Page 9 of Asher
I needed to stop this.
I needed to stop before we went too far. Before we crossed a line that couldn’t be uncrossed. I shook my head and jumped back. Her brows tugged together in confusion and hurt cut through her drunken haze.
“What’s wrong?” Her words slurred together as she pushed up onto her elbows. My mouth watered as her tits pressed together deliciously.
Fuck, I wanted to lick those.
Glassy eyes stared up at me mixed with heat and hope, but a sharp reminder of how much we both had to drink.
And that.
That was what was wrong.
I sighed, squeezing the back of my neck. Haley wasn’t a drunken hookup. I wanted more. I wanted all of her. I stuck both hands into the pockets of my disheveled suit. “I can’t.” I dropped my chin and turned, heading up the stairs before I changed my mind and drug her with me.
Yanking off my jacket and tie, I fumbled to unfasten the top two buttons on my shirt. My hands shook uncontrollably and not from the alcohol.
Pacing my room, I pressed on my chest to stop the panic from rising. I should’ve explained.Fuck.I just walked away without an explanation. She’s going to fucking chop off my balls. Fucking idiot.
This was Haley.
My Haley. Mine. We could talk about what I was feeling, and she would understand, right? She wouldn’t take off running if I told her how much I wanted her.
And that I wanted her for more than just tonight.
As fast as I booked it up the stairs, I made my way back down. The sight of Haley sound asleep on my couch did nothing to ease the knot that had formed in my stomach.
She should be in bed with me. I should’ve taken her upstairs.
I should’ve kissed her until the sun rose.
I should’ve told her how I felt.
“That was a mistake.” I mumbled, berating myself for leaving her. Grabbing a blanket out of the closet, I gently laid it over her sleeping figure. I stood and watched her for a few minutes, before clenching my jaw and making my way back up the stairs, already forming a plan for how to apologize and explain in the morning.
She may not love me the same way I love her yet, but hopefully one day she would.
CHAPTER THREE
HALEY
“Honey, I’m home!”I yelled into the quiet house. Too fucking quiet for my nephews, which was never a good sign. A yellow blur shot across the entryway, making me duck. Before I could figure out what was happening, a second yellow blur shot at me, sticking to the middle of my forehead.
Reaching up, I grabbed the nerf bullet and pulled it from my skin.
My sister-in-law, Holly, stood in the kitchen doorway laughing and wiping her flour-covered hands on a dishtowel. A blue and white checkered apron tied around her waist made her look like a modern-day Betty Crocker. “I told you buying those from nerf guns for their birthday was a terrible decision.”
“No.” I shook my head, dropping the bullet on the hallway floor. “It was an awesome decision. The bad decision was me showing up here unarmed.” I crept down the hallway toward her, trying to keep an eye out for my nephews, who liked to participate in guerrilla warfare.
Maybe I should pick up some nerf guns for me and Nix to attack Asher with.
That’s if I could ever show my face there again.
I stood once I made it into the kitchen, where I no longer had to worry about being shot. “How are you doing, sis?” Holly asked as she pulled me in for a hug. She and my brother Braden had gotten married right out of high school. They were the perfect example of high school sweethearts. Both were ten years older than me and practically raised me after my dad bailed on us. I don’t remember his lazy ass, but I sure remembered my mom working three jobs just to keep us afloat.
Didn’t leave a lot of time for bonding.
Sometimes, Holly felt more like my mom than my own Mother.