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“I’m sorry, Asher,” I mutter. “I didn’t know.”
His expression softens and so does the rest of his body. “I know you didn’t.” He tucks his face into his chest. “Would you have said yes?”
Oh, my God, is he shy right now?
I won’t lie, it’s endearing to see. He’s the star quarterback, the boy next door, the wonder child of this town, and he’s got his gaze averted from me for the first time. And I can’t help but stare at him.
Would I have said yes?
I’ve only been dodging him for the longest time. I guess, deep down, I never wanted to give him any power over me. I’ve seen my Aunt Bennie go through a nasty divorce when I was about eight or nine. She would sleep on our couch because her ex-husband, Uncle Tim, kicked her out of their home and shut all her credit cards down. She was a stay-at-home mom, a trophy wife, and didn’t have a dime to her name. She signed a prenup, something she would obviously later regret, and Uncle Tim was a very successful oil mogul, not wanting her to work. I guess she never believed they’d get divorced and became reliant on him. I remember hearing her sobs at night when she believed everyone was sleeping. The way she looked so depressed, broken, and lost. And it was at the exact same time Asher and I dated.
I never wanted to be her.
I didn’t want to cry in my room and be so unbelievably heartbroken over a boy. I never wanted to weep around the house and barely eat. I love food. I love life and going outside. And Asher, even though we were young, no one has ever quite looked at me like he has.
“You’re silence is killin’ me, Burrows.”
Shoot, right.
“Depends on the donuts, Clark.” His blue eyes steer back to mine, appearing slightly bewildered by my comment, because I think he was expecting a straight yes or no answer.
“A shit ton,” he replies. “I had every flavor so you wouldn’t get bored.”
A small smile forms on my lips because of his efforts and how, after all this time, he’s still holding on to a twinge of hope that we’ll get a second chance. “That’s really sweet.”
“Anything for you, Magnolia.” He inches closer to me and reaches out to clasp his fingers around my wrist. Lifting my hand up, he puts my sugary donut up against my lips and I mindlessly take a bite. Then he closes the rest of the distance after a few chews and a swallow, pressing his lips against mine, and sucks at my lower lip, taking the remnants of the candied substance off me.
He snakes a thick arm around my waist and pulls me flush against his chest, licking across the seam of my mouth and seeking immediate entrance. It doesn’t take any more than that for me to receive his sweet tongue and literally melt against his hardness.
My heartbeat quickens up another notch as I allow Asher Clark—the boy that has been chasing me around for years—to have his second chance with me.
A deal is a deal.
That’s what I keep telling myself anyway. All of this was because he followed through, and I promised this kiss that he’s wanted for however long.
Except this is more than that.
The whole eat you alive part is real because I feel myself being devoured with each soft lapse of his lips, causing my legs to become jelly, and for me to wish that this never ends. That what I’ve eluded for so long was a huge mistake.
I would’ve said yes after knowing how good of a kisser he is. I hate thinking of all the other girls that have been able to experience him like this, but I refuse to hold it against him when I’ve kept him at arms’ length and never let him in.
And he hasn’t given up.
No one has ever done that for me.
No one has ever shown how much they liked me so much before.
Asher Clark doesn’t bullshit, and he doesn’t lie.
But I have.
And, right now, it’s time I just allow what is going to happen to happen and not hold back. I just hope he doesn’t break my heart so violently that I become a walking and talking zombie.
“Fuck, Magnolia,” Asher groans deeply against my lips. “I could kiss you all day.”
“Good thing it’s night, then,” I muse, and he tightens his hold on me before pressing another lingering kiss to my lips.
“It doesn’t matter what time of the day or night it is, there’ll never be a moment that I don’t want this.” He comes in for yet another long capture of my mouth and kisses me like he won’t ever get the chance to again. I mean, I can see why he’d think that. I never gave him one.
