Chapter 33 Asher Nash

I Swear We Sanitize

I’m not sure how those words slipped out, but they did.

I can’t stay away from you .

I’m fucking addicted to you .

Hell, I may as well have said I’m obsessed with you .

They’re all true statements, but it’s a little early to be saying any of them to her…mostly because it’s fucking scary as hell to admit.

It’s scary to feel the way I feel.

It’s not something I’ve ever felt before, so I’m not exactly sure what to do with it all. My instinct is to run, but when her bright green eyes fall on me, I feel instantly calm, like this is right.

But at the same time, she’s the one making me want to run. It doesn’t make any sense.

“You ready to head back out there?” I ask.

She lifts a shoulder lazily. “We probably should, but honestly, I don’t know if I’m physically capable of walking yet.”

“Because I just impaled you with my huge cock?”

She laughs. “Something like that. More that my legs are a little shaky from the back-to-back orgasms, but your huge cock had something to do with that.”

My mouth tips up in a half smile. “Can I get you anything?”

She shakes her head. “You head out. I’ll be right behind you. We shouldn’t walk in together anyway.”

“Good call.” I bend down to kiss her one last time, and then I sigh as my eyes meet hers. “Well, see you around.”

She nods as she averts her gaze to the floor, and it suddenly feels a little heavy in here. We’re at the precipice of whatever this is, and there’s nothing wrong with taking it slow and keeping quiet about it.

Though, to be fair, we’re not exactly taking it slow.

I carefully check out in the hallway and find that the coast is clear, so I bolt back to the ballroom. I’m not sure how long she sits in the meeting room, but my eyes keep edging to the door as I watch for her.

I’ve just finished a conversation with one of the SmartSports executives when my brother Grayson walks up to me and flicks my ear. “Nice suit, motherfucker.”

I glance down at the suit I chose for this event, a deep maroon and black camouflage pattern. “Thanks.” I know he’s teasing me, but I pretend he’s complimenting me. “How’s the cookie business?”

He and his wife opened a bakery earlier this year, and by all accounts, it’s thriving. “Oh, I’ve had my share of cookies today.” His wolfish grin makes me think he’s not talking about actual cookies, and I’m about to tell him I just snacked on my own sweet cookie when I realize I can’t even tell him.

I can’t tell any of my brothers. I can’t risk anyone in my family finding out and blowing my cover with Desiree’s father.

“What’s going on with you?” Grayson asks.

I can hardly admit the truth. “I need to get the hell out of that house with Dad.”

“Dude, come stay with Ava and me a while…if you don’t mind middle of the day cookie eating on my kitchen counter.” He shrugs and offers another of those wolfish grins.

I grimace. “Things you don’t need to know about your big brother,” I mutter, and he laughs.

“I’m mostly joking. We’re usually at the bakery in the middle of the day.”

I wrinkle my nose. “Do you fuck on the counters at the bakery?”

“Only after hours, and I swear we sanitize.” He shrugs.

“Remind me to go to that other bakery around the corner.”

He chuckles, and then he tilts his head at me. “You sure everything’s okay? It’s just Dad?”

I nod. “Just Dad. But you know how it is. In season, it’s hard finding a new place to live when you have so much other shit to focus on. So I’ll probably tough it out for now.”

“Yeah, but if it’s that bad…”

I nod. “I’ve gotten a hotel a few nights, to be honest.”

“So you’re covering his rent and paying for a hotel? Dude, that’s not right. What if the four of us chip in on new a place for him so you don’t feel like you need to take the brunt of it?” he suggests. “And I can take the lead on finding it since you three are busy.”

Relief filters through me. “You’d do that?”

He nods, and he mock slugs me in the shoulder again. “Of course I would, man. As long as you promise never to wear the purple velour tracksuit again.”

I twist my lips and shake my head. “Damn. We were so close to having a deal, but no can do, brochacho. It’s my favorite.”

He laughs, and that’s when I see a vision with red hair walk through the doorway.

She brushes right past me on her way to the bar without so much as a second glance, and it feels a little worse than it should.

But in twenty-four hours, she’ll be all mine.