The Arrangement(3)

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Asher pressed the flat of his palm to his aching cock and stifled a groan. Ariadne did this to him every damn time. That she hated him didn’t seem to affect the rigidity of his dick. Hell, fighting with her was the only thing that kept him from grabbing her and slamming his mouth onto those full pouty lips of hers.

He thought back to that fight three years ago and winced anew. He’d slipped up and groaned Ari’s name at the worst possible moment. He was lucky to survive that night with his balls attached. Belinda had left him the next day and refused to answer any of his phone calls. Asher sighed. It was for the best. She’d been pushing him for more and he simply didn’t have any more to offer her.

Once he got his errant cock under control, or as much control as he could expect with Ariadne in such close proximity clothed in only a towel, he galloped downstairs. Ted waited for him in the kitchen. “Well?”

“She’s willing to give it a go.”

“You really think you can play nice for two weeks?”

It had become an ingrained self-defense mechanism to antagonize Ariadne, but he could drop it for a short time. “No problem.”

Ted’s black brows rose. “Really? You couldn’t manage it for a few hours on New Year’s Eve.”

“Ted, give me some credit, will you? I told you I came for peace and I meant it.”

“Yeah, but I swear, for the two of you the fighting is like foreplay. One of these days-”

He cut his friend off before he could go there. He was well aware of Ariadne’s low opinion of him. There was nothing remotely romantic about it. As for the two of them ever hooking up, it was never going to happen. “Trust me, the last thing that woman wants is to fuck me.”#p#分页标题#e#

“She might if you ever turned any of that legendary charm of yours her way.”

Asher snorted, but he didn’t bother arguing with his friend. Ariadne was the one woman who was immune to his charm. “Need some help setting the table?”



    ***



Dinner was Chinese food. Tomorrow they would head out to purchase groceries. Ariadne sat across from Asher. Other than the occasional laughter, he did nothing to provoke her. He was civil and she tried to return the favor. To a certain extent, she supposed she had reason to be thankful for his presence. He made her forget her problems and kept her from being the third wheel to Ted and Erika’s twosome.

Erika kept stealing food off Ted’s plate. And he kept taking sips of her soda. Ariadne thought it was cute the way they shared. It was amazing how affectionate they still were considering the fact that they’d been dating since Erika was nineteen. Ted and Asher were a couple of years older and were friends with Erika’s older brother Chad.

Ariadne and Erika were both high school English teachers. They discussed their favorite students—some of whom had graduated this year. Ted was a police detective and had any number of funny stories to tell about the people he encountered. Ariadne knew that Erika worried about him and she noticed that he only shared the lighter tales. His job had to be filled with tense and scary moments, but he never talked about it.

Ted had just finished telling them a story about having to question residents of a neighborhood about a string a robberies. One of the residents, a ninety year old man, had seen nothing wrong with conducting an interview with the police entirely nude. Everyone’s eyes naturally turned to Asher as their laughter died down. He arched an eyebrow and shrugged. “When I work, I work. When I play, I play. I don’t mix the two.” He loaded his fork with Lo mein and shoved it in his mouth.

Ariadne wondered how much work he actually did. After all, he was employed by his father.

“Well, speaking of play, are you seeing anyone special?” Erika asked.

“Nope,” he said with a rakish grin. “But I’m always on the lookout. Got someone in mind?”

“Don’t,” Ted interrupted before Erika could suggest anyone. “Trust me it never turns out well.”

Asher laughed that husky, sexy laugh of his. “He’s right.”

Ariadne shook her head. She didn’t care to know the details of Asher’s dating life, but she knew him well enough to never be foolhardy enough to set him up with a friend. Whenever she’d ever met any of his exes, they always seemed to fall into one of two categories. Either they hated him and wouldn’t hesitate to run him down with a car or they still loved him and would do just about anything to get him back.

“And what about you? Weren’t you dating someone when I last saw you?” It was a moment before she realized that Asher was talking to her.