I led the way down the hallway to my bedroom where the aforementioned picture frame was. Even though I moved every few months for work, I kept it with me and it was one of the first things I unpacked at each place. It reminded me of an easier time, when things were so much more straightforward and less complicated.
“Well, here we are,” I murmured as we stepped into the room I'd claimed as mine. “And there you go.” I gestured to the frame, in all its glittered glory, glitter accompanied by buttons and pennies we'd found the summer he made it. It was sitting atop the small dresser, along with a few other photos and some miscellaneous clutter. Asher made his way over to the dresser and bent at the waist to inspect the photo frame. I tried hard not to look at his ass. Unsuccessfully.
“Wow.” Asher sounded genuinely surprised as he inspected the photo of the two of us, arms around each other, hair and bodies dripping wet, the community pool in the background.
“What?”
He shrugged. “I don't know. Part of me wasn't convinced you still had it.”
I laughed a little. “Did you think I was lying?”
“No.” He straightened, cheeks coloring. “I mean, maybe a little.”
“Why?”
He shrugged and looked away, embarrassment on his face. “Sometimes it's hard to believe I'm as important to people as they are to me.”
My chest ached for him. I took a few steps closer and pulled him to me to wrap him in a big hug. “I’m sorry anyone has ever made you feel that way.”
He leaned into the hug and sighed softly. After a long embrace, he leaned back and looked at me. “Thanks. I don't think I knew how much I needed that.”
“Anytime,” I murmured, brushing a strand of hair away from his face with my fingertips. My breathing tightened as I looked at him, and the next thing I knew, I was leaning in and kissing him again. The moment our lips parted and our tongues met, a soft groan escaped from Asher, sending lightning coursing through my body.
As we kissed, Asher clung to me, his hands gripping my shirt and holding me to him, and my hands moving to cup his face on either side. My breathing became ragged as we kissed, and as the heat turned up between us, the kiss became more frantic.
My phone buzzed insistently, abruptly, between our bodies, tucked into my front jeans pocket. I didn't intend to answer, but as soon as the buzzing stopped, it started up again.
“It's probably spam,” Asher murmured into my mouth. “Let it go.” To emphasize his point, he moved one hand to my groin and cupped my cock, which was already hard and aching. I wanted desperately to rock my hips into his palm, to see just how far he wanted to take this.
“It's just me,” Kieran’s voice called, cutting through my fog of lust and startling me. As his footsteps approached, Asher backed away and straightened his shirt before running fingers through his dark hair.
Kieran stuck his head into the room. “Hey, sorry about the interruption. Just forgot my wallet.”
“I didn't even hear you come in,” I murmured.
He shrugged. “I tried calling to let you know. Twice.” After a glance between us, he smirked. “Maybe you were busy doingsomething else.” Asher’s cheeks reddened and he looked down, studying his feet, which only served to make Kieran chuckle. “You two have a good evening.” With that, he was gone and we were alone again.
“Where were we?” Asher murmured, stepping close to me.
My breath hitched as I pulled him against my body, hands on his hips, gripping the waistband of his jeans near his ass.
Asher’s phone rang.
“It’s probably spam,” I echoed with a smirk. “Let it go.”
He fished the phone out of his pocket and glanced at it. “It’s my mom. I should answer.”
I nodded. “You should.” With his parents on the other side of the world, I knew calling wasn’t an easy task. As he answered the phone, I did some mental math. It was probably two in the morning where they were. I hoped everything was okay.
“Hey, Mom,” he murmured, stepping out of the bedroom. “Is everything okay?”
I didn’t hear much of the rest of the conversation, Asher pacing the hallway and living room as he spoke, snippets of what he was saying drifting back to me. I sat on the edge of my bed and waited as he talked, thinking over the events of the past few days, worrying about Asher’s reaction to being with a man, how he’d feel when it really sank in, or if he decided to come out to friends or family. My stomach ached with anxiety and my shoulders tensed as I let the worries settle like a weighted blanket over me.
When Asher returned a few minutes later, he stopped in the doorway, leaning against the frame. He looked so kissable, so fuckable, it was all I could do not to go to him and drop to my knees.
“Everything good?”
He nodded, tucking the phone back into his pocket. “She just wanted to check in on my healing.”
