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“Come home with me. Meet my pack.”
He still had me pressed up against the wall, my legs wrapped around his hips. Carefully, I dragged my hands over his shoulders. “I can’t. It’s not that I don’t want to,” I said quickly. “I do. You don’t even know how much.”
“Then…”
I curled forward enough to lean my forehead on his shoulder. “If I go home with you, I don’t know what will happen. I’m exhausted. I can’t spend half the night having sex and then wake up and have this kind of rehearsal again.”
Where his mouth touched my neck, I felt him smirk. “You’re so sure it would be sex.”
“You’re so sure it wouldn’t?”
He laughed softly. “Fair enough.”
“I need to ice my feet and sleep. Speaking of, I should probably get out of my pointe shoes.”
Ash put me down, but not before he let me slide down every inch of his body. “Then I’ll come home with you.”
“You don’t have to.” I sat down on the floor and gingerly began to take off my shoes. My feet hurt, and I wasn’t surprised to see some blood. “You don’t have to say you’re tired too, I know.”
“Sloane.” Asher’s tone had me looking up at him, and he crouched down beside me, dropping another kiss on my lips. I leaned into it, not quite believing it was real. “No matter what caused it, I haven’t seen you in five years. If you don’twantme to come home with you, tell me that. Otherwise, like hell is my Alpha going to let you walk away from me. I need you in my arms, even if that doesn’t mean finally learning what you sound like when you come.”
Heat dropped through my body, a flush rising to my skin, and his smile told me he knew exactly what his words would do. That’s why he said them. “Are you sure you don’t have to go home?”
One side of his mouth tipped up. “I’ve got an extra set of clothes in my bag.”
“Are those normally there, or just since yesterday?”
“I should probably tell you I put them there for you, but I usually have extras in case.”
Most dancers did. And he didn’t know, but it actually made me feel better that it wasn’t just for me. I hissed as I took off the other shoe. I got soft socks on and my normal shoes. But it wasn’t comfortable.
“You okay?”
“I will be.”
“I can carry you.” My side-eye made him laugh. “Come on.”
He wove our fingers together as we grabbed our bags and headed for the stairs. That simple movement, like it was a given. I had a vision of us walking to our conservatory classes hand in hand, and it stole my breath away.
“I—”
Asher squeezed my hand once. “I know. We’ll talk about it.”
Being with him, Gabriel, and the others was complicated because of the company. I didn’t want to hide them, but I also didn’t want it to seem like I was getting benefits. Especially if Ian’s crosshairs were on me.
“Will they like me?” I didn’t have to clarify who I meant.
A laugh burst out of Ash, echoing in the stairwell. “That’s not a question.”
“Sure it is.”
“I went home yesterday and asked Roman to punch me in the face so I didn’t try to find you. Gabriel was calmer, but only because he had to be. All of them, even the two of them who haven’t met you yet, are going to be jealous I’m with you tonight.”
Out in the plaza, we headed toward his bike. I’d ridden it before, but now I was up close, I wasn’t sure it was the same. He shifted his bag around, grabbing his leather jacket and putting the bag in a compartment beneath the seat. “I didn’t bring extra clothes specifically for this reason. But I did bring an extra helmet just in case.”
I blushed, and he smiled, brushing a piece of hair out of my face and behind my ear.
“What’s your address? Before I turn you into a backpack.”
