Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 72727 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 364(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72727 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 364(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
“No, I don’t have anywhere to be,” Daniel answered quickly. “I have dinner ready for you at home.”
Any attempt at curbing his anger was effectively halted by Daniel’s lie. He was standing in his apartment. There was no dinner. There was no Daniel. “Is that right?” he asked slowly, carefully, dangerously.
“Yes.” Daniel sounded out of breath, and Asher heard clanging noises. Lord knew what the man was bumping into this time. “Will you be home soon?”
“Are you leaving?” a male voice Asher didn’t recognize said to Daniel in the background. “But I thought you were going to….” The phone rubbed against something, blocking out the rest of the sound, but Asher had heard enough. Daniel was with another man.
He should have known better. Who picks up someone in Vegas for anything more than a quick fuck? Not that he’d gotten a fuck out of Daniel. Goddammit! Asher felt like a fool. With his pride wounded, his already bad mood escalated. He threw his phone across the room and stomped into the bedroom, tearing off his shirt and then yanking his belt and pants open.
This is why he didn’t bother with relationships. All the aggravation, all the effort, for what? To drain his balls? No need. Not for him. Some lucky bottom was going to have trouble sitting by the end of the night.
He was taking off his last sock when he heard the front door open.
“Ash?” Daniel’s surprised voice filtered in from the front room. “You’re home?”
He didn’t bother answering. It wasn’t like he was going to be home for long. He stripped off the last sock and tossed it into the laundry basket. He usually showered before going out, but it wasn’t necessary. In fact, shoving someone’s face into his sweaty balls and making him lick them clean would be a good start to his night out.
“What happened to your—” Daniel stopped talking, and Asher heard him gasp.
He turned around to see Daniel standing in the doorway, raking his gaze over Asher’s nude body. He was wearing mauve jeans, cut-off and cuffed just above the knee, a slim-fitting baseball T-shirt that looked like something he’d outgrown from his youth, pushed up past his elbows and hitting just above the waistline of his shorts. Although the clothes weren’t falling off Daniel’s body, which was a change, they still weren’t what anybody would consider fashionable. They were old and washed out and… fuck it all to hell, why was Asher getting turned on just looking at the man?
Hiding an erection while he was naked was impossible, so his desire had to be obvious to Daniel, which just pissed Asher off even more. He squinted his eyes and crossed his arms over his broad chest. “Nice of you to make it,” he said.
“Huh? I don’t—”
Asher managed to drag his gaze away from Daniel’s huge eyes and saw his phone in Daniel’s hands. “What’re you doing with my phone?” His nostrils flared as he stalked over to Daniel and ripped his phone out of the man’s hands. “I’m not the one hiding things! You have no right to go through my things.”
Goddammit! He closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath. That sounded like an accusation. Nobody made accusations unless they gave a shit, and he wasn’t going to give Daniel the satisfaction of knowing how much he’d gotten to him by lying, by not being home when Asher needed him.
“I didn’t… I wasn’t…,” Daniel stammered. “It was on the floor and I was putting the battery back in. I wasn’t snooping, honest.”
“Like that means anything coming from you,” Asher muttered under his breath. He put the phone down on his dresser and grasped the edges of the wood. His arms were stretched out, his head bowed, and he was having trouble calming his racing heart. Daniel’s long fingers trailing over his shoulder was the last straw.
Asher snapped one hand out and gripped Daniel’s wrist hard enough to leave a mark. He swung the man in front of him, pushed his ribcage against the dresser, and twisted his arm behind his back.
“Ash?” Daniel’s voice was shaky, but quiet. “Are you okay? What’s wrong?”
That sounded like concern, but Asher knew better. “I’m fine,” he growled. “I just don’t like being lied to.”
“I wasn’t lying. I didn’t look in your phone.” Daniel reached back with his free hand and stroked it over Asher’s hip in a calming gesture.
“You weren’t lying? Just like you weren’t lying when you said you were home but you clearly weren’t? Who were you with, Daniel?” he growled and moved Daniel’s arm farther up his back, drawing out a whimper. Then he pressed his body against Daniel’s. “And don’t even think about lying to me again.”
Daniel was panting and squirming. “Asher, you need to let go now.” Asher didn’t move an inch. “Look, I get that you’re upset about something, and we’re going to talk about it, but you need to let go because you’re hurting me.”