“Why aren’t you with them?”
He lowers his hands to his sides and leans back, leaving his muscled chest and sculpted shoulders exposed. Suddenly my mouth feels dry. And if that wasn’t bad enough, when he adjusts his position, his leg briefly brushes against mine sending a warm thrill through me.
Should we go back to his room or mine?
Stop it! I need to politely excuse myself before something bad happens. And I should, but I’m just sitting here letting my eyes roam shamelessly over his body all too aware that by “bad” I mean oh-so-good.
“The vet just left with the fisher,” he says, interrupting my unholy thoughts. “After she tranquilized the critter, we were able to get the can off. Poor thing is in bad shape. Looks like she hasn’t eaten in a while, but they’ll get her weight up before they release her back into the forest. Fun fact, there are only about 150 Pacific fishers left.”
And Mr. Hotpants rescues cute little endangered animals too. Of course he does, because walking away wasn’t already hard enough. The universe really does hate me.
I draw in a steady breath to try to calm the butterflies, but it’s pointless. I’d have to be dead not to feel anything when I’m being forced to look at him like this, shirtless and proof that every inch of him is all rugged man. I really do need to leave, and my gut is telling me it’s now or never.
I come to my feet, trying to think of a good excuse, but my mind is blank. I’ll just tell him it’s getting late and I need to call it a night. But before I can get the words out, I see hiseyes roam over my body and I freeze. I don’t know why. It’s not the first time a guy has perved on me. Not even the first time today. But this is different. I can see it in the way he’s taking me in. It’s not the usual objectifying rapey stare I’m used to. It’s like he wants to devour me and it’s sending serious heat between my legs. I swear I can hear my vagina screaming murderous threats at my brain to stop being such a pussy blocker.
Aware that I’m standing here like a deer in the headlights, I gather my wits, and just when I’m about to turn my back to him, he says, “Did I do something to offend you?”
I open my mouth to answer but I’m stopped short when he flexes one pec followed by the other. I don’t know why he did it. Maybe it’s a nervous tic, only I don’t think this guy has ever been nervous about anything. He exudes confidence. Whatever the reason, it’s not fair. I swallow and politely tell him, “No, why are you asking me that?”
“I don’t know, maybe because you’re leaving all of a sudden without saying a word, like maybe I pissed you off or something.”
For a completely inexplicable reason, I sit back down. It doesn’t make sense, I know, but here I am. “No, it isn’t you. I was just thinking it was getting late.” That made perfect sense, right? I’m not sure.
“Anyway,” he continues as if I didn’t just stand only sit back down for no reason like some sort of crazy lady. “Ash was supposed to be there when the vet came, but of course he wasn’t so I went looking for him. I stepped into the bar only to see if he was there. It looked fun, but all I could think about was this hot tub.”
What? It takes me a minute to realize what he’s talkingabout. Oh, I remember. I asked why he wasn’t partying with his brother. Suddenly I’m reminded of something else, and it’s important.
“Since you’re here, we need to talk,” I say with a firm tone.
He sits up straight. “Okay, about what?”
“Size. You’re what, about nine inches? I’m guessing from the bulge I saw earlier. That might be too much for me, but I’m willing to give it the old college try,” almost comes out of my mouth. It’s what I was thinking. But instead, I say, “This thing between your brother and my best friend, I’m worried—”
“That it will end badly,” he offers, completing my thought. “I totally get it.” Then, shaking his head he quietly mutters to himself, “More than you know.”
That surprises me. More than I know? Past girlfriend, perhaps? If I had to guess, she dumped him. “Look, clearly this thing between your brother and my best friend is just a fling. I know his type. You two will leave and in a week, he won’t even remember her name. I also know Rhonda, and even though they just met, she’s already hoping he’ll stick around long enough for them to get to know each other, and that’s a problem.”
“I think that’s a reasonable expectation on Rhonda’s part, at least under normal circumstances, don’t you?”
I… I expected a different response. I was ready to argue my point, thinking he would defend his brother. What just happened? “Yes, but just so I know we’re on the same page, what do you mean by ‘normal circumstances’?”
“I mean if my brother had a normal job. Even if he lived on the other side of thecountry it wouldn’t matter. We know couples who found each other online, and despite starting out in different states, they ended up married. One of our college buddies did that. He’s been married for four years now, and his wife is expecting their second kid. So, distance isn’t the problem.”
“Wait, you went to college?”
He tilts his head and eyes me suspiciously for a second. “Is that what you got out of that?”
What can I say? I thought he was just a YouTuber. “Kind of. I’m just surprised, is all.”
He shakes it off with a playful grin. “I should be offended, but the truth is, I get that a lot. I have an engineering degree from Purdue. Ash went to Yale. Before we started doing this full-time, he was a data analyst for one of the largest private-equity firms in the world. He’s the smart one.”
“Seriously? He went to Yale? No way!” Hmm. That might have come across the wrong way, but it’s Ash. Can you blame me?
He chuckles. “I won’t tell him you said that, but I can see where you’re coming from. Most of the time he doesn’t come across as an intellectual, I’ll give you that. But he’ll surprise you when he wants to. He’s fluent in four languages. In addition to English, he speaks Spanish, Russian, and Mandarin.”
“No way!” It just comes out again involuntarily; I can’t help it. And talk about not judging a book by its cover. If there was ever a poster child for a big dumb jock, it’s Ash, only apparently not. “I don’t really know him, but from the few times we’ve talked, I never would have guessed that about him.” That has me curious and my eyes dart up to his. “What about you? Do you speak other languages?”
“Sorry to disappoint, but it’s justEnglish for me. I can do some pretty impressive upper-level math, though.”
