Page 117 of Crave Me

“You’re not me.”

“Asher.”

“I’ll let you know as soon as I do, Jonah. You know from your experience with me suffering through something similar that these things are incredibly difficult to gauge and everyone reacts differently, at different paces too.”

“You think he’s gonna be okay?”

“He will be. You know Cal.”

“He’s a hell of a fighter. I get why you’re doing this, we all do. Just miss you, brother.”

“I miss you too.”

“And I’m including your monster fuck stick in that. You know, in case it wasn’t clear.”

“It’s always beyond clear.”

“Good. Keep it to yourself going forward. That thing you told us about with King was a one-time thing, a one-off. Any more and it’s not gonna go down well with me, Aurora, or Kill.”

“That sounds dangerously close to you making a demand of me.”

“You bet your hot little ass that it is.”

“I do enjoy you demonstrating your possessiveness.”

“I’ll show you just fucking possessive I can be as soon as you get back to Hexwood House. Aurora’s gonna be right there backing me up too.”

“Can’t fucking wait.”

“Don’t be too much longer.”

“I’ll be back before you know it.”

“Until then, brother.”

“Until then.”

I heard some cursing and then Asher burst on into the gym, his gaze darting between me and Damien, quickly assessing things, before he then focused on Damien.

“Up for a sparring session?” he asked, even as he opened his shirt then shrugged it off his shoulders, tossing it onto one of the benches.

Damien’s eyes lit up. “Fuck, yeah.”

“It might hurt.”

“Might?” Damien challenged, giving it right back to him.

Asher smirked. “It will.”

“Much better. Although, I’ve gotta warn you, we have to keep it above board now. I’ve got a thing going with this goddess I’ve started seeing.”

Asher rolled his eyes. “It was only ever going to be above board. I’m flattered, though.”

“Well, you’re a real sexy piece, it can’t be helped.”

Asher let his overt flirtations roll off his back as he took position on the mats and assumed a fighting stance in his shirtless state, only clad in a pair of black jeans. He hadn’t even bothered to grab a pair of grappling gloves of which there were many around the room. It was bare knuckle all the way with him then.

He crooked his finger at Damien. “Step on up. Give me your best shot.”

---