17. Asher
Asher
She loves me.
She loves me.
She loves me .
My chest explodes with happiness. I knew we were going somewhere; that she and I were special. I’m just surprised that she said it first. I thought I was going to. I already had a plan laid out to make it a significant moment, but here we are.
For me, it’s monumental that she said it first and it makes me happier than I ever thought possible.
I know I love this girl more than anything. I know that she’s it for me. She’s the one.
And she loves me.
Holy fuck.
When I finally crash back to reality, I see the damage my silence has done.
Jade’s hazel-green eyes shimmer with unshed tears, their brightness only magnifying the storm of fear, embarrassment, and sadness swirling within them. Her lip trembles before she bites down. Then, as if the weight of my silence is too much, she squeezes her eyes shut as her face twists in pain. My heart lurches—I understand too late.
Just as I open my mouth to speak, she takes a step back.
I know if I let her leave this room without telling her just how madly in love with her I am, our relationship won’t be the same.
“Jade.” I reach out and grab her hands before she can move any further from me. Pulling her tightly into my chest, I kiss her soundly. Deeply. I put as much passion and love as I can into the kiss, hoping that she can feel it all. Hoping she can feel just how crazy in love with her I am.
“God, Jade. Hearing you say that to me… it sent me into orbit for a minute. You love me? I love you . I’m so in love with you, it’s not even funny,” I say with a smile, pulling back and resting our foreheads together.
She lets out a sigh of relief before her body falls into mine. “Asher,” she whispers.
“I love you, Jade,” I whisper against her lips and wrap my arms around her waist. “Never doubt that.”
“I love you,” she repeats against my lips and I shiver. Our mouths meet again in an eager clash of teeth and lips, we’re both smiling brightly. “You have a client waiting for you.”
I groan. I just want to hold her. To stay in this little bubble with her, warm with the knowledge that we love each other.
“You’re right,” I say. The last thing I want to do is go hold a guy’s leg for another two hours, but I need to go do my job. “Do you want to stay and hang out? Or head to my place and relax?”
“If it’s okay with you, I think I’ll go to your place and try to chill.” She looks shy, like she hasn’t been asking for my house key for weeks. I just need to get her a key of her own.
Fishing into my back pocket, I pull out my keys and slip the house key off. I place it in her palm, wrapping her fingers around it. “Make yourself at home. I just got groceries so please help yourself to anything.”
Jade smiles at me from under her lashes. “How late are you going to be?”
I run a hand through my hair, looking at the clock to check the time. But then I understand Jade’s expression. Her eyes seem darker, yearning with a want I know all too well myself. She bites her lip as we stare at each other. I reach out and slide my fingertips underneath her soft shirt to feel the warmth of her supple skin. Slipping up further, I start lining a slow trail up her side and around to her back. She shivers under my touch and I feel the small goosebumps arise.
“Why do you want to know?” I smirk, breathing softly in her ear. It would be the best fucking day if I get to hear her say she loves me and how explicitly she wants me.
“Well…” She picks at a little string on my shirt, not looking at me. I lean my head to the side to try and entice her to meet my eyes. Hers are so telling. So clear. Just looking into her eyes tells me how she’s feeling. “I think we have something big to celebrate, no?” Her eyes flash to mine.
And I’m blown away. Shining brightly, the happiness she’s feeling is palpable. She’s happy, and it’s because of me. Behind that happiness is a desperate want that I’m feeling as well.
Fuck, I want her so much.
“We definitely do, baby girl,” I say deeply. “How do you want to celebrate?”
“I have a few ideas,” she muses softly, with a mischievous smile on her face. One that I answer with my own.
“I do, too.”
Jade lifts up on her tiptoes to reach my ear and whispers, “I think you’ll like what I have planned, Daddy .”
My fingers grip her skin tighter beneath her shirt at those words and I have to keep myself from moaning.
Jade nips my earlobe and pulls back, leaving me leaning into the space she vacated to keep trying to feel her in my arms.
“Baby girl…” I open my eyes and the corner of my mouth tips up. “You’re playing with fire.”
Jade bites her thumbnail and smiles back at me. A confident, gorgeous, full of love smile on her face which leaves me breathless and wanting .
She looks at the key in her hand then back at me, and winks.
“I’m okay with getting burned.”
* * *
God, or whatever is looking after all of us, must be fucking playing around with me. The three hours after Jade left me—with a semi, which was not at all helpful— inched by.
Andrew was understanding with the little break in between, but the moment he popped his headphones back in and Jade left the shop, it was like time stopped. Every time I looked at the clock, thinking an hour had passed, it had only been ten minutes. I did my best to get lost in my work; the rhythmic buzzing of the machine in my hand, the spark of joy I have as I see the art emerge on the skin. All things that usually suck me into my work… but nothing’s working this time. Then an hour passed, then the next hour.
Finally, I have forty-five minutes left. I can do this.
All I can think of is Jade. In my house, on my bed, touching herself and getting her slick and her scent all over my sheets.
