But that actually solved nothing. He strolled to his side of the room, which I was now turned toward.
And then he dropped his towel.
On purpose.
“You been asleep long?” he asked in a conversational manner as if nothing earth-shattering at all was happening. Glancing my way as he dug a pair of his own flannel pants from his duffle bag, he lifted his eyebrows curiously.
“Uh...” My eyes refused to blink as I watched him tug the pants up his legs without putting on any underwear first.
Oh, Christ. Did he always crawl into bed commando? This was not something I should know. Technically, I wasn’t supposed to know how well hung he was either. But, wow, was he ever. How could such a slim guy be so thick where it mattered most?
Licking my lips, I had to turn away and roll onto my other side as he pulled back his sheets and crawled into his bed.
“Not long,” I finally answered once I was facing away from him.
Not long? Whatever! That was probably one of the longest dicks I’d ever seen. And the girth. Hot damn, it’d take more than one hand for me to wrap my fingers all the way around it.
“Oh, good. Hey, you mind if I turn on my light until I settle down for the night?”
“Knock yourself out,” I grumbled. I certainly wasn’t going to be getting back to sleep any time soon. Too many well-hung dicks floated around the insides of my eyelids every time I tried to close them.
“Thanks.”
I heard shuffling and the sound of paper crinkling, but I refused to look. Not until a certain scent caught my nose, anyway.
“Ugh. What is that gawd-awful smell?” I demanded, rolling back to face him again.
Sitting upright in his bed and bare-chested with his back propped by both of his pillows and his legs stretched out on top of the sheets, he poured a handful of treats into his palm, then popped them into his mouth.
“Corn nuts,” he announced, holding them up for me to see. “Ranch flavored. I saw them in the vending machine in the hall and couldn’t resist. This shit and orange-flavored Tic Tacs are my vice.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Well, I hope to God you bought some of the Tic Tacs too. I bet your breath reeks to high heaven.”
Completely unoffended, Asher laughed. “Whatever, asshole. I was going to ask if you wanted some.”
I immediately held out my hand over the space between our beds. “Hell, yes, I want some. If I’m going to be forced to smell them all night, I may as well eat ’em, too.”
With another chuckle, Asher leaned out to pour a healthy amount into my hand. “You really are funny as shit, Sticks.”
“Yeah, I’m a regular comedian. Don’t be stingy now.”
He wasn’t, which surprised me. He was probably too generous, actually, with something he admitted was his favorite snack, because the mound in my palm grew so tall a couple kernels tumbled off the side and fell onto the carpet.
“Oh, shit.” I let out a cry of dismay. “Corn nut down.”
“Five second rule,” Asher called and dove off the side of his bed.
“Hey, those are my nuts.” Indignant, I jumped off my mattress after him. Shoulder checking him out of my way, I snatched up the three nuts on the floor and shoved them into my mouth.
Then while I was still chewing, I yelled, “Ha!” right in his face, probably fumigating him with my ranch-flavored breath.
Not my most attractive moment, but he thought I was a guy, so...who cared? I’d beaten him to the corn nuts. Boo-yah!
“Fucker.” He jabbed his fist into my calf and I gasped more in surprise than from pain.
Damn, I was really going to have to get used to this guy camaraderie thing of beating the shit out of each other.
“Ow.” Scowling at him, I rubbed the sore spot, even though I was reassured in the fact that yeah, he definitely thought I was male. No way could I picture him doing that to a girl.
I kind of liked it, even though it stung like a son of a bitch. At least I knew he was completely okay with me and relaxed enough to be himself and fool around.
I was seeing the true Asher Hart, his guard completely down.
He narrowed his eyes at me, his sexy lips twitching with mischief. “Watching you eat those makes me wonder exactly what’s happened on this floor. You’re eating all that, you know.”
I paused chewing, then shrugged. And swallowed. It was such a guy thing to do, I was proud of myself, even though I made a mental note to gargle three times as long in the morning and brush twice.
