Asher looks at me, playfulness in those gray depths. “Don’t catfish me, okay?”
My eyes almost bug out of my head, and my heart stops. “Huh?”
He laughs. “I’m kidding!”
I force a laugh. “Yeah, duh.” I squeeze my eyes shut as I lean my head on the back of the couch. I can’t do this anymore. I gotta go to bed to get away from him. I could just go home, but I don’t want him to suspect anything. “I’m tired.”
“Me too,” he says, shutting off the TV and then standing. “Aiden said the sheets are new, so we’ll be good.”
I open my eyes, staring at the ceiling. “I’ll sleep on the couch.”
“What? Why? There is plenty of room in that bed, and this couch is not comfortable. I’ve slept on it before.” He stands over me. “Don’t be a weirdo. Come on.”
I’m not trying to be a weirdo! I’m trying to resist you, you big lug! “You don’t think that’s weird?”
His brows touch. “Huh, what?”
“Us in the same bed.”
“No. Why would it be?”
Duh, Ally. He doesn’t want to bang you, remember? I get up and follow him into the bedroom while he shuts off the lights. As I crawl into bed, he kicks off his jeans, showing off some incredibly thick, hairy thighs. His T-shirt is long so I can’t see anything, but man, I wish I could. He climbs into bed and covers up as I cling to the edge so I don’t touch him. If I do, I cannot be responsible for my actions.
I know for a fact that I’ll hump every inch of him.
I let out a sigh, and he asks, “You okay?”
“I’m tired.”
“Oh, okay,” he says as he cuddles deeper in the bed. Each movement he makes shakes the whole bed, reminding me that he is very much beside me in his boxers. This isn’t new for me; I’ve shared a bed plenty of times and even a few nights beside him, but it was always with our parents in the house or our siblings or friends. Also, my feelings weren’t firing like crazy for him back then.
Back then, I didn’t know what I wanted in a guy. Now that I know, it’s a whole different story. I squeeze my eyes shut as I bury my face in my pillow. I’m forcing myself to ignore the man beside me and go to sleep.
Right before I drift off, the soft timbre of his voice runs down my spine. “Hey, Ally T?”
I swallow past the lump in my throat as my pussy clenches. “Yeah?”
“Break up with Taco.”
“Ash—”
“Hear me out,” he says, and I snap my mouth shut. “He isn’t good for you. You need someone who worships you. Who knows your worth and wants to make you smile. Who wouldn’t have given you a chance to leave the party without them knowing. Someone who gives you their full attention because they can’t think of anything but making sure you’re good. You need a man who sees you for you, not just how hot you are.”
His words surprise me, and I know I have to see his face. I turn to my stomach and prop myself up on my forearms as I look over at him. His eyes are shut, and he looks blissful and perfect. “Why does it bother you so much?”
His eyes open slowly, his gray gaze capturing mine in the dark. “Because it does.”
“Why? Why can’t I be with Taco? Why do you care?”
His eyes search mine. “Ally, that asshole doesn’t look at you and see your worth. He looks at you for ass and nothing else. He isn’t good for you. I want nothing more than for you to be completely and utterly happy.”
“What if I am happy?”
“You’re not,” he says simply. “I know you, just as you know me. I love you, and you deserve the world.”
I swallow as I turn my face back toward the wall, and I squeeze my eyes shut once more, holding back the tears. Everything he said could be true. Is true if I really accept it, but I allow myself to stay in this cycle with Taco, and it isn’t helping me grow. I know Taco is bad for me, and I know I shouldn’t be with him. I allow myself to be with him because I don’t want to feel what I feel for Asher. I don’t want to be a prisoner to my own feelings, and if I’m with someone else, I kind of convince myself I can get over him.
But then he says something like that, and it’s like being slapped in the face with my feelings.