15. Asher
Asher
Sutton laughed, shaking her head beside me as I shifted to try and get comfortable on her small couch, actively working not to touch her. Because touching her got me hard and I’d already been jerking off more in the shower than I’d ever done before. I didn’t need more material.
“Okay, we need to stop.” Sutton yawned as she paused the show.
It had actually been pretty funny, and I enjoyed it.
But I enjoyed watching Sutton more. The way she laughed, the sounds she made, how she’d tap my arm and make sure I was paying attention when one of her favorite parts started.
We’d watched six episodes instead of three.
It was late and I should let her get to bed.
Except I didn’t want to.
Did I like her? Was that what was going on here?
I’d never liked someone like this. I’d never really understood those kinds of emotions, and now that I might be having them, I didn’t even know what to do with them.
“Can I sleep on your couch?” The words were out of my mouth before I’d really thought them through.
She looked over at me, surprised. “My couch?”
“It’s late.” Which it was, it was almost midnight, but that wasn’t late for me. I’d been a light sleeper since I learned my sperm donor drank well into the night and would come home looking for a fight.
“You want to sleep on this couch?” She looked it over and then did the same to me. It wasn’t sexual in any way and yet heat spread through my body.
“Yeah.” It would be a shit sleep, the couch didn’t even look like it would fit half of me, but no way in hell was I going to leave. I liked being around her.
“Okay,” she replied softly. “You can stay.”
In the morning, I held in my groan as I moved to stretch. I’d been right about not fitting on the couch, so once Sutton had left me with a pillow and some blankets, I settled on the floor.
I figured I would be fine. I was in good shape—a night on the floor wouldn’t be too bad. Except my back was screaming and my knee was sore from where I’d rammed it into the leg of the coffee table when I’d moved in the night trying to get comfortable.
“You okay down there?”
I pushed myself up, my legs stretched out in front of me as I rested my arm on the couch to see Sutton standing in the doorway, a mug in her hands and a smirk on her face.
I loved seeing her like this. She was wearing a light pink sweater and a pair of jeans, her hair piled on top of her head and her face free of any makeup, the freckles bright on her cheeks and nose.
She was so pretty it sometimes felt like my chest ached just from looking at her.
“Great. How long have you been up?” I’d heard her moving around about thirty minutes ago but I didn’t want to get in her way so I’d waited, giving her time.
She snorted but passed me the mug of coffee. “Not long. Sophie will be up soon and I need to get her over to Iris.”
“Would you mind if I hung out for a while before heading to work? My first meeting isn’t until nine thirty and I have a change of clothes at the office.”
She looked at me a little skeptically, probably because of how much I’d just said.
“Are you going to rob me?” I just blinked up at her and her serious face melted away to a snort.
“Yeah, there isn’t anything here to rob anyway.
You can stay longer; just leave my key with Iris.
” Sophie’s cry pulled her attention away and she turned, leaving me on the floor.
Two and a half hours later I was walking into the boardroom, having just changed in my office. The moment Sutton was gone, I’d called the plumber I’d found last night who, when he found out how much I was willing to pay in an emergency fee, showed up not long after.
I couldn’t leave without making sure it was fixed. It was the whole reason I’d asked to stay last night.
Okay. If I was being honest with myself, maybe not the whole reason, but I wasn’t dissecting that right now.
“You’re in late,” Oli commented as I took a seat, still one of the first to arrive. I didn’t bother replying as I looked through my emails.
“Shelly said he just came in wearing shorts,” Knight added as he walked in.
“Asher in shorts?” Noah gasped dramatically while I continued ignoring them.
“He wasn’t at the gym.” Jaxson came in next, slipping into a chair. “What are we even doing here?”
“I just need sign-off on the rooms for the resort,” Oli said as Will came in last and shut the door.
“Does no one care that Asher was in shorts this morning and didn’t go to the gym?”
“Seen him in them before.” Knight shook his head. “Let’s get this going.”
Thankfully that moved Noah off me and we all listened as Oli went over his plans to have twenty rooms. He gave us a quick review of his profit margins and other things he considered but I honestly didn’t care. We were going to sign off on whatever he decided so after a quick vote it was done.
“Actually,” Noah said just as I stood up, about to head to my office. “I have another matter for us to vote on. I want to add Sutton to the group chat.”
Everyone’s eyes moved to me as I looked at Noah.
“Quinn’s been bothering me about it for a week now,” Knight added.
“Do we need Quinn here for this?” Jaxson asked.
“I’m here.” Quinn’s voice came through Noah’s phone as he held it up.
“Why the fuck didn’t I get to call my fiancée,” Knight grumbled from his seat as Noah just grinned at him.
