“She said yes,” Wes says.
“She said yes to what?” Asher asks from the patio with a bottle of wine in hand.
“To being his girlfriend!” Dani squeals.
We walk past Asher and Erin on our way into the house, where we put away the food. Wes leans in for another kiss buthis phone starts to go off. I hear him sigh a few times on the line before saying, “I have to go pick up Jake, Sam, and Annica from a bar that’s like thirty minutes away. Jake is apparently so drunk that no Uber will take them.”
“Oh,” I say, not surprised. Jake can get that way. “I’ll take care of the blankets and the rest of the food.”
“I’ll be right back with the rest of our dumb friends,” he says, grabbing his keys. Asher walks into the kitchen as I grab the blankets from the floor.
“Girlfriend, huh?” he says, following me down the other end of the hall toward the laundry room.
“Yeah, I guess so.” I still can’t believe it either.
“Looks like we both got everything we wanted, then,” he says, but there’s an edge in his voice. I start the washing machine and walk back out to where he stands in the hall. “Miles is in jail, and you’re Wesley’s girlfriend.”
“We did,” I say, standing in front of him with my arms crossed. “And you got your precious resort.” He doesn’t say anything. “Is there a problem?”
“Not at all. I couldn’t wait for the whole thing to be over with.”
I scoff. “Good, because neither could I.”
“I hated every moment of it,” he says.
“And I hated you.” I didn’t. I didn’t hate him. I hated how frustrating and argumentative he could be. I hated how he’d leave me when I felt like I needed him. And I hated the way I wanted him despite it all.
His mouth twitches like he might laugh. “Is that so?” He takes a step toward me, and I step back. “Hateis a strong word.”
“Well, it’s true,” I say, though it’s not. “I hate you.”
When he steps to me again, my back hits the wall. Asher leans in. “Say it again,” he says. “Lie to me again.”
“I hate you,” I whisper.
He drags his thumb against my lip and down to my throat, before pulling me in and crashing his mouth into mine. And I don’t stop him, I don’t push him away. He picks me up, holding me against the wall of the dark hallway. I wrap my legs around him before he takes me into his room and shuts the door. He swipes everything off the dresser that he sets me on; whatever it is lands on the floor and shatters.
“Asher,” I breathe his name, but more so as a reprimand. He kisses me wildly, down my neck and my chest.
“It’s part of the remodel,” he mutters, ripping down the front of my dress, his mouth on mine again, our teeth and tongues clashing. But then he’s pulling me from the dresser, and I unbutton his pants, tugging them down along with his briefs. He’s trying to find a way to get the dress off, but it’s corseted in the back.
“Fuck it,” he says, turning me around to the wall and lifting the dress. His one hand snakes up the front of me and grasps at my chest as he pushes himself inside me, igniting a fire throughout my body. This time I can’t stop from crying out. He quickly brings his hand from my chest to my mouth to muffle the noise as he thrusts into me from behind, licking and biting at my neck, wild and uncaring. I’m grasping at anything, including the curtains over the window, which come down with a crash. I feel him start to rip at the corset in the back, desperately trying to get the dress off. He turns me around, pulling the dress down as I rip throughthe buttons on his shirt until we’re both standing there completely naked together for the first time.
I push him down to the bed and climb on top of him, like I had intended to do in Boston. I slide down onto him, savoring the sound he makes when I do. I rock my hips over his, and when he groans it sends chills down my spine. Asher flips me onto my back, putting a leg over his shoulder, and rubbing at the sensitive bundle of nerves at the apex of my thighs with his other hand.
“You’re mine,” he says, breathless. “You’re mine.”
“I’m yours,” I say without hesitation. In this moment I am his. Or perhaps I have been for a while now. His breathing becomes ragged in my ear and I know he’s close. “I’m yours,” I say again, my back arching and legs shaking as I tumble over the edge. And he thrusts hard a few more times as he finishes in me.
Asher remains on top of me while we catch our breath and the post-orgasm clarity rushes through us.
“Fuck,” he says, before getting off me and stepping off the bed. “Fuck.” He smacks the lamp right off the nightstand, causing me to flinch, and goes into his bathroom, shutting the door behind him.
I bring my knees to my chest, taking in the scene. The curtain rod is half on, tilting down with the curtain on the floor. The knickknacks from the dresser lay shattered on the floor. The lamp on the nightstand is now on the ground with the shade broken.
I get up, grabbing my dress from the floor before scurrying from his room and back to my own undetected. I shower and get into bed, letting silent tears fall down my cheeks over what I just did. What we just did. And whatever that means.
Chapter 30
