Page 24 of The Penalty Shot (Totally Pucked 5)

Hot…hard muscles.

Crap.

“Woah, you okay?” Asher asks, reaching out to steady me. His big hands grab my arms, and I realize just how much bigger he is. It’s unnerving, my body’s reaction to him simply being so close.

“Y-yes, sorry. You scared me.”

He laughs, a deep and low rumble in his chest. “Sorry. Why are you awake?”

“Uh, I was actually feeling kind of restless. I was thinking of going for a swim. What about you?”

He shrugs. “I’m a night owl. Most of the time I’m up late drawing or reading, whatever I can do to get my mind to quiet.”

“Well then, do you want to, uh, join me?”Did I just say that?

Asher smiles wide. “Sure, let me grab a towel and some shorts.”

I honestly wasn’t expecting him to say yes, but then again, I’m surprised I even asked him at all. I’m not forward, and I don’t have wet dreams about men that I can never have. This new…me is as confusing as it is exhilarating.

I wait for him by the front door, shuffling from one foot to the other trying to get rid of my nervous energy. If this is going to work, if we are truly going to be roommates then I have to get it together. I live with this man.

All of these sexy dreams and constantly feeling on edge around him is not going to work. I’m mentally giving myself a pep talk when he reappears from his room, a white towel in his hand and a pair of black drawstring swim shorts sitting low on his hips. I try not to look at the sharp dips at his waist, or the trail of hair that disappears into the waistband.

“After you, Killer.” He smirks, gesturing toward the hallway. I don’t bother saying anything about the silly nickname that seems to have stuck and because part of me likes that we share something secret.

Together, we walk to the elevator. I can feel the heat radiate from him as we walk, so close that our shoulders almost brush. Even though we walk in silence, it’s comfortable. Neither of us pressing the other to make conversation.

When we make it to the floor that the pool is on, Asher opens the door for me, and follows behind me to the pool.

For an apartment pool in downtown Chicago, it’s a decent-size, especially for swimming laps.

Before I can even set my towel down, I see his hit the ground by my feet and then a spray of water covers me, drenching me head to toe.

I sputter, wiping the water out of my face. When I glance up, he’s emerging from the water with a devious grin on his handsome face. So handsome that I’m sure he could get away with murder and no one would stop to question him.

“Asher!” I squeal, “I didn’t even set my towel down yet.”

He laughs, splashing me. “Gotta get you to open up some way, Killer. Tell you what, I’ll let you get me back.”

As if he wasn’t already wet and in the cool water. I toss my, now damp, towel down next to him and jump in after him. I do it quickly because I feel exposed in this bikini.

The second I hit the water, it’s like the tension of the night melts from my body, leaving me feeling lighter. I kick my way upwards and suck in a breath when I hit the surface.

“I’ve lived here for years and I’ve only been swimming here once. Tonight, with you,” Asher says, as he treads water a few feet from me. “So, Killer, I’ve got a proposition for you.”

“And what’s that?”

“A race. One side to the other, and the loser has to answer five questions of the loser’s choosing.”

I laugh. “Twenty questions, with a twist?”

He nods, so close to me now that I can see the beads of water as they slide down his sculpted face. It feels dangerous. Being this close to him, all alone in the water.

“Yep. Why not? We’re roommates now, and I don’t know much about you. I want to change that,” he says.

My stomach swirls, and I find myself nodding, agreeing to a race that I’m sure to lose.

We swim over to the shallow end, and he looks at me, ready to count down, when I scream, “Go!” and take off.

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