Do not get fucking hard right now while you’re holding some dude’s leg. Do not get fucking hard right now while you’re holding some dude’s leg. I repeat this over and over as images of Jade keep floating through my mind.
I pull the needle back from Andrew’s skin and roll my neck, shake my arm out. Trying to get my head back in the game, I pop a headphone in my ear. I change my settings so any messages get read to me and put on AC/DC. As the first few notes ring out, I can feel the tension start to melt away from my shoulders.
“You okay?” Andrew asks, pulling an earbud out and cocking a questioning eyebrow in my direction.
“Yeah, man. Sorry,” I tell him quickly, putting on a fresh pair of gloves.
“You’re good. I know what happened earlier probably shook you both. I don’t know what I would’ve done if a guy grabbed my girl like that. I’m glad you fucked him up.” Andrew lays his head back down.
“Yeah,” I say, letting the word hang between us. “I should’ve knocked him out.”
“I’m pretty sure your friend did. I watched him drag that guy out and give him a few punches of his own before he came back inside. I didn’t see the other dude stand up. I don’t even know if he’s gone from your front door, if I’m honest.”
I look at Ty and suddenly I’m scared that, for the last two and a half hours, we’ve had an unconscious fucker just slumped outside our door.
“Ty!” I call, motioning him to come over. When the big guy lumbers over, not giving a care in the world that people are waiting on him, he crosses his arms.
“Yeah?”
I raise an eyebrow. “Did you knock him out?”
“ Si, ” he repeats, and crooks an eyebrow towards the front window. Fuck.
“Has he gotten up yet?” I hold the bridge of my nose and sigh in frustration.
“Yeah, about an hour ago. He’s fine, man,” Ty grumbles and walks off. Some people might think Ty’s being an asshole with how he just ended the conversation regardless if I was done talking to him, and if I didn’t know him, I’d probably be pissed too, but that is just Ty. He doesn’t say anything if he doesn’t need to.
“Fuck,” I sigh. “Well, that’s that, then.” I pick up the tattoo gun and clean Andrew’s skin again. “Only a little longer, okay, man?”
Andrew nods, popping his headphone back in and getting comfortable. I dip the needle into ink and get back to work. A few minutes pass and my music stops. The text message ding ding plays before the automated voice starts reading out the message.
“Daddy, I don’t know if I can wait for you much longer.” The voice reads and my whole-body freezes.
AC/DC starts playing again, and I do my absolute best to resume tattooing after hearing that gift of a message.
Five minutes go by and I hear the ding ding of another incoming message.
“Your bed smells so good. Like you. I’m touching myself with my nose in your pillow, imagining it was your hand on me.”
Oh fuck. This girl is going to kill me.
Do not get hard holding this guy’s leg. Do not get hard holding this guy’s leg. Do not get hard holding this guy’s leg, Asher.
I can’t message her back right now, but I feel like she knows that. She knows I’ll read these messages and it’ll make me rush home, ready to ravage her exactly as I intend to.
My eyes dart to the clock, and I’m relieved to find I only have fifteen minutes left. I can do it. I can make sure I’m not fantasizing about my sexy-as-fuck girlfriend in my bed, rubbing her clit as she moans for her Daddy…
I can do it.
Right?
Taking a deep breath, I wipe Andrew’s skin and dip my needle in the ink again. AC/DC starts back up and I lose myself in the music for the length of a song.
One song is all she gave me before I get hit with message after message.
“Daddy, you’ve gotta help me.”
“I’m so wet.”
“You’ve ruined me, I can’t come unless you’re here now. Now that I know how it feels to come by your hand, I can’t be satisfied with just my own.”
“Daddy, please,”
Holy fucking shit.
I scoot closer to the table to hide my quickly growing erection which gets a little bigger with each message. Even the automated voice isn’t deterring my cock.
Wiping Andrew’s leg one more time, I decide I can’t take it anymore. Staying seated, I take my gloves off and throw them in the trash by the table, then roll over to the compartment where I keep my aftercare stuff in. Cleaning his leg and wrapping it up takes up a lot of time, so our appointment ends early, but not so early that I feel bad.
“All right, man. You’re good to go.” I put the last piece of tape over the saran wrap and pull off my gloves.
“Wow, that was quick!” Andrew sits up, stretches and pulls both headphones from his ears. “Damn,” he exclaims, marveling at his leg. I like wrapping the tattoos in clear plastic so people can see what they look like. “Perfect, as always. Thanks, man.” Andrew hops off the table and goes to the full-length mirror beside my desk. “Sick,” he says, smiling brightly at the reflection in the mirror, and it makes me so happy that he likes my work. That I’ve made someone this happy with my art.
Normally, I’d sit and ask him to take a picture, then chat with him a bit about what our next session is going to look like.
Not today.
Andrew walks over to his bag, pulls out a stack of cash, and hands it to me. “Your standard three-hour fee, plus a little extra,” he offers.
“Thank you,” I reply with a nod and put the cash in my back pocket. “And thank you for understanding earlier.”