Grumbling aloud, Asher crawled back onto his bed and picked up a notebook he’d been writing in.
“You’re always writing in that thing,” I said, more than curious what he was scrawling away so madly about.
“Hmm? Oh, it’s just lyrics,” he murmured in his distracted, concentrating-hard-on-something-else voice. “I pretty much always have to write something before I go to bed each night, otherwise I can never get to sleep with my brain constantly running.”
“No fucking shit?” I said in surprise, feeling more connected to him than I knew I should. “I do that too.”
He glanced over, surprise making his eyebrows lift. “Really?”
To prove it, I leaned off the other side of the bed where my luggage was and unzipped it before tugging out my notebook. I waved it at him before fluttering the pages open to show him it was three-fourths full.
“No way,” he murmured, reaching out as if he just expected me to hand it over.
With a scowl, I slapped it back to my chest. “I don’t think so, Scooter.” I’d learned the hard way to never show my lyrics to another living soul. After Fisher had stolen my lines and used them to make Fish ’N’ Dicks’s one and only hit song, I was never going down that road again.
But Asher blinked at me as if I was insane.
So I cleared my throat. “I just...they’re all awful. So there’s no point in wasting your time even looking at them.”
“Whatever, man. I’ll be the judge of that. Besides, ninety percent of mine suck ass too. Now...gimme.”
When I merely shook my head stubbornly, he sent me a sexy grin. “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.”
I snorted. “Honey, I just saw yours and let me say...holy fucking wow. You win.”
Asher’s mouth fell open before he shook his head and murmured. “I can’t believe you just admitted that to me.”
I shrugged. “What? That you’re bigger? You’re the one who had no qualms of flashing your junk at me. So I’m just saying that was one impressive cock. Seriously, you should be proud of that monster. I mean, the first moment you came out of the bathroom, swinging it around, I just wanted to...you know, suck on it.”
When I wrapped my hands around air as if gripping a ginormous invisible penis, I realized what I was doing and what I’d just said. “I mean...” Oh holy hell, that had to be going too far, even for a gay guy.
I gaped at Asher, bracing for him to kick my ass or throw me out of our hotel room, or something, but he only threw back his head and laughed. “Holy shit, you are so fucking funny. That has to be the gayest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
Gulping, I cringed backward. “Yeah, sorry.”
“Meh, don’t worry about it.” Still laughing, he wiped tears from his eyes. “But, wow, you are definitely one hundred percent gay, aren’t you? I mean, you really prefer guys.”
“Um...yeah,” I drew out the word as if that shouldn’t be so hard to believe.
He shook his head. “That’s just so strange. You don’t even like boobs? I mean...boobs, man.” He feigned squeezing a pair. “They’re just so...” He made a hungry sound in his throat. “Breastly.”
I shrugged. “Eh.”
Still with the head-shaking, he studied me as if I was some odd, unnatural specimen. “Okay, fine. What about pussies then? Seriously, no way can you have a dick and turn your nose up at one of them. They’re all wet and warm and tight. They were freaking made to hold a cock, and they feel like heaven when
you slide into one. And the flavor. Have you ever even tasted a pussy?”
I wrinkled my nose. “Eww. No.”
He lifted his hands. “Well, there’s your problem. You have no idea what you’re missing.”
Narrowing my eyes, I said, “Are you trying to turn me hetero?”
“No.” Then he laughed as if laughing at himself. “Well, I didn’t think I was. I was just trying to figure out what you didn’t like about women. They’re freaking perfect, all soft and feminine and good-smelling.” He sucked in a breath and closed his eyes. “There’s nothing like sinking into one while you’re sucking a nipple into your mouth. And then warm, smooth legs go and wrap around your waist until she’s digging the heels of her feet into your ass. It’s just...nirvana.”
Heat traveled up my thighs until my pussy was so wet and aching I had to squeeze my legs together under my covers.
Asher opened his lashes and glanced at me from glossy, lust-covered green eyes, letting me know the vision he described affected him as much as it had affected me. I wondered how big his monster cock was now, and how it’d feel if he was on top of me, sliding it deep between my legs as he sucked on my nipples.
