Promise Me (Asher Family #1)

Chapter 20

CHAPTER TWENTY

HUDSON

Work sucked again today.

All I thought about was Sadie and that kiss. It’s been two days, and I can't even walk by that spot behind the bar without picturing her sitting there.

It’s why as soon as Betty didn’t need me anymore, I came upstairs for a cold, cold shower.

Lucky for me, Sadie had been out all afternoon, so I got a few more minutes to clear my mind of the day before she came home.

I thought if we started to argue again, my pull to her would fade, but she doesn’t want to fight. No matter what I say or do, she doesn’t argue with me.

She knows me better than I thought she did.

Which makes her even more perfect for me.

Shit.

I step out of the shower just as my phone begins to ring. I rub my towel over my scalp quickly to dry my hair, and then I wrap it around my waist.

“Hello?” I answer the unknown number .

“Is this Hudson Asher?”

I can’t quite place the familiar voice.

“Yeah. Who’s asking?”

“This is Coach Beacher, from The Rockets hockey team in Wind Valley.”

Our first and only meeting flashes in my mind. The way I hesitated to go in and how Sadie grabbed my hand until we stepped through the door. Beacher had been right there when we stepped in. He hadn’t given me time to panic; he was just as excited as the team to see me.

It was the reminder I needed to be aware that, just because the game ended for me, my memory and what I brought to the sport didn’t.

Still, I don’t recall giving him my cell phone number.

“Coach,” I say, the greeting even more familiar than his voice. “What can I do for you?”

He chuckles.

“Right to the point, huh?”

“Well, I won’t lie, I’m not sure what you could need from me.”

“I hope it’s okay that your girlfriend gave me your number before the two of you left the other day.”

My girlfriend.

I don’t correct him.

I should, but I don’t.

I like the sound of it.

I shouldn’t, but I do.

“It’s perfectly fine.”

“Good. Good. Listen, the boys really enjoyed your drop-in, and I was curious if you’d be interested in coming down for tomorrow’s practice and teaching the boys a few things I don’t know. I’m aware that it’s last minute, and I apologize for not calling sooner. ”

I move out to the kitchen and grab a glass, filling it with water from the fridge.

Me, coach?

The idea of being back on the ice again, even for a day, sends an uneasy feeling to my gut. Yeah, I did it with Sadie, but that wasn’t even on the actual ice and was mostly so that I didn’t look like a fool in front of her, and to get her to go to her dad’s house. Hell, she wakes up every single day and pushes through, but not me. I’ve been dwelling on my past for so fucking long, I’m not sure how to live life any other way at this point.

“Hudson? Are you still there?”

“I’m here,” I tell him.

“I’ll text you more details, and if it works out with your schedule, great. If not, maybe we can find another time to make it work.”

“Of course. That sounds great.”

“Thank you. The boys will be happy to hear it. I swear, they practiced harder than I've ever seen them after you spoke with them. You are a true inspiration.”

“Thank you, Coach,” I say but instantly feel guilty that I’m not as excited as he is or as those boys apparently are.

“Talk to you soon,” he says and hangs up.

I’m still standing in the kitchen, reading the text Beacher just sent with more information, when Sadie walks in.

“I bought all the goodies to make chicken fajitas tonight, so I hope you’re ready to get your?—”

Her eyes widen, and she’s biting her bottom lip.

“Are you okay?” I ask.

God, now that I know what that lip tastes like, it’s all I crave. I almost slipped that night, too, but I forced myself to back off.

I’m not sure how much longer I’m going to last if she keeps looking at me like that, though.

She nods .

“O-kay.” I step toward her, and she backs up.

She holds the grocery bags in front of her as if they are a shield at the same time I hold up my phone. “I just got off the phone with Wind Valley’s hockey coach.”

“Oh.” She sets the groceries down on the counter and snaps her fingers. “I hope it’s okay that I gave him your number. I meant to tell you after I did it.”

“It’s fine.”

“Good. What did he want?”

“He wants me to come coach tomorrow.”

“Seriously?” She claps. “That’s great news.”

I nod.

“Are you not going to do it?”

I shrug and then scratch the back of my neck. “I want to do it.”

“Are you still nervous?”

“I haven’t skated since that day,” I admit. “I just?—”

“What if I went with you?”

