Thirst Trap Thursday: Oh, the distraction of water sliding down a sculpted chest (Guitars and Cages)

 

This was one of my favorite scenes to write from the book, because it was the moment when Asher knew without a shadow of a doubt, that he was attracted to Connor and wasn't going to be able to forget the pull that drew him towards his neighbor. 

The trial run went better than I’d hoped, despite the throbbing in my hand for most of the day. I prolly should have had a cast put back on after the other one fell off, but that would have made most of the tasks impossible, so now I was glad I hadn’t.

Travis shadowed me all day, giving instructions and watching how I performed the tasks. It made me nervous at first, but it didn’t take long for the thrill of working with horses again to calm me down and help me focus. At the end of the day he called me into his office and told me he was giving me the job, and then had me sit down and read the contract he’d drawn up. For the most part it was a list of rules, dos and don’ts, things like that. I read it all carefully and then signed it, and he signed it, too, before shaking my hand to seal the deal.

He handed me a schedule and told me he’d see me tomorrow, and I headed home, in the mood to celebrate. Seeing as how I had to be at work before the sun came up, I decided getting drunk wasn’t a good idea. I kind of didn’t want to be alone, either. I wondered if Conner would wanna go do something with me, if he was even home yet. I knew he’d been working late, but my day had been long, too, so I stopped by his apartment and knocked.

He answered the door dripping wet, with only a towel wrapped around him.

“Hey, what’s going on?” he asked as I stood there staring at him, unable to form words. Beads of water were dripping down his chest, and I watched, wanting to trace the path of the water with my tongue. “Earth to Asher.”

“Hot,” I muttered, before I shook my head, trying to focus.

“What?”

“I, uhh...”

“Asher, are you all right?”

“No...err...yeah...uhh...what?”

He laughed and stepped back. “Well, come in and figure it out while I get dressed.”

It took me a minute to get my legs and brain to cooperate and follow him. He closed the door and headed to his room, while I stared at the water dripping down his back. I wanted to pin him down and lick the water from his skin. I wanted to pin him down and do other things, too, and my jeans suddenly felt much too tight. I groaned and closed my eyes, wishing I didn’t react so damned easily every time I saw him. So much for my hope that spending time with him would make the desire go away; if anything, it was growing.

I tried not to envision him getting dressed, because that was making it worse. Instead, I started thinking of shoveling manure and cleaning stalls after a birth. By the time he came out dressed in jeans and a T-shirt that molded to his chest and showed off his definition, I was pretty close to calm again.

“So, what’s up?” he asked as he headed for the kitchen.

I could hear him rummaging around in the fridge before he came out with a couple cans of soda. He passed me one and cracked open the other.

I thanked him and drank half of it down, grateful for the cold. “I got a job. I want to celebrate, but I figured if I told Cole we’d end up getting drunk, and I didn’t want to be hung over on my second day.”

He chuckled at that. “So where are you working?”

“A livery in the suburbs. They board and train horses out there. The guy who owns it, Travis, had me come out to see how I got along with the animals and how much I knew. I guess I did okay, because he hired me.”

“Hey, that’s great!”

“Thanks. Maybe I won’t have to fight so much now.”

“Or at least not until the last set of bruises heal.”

I shrugged. “It is what it is.”

He shook his head. “All right, so what do you want to do to celebrate?”

I thought for a moment, and then grinned. “Ever played laser tag?”

He laughed. “Played it? Man, I love it. Paintball, too. There used to be an awesome place back home where Jace and I would go play.”

“Yeah, well, there are a couple places here, too. They’ve got paintball, laser tag, go-kart races, all of it. If you’re up for it, we could make a night of it. They have awesome pizza there, too, and we could grab dinner in between games.”

“Hell, yeah, I’m up for it. Let me grab my keys and shoes and lock up. Did you want me to drive?”

I chuckled, a devilish thought entering my mind. “You ever been on a motorcycle?”

He paused, one shoe half-on. “Uhh, that would be a no.”

I couldn’t help but grin. “You like thrills, but you’ve never been on the back of a bike?”

“I’ve taken pictures of them, I’ve watched them race, I’ve even admired them as they’ve gone by, but I’ve never been on the back of one.”

“Well, we can change that easy. I’ve got my Harley outside.”

He froze, eyes going wide.

“Unless you don’t want to. I’ll ride with you if you really want to drive,” I threw in, not wanting him to change his mind about hanging out with me.

“No, uhh, no...it’s fine,” he said, looking a little pale.

“I’ll take it easy. Besides, it’s city driving, couldn’t go too fast even if I wanted to. You, uhh, might want to put some boots on, though, if you have them.”

“Oh, yeah, sure,” he said, heading back to his bedroom. He came back with a pair of hiking boots, which would do fine. He locked up, and we headed downstairs to the bike. He gave a low whistle when he saw it, walking around it for a moment.

“This is an old one,” he commented, taking in the low-rider design.

“Not exactly,” I said. “Morgan and I built it when I was in high school, started with a junker frame and worked our way up. She’s a complete hodgepodge, so it’s a bitch to get parts, but I couldn’t imagine driving anything else.”

He looked at me, astonished. “What the hell do you do in the winter?”

I chuckled. “Wear layers and freeze.”

He laughed at that, and then stopped, looking down at the side of the bike. “There’s, uhh, only one helmet.”

“That’s fine, you wear it. I don’t usually wear one anyway. Most cops won’t stop you just for that. I’ve never been stopped, anyway.”

He picked it up, frowning at me before putting it on. I had to help him adjust it.

“What?” I asked, as he continued to frown.

“You don’t give much thought to your safety, do you?”

I grinned. “Nah. I figure if it’s my time to go, then that ain’t gonna help me none.”

Guitars and Cages can be found on Amazon here!

Asher Logan is a bartender and a pretty wicked guitar player, when he isn’t wrecking his hands fighting in a cage. With a past he keeps hoping to outrun, Asher’s been on a downward spiral for longer than he can remember. When his sister-in-law leaves Rory, his eight-year-old nephew, in his care, Asher is forced into two things he’s never been good at: sobriety and responsibility. As he struggles to care for Rory, his own life begins to unravel.

When Asher’s brother, Alex, turns up, presenting as a girl and announcing her new name is Alexia, it further complicates matters, as does the arrival of his new neighbor, Conner.

When the siblings’ older brother, Cole, reacts violently to Alexia, Asher is placed squarely in the middle of a family conflict which compels him to confront who he pretends to be versus who he really is.

Asher must choose who to trust and who to finally walk away from.