It’s strange to compare the two of them.
Hell, everything about my life is strange since I came to Serenity Falls.
Especially when it comes to the four guys who live in this house, and Lord, do not even get me started on Dante.
None of it makes sense.
Way to distract yourself from the fear, Briar. Focus on the penis parade. That always works.
I shake my head, but thinking about the boy situation in my life is a lot more manageable than trying to work out if I recognize the voice from earlier. A shiver runs down my spine at the thought and I wriggle in the bed as if trying to expel it.
Yep, focusing on my boy dilemma is definitely the easiest thing to occupy my brain right now. Except, I don’t know that I even have a dilemma as such.
I mean, yes, I fucked Travis and now he hates me, and also, he’s my stepbrother.
Cole kissed me, but he told me to stay away from him after finding out who I was.
Sawyer… well, he acts like he’s my boyfriend, but we’ve said exactly zero aboutwhatwe are, and Asher, he calls me his—to be fair they both call me theirs—but beyond that, he hasn’t pushed for anything.
Hell, he hasn’t so much as tried to kiss me.
Yet, he fought Sawyer for me to stay in his bed tonight.
See? Confusing. And a much better way to distract my brain than any other in existence.
“You look like you’re concentrating pretty hard.” Asher chuckles as he crosses the room with a towel wrapped around his waist.
Holy freaking libido, down girl.
Watching water drip from his dark blond hair and down his painted skin is enough to make my mouth dry.
He turns and catches me basically devouring him with my eyes and smirks. “Like what you see, Beautiful?”
I try to swallow, to find my voice, while nodding. “I mean, what isn’t to like? You’re carved like a freaking painted Adonis, plus you have that whole geeky vibe thing going too. You’re like tacos and margaritas… a girl’s wet dream.”
He barks out a laugh at the ridiculousness that falls from my lips, but not one word of it was a lie. I didn’t think guys like him and Sawyer existed outside of the pages of my books.
“Well I’m glad you like what you see,” he says with a wink. “But shouldn’t you be sleeping already?”
I sit up in the bed, wincing a little when I put pressure on my ankle. “Can’t sleep, my mind is too loud.”
He roots around in his dresser before pulling on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. Opening his bedroom door, he whistles and I hear the thuds as the dogs rush up the stairs. “Let’s see if I can help with that.”
The puppies storm the room and jump up onto the bed with us, and I let out a squeak as Shadow basically attacks me, licking my face.
“Calm,” Asher commands, and the puppies dial back their excitement instantly. He points to the end of the bed and they move to the end and curl up in the most adorable puppy pile.
Seconds later, he climbs into the bed and drags me toward him. “Lie down, Briar.”
I curl up into his side, my head resting on his chest while his fingers play with the strands of my drying hair. I feel movement at the end of the bed so I lift my head, smiling when I see Shadow moving to curl in the crook of my knees.
Such a cutie.
“You know,” he starts, the murmur of his voice rumbling in his chest. I lay my head back down and my eyes flutter closed as he goes on to tell me a story of his and Sawyer’s first-ever sailing lesson. Before I realize it, a smile plays on my lips as I drift off to sleep. His voice is no more than a whisper when he kisses the top of my head. “Sweet dreams, Beautiful. Don’t get ideas of going anywhere, I could get used to this.”
CHAPTERSIXTEEN
Ifling the door to the dorm open as dramatically as I can manage before sauntering into the room. “Hello, friend, it is the return of I, the great conductor of the hot mess express. Destination: insanity.”