CHAPTER 03

Asher's POV

Nico’s voice came out cold.

“Some doors stay locked because opening them could cost me my son.”

He leaned in close enough that Asher could smell the sweat still clinging to his skin.

“So yeah, I hide it. And if you breathe a word to Luca, you’ll regret it.”

He walked out without another word, slamming the bathroom door with a heavy thud. The hallway light clicked off, followed by the final, decisive slam of his bedroom door.

Asher sighed deeply, knowing he had probably pissed Nico off.

He should leave.

Call an Uber, get the hell out, and pretend none of this ever happened.

But the thought of going home made his stomach flip.

He knew Rick—his mom’s husband—would likely be passed out in the recliner with a beer still clutched in his hand.

He also knew the way Rick sometimes looked at him when he thought no one was watching, and the way his mom pretended she didn’t see it.

He couldn’t go back there tonight.

Asher splashed cold water on his face, then crept out into the living room.

Luca was sprawled across the entire couch, one shoe still dangling off his foot, drooling onto a pillow. He looked twelve again.

Asher scoffed softly, pulled the blanket from the back of the couch, and tucked it around his friend before curling up on the rug beside the couch. He dragged his hoodie over his head and stared at the ceiling.

Nico’s words kept replaying in his head, the low timbre of that voice looping endlessly.

Hours crawled by. The house was dead quiet except for Luca’s loud snoring. Eventually, exhaustion pulled Asher under and he fell asleep.

*...*...*...*...*...

“ASH! ASH, YOU LAZY FUCK, WAKE UP!”

“What the fuck?!” Asher jolted upright so fast his knee slammed into the side table. He gasped in pain.

Luca crouched over him, grinning like a devil, his usual post-sex messy hair sticking up in every direction.

“Morning, sunshine!” he hollered, way too loud. “You look like shit. Why’d you sleep on the floor like a hobo?”

“Fuck off,” Asher groaned, clutching his throbbing knee. “Why the fuck are you yelling? I think my soul just left my body.”

“Because I’m dying,” Luca announced, flopping backward onto the rug beside him. “My mouth tastes like a raccoon crawled in it and died. Also, I think I puked in your shoe. Sorry, not sorry.”

Asher sat up slowly, rubbing his face. “You puked in my shoe?”

“Maybe. Probably. We’ll never know.” Luca threw an arm dramatically over his eyes. “Dad’s making bacon. I smelled it from my sleep. If we don’t move now he’ll eat it all and leave us hungry.”

From the kitchen came Nico’s deep, stern voice: “I heard that. And I will eat every strip if you two don’t get your asses in here in the next thirty seconds.”

Luca bolted upright so fast he nearly head-butted Asher. “Coming, Dad!”

He grabbed Asher’s hoodie and hauled him to his feet like he weighed nothing.

Asher stumbled after him, still half-asleep, his heart suddenly jackhammering because Nico was right there—leaning against the counter in a fitted black T-shirt that looked far too good on him.

“Morning,” Nico said, his eyes flicking to Asher for half a second.

He looked… normal. Like last night had never happened.

Asher supposed he should have expected that, but it didn’t stop his stomach from dropping straight through the floor.

Luca barreled past his father, snatching two pieces of bacon straight out of the pan. “Ow, hot, but worth it,” he mumbled around a mouthful. “Ash, grab plates so we can get some.”

Asher forced his legs to move. Nico didn’t budge when he reached past him for the cabinet. Their arms barely brushed, and electricity shot straight to Asher’s dick.

He nearly dropped the entire stack of plates.

Luca, completely oblivious, kept talking with his mouth full. “So last night was insane. I think I made out with a sorority girl named Brittany. Or maybe her name was Bella. Honestly fifty-fifty. By the way, every girl totally wants you but you never get laid, bro, what the hell?” He turned to Asher with a raised brow.

Asher opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

Nico’s gaze landed on him again, calm and unreadable.

“Yeah, Asher,” Nico said, his voice perfectly even. “What the hell?”

Asher’s cock stood at full attention just from Nico looking at him. He twisted fast, facing the fridge to hide the obvious tent in his sweats. His face burned.

He was so fucked.

Luca’s hand dove into the pan again, snagging another strip of bacon like a starving raccoon.

“Fuck, hot!” he hissed, shaking his fingers, but shoved it in his mouth anyway, completely distracted from whatever he’d been about to say.

Nico didn’t turn away.

His eyes dropped slowly from Asher’s burning face, down his lean torso, then to the front of his sweats where his cock strained so hard the outline was obscene.

One dark brow arched appreciatively.

Holy shit, Asher thought. Nico is checking me out, and by the looks of things, he likes what he’s seeing.

Nico’s green eyes flicked back up to meet Asher’s, and for a moment they were just staring at each other.

Luca kept talking around the bacon, totally clueless. “Honestly dude, it’s so weird that you’re still a virgin especially when—”

“NO, shut up,” Asher blurted, his voice cracking in embarrassment like he was fourteen again.

Nico’s brows furrowed, his entire expression shifting. “You’re a fucking virgin?” he asked. His voice was low, but he sounded… pissed.

Asher looked away.

“Answer me,” Nico said, quieter now. “You’ve never fucked anyone?”

Luca choked on his bacon. “Jesus Christ, Dad!”

Nico’s jaw clenched so tight the muscle jumped along his chin.

“I—” Asher’s voice cracked again. “Can we not do this right now?”

“No,” Nico said flatly. “We’re doing this shit right now.”

Luca threw his hands up. “Okay, I’m out. This is some weird father-son-best-friend intervention I did not sign up for.” He grabbed two more pieces of bacon and backed toward the hallway.

“I’m gonna go shower and pretend I never heard any of this. You two… figure your shit out. Or don’t. Whatever.”

He ran off, leaving Asher alone with Nico.

Nico took one slow step forward. Then another. Until he was close enough that Asher had to tilt his head up to meet his eyes.

“You’re twenty-two years old,” Nico said, voice rough, almost accusing. “Every girl on your campus throws themselves at you, and you’ve never fucked any of them?”

Asher swallowed hard. His cock was still traitorously hard, pulsing against his thigh like it wanted to answer for him.

“I’ve never had an erection with a girl,” he managed, face flushed scarlet. “I’ve never wanted anyone. Not until—”

Not until you.