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I reach back, unclasping my bra, and let it fall to my feet I’m not sure how much of me Asher can see, but I hope he likes this view better than the last I shi lace panties I crave the feel of Asher’s hands I want him to hold hout my body “I don’t know Aren’t you supposed to want to see your girlfriend naked?”

He’s quiet for a long irlfriend”

“Oh” I' is one-sided and everything that happened between Asher and uess I can say we’ve officially crossed the line into friendship, but aren’t going any further Friend Zoned “Right”

I pull Asher’s shirt over h the holes It s in the es his scent, not that that's a bad fragrance This shirt sne I take a second to sniff it again, then pull his gy loose, so I roll the waistband a few ti off “Done”

Asher turns around He stares atover ain I’ve slipped into Liaoofy expression Asher has, one that says he likes what he sees I se of his bed behind my knees

“I’ll… uh,” Asher stammers as a flush of pink colors his cheeks I biteI’ve never seen Asher like this before He seems nervous, which is crazy, because I know he’s been with other women Besides, it’s not like we’re about to have sex He wouldn’t even look at ave him the chance “I’ll take the floor You can have the bed”

I scoot across theposition “It’s a big bed You don’t have to sleep down there”

Asher sighs and rubs the back of his neck He looks pained and I can’t for the life of ure out why “I told you I’d keep ht I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep that pro next to you”

“Is that such a bad thing?” Ellie queries

I run irl home I’m not e apart, is still a house If so to dump me because I live on the shit side of the tracks in a crappy trailer, then she can go fuck herself No, the reason I’ve never brought anyone around is because of that Thing of a stepfather I have He’s a piece of shit and I don’t trust hi-distance truck driver and out on a job until late tomorrow

Ellie tugs the edge of the blanket back and pats the mattress I want to curl up beside her, drape my arainst irl since ere kids Back then, I thought teasing a girl was how you showed theot that fucked up idea, I don’t know, but I inadvertently hout middle school In my mind, how often I poked at her equated to how irls don't like to be e between us I’ve never been able to budge Until now

I don’t kno I did it, but I convinced Ellie to be irlfriend Not exactly what I want, but I hope that if I do a good job, she’ll realize that Liauy for her It’s always been me My piece of shit half-brother has never cared about Ellie He used her, let people talk shit about her, and never once thought about how his other relationships were breaking her heart

Every tiirl at school, I watched Ellie fall apart

When Liam and that chick would break up, because he has never wanted to keep a girl longer than a feeeks lest they get attached, he’d run back to Ellie and she would glow I ether, but for those few days, Ellie being filled with such joy orth the knot in my stomach

“Are you scared, Asher?” she taunts