The Space Between Us(31)

“Nope. My parents were just trying to make sure I didn't have the same name as anyone else.”

“Gotcha. Do you go to CU?” He leaned up against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Charlie and I are freshman this year,” she said.

“Will you be rushing a house?” The side of Caleb's mouth turned up with his question. Reeve absentmindedly started twirling a piece of hair around her finger.

“Charlie and I are both going to rush, and just pray we get into the same house.”

“Ah, I'm sure you'll be fine,” he said.

I felt Asher's face come in close to mine and his breath on my ear sent shivers down my spine.

“Come on,” he whispered. “I'll show you my room.” He tugged on my hand as he pulled me towards the stairs. As we walked past Caleb he gave Asher a nod and I heard him ask Reeve if he could give her the rest of the tour. I smirked because I couldn't decide which of them was in for more trouble. I followed Asher up two flights of winding stairs and then we walked down a long and narrow hallway lined with closed doors. It looked very much like our dorm. He stopped at a room and used a key to open the door. He swung the door open and let me enter first.

I was surprised, and relieved, that his room seemed much cleaner than the rest of the house. It was pretty simple – two beds, two dressers, one window. I could tell which side was his because I recognized the familiar comforter on his twin-sized bed. I sat down and ran my hand over the bedding, not expecting to feel so homesick all of a sudden. I'd only been gone a matter of hours. Asher knelt down in front of me and pushed my knees open so he was wedged in between my legs, his hands spread on top of my thighs.

“You ok?” He asked, always ridiculously in tune to how I was feeling. I put a smile on my face.

“Yes, I just didn't expect to see your bedding here. Made me sad for a minute.” He looked a little confused and started rubbing his hands up and down the tops of my legs.

“Why sad?”

I shrugged.

“I guess it just caught me off guard. Seeing something from home mixed in with your new room – it just makes it really obvious that we're not at home anymore.”

“Bit,” he said sweetly as he tucked a piece of my long hair behind my ear, “It will be ok. We will go home and visit all the time. You'll see. In a few days you won't even notice that you're not at home.” I smiled at him, not willing to tell him that it would take more than a couple of days to convince myself that my dad would be ok by himself. “Besides,” he said as he leaned in closer to me. “There are advantages to being here.” My eyes closed by their own will when his lips connected to my neck.

“Hmmm, and what would those advantages be?” I asked, my own voice sounded breathy and far away. He didn't answer with words but with his mouth trailed kisses up and down my neck. Like every other time he had his mouth on me, my heart beat wildly in my chest and my breathing came in rapid short pants. He pressed my shoulders back until I was laying on the bed and he pulled my shirt up so that it bunched up underneath the edge of my bra. I felt his big hands glide over my stomach and then his lips were on the sensitive skin around my belly button.

“Ash?” I groaned.

“Hmm?”

“Ash, Reeve could come up here any minute.” I don't know why I even tried to stop him, especially when I knew I really didn't want him to. I wanted his hands on me, his mouth. I always felt the connection between us, even in the mundane. Sitting on the couch watching a movie, I felt it. Holding his hand as he drove us to dinner, I felt it. Fighting with him about stupid shit, yeah, I felt it then too. I always felt it. There were invisible cords that tied us together and I loved feeling the pulling and tugging on them as we navigated through life together. But when we physically connected, everything was in Technicolor. His breath on my skin was a thousand feathers. His hand running along my thigh was a thousand hot and knowing hands, overwhelming and welcomed. He was the first person I ever let touch me, the only one to ever touch me. I knew I'd do anything to make sure that stayed true for the rest of my life.

“Caleb is with her and she'll never be able to find this room anyway,” he said between kisses on the soft tissue of my waist, his mouth skirted too close to the top of my shorts to allow my body to do anything but writhe underneath him. “Please,” he whispered against me asking permission, his nose inhaling me as it swept across my skin. I reached down and took his face in my hands and pulled him up to my mouth. Once our lips crashed together everything intensified and was frantic. His hands were no longer enough; his lips not giving me the relief I was searching for; the weight of him on top of me not heavy enough to keep me from floating away.

I tugged on the hem of his tee shirt, pulling it up over his head, and allowing him to do the same to me. At the sight of me in my bra I heard a groan escape from him before he came back down to kiss me senseless once again. This is how it was between us. There was always a line, and once we crossed it, there was no going back. There was inevitably some floodgate and once opened, everything came crashing through. Then, most of the time, it was a competition. Who could kiss the deepest? Who could make the other moan the loudest? Who could last the longest before they gave in to the pleasure? It wasn't a bad game to play, but it had gotten us into some tricky situations in the past. And I was well aware that I usually lost these battles. Asher and I had spent the last year exploring our sexuality with each other, and there was nothing about my body he wasn't absolutely and acutely tuned in to.