“I can’t have you with me every time, Sadie.”

“No, but I want to go. At least this time.”

“Maybe,” I say, although I’ll tell her yes later. I don’t want to be too eager.

“Look, I know this is your apartment and you can do anything you want, but do you want to go put some clothes on?” she asks, changing the subject quickly.

I glance down at my attire and chuckle. I’m still wearing nothing but a towel. Now her flushed neck and cheeks after she walked in make sense.

I smile over my effect on her for a brief moment, until my impact on her actually kicks in and makes my brain spin.

We kissed once, and yet it seems as though anytime we’re near one another, every sense is heightened. I know the moment she walks into the living room by the way the hair on my arms stands up. I know she’s walking toward me from the way her lavender scent gets stronger. I know the moment she wakes up because the sound of her bare feet against my hardwood floors is like a song.

A fucking song.

I’m so gone for this woman. It’s insane.

But I’m the one who keeps saying we can’t, so I need to be the one who pretends this situation is no big deal.

“How is this towel different from when I walk around in just my shorts or sweats?”

“It just is.”

“I don’t think it is, so how about you let me put the food away, and we cook dinner.”

“Without you getting dressed?”

“I am dressed.”

She stares at me for a moment as if she’s deciding how much she should argue. This might be the subject that finally makes her crack. But she sighs and nods.

“You’re right. Let me just go wash my hands.”

“Thank you,” I say, even though I want to gloat a little about the part where she said I was right.

She brushes past me to the bathroom. I hear the sink running as I put the food away, only keeping out what we need.

I’m just cutting open the chicken when Sadie emerges from the bathroom. I nearly slice my thumb off.

She smirks at me, wearing nothing but her towel.

Clearly, I underestimated her surrender a moment ago.

I set the knife down and cross my arms, leaning my hip onto the counter.

“What are you doing?”

She shrugs and saunters into the kitchen.

“I just thought I’d put on something a little more relaxed for the night. ”

“And you picked a towel?”

“Mm-hmm.”

She grabs a cutting board and takes over, prepping dinner.

My gaze drops to her bare feet and slowly moves up to her lean calves and her thighs. The towel barely covers her round cheeks, so when she presses to the tips of her toes to get some seasoning from the cabinet over her head, a strangled noise hits me, and my cock hardens instantaneously.

I’m not so sure she kept her panties on.

“You’re playing with fire, Sadie.”

“Me?” She spins with her hand to her heart. “I’m not the one who refused to change his clothes. If you ask me, it’s like you were asking for this.”

“And what is this?”

Slowly, she moves toward me.

“For a reason that we could just innocently find ourselves half naked around the other.”

I don’t reply. I simply keep watching her.

There is not one single innocent thing about the way her gaze hardens as she looks at me or the way her tongue swipes over her lips with each step, or about the thoughts in my head.

“I think I made myself clear on where I stand,” I repeat.

Hold strong, man. You can do this!

“And I think you’re full of shit.”

“Sadie,” I say with as much warning as I can. I should know by now that the only person who knows me better than I know myself is her.

Fighting or not, we have a connection that can’t be matched by anyone else.

“I’ll give you one chance, Hudson. I’m right here, telling you that you can do anything you want to me.”

Fuck .

“I won’t beg, not unless you ask me to, but you should know that I’m not wearing any panties under th?—”

I move so fast that her breath hitches. I spin us around and grip her hips to prop her on the counter. Then I spread her legs just like I did the other day and step between them. She moans when I press myself flush to her body, and I can feel her heart race as I lean my forehead to her chest.

Just once.

One time only.

It doesn’t even have to be sex, but I have to touch her, taste her, and hear the way she sounds when she falls apart.

I need to consume her more than I need air to breathe.

Her fingers thread through my hair and tug just hard enough for me to lift my head and look her in the eyes right before I kiss her. I hold the back of her head as I slip my tongue into her mouth and kiss her hard.

Then I kiss from her jaw to her neck, to her chest.

“I think it’s been too long since we both got what we wanted, Hudson.”

I growl. She’s right, but I refuse to take my mouth away from her to reply.

“Yes,” she says and then lifts her ass off the counter to rub against my erection. My hands fall to either side of her, and I force her to sit back down, only to drag her to the edge.

