Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 89535 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 448(@200wpm)___ 358(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89535 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 448(@200wpm)___ 358(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
“That’s it? ‘Okay’?”
She pats the bed beside her, and I shake my head.
“No way in hell am I sitting on those sheets after what I saw.”
“Fine. But I wouldn’t sit on the couch downstairs either. Or that bookshelf.”
“Bookshelf? How in the—you know what, I don’t want to know. Desk chair?”
“Questionable, but not recently.”
“Floor it is.”
She waits until I’m settled, then turns an uncharacteristically serious look on me. “I know I joked about not falling for him, but can I ask why it’s a bad thing?”
“It’s Asher.” I give her a pointed look like duh, but the second the words are past my lips, I don’t even know what they mean. Asher is … well, before I really knew him, he was a flippant jerk who didn’t seem to have much time for anyone. Now … now I know how desperately he wants someone to see him. To connect with him.
“He’s a player.” Katey nods. “Got it.”
I want to dispute that because as far as I know since we’ve been sleeping together, he hasn’t once hooked up with anyone else. At least, not that he’s told me.
Would he tell me?
“It seems pretty simple to me,” she announces. “You guys are becoming too reliant on each other. You, what? Sleep, go to classes, do your hockey thing where Asher is, study with Asher, hook up with Asher … That’s bound to start feeling a bit relationshippy.”
“You think?”
“There’s a reason friends with benefits can start getting messy. One person confuses what’s happening with something else. You like the guy, and you’re friends, but that doesn’t mean you’re falling for him just because you’ve had his dick in your mouth.”
She’s right. It’s a proximity thing. It would happen with anyone. And if I’m honest, I really, really don’t want to feel this way. I’m scared if I do, it’ll complicate things and I’ll lose him.
For some reason, that thought is unbearable.
“So what do I do?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t really had to deal with all that.” She chews on her thumbnail. “If it’s because you guys hang out a lot, stop seeing him so much. Get a bit of distance. Or … when was the last time you hooked up with someone who wasn’t him?”
I try to think. “Over the summer sometime.”
“Maybe you need to fuck someone else for perspective?”
There isn’t a single cell in my body interested in that idea. In fact, the thought of some other guy sucking my dick makes it want to retract into my body. “No.”
“Did you ever message Tray back?”
“Double no. No Tray. No other guys.”
She looks at me like I have two heads. “Why?”
“Asher wouldn’t like that.” I wouldn’t either.
“Kole … are you two exclusive?”
I open my mouth to say no, but if he’s not sleeping with anyone else, and I’m not sleeping with anyone else … “Not officially.”
“Which means …?”
“We’ve never talked about it, but I’m pretty sure he hasn’t been with anyone else either.”
For some reason, that makes her laugh. “Oh, honey …”
I frown at the endearment because it always precedes something condescending. “What?”
“You want my brutally honest advice?”
“Always.”
“You’re both fucked.”
23
Asher
I get the distinct feeling that Kole is avoiding me. There’s a chance I’m reading into it, but I swear when I walk into the locker room every day, he’s rushing the other way. He doesn’t have time to study, which is fair because I have been taking up a lot of his energy just trying to understand the basics. He’s premed which would be intense, and he needs time to focus on his own studies.
But when a week goes by and I realize I haven’t even kissed him in that time, let alone had a chance to talk to him other than passing greetings, I begin to think it’s more than that.
I probably scared him off with all the sobbing. Tears are a sex repellent. This is why you should never show emotion.
I decide I’ll confront him about it and promise to never snot all over him again. We have an away game this weekend, and I was really looking forward to flipping our dynamic around. My ass is worried that’s not going to happen now.
After practice, I make sure to go slow in the shower and with getting dressed. Kole’s always the last one out because he has to make sure everything is in its place after the herd of unkempt cavemen have destroyed the locker room with jockstraps and towels left everywhere.
He has the worst job.
When it’s only him and me left, I stand and stalk toward him. He either pretends he doesn’t know I’m coming, or he’s really focused on throwing those towels in the laundry bins.
Damn his ass looks good in those jeans he’s wearing.
I wrap my arm around his middle and pull him against me. He stiffens for a brief second before melting into me.