9. Asher
Chapter 9
Asher
“ Oh , this broken heart needs mending!” I heard someone sing terribly in the hallway. “ It bleeeds.” Was that a high note?
I placed my book down on the couch as I got up, switching off the television in the process. My perfect night always consisted of putting Anne to bed a bit earlier than her bedtime, and it always worked because she would be exhausted from all the games we would play, and after that, I would sit on the couch and catch up on my favorite novel while the television played softly in the background.
It had always been perfect, until now. My rowdy neighbor sang sad love songs in the hallway, with cursing cut in between, and proceeded to ruin hit love songs right after.
When she left our fun conversation, I couldn’t resist staring her body in that sundress, and she had her perfect brown hair let loose today. It had sparked my idea that she was going out on a date tonight, but now she was singing sad love songs in the hallway.
I opened my door and leaned against the frame as I watched her point an accusing finger at her locked door.
“ You shouldn’t fight me; I chose you!” she slurred, as she hit the door with her bag.
Oh , she was wasted.
“ I mean, look at your patterns,” she traced the engravings of her new door passionately, sniffling. “ You are perfect for me. You’re pretty.” Was she begging the door to open? “ Psht , pretty!”
She scoffed as she let go of the door and crossed her arms.
“ I thought I was pretty, but look where that got me.” She pressed her finger on her chest as she stared at the door with her eyes wide open. Brooke was absolutely insane, and this was going into my petition.
She was loud, an almost arsonist, and a drunk. A whole package deal. Her being gorgeous could really deceive a person. Brooke tapped her fingers against the door so quickly I almost didn’t recognize it.
Asshole ? Who is she calling asshole, and how does s he know Morse code?
“ Ugh !” she yelled as she continued tapping on the door, venting out her frustrations silently in Morse . Idiot , she said through her tapping, and when that wasn’t enough, she kicked the door with her bare foot and winced as she bent down to soothe the ache.
“ Brooke ,” I called out, and she stood up straight, dropping the items in her hands as she pretended to be sober.
“ Asherrr ,” she said as she flipped her once-perfect-now-frizzy hair over her shoulder. “ What can I help you with?”
“ Shut it down; people are resting,” I told her as I opened my door again, and she made a strange sound. I stopped in my tracks and watched as she put her hands over her mouth. “ What is it?”
“ Hmm -hmm.” She shook her head, and I approached her, wanting to be entertained by whatever was on the tip of her tongue but that she wouldn’t say.
“ Brooke .”
“ Since you’re begging.” She removed her hands from her mouth and tilted her head up to stare at me defiantly. “ You’re hot.”
That was it?
She giggled as she stared at my torso, her hand hesitating to touch my body as she stared at my abs shamelessly.
“ Do you sleep naked?” she whispered when she finally found the courage to touch my abs. I had no idea what I was expecting, but her hands were warm.
“ How often do you work out? I bet it’s often because nobody can have such a sinful body for free.” She shook her head as she cupped my pecs and gasped before removing her hands and cupping her breasts. “ You could wear my bra.”
“ I doubt it,” I grunted, and she shook her head, bringing her warm hands back to my pecs, weighing them as if they were some foreign objects that she had never seen before.
“ No , I swear. We could be the same cup size!” she giggled excitedly as she left one hand on my chest and brought the other to her boob, bouncing them at the same time.
I had always taken pride in being fit and having a big chest; however, being told that we were the same cup size did a number on my ego.
“ Can I ask you a personal question?” she whispered, finally letting go of my chest.
“ I think you’ve already gone past the boundary of personal.”
“ Okay , when you’re having sex with a woman, would you let her suck your tits?” she stared at me, wide-eyed, as if she was really curious about the answer.
“ You’re the one with the tits, Brooke ,” I told her, and she shook her head.
“ It’s a given that I would let my partner suck my boobs.” I sucked in a breath when she cupped her breasts and pushed them together. “ But I want to know from a man—would you let your partner do the same?”
She pouted her lips, and I sighed, looking away. I should go back to my apartment.
“ If I was your partner, I would beg you to let me. No wonder why you always look so good in your shirts. I’m yet to see you in a dress shirt; I bet you drive the girls insane. Like James Bond , you know him?”
“ Personally ?”
“ Yeah ,” she nodded, seeming convinced that James Bond was a real person and not a fictional character. Just how drunk was she? “ Double O Seven .”
She gestured with her fingers, and it took all that was in me not to burst out laughing. Brooke had to leave alcohol alone after this.
“ Did you have a number? When you were in the Navy —did they refer to you as a number?” she asked as she danced to a tune in her head, and I smiled, crossing my arms over my chest.
“ I had a nickname,” I told her, and her light-brown eyes brightened with excitement.
“ Come on, don’t make me drag it out of you!”
“ Reaper ,” I said. Her mouth dropped into a small o.
“ That is such a cool nickname!” Not with the reputation attached to it. It was a horrible name. “ I bet you were a bad ass!” She punched the air, making some weird fighting sounds. “ You would get along with my brother!”
“ You have a brother?”
“ Hmm . A Marine , he is so cool.” She seemed very fond of her brother.
“ Is he the one that taught you the Morse code?” I asked her, and she nodded excitedly.
“ Yeah , even though it’s not so secret,” she rolled her eyes. “ I know the Navajo language,” she whispered, and I nodded, impressed. “ Yá’át’ééh .”
“ Níl????h dóó níyéé?. T’áá hwiihgo ádíí?ká.” She widened her eyes and sighed frustratedly.
“ I only know how to say ‘hello.’” I let out a small laugh, and she clicked her tongue. “ What did you say?”
“ Go to bed, Brooke .” She released a long breath and looked at her items on the floor. “ Did you have a good night out?”
What was I still doing out here?
“ It was good, until I was rejected by my crush of three years because he has a crush on my best friend, and I had to sit there and tell him everything he had to know about going after her. Stupid me even called myself his wing-woman; I must be the world’s biggest idiot.”
“ Uhm .”
“ Not only that, I even put make up on and straightened my hair for him. Asher , I really thought he was going to ask me out because he held my hand like this.” She grabbed my hand and rubbed her thumb over my knuckles. “ And then he stared into my eyes.”
I see why she might’ve misunderstood his intentions.
“ Oh , your eyes are a lot darker than his,” she commented, letting go of my hands and sitting down by the door. “ I really liked him.”
“ Did you ever let him know?” I asked her, and she sighed as she played with her thumbs. She was going to fall asleep.
“ I gave him hints,” she mumbled, and I smirked as I crouched down to her level.
“ As strong as your flirting from earlier on?” I teased her, hoping that would somehow let her forget about her failed crush.
“ I’m not always drunk,” she spoke softly as she pressed her head against the door.
“ Why does it bother you that he doesn’t like you?” I asked her, and she took a deep breath in as I got up from my position and picked up her stuff from the floor, fishing for her keys in her bag, but I couldn’t find them, and she wasn’t holding them, either.
“ Because I thought he was the one.”
“ The fuck?” I blurted out as I tried to push her door open, but it was locked. “ Brooke , where are your keys?” I asked her, and when I turned away from her door, I noticed her slumping by mine.
“ Come on,” I sighed as I noticed her even breathing. Annoyed , but also amused that she had passed out, I walked over to her and picked her up, throwing her over my shoulder as I pushed my door open.
Why must I always be the one to help this girl, this foolish girl?