PRESENT

I would say I sleep a lot less than the average person just because of how often I have nightmares. Rarely do I find myself waking up without prior memory of a bad dream that startles me out of sleep sooner than it should. It takes forever to shut my brain off and once I do, it usually doesn't last long. I'm up when the birds are chirping and singing their morning tune and that hasn't changed once in the past decade.

Until now.

This time when my eyes crack open, I can immediately tell I've overslept. My body and mind feel much more relaxed than they usually do and the sun that shines through my glass doors is bright and hot — afternoon sun. A decent guess would be that it's close to noon by now and that alone opens my eyes the remaining way in alarm. When's the last time I ever slept past seven in the morning, maybe nine if I'm lucky? What's different about this morning?

My answer comes a moment later when I hear a deep groan that doesn't belong to me. Then I feel something hard and long nudge me between my legs and that definitely doesn't belong to me. Oh, shit.

In my confusion, I somehow failed to realize that I have a very large and very heavy man sprawled on top of me and clutching on to me like I'm his personal plush toy. Asher's face is shoved into my neck and his arms are wrapped tightly around my waist. Our legs are tangled together and I stare up at the ceiling as I lay on my back and wonder how this happened.

Stupid Asher.

I knew this sleepover wouldn't be innocent. The more time we spend together the more I realize that the sparks between us will make it impossible for us to be platonic. Maybe once upon a time we were strictly friends but that's changed. Asher and I have changed too and rekindling after all these years has made one thing all too clear: things can't go back to the way they were no matter how much we want it to. We've grown up and the friendship we once had no longer works like it used to. Our chemistry has taken a complete one-eighty and there's no going back, no matter how hard we're trying to fool ourselves. But does this mean the end of what we have or the beginning of something new entirely? Yeah, we have our moments where we flirt and steal touches but this doesn't seem to be going into relationship territory by any means. We're just circling each other and ignoring what's between us. I don't even know what exactly is between us. Is it lust or more?

Damn it. This is so fucking confusing and I kind of hate Asher for stealing my heart and not giving it back. I feel lost without it and now that it's in his hands I have no idea what he's going to do with it. What I do know is that I need my space from him. Literally.

I try to push him off but it's no use. Asher is bulky as hell and he doesn't budge an inch despite my efforts. If anything, he snuggles in even closer and I roll my eyes. Asher is one of the toughest and coldest men I know but sometimes he can be such a baby. I also see right through his bullshit.

"Get off, stupid." I smack his head. "I know you're awake."

"No, I'm not." He mumbles back. I fucking knew it.

"Asher." I scold. "I can't breathe."

"I'm stunning first thing in the morning, I know."

I snort into his hair that tickles my nose and try to pry his face out of my neck. Still no use.

"Ash." I groan.

I suck in a breath when I feel that length between my legs harden even more and cringe. Oh, wow. Maybe I shouldn't have said his name like that. It was practically a moan and no doubt I got his little junior excited, which in turn is making me excited. What the hell? This is too much.

"Asher." I say in my most professional voice, the one I use in court, to try and ignore the sudden slickness I'm feeling south of my body. "You need to get off of me immediately."

"No, I need to get off immediately." He groans back and his hips nudge into mine slightly before he finally rolls off. I'm left staring wide-eyed at