She moans even louder when I push her towel higher onto her hips so she can feel more of me.

“Is this what you want?” I press my lips to her neck again as I grind my body to hers.

She nods.

“I need to hear you say it.”

“Yes.”

“Or is this what you want?” I slip one hand between her thighs and run my fingers up her skin until I reach her pussy. “ Fuck, Sadie, is this how I make you feel? Do you get this wet just thinking of me?”

“Yes,” she breathes. “Every time I’m around you, my body craves you.”

I slide two fingers inside her slowly and capture her lips with mine on her next gasp. My tongue slips into her mouth as I curl my fingers.

Her hips buck against me, and I smile.

“You’re responsive. I like that.”

I start to move my fingers in a circle, my thumb pressing against her core.

“Yes,” she moans louder. “Keep doing that.”

Her head falls back, so I take this time to keep kissing her neck, her collarbone, and her chest again. The hand that isn’t working to bring her joy grabs the towel, pulls the knot apart, and tosses it to the floor.

The most perfectly round and perky pair of breasts bounce in front of me as she rides my hand.

The urge to feel them takes over. I remove my hand and pull her even closer to where her butt is hanging off the edge. I drop to my knees and just as she starts to argue, I take one long slow lick against her.

Her thighs are resting on my shoulders, but the moment I suck her clit and reach up to grip her breasts, her legs clamp against my head.

“Hudson!” she screams out. “Holy shit!”

I look up just in time to see her brace her body with one hand behind her and then move the other to thread through my hair. The fire in her eyes as she watches me eat her pussy like a fucking snack I’ve been waiting my whole life for only fuels me.

I love the full feeling of her tits in my hand, but I want to see her fall apart more.

I pull one hand away and press my fingers back inside as I keep licking. Faster and faster. When I feel her walls clamping down on me, I pull my fingers out, twist my head, and lick as far inside of her as I can. Her hand on the back of my head holds me in place tighter, practically pressing my face in between her legs.

“Ahh! I’m coming, I’m coming, I’m coming.”

I don’t let up until the most beautiful sigh comes from her lips.

“Oh my god,” she says quietly as I slowly stand. She’s still splayed out for me on the counter, naked, her knees wide. I can see her pulsing between her legs, and that view alone has me grinning before I look her in the eye.

“Better?” I ask and raise a brow.

She starts to laugh, and the sounds hit me in the chest. I told myself just once, but feeling her, hearing her, and now seeing her after she comes—once won’t be enough for me.

“Can I have my towel back?” she asks, pressing one foot against my chest and forcing me to step back.

I bend down to get it as she hops off the counter.

“Arms up,” I say, and she does as she’s told. I wrap the towel around her and knot it at the top. She drops her arms as if I’m done, but I pull her to me and gently press my lips to hers.

While I intend for it to be a soft kiss to conclude what just happened, Sadie has other plans. Her hand moves to my waist and grabs the towel, but I wrap a hand around her wrist and stop her.

She breaks our kiss and looks at me.

“Is this the moment where you say no, no, Sadie, tonight was about you and not me?”

I chuckle at the deep voice she uses to imitate me.

“It is, isn’t it?” she asks and rolls her eyes.

“No, this is the moment I tell you that if you touch me, I’ll have no choice but to strip you naked again, put you on this counter, again , and fuck you so hard that every tenant on this block will hear you scream my name.”

Her bottom lip drops as she sucks in a breath. “Is that supposed to scare me?”

Again, I chuckle.

This woman will be the death of me.

I’ve already crossed a line by putting my face between her legs.

I hold her arms at her sides and step back.

“I’m going to go take a cold shower,”' I say and move around her. “Again.”

She laughs. “Better lock the door.”

I refuse to look back as I drop my chin to my chest.

The woman of my dreams, ladies and gentlemen, who also happens to be my best friend’s little sister and who has forgotten how much she hates me.

Her laughter grows deeper, and I finally spin to face her.

“Sadie.”

“Yes?”

“For the record, every night should always be about you.”

For once, she doesn’t have anything to say.

She bites her lips and nods.

And then I proceed to take the coldest fucking shower of my life.

I might not know a lot of things, but one thing is for sure; I have a choice to make.

End this now or chance losing the most amazing woman I’ve ever met.