Chapter Seventeen
Asher
Friday afternoon came along, and I was feeling pretty damn good about myself.
It definitely had something to do with my last date with Franklin and Rory. I didn’t know what the hell inspired those guys to give me compliments like they had, but fuck!
Did that ever feel good.
It’s not like it was a total shock. Franklin and Rory saw that I was feeling something, and so they decided to try to help me out. It was totally in-character Franklin and Rory behavior, and I knew they would have done it for just about anyone.
I just happened to be the lucky guy getting their attention that night.
That wasn’t the only reason I was riding a high. I was about to spend the weekend building the display with Franklin and putting a solid few hundred bucks in my pocket, too. It was a far cry from the cash bundles I was pulling in LA, but it felt good to earn some money aboveboard.
And, of course, there was one other reason I was feeling myself that Friday afternoon. Lying on the bed and dripping sweat, I finally pulled my butt plug out, groaning when it slipped out of my grip.
“Oh fuck,” I moaned, rubbing my fingers against my abdomen and the sticky mess of cum I’d made. “Three in a row, hot damn.”
I hopped out of bed and immediately started revisiting my favorite fantasies, like the one where they took me up to their bedroom and had their way with me all night long. After shoving on a pair of jeans and zipping up my black hoodie, I bothered Lilith in the kitchen while I ate a couple peanut butter sandwiches, then drove across town to meet up with Daryl.
With the help of Franklin and Rory, I was starting to understand what real friendship looked like, and it was a hell of a lot different than the way Daryl treated me. Going back to him felt like going back to smoking cigarettes, a vice I should have learned to leave behind. But outside of Lilith, he was my only real link to my past, and I guess I was still scared to let that go.
Scared shitless, if I were honest with myself, that I might end up alone at the end of the day.
It was only six o’clock, but with fall on, it was already getting dark in Seattle. Daryl had texted me the address of another shitty bar on the edge of town, and I knew I was going to end up having to take the bus home again after drinking too much.
Why that asshole can’t just come chill at Lilith’s bar…
I pulled up to the place he was waiting, a little joint tucked behind a diner. Daryl was right by the front entrance to the bar smoking a cigarette, and I spun my car in an eight across the nearly empty lot, just to show him I still had it in me.
“What’s the draw this time?” I asked, gesturing at the run-down bar when I jumped out of the car. “This looks like someone tried to remodel an ancient Burger King.”
He tossed his cigarette on the ground, then blew smoke out the side of his mouth. “What? You want to go to some popular bar? Run into someone we grew up with?”
I held a finger in the air, then laughed.
“Guess not,” he answered, then pulled me into the bar.
A part of me had considered making an excuse that night, telling Daryl I was sick or something. I had new things going for me, after all, and Franklin said there might even be more work building displays with him, assuming things went right.
I wanted to stay on my game and keep focused on what I had here in Seattle. But even though Daryl was bad news, I also knew he’d be leaving back for California soon.
“You fuck me up, man,” I said, staring at him across our booth in the back of the bar after we got our pitcher. “But you’re my best friend, you know that?”
Daryl scoffed, then threw back his whiskey shot, washing it down with the amber beer. “Whatever, man.”
I was being way more sentimental than we ever acted. I couldn’t blame him for changing the subject. I guess I was just in a mood or something.
“You going to stay safe once you get back there?” I said. “Promise me you won’t work with Polly or Maxwell. And never get in a car that Emil is driving. Even if you’re just going to the store. He couldn’t drive his way out of a paper bag.”
Daryl laughed loudly, then took another pull from his beer. “You know there’s one way to make sure I never get in a car with anyone but you…”
I rolled my eyes. “That reminds me, though. Did I tell you I’m getting more work with Franklin?”
Daryl shrugged. “You’re really going straight? I’ve got guys in Seattle I can hook you up with.”
I gritted my teeth, annoyed that he was still sticking to the same routine. “Sure am.”
