Victoria Ashley - Slade

“Yeah,” I breathe. “Probably so. I’m not going to let it bring me down this week.”

When we reach the bar, the pretty bartender smiles at me and shakes her head.

Wondering if she’s laughing at me for some reason, I take a seat on the stool in front of me and give her a hard look. Slade has me all kinds of feisty at the moment and I can’t believe he’s Cale’s roommate. Not good. “What?” I narrow my eyes at her as she reaches for an empty glass.

Scooping up some ice, she looks over my shoulder and laughs again. “Honey, no one turns Slade down. Are you insane? That is one piece of ass that you don’t want to miss out on. Trust me.”

Trying my best not to look behind me, I fail. I should kick my own ass. I glance over my shoulder to see Slade staring at me while using his shirt to wipe the sweat off his chest. He slowly moves it down his body as if teasing me.

      Crap! He even looks sexy doing that.

I growl under my breath and ignore what she just said. Obviously, he’s a man whore. “Just give me another drink, please. Make it strong.”

The bartender tilts her head and goes about her business. Thank goodness because I really don’t want to think about that half naked, sexy asshole anymore.

“Right on,” Kayla says happily. “It’s a good thing I’m driving your ass around.”

“Probably a very good thing right now,” I say softly, trying to get my thoughts in check.

After setting eyes on the sexiest asshole I have ever seen, I have a feeling I’m going to need help if I’m going to be in the same house with him for the next week.

Crap, I’m in for a ride.

Slade

My night was made when Cale said those three little fucking words. Our temporary roommate. Apparently, she lives in Rockford and is planning to stay here in Chicago as a bit of a break from home. He wouldn’t tell me why and I could care less. It’s none of my business. I don’t mind sharing my bed; although, Cale will probably offer his to be nice.

That fucking pussy.

The look on Aspen’s face when she realized she’ll be spending the next week in the same house as me was fucking priceless; a dead giveaway that she finds me tempting.

Fuck! My cock is hard.

Pushing my cock down, I adjust my jeans and moan.

“Dude, what the shit!” Cale looks over from the driver side and scowls. “Don’t tell me you’re thinking about fucking her.”

Playing stupid, I cross my hands behind my head and laugh. Of course, I’m thinking about fucking her. “Who?”

Cale lets out a long huff and pulls into the driveway. “Fucking, Aspen, you dipshit. She doesn’t need you messing with her right now.”

I push the car door open and step out before slamming it behind me. When Cale catches up to me, I laugh and lean against the door as a little red Chrysler Sebring pulls up behind my truck. Since I’ve had a few shots, I made Cale drive us home. I never drive after I’ve had a few drinks. One of my small list of rules, I never break. They were created for my own good.

“Every girl needs me messing with her; especially that one.”

I nod toward Aspen as she steps out of the car looking like a fucking Victoria’s Secret model. The sexy, curvy kind that you want to run your tongue over every inch of flesh and savor the fucking taste. You don’t just want this woman for dessert. You want her for breakfast, lunch, and dinner too. Any average guy would. Good thing I’m not your average guy.

                            ___________________

Aspen

Oh hell. Would someone please make him stop looking at me like that? He stares at me; burning his eyes into my body, like he’s about to fucking rip my clothes off and pound me against a wall somewhere. It’s so distracting.

      Don’t let him get to you. Don’t let him get to you.

Taking a deep breath, I close the car door behind me, wave to Kayla and start walking to the porch of Cale’s two bedroom home. I’ve been here before as a guest, but it was back before Cale had a roommate. I have known Cale for years because he and my sister were best friends growing up. He’s a good guy and I love him like a brother. I was excited to come here, but now . . . I’m not so sure.

Before I can even step onto the porch, I can see Slade’s eyes burning into mine. Hell, I can almost feel them. They’re so dark and broody. Is everything about this guy so intense?

I bet sex is.

Mentally slapping myself, I shake off the thought and walk over to Cale. He wraps his arms around me and squeezes me in his usual hug. “Oh man. I’ve missed you,” I say. “Thanks for letting me crash here. You have no idea how much you are helping me out.”

Shaking me roughly, he lets go and kisses my forehead. “I missed you too, gorgeous. My house is yours whenever you need it. No need to even fucking ask. You know that.”