Dios.
I shuddered, noticing he was doing the same thing.
“Sorry, I just...love women,” he murmured before glancing away as if suddenly uncomfortable.
Which made me think of the stench of perfume that had clung to him when he’d entered the hotel room only half an hour ago.
My lust soured, then died completely.
“Yeah, I can tell,” I muttered. When he glanced at me with a confused frown, I said, “You smelled like a dozen whores when you came in. I’d have hopped into the shower first thing to wash off all that reek too if I’d been you.”
Chuckling, Asher didn’t take offense. He merely shook his head. “That actually came from only the one woman. The blonde. Monique.”
I snorted, wishing Monique an awful untimely death. “Well, Monique has quite a habit of rubbing her perfume off on other people.”
Asher rolled his eyes and muttered, “You’re telling me.”
My mouth fell open as I stared at him. Finally, I said, “Oh, I’m sorry, man. Did Monique not do it for you in the bedroom?” The skank’s pussy had probably been so well-used it hadn’t been nearly tight enough for him.
“Huh?” He glanced at me as if I was insane. Then he shook his head. “No. We didn’t have sex.”
“Uh-huh,” I mumbled, not buying it.
He scowled. “I’m serious.”
I rolled my eyes. “So... What, then? You just smell like her because—”
“Because she wouldn’t stop rubbing against me like some kind of cat in heat,” he snapped, glowering hard.
“Right. So you’re saying you love everything there is about women but when one rubs against you like a cat in heat, you don’t take her up on the offer? Gally certainly would.”
“Do I fucking look like Gally?”
When I realized just how pissed and irritated he was with this line of questioning, I blinked and pulled back, amazed. “You’re really serious, aren’t you? You didn’t screw her.”
“No, I did not.”
My breath caught in my throat, and hope flared in my chest. “Why not?”
“Because...” He seemed too flabbergasted to continue.
Unable to let this drop because I was dying of curiosity, I pressed, “Because...?”
“I was tempted, sure,” he relented on a shrug. “Feels like it’s been forever, and I’ve been craving sex like you wouldn’t believe lately, but...”
No way could I drop this issue, so I said, “But what?” Then it hit me. Oh dear Lord. “You have an STD, don’t you?”
“Jesus. No!” He sent me a dark look, then pointed threateningly. “Okay, fine, I’ll talk, but if you ever repeat anything I’m about to say to Gally or Holden, I will kick your ass to Ellamore and back. Got it?”
I sniffed out a laugh. “What do I look like? Some kind of gossiping girl desperate to tell everyone else your personal business? Please.”
His shoulders relaxed before he rolled his eyes toward the ceiling and reluctantly admitted, “It’s just...I’m not really a fan of one-night-stands.”
My mouth fell open. Leaning his way, I cupped my hand around my ear and said, “Say again?”
He narrowed his eyes. “Laugh it up, fucker. It’s just not my thing. Okay?”
I lifted both hands. “Trust me, I’m not laughing. I’m just shocked is all.” And really impressed.
He glanced away, looking humiliated. “Pathetic, isn’t it?”
“I didn’t say it was pathetic either. It’s just...unusual for a guy in your position.” A very good, amazing unusual. “Which makes me extremely curious as to...why?”
He sighed and rolled his gaze to the ceiling. “I knew you were going to ask that.”
“Well?” I lifted my eyebrows, letting him know I still wanted the answer regardless. “For someone who loves women so much and is craving sex...” I started.
“I do love women,” he insisted. “I just want one to want me instead of...” He rolled his eyes. “Asher Hart.”
I opened my mouth to respond, but nothing came. After a second, I said, “Aren’t you Asher Hart, though?”
He growled and frowned at me. “Yes, but...Christ, I don’t even know how to explain it.” When he grabbed his hair in supreme frustration, I took pity on him and decided to stop playing dumb.