We took this very seriously. We’d voted to let Quinn in too.
“Alright, well, I’ll kick us off with a yes to adding Sutton,” Noah started. Everyone else followed, saying the same thing, including Quinn. I was last and everyone was watching me.
Finally, I nodded. “But I get to add her.” Guess my chats were going to be unmuted because there was no way I would miss her reactions to being a part of it. I still wouldn’t reply though, unlike Knight who suddenly became much chattier when Quinn got in there.
“You have two weeks before we do it for you,” Quinn quickly said.
“Great, it’s settled.” Noah nodded. “Thanks, Q!”
Everyone called out their goodbyes as he hung up.
“Any other votes needed this morning?” Knight asked as he pushed to stand, and when no one said anything he nodded and turned to leave. “I’m heading out.”
“Where?” Jaxson looked over at him.
“Getting a tattoo.”
“In the middle of the day?” Noah questioned but Knight didn’t even respond. We owned the business, it wasn’t like any of us tracked each other, he was just being a shit.
“Bet he’s getting a tattoo for Quinn,” Will said.
“Shocked he hasn’t already,” Oli added with a nod.
I followed Knight out so I could get some work done.
Later that night I knocked on their door. I had the code but since it was after eight, I didn’t want to just walk in.
“Ash?” Knight asked as he pulled the door open.
Thor was standing at his side and let out a happy bark at seeing me but didn’t pounce.
We’d worked on that while they’d been gone.
“Friend.” Knight released Thor from his side so he could come toward me, barking and spinning in a circle as I leaned over to pet him.
I hadn’t let Knight and Quinn know I was coming, and I could tell he was surprised.
“Theo?” Quinn’s voice got louder as she got closer to the door.
As she came into view I blurted out, “I bought a house.”
“You what?” Quinn stood beside Knight as I ran a hand over my head.
“The house down the street.”
“Why are we having this conversation in the doorway?” Quinn looked startled as she stepped to the side, dragging Knight with her.
We made our way into the living room, Knight moving to the bar cart without me having to ask. Once the drink was in my hand, Knight sat on the armrest of the chair where Quinn had sat down, one arm going behind her as her free hand went to his thigh.
“Okay, let’s start again. What are you doing here, Ash? You bought a house?” Quinn watched me closely.
“I saw the one down the street was for sale while I was staying here. I bought it that weekend. Had Noah rush some renovations, and now it’s done. I can move in.”
“Okay…” Quinn looked up at Knight then back to me. “I’m thrilled that you’re going to be living so close. But what else is going on, Ash?”
I let out a sigh and ran my hand over my head again. Quinn might as well be my sister. She knew I wouldn’t just show up. I didn’t do this. “I don’t know what’s going on with me.”
Knight’s brows furrowed. “What’s going on? Do you need to see a doctor?”
Quinn rolled her eyes and squeezed his thigh. “He’s having feelings. It’s fine. Keep talking.”
“It’s not feelings,” I grumbled as I took a sip of my drink.
“At first, I just wanted to figure Sutton out. Then I did that—I learned she has a kid. That explained why she was so tired. I helped her, got her somewhere stable. So why the fuck does my chest hurt every single fucking time she looks at me or touches my arm or calls me?”
Quinn sat there for a moment, letting it settle. But then she just continued to smile at me. I had no fucking clue why. I needed advice or help or something. “You like her.”
I shook my head. “That’s not what this is. I don’t like people, aside from you and the other men of course.”
“Ash…” she pushed.
“Fine,” I ground out. “I like her, everything about her apparently. I like how she carries herself, I like how she treats me and the people around her. I like how she’s the prettiest person I’ve ever seen.
And everything is making me think of her.
I see anything that’s fucking pink and boom, Sutton is on my mind because she told me it’s her favorite color and she wears it often.
” I pushed up from my chair. I didn’t know what had gotten into me tonight.
I’d been sitting in my apartment, having just finished a Facetime with Sutton and Sophie, with this tension in my body.
I’d needed to get out, so I thought I’d go look at the constellations in my yard, but instead I’d ended up here. “What am I supposed to do about that?”
“This is a big step for you, Ash, but based on what I’ve seen, she might be more cautious about letting people in than you, and she has Sophie to think about. She said she wanted to be your friend, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, Ash…I think you have to keep being her friend.”
“Friends.” I nodded. I could be her friend. I was already her friend. “I can do that.” Both Quinn and Knight were watching me, smiling.
Being friends with Sutton Bennett wasn’t a bad place to be. Especially if I got her smiles and laughs. I was in no rush; we could take this at whatever pace she needed.