When I turn back to Slade his eyes look me up and down, branding me into the portals of his memory. He’s undressing me with his eyes like he’s formulating a plan of attack in his mind; the ultimate predator. I feel it; everywhere. He knows it too. He’s a pro at this game.

Now that we’re in the lighting of the porch, I can see a scar on his right cheekbone. He catches me staring and lets out a little growl before turning and opening the door to let us in.

I follow behind Cale, in a hurry to get this night over with. I’m so tired I can barely keep my eyes open. I want to ask where I’m sleeping, but I’m afraid Slade might have too much fun with that.

I take a glance around the house to see it looks exactly the same as before: Black furniture, black curtains, sixty inch TV with a huge surround sound. Pretty much everything manly. This place really needs a woman’s touch; just not mine.

“So . . .” I lift my eyebrows at Cale, hoping he gets the hint as Slade walks into the kitchen. He doesn’t. He just looks at me and raises his eyebrows back in question. One of the things I’ve learned about Cale is he never gets the hint, ever.

“What do you want to do now?” As the words leave Cale’s lips, he then glares over at Slade as he walks back into the living room, shirtless, with a bottle of Whiskey pressed to his lips. “Oh boy.”

Slade pulls the bottle away from his mouth and smiles a devilishly sexy smile that makes me wet. “You don’t need to ask her that. She wants to come up to my room so I can bend her over my desk and fuck her.”

I wrinkle my forehead in shock and anger at him being so outspoken and straight forward.

Seriously!

Taking the only thing I can think of in my outburst of anger, I toss my phone at his head; better that than my favorite heels. He dodges just in time and leans against the couch. The muscles in his arms and stomach flex as he holds the bottle up and takes another swig. “You’re a real piece of fucking work. Do you know that?”

“So I’ve been told,” he says stiffly. “You haven’t seen anything yet. The next time you’re ready to inflict pain, you better be ready to follow through. I’ll show you what a real fucking piece of work I am, then.”

“You asshole! I will . . .” Bending over, I reach for my high heel and almost fall over. Cale reaches for my arm and steadies me. We’ll see what he says when I stab him with my stiletto.

“Whoa, whoa.” He turns to Slade and gives him the nastiest look I’ve ever seen on Cale’s pretty face. “Dude, I fucking told you to leave her alone. If she kicks your ass, that’s on you. Then, I’ll kick your ass just for pissing her off.”

I feel my nostrils flare in anger as I find myself checking out Slade’s sexy body. His faded jeans are fitted and hanging low on his slender waist. I swear I could kill him just for being so sexy. That asshole.

“All right. Your loss, Pen.”

Without glancing back, he heads for the stairs and I watch in utter shock as he holds my phone up, smiles and tosses it to me. “You’re going to make hating you easy,” I growl. “And don’t call me Pen, man whore.”

“I’ve heard worse,” he says calmly. “Oh and I texted your friend Kayla and asked her to join me tonight.”

That prick!

Pulling my eyes from his muscular back, I turn to Cale and growl. Yes, I fucking growled. I am so pissed, I could scream at poor Cale.

“I’m sorry. I’ll get his ass in check by the morning.” Leading me toward the back of the house, he rubs my shoulders and kisses the top of my head. “You can take my room. I cleaned the sheets for you last night. I’ll sleep on the couch so you don’t get mauled like a bear in your sleep.”

Thankful, I exhale and give his muscular frame a hug. I would kiss him if it wouldn’t be so weird. “Thanks. I appreciate that. I hope there’s a lock on the door now.” I look at him with a raised eyebrow, remembering the image of me walking in on him getting sucked off by some girl once. That was awkward.

Laughing, he pushes me into the room and starts closing the door as he takes a step back. “Don’t worry, he won’t come into my room. He’s just being an ass because he’s used to all the girls wanting him. I’ll keep my eye on him.” He rubs his chest and yawns. “I’m crashing.”

“Goodnight,” I mumble.

As soon as Cale is out of the room, I clutch my phone in my hand and scroll through my text messages. I take a deep breath and exhale when I see that he was lying about texting Kayla. For some reason that pissed me off. The thought of him having sex with her is not something I want to picture.

I strip down to my panties and bra and make a quick phone call while hopping into Cale’s bed.