“No problem.” Andrew slings his bag over his shoulder and slips his shoes on. “I know how much you want to get back to your girl,” he teases, cocking an eyebrow with a smirk. “I’m pretty sure anyone with eyes knows how much.”
Chuckling, I run a hand down the back of my head and cup my neck nervously.
“Sorry,” I groan. “I tried.”
“I know you did,” Andrew laughs loudly. “I didn’t say anything because if what happened to your girl had happened to mine, I would’ve left when she did. So, I get it. I’m also very glad that you knocked that guy on his ass.”
Andrew’s a good guy; a long-time client, so I know he’s on my side in this.
“I appreciate it.” I shake his hand. “Jade… she’s been through a lot. More than anyone should, really. She and I… we’ve both had to grow up way too fast. But with each other…” I try to think of a way to explain how fucking easy it is with Jade. How right it feels. “With each other, it’s like I can breathe easy for the first time.”
Andrew just nods, crossing his arms over his chest with a knowing smile.
“Congratulations, Asher.” He slaps me on the shoulder and I finally stand. “A word of advice, from someone who’s probably not qualified to give you advice?” Andrew smirks and points at me before saying, “If she’s your world, make sure she knows it.”
“Solid advice.” I nod and take his hand, shaking it again as we walk towards the exit. “I’ll remember that.”
“Do! And I’ll email you when I’m ready to finish my leg.”
“Yes, I’ll be waiting!” I say as he walks out, waving.
My customer service smile drops and I basically run back to my station, cursing myself for making it a rule that all stations need to be sanitized, organized and spotless at the end of your day. I rip through the chores I have to do. Wiping, bleaching and cleaning every surface I touched and everything that touched Andrew.
“Whoa, hermano ,” Ty urges, “slow down, you’re going to run into someone!”
“Sorry,” I mumble, moving around him to throw my trash out.
“I’m sorry,” Ty blurts out suddenly, stopping me in my tracks.
“What?” I turn around, my eyebrows scrunching together. Why would Ty need to apologize?
“I’m sorry I didn’t stop him before he touched her.”
“Ty, how could you have known he was going to be an asshole like that?” I set the trash bag down and put my hand on his shoulder. “Thank you for stepping up for Jade when you saw it happen. Don’t stress.”
“She was hurt before, wasn’t she? I thought so, after what happened when I answered the phone… but I didn’t ask right out. But how she skirted back today… She was hurt before, wasn’t she?” Ty asks gruffly, not beating around the bush or sugarcoating it.
I sigh, leaning down and picking the bag back up.
“Ty… I can’t. Just… don’t worry about it.” I’m not going to answer him because it’s not my story to tell. I don’t know if Jade wants me to tell anyone. The only reason Roxie knows is because Jade told me that she guessed it. Roxie has been through something similar, and she was able to see the signs. I’m not going to betray Jade’s trust like that.
Turning, I walk through the break room and toward the back door where the dumpster sits right outside.
Ty follows me.
Fuck.
“You forget that I was there when everything went down with Roxie. You forget that I know how it feels to be in your shoes. It’s no one you know, right?” he asks gruffly.
“Ty,” I warn sharply.
“Just tell me it’s no one we’ll have to see. Tell me this is a safe place for her to hang out.”
“Of fucking course, it is!” I throw the bag into the dumpster with a bit more force than necessary. “You think if I knew who it was, I would let them within ten feet of her?” I snap at Ty. He’s posturing, ready to receive a punch if I decide to throw one.
I know that if I did, he’d simply let me get my aggression out and not retaliate. He knows me well enough to know that I fucking hate men like that; men who hurt innocent women. Now that Jade and I are so close, it hurts me even more to not be able to harm those who hurt the woman I love.
I wouldn’t hit Ty, though, not unless he really deserved it.
“She doesn’t know exactly who it was,” I say softly. “He lives on campus, though, and he apparently lives on Jade’s floor. So, I’m trying to keep her at my place for as many nights as she’ll let me.”
“What if she works here? Like legitimately works here?” Ty asks.
“You think she’d go for that?” I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about it myself. She’s already at the shop a lot; she knows the repeat customers, the rules, the duties; hell—she’s cleaned and mopped before just because she was bored. She knows the systems, and most importantly, she knows us and we know her. She won’t fuck up like the last receptionist.
Ty nodded. “I think if you present it in an… inviting way, she would.”
“So, I shouldn’t say that I’m giving her a job so I’ll be able to keep an eye on her?” We chuckle and I put my hands in my pockets, thinking it over.
“Yeah, don’t do that. I’d probably offer it casually, saying we need a new receptionist and we all like her, so why not get paid to sit around and hang out with us?” Ty shrugs. “But I don’t blame you. If that cabron is hanging around her, I wouldn’t let her out of my sight. Having her here whenever she’s not in class means we can all have eyes on her. She’s a good person, and I like her for you. And I don’t think any man who hurts a woman should feel safe.”
“Agreed.” I nod, and we bump fists. “I’m heading home now to make sure she’s okay and I’ll talk to her about the job.”
“Go get your girl,” he says with a knowing smirk and walks back inside.