Beyond the Horizon (Sons of Templar MC #4)(45)

“Too loud,” I murmured, not opening my eyes.

I heard a chuckle. “Open your eyes, Lily,” the voice commanded.

I sighed, then complied. I may have been reluctant to welcome the daylight into my brain, but that reluctance melted away with the sight in front of me. Events from last night came rushing in. Asher. In the club. Against my door. In my bed. First, it was the f*cking, then it was the slow, glorious lovemaking. Now he was fully dressed, sitting on the edge of my bed, in the crook of my hip, my body facing him. His handsome face was soft and had a dark shadow of stubble maximizing his attractiveness. I gazed into his chocolate eyes, traveled down to his muscled body, his sinewy arms drool worthy underneath his leather cut.

“You’re hot in the morning,” I observed, speaking without thinking. Something I was not known for doing. Every word I spoke was usually carefully considered. Not with Asher it seemed. Everything was different with him. Even I was.

A small grin teased the side of his face. “Fuck,” he muttered, shaking his head. “You make it damned near impossible to be angry with you.”

I furrowed my brows. Why would he be angry? That was cause for too much brainpower, not something I was capable of first thing in the morning, especially with a hangover.

He stroked my jaw again. “I wanted to stay. Talk. Fuck you again,” he murmured roughly, and my stomach did dips. “But, I’ve got club shit that needs taking care of,” he continued his mouth turning a grim line. “I’ll be back when it’s done.” He regarded me a moment, something seeming to work behind his eyes. “Doesn’t sit well with me, the fact I’ve not had a proper moment with you, since the night at the strip club, since all that shit went down,” he declared.

I did an inward flinch, and his words woke me up. By “shit” I think he was referring to my mother’s death. Not something that needed to be in my mind right now. I was still running.

He didn’t seem to miss it. “I’ll be back,” he repeated. It wasn’t a question, it was a foregone conclusion that phone calls were a memory and that he was going to be in my life. Like physically. Looking at his physique, I failed to remember why this was a bad thing.

“Okay,” I repeated, nodding.

“Good. You gonna be at home tonight?” Again this seemed more like a command than a question.

I screwed up my nose, the warm feeling of waking up to him dissipating. I sat up slightly, ignoring the sharp pain in my head as I did so. “

“What’s the day?” My voice was husky and so not attractive.

Asher’s jaw turned tight. “Thursday,” he clipped, though he looked like he wanted to say something more.

I searched my mental banks. “Thursday,” I repeated, knowing there was something important about this day. A light bulb dinged.

“Nope,” I said finally. “I’m at work tonight.”

“Work?” he repeated with a hard jaw.

“The thing people do to make a living.” I surprised myself with the sarcastic answer.

Asher didn’t seem amused. “Didn’t know you worked so much, flower, what happened to college?” His voice was hard. During all of our phone conversations, I’d managed to escape this particular topic.

My stomach flipped. “Well, I’ve been on a ... break from school for the past year and a half,” I said slowly, wincing at the pain the heart-wrenching pain that was coming back. “The bar meant I had days free for Mom. It paid the bills, still does,” I shrugged.

Asher’s brows drew together as something worked on his face. He didn’t say anything, but he looked pissed. Not pissed at me exactly, but something far away. His eyes went back to mine.

“Okay. Text me the address. I’ll pick you up when you’re done,” he said firmly. “No more buses,” he reminded me. And before I could argue, his mouth pressed onto mine and he straightened, giving me one more look before he left the room.

I stared at the closed door for a long while.

What had I gotten myself into?

Something I knew I couldn’t handle. Something I wanted to get out of if I was to keep swimming in the ocean of grief that had no end. Something I also wanted to drown in.

But then that was dangerous. Those feelings are not okay.

Luckily, I didn’t have time to inspect this. To think too hard. My door opened and to my surprise, Bex poked her messy head through it. She was grinning as she rushed into the room, jumping on my bed.

I was jostled slightly, belatedly realizing I was naked, so I quickly yanked the covers on top of me. She wasn’t fazed at my nakedness, I shouldn’t be surprised considering what she did for a living. I was surprised at the mere fact she was conscious.

“What are you doing up at,” my gaze flickered to the clock on the wall, “eight am? That’s equal to dawn in your world.” My realization that she’d been sleeping less than I was lately didn’t have time to come to fruition.

She moved onto her side, her head resting on her hand. “You were dragged off by a biker last night, Lil, I need to know the deets, like as soon as … I wasn’t in the proper state to get the lowdown yesterday,” she said as if it was obvious.

I struggled to sit up without puking. “How are you all ... chirpy? I feel like someone hit me with a car,” I exclaimed, rubbing my head.