool. “The movies don’t quite live up to the books, do they?”
“No, sir.” Asher grinned, his hand squeezing Cameron’s thigh again. “They never do.”
“He’s working on a new book right now,” Natalie interjected.
All eyes turned to Asher, but he just shrugged, his smile never wavering. “It’s true. I’m working on the last Marshall Kane novel. ”
Cameron choked on the coffee he’d been sipping. Coughing and sputtering, his eyes watering as he fought to breathe, he twisted around in his seat and stared up at Asher.
“What?” he gasped. “You’re really going to end the series?”
~
Moving his hand from Cameron’s thigh to his back, Asher rubbed soothing lines up and down his spine. He hadn’t told anyone yet, not even his agent.
“It’s time. The series was only supposed to be six books in the first place.”
“Go out on a high note,” Mr. Stone said, nodding his approval. “That’s smart.”
“You’re really ending the series?”
Cameron looked so heartbroken over the news Asher had the insane urge to promise to write at least twenty more Marshall Kane books. “I really am.”
Resting her elbows on the table, Natalie leaned forward, her head tilted to one side. “Are you starting something new?”
“I am.” When everyone looked at him expectantly, he laughed and shook his head. “Sorry, but you’ll have to wait like all the rest. ”
Everyone around the table grumbled good-naturedly, everyone except Cameron. Head down, bottom lip caught between his teeth, he honestly looked like his whole world had just ended.
“Ah, don’t be that way,” Asher whispered against his ear. “Maybe you’ll like the new series even more.”
“I’m sorry. I’m sure I’ll love it, but I just can’t believe you’re ending Marshall Kane.”
Cameron was killing him. Those big, eyes had never looked so sad, and the way his bottom lip stuck out was too adorable for words. What was it about him that made Asher what to give the guy anything he asked for?
Before he could breakdown and tell Cameron he’d changed his mind, the server arrived to save him.
She started with Nico and went around the table, nodding and smiling as each person placed their order, though she never wrote anything down.
Clearly, she knew the orders by heart, and asking was just a formality.
“Nice to see you again, Mr. Dare. What can I get you this morning?”
Asher vaguely remembered the blonde teenager from the previous morning, and he wracked his brain to recall her name. “Hi, Kimmy.” A sideways look at Cameron told him he’d gotten in right. “I’ll just have pancakes with strawberry syrup and a side of bacon.”
“Crispy bacon?”
“Is there any other way to eat it? ”