Page 34 of The Last Time

Chapter Ten

Asher

Iknockonthedoor, waiting for her to answer. Last night was not what I expected. It went from innocent stares to Charlotte not being able to keep her hands off me.

At first, it was almost impossible to stop myself from letting my hands linger on her body. Then she got drunk, and the rest of the evening was me making sure my friends kept their distance from her, especially Paul.

I’m not an idiot. I see the interest in his eyes. Just thinking about it makes me want to punch his face all over again.

Luckily, the door opens, and her beauty distracts me from my anger.

She’s in a baggy t-shirt and shorts. Her hair is on top of her head, and she still manages to take my breath away.

I smile. “Good morning, sunshine.”

I walk in without her invitation and begin to whistle. She follows me into the house, groaning behind me.

“Why are you so chipper this morning?”

I turn around and can’t help but grin at how adorable she looks.

“Are you not feeling well this morning? Could it be the shots? Maybe the margaritas?” I joke.

She looks like she wants to kill me. “Let’s just get started.”

I follow her through the sliding door to the back deck. She has the supplies waiting for us to begin staining. I’m somewhat impressed she was able to be up and ready for me this early. She wasn’t completely hammered last night, but she was definitely a bit tipsy.

When she leans down to grab a brush and winces, a protective side of me surfaces.

I appear quickly by her side. “What’s wrong?” I ask as I reach out for her and pull her back up.

“Nothing. Just thought I might get sick. I’m okay,” she says, though her ghostly appearance suggests otherwise.

“That’s it. You need to go inside and lie down.” I start to take a step toward the door, but she stops me.

“No, you already came here. Your parents are watching, Brie. I can’t cancel.”

“Who said anything about canceling?” I reply. “You go lie down, and I’ll get this done. It’s just staining. This is the easy part. I’ll have it done in a couple hours.”

She looks like she wants to fight it, but I raise an eyebrow, daring her.

Her shoulders sink in defeat. “Okay. Thank you.”

I nod my head. “My pleasure. I’ll come check on you in a bit.”

While she goes inside to relax, I pull out the stain and begin to mix it up. Visions of how she looked last night begin to creep into my mind. Her long, tan legs in those shorts, emphasized by her heels. Every time she tossed her bean bag, her shirt would move in a way that revealed her black lace bra.

I felt like such a creeper, but I couldn’t look away.

Then when she couldn’t stop touching me, I thought I might actually sport a stiffy in public like a damn teenager. Her hands were glued to my body every spare second during our cornhole game.

And fuck if mine weren’t lingering on her as well.

This is such new territory for me. Not even when I met Lauren did I have such a powerful physical reaction. She was beautiful, stunning even, but I was so focused on impressing her and being the man I thought she wanted, that I don’t think my body had time to be so responsive.

With Charlotte, it’s like there’s some connection between our bodies. It feels like they know each other, and when they touch, it’s charged with something that cannot be tamed.

Eventually, I let my mind get caught up in the work. The smooth strokes I apply feel therapeutic as I focus on going with the grain of the wood. It’s so satisfying to see the plain wood instantly pop with just the stroke of a brush. When I stand up to stretch my back, I realize I’m already halfway done with the staining.

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