Page 28 of Keeping Promises

“What? I want to say thank you. Plus, that looks a little painful.” I point down to the bulge in his pants. I imagine the skin pulled tight against the veins, the tip an angry shade of purple, needing its own release.

He closes his eyes, exhaling loudly, and pulls me off his lap. He’s shaking his head when I grip the bottom of my shirt. Well, this isn’t what I expected to happen.Hide the hurt, Hadley.It’s in the moment when I realize that I just dry humped the shit out of him, and never once did he kiss me.

“You don’t want me to?”

His eyes whip open, and he pinches my chin between his thumb and forefinger. “Oh, no. Don’t ever doubt that I don’t want you to get me off, because trust me, I fantasize about those lips wrapped around my cock often. I have no shame in admitting I’ve jerked off to those memories plenty.” I’m not sure if his confession should turn me on or freak me out. Either way, I’m clearly missing something if he’s stopping me from making that fantasy a reality again.

“I can’t say I would’ve turned you down had you just slipped it in. Not like I can get pregnant.” I laugh awkwardly at my joke; however, he doesn’t respond and just stares at me blankly. “Too soon?”

A small smile appears. “I don’t want you to think that I’m just in this for sex, Hadley. I meant what I said. I want to show you that I’m different, that we can be different. So tonight was all about you, my baby mama. Consider that my apology for any asinine thing I’ve done in the past.”

If that’s his way of apologizing, I think I’m okay with disagreements in the future. Baby mama—the nickname has my lips curving upward.

“So just ignore that”—he points down to his crotch—“and can I maybe just hold you tonight? Would that be okay? Is that too much?”

I’m speechless, unsure how to respond to that declaration, yet I am just as quickly nodding in response.

Asher leans back and extends his arm along the back of the couch, grabbing the blanket I had covered up with earlier while I reach for the remote and pick the pack of Twizzlers off the floor. I settle back into his nook and hand him the remote.

“You comfortable?” he asks, glancing down at me after draping the blanket across our laps. This seems so normal for us. Can it be as simple as this?

I nod as I pull two Twizzlers from the package, offering one to him, and take a small bite from mine.

“What are you in the mood for?”

“It doesn’t matter to me. I made Cal suffer through John Hughes movies earlier, so I’m content with whatever.” I can’t help but giggle each time that Cal whines when I know for a fact that Brynn forces him to watch chick flicks.

Asher messes with the TV, and I don’t even focus on what movie he puts on. I’m just trying to determine if I’ll fall asleep and wake up tomorrow and it’ll all be a dream. I relax against him, with my head resting against his chest. Maybe there is hope in this world after all.

I close my eyes for a moment and breathe him in—this time not getting caught—our chests rising and falling in unison when I feel his lips gently graze my hairline, and I think just maybe I could get used to this. But can he promise that he won’t hurt me, hurt us, in the long run? I push those thoughts to the side and decide to enjoy the moment, the right now. Everything else can wait until tomorrow.

We both must fall asleep at some point because the next thing I know, my alarm is going off, and I startle awake. Only Asher is not with me on the couch; I’m all alone with no sign of Asher anywhere. Had this all been a dream? Had I made it all up?

I stretch, bringing my feet to the floor before settling with my head in my hands. Wow, I played right into his act last night.

I gasp when a piece of paper catches my attention on the coffee table.

Hadley,

You looked so peaceful sleeping that I didn’t want to wake you, but I had to get home. I meant everything I said, so please stop freaking out when you wake up and see I’m gone.

I pinch my bottom lip between my thumb and forefinger knuckle, not able to hide my smile that he knew me well enough to know that I was definitely freaking out. I continue reading.

I’ll text you later today, and maybe we can hang out again.

-Asher

I run my fingers over his chicken-scratch handwriting before setting the paper back down. I can’t believe he left a note. That means that he made an effort to get up and look for paper and a pen to write the note.

I grab my phone and see the time. Oh shit, I need to get up now to make it to work on time.

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