“You want someone who appreciates the man within, not just a groupie wanting to score with the lead singer of a band.”
Dropping his hands from his hair, he gazed at me as if he’d just discovered a kindred soul. “Yeah,” he murmured. “Exactly.”
I nodded, letting him know I understood. “So you don’t just want a physical connection. You want something...deeper.”
He looked down at his hands. “Oh, trust me. I love the physical connection. And I’ve done the one-night-stand thing because it seems to be the only thing women want from me. It’s just...I don’t know. All my friends at Forbidden have these incredible women that they’re all devoted to and completely crazy about. And when I watch them together, it just looks so...”
“Nice?”
He blew out a breath and glanced at me. “Makes me wonder what a real relationship would be like.”
That confession had me blinking. “What? You’ve never been in one?”
He shook his head. “No. You?”
My lips quirked. “With a woman? No.”
Snorting out an amused sound, he muttered, “With a guy, then?”
“Well...sure. A couple times. I mean, not tons but...three or four meaningful enough ones.”
Focusing on me as if he’d just discovered I knew the secret meaning of life, he asked, “What’re they like?”
I crinkled my brow. “Relationships?”
“Yeah.”
Blowing out a breath, I ran my hands through my hair, startled when my fingers met the short fake tendrils of my wig. For a minute there, I’d forgotten I was Sticks, the guy drummer. I’d just been Remy...talking to Asher.
“It’s...” Mentally reminding myself I was a guy here, I tried to think up a male way to describe it, but a second later, I just blurted out, “At first, it’s nerve-wracking as hell. You’re always afraid to show your true self. You just want them to see what you think they’ll like, so you’re always on edge, hoping to impress him and trying to figure out if you even like him in return. Even though it’s kind of thrilling and exciting too. But then...then something finally clicks, and you realize you have this...thing...this amazing thing in common with each other that you don’t really have in common with anyone else. Pretty soon, you’re opening up more of yourself and discovering that more parts click, and before you know it, life is amazing and you’re thinking about them night and day. You can’t wait to see them again, and you love everything about everything.”
Asher cracked a dreamy grin as if he
were imagining what I described, and he liked the visions it produced. “Really?”
I nodded. “And then he turns into a fucking lying bastard who rips your heart out, shatters your trust and leaves you a bitter hardened bitch of a human being.”
He blinked and pulled back. “Wow. Uh, I was not expecting you to end that way.”
“Well...” I shrugged. “It’s not happily ever after for everyone.”
He studied me a moment before murmuring, “What did the bastard do to you?”
I shrugged and began to play with the sheets that had bunched down to my lap. “He just...I mean, besides making me come to feel as if he was doing me a grand favor by being with me, he cheated on me with every woman who’d take him on and—”
“He slept with other women?” Asher tipped his head to the side in confusion.
Shit, I’d forgotten the gay thing again. Grr. Clearing my throat, I mumbled, “Yeah, he, uh, he’s bi.” And strangely, that lie felt really good to spew. Fisher would hate being called bi. Ha!
Nodding as if understanding, Asher winced in sympathy. “Well, that had to suck. What else were you going to say he did?”
“Oh. He, uh…I wrote him a couple songs and...he stole them, sang them in his band and claimed they were his own.”
“Shit,” Asher murmured, compassionately. “No wonder why you didn’t want me looking at your notebook.”
I shrugged and held up the pages of lyrics I’d created. “Sorry, I wasn’t accusing you of being a plagiarist. I just...you know what? I know you’re not like him. Here.”
I tossed the notebook across the beds and into his lap. He picked it up, hesitation glimmering in his green eyes. “Are you sure? I totally respect your privacy, man. And I get why you’re—”
“Just read,” I mumbled. “If you even think about stealing any of my lines, I’ll just cut off that huge cock of yours and force-feed it to Gally.”
He laughed. “Fair enough.” Before opening the pages though, he tossed me his booklet.
A knot formed in my throat at his return trust in me. When he flipped open my notebook, I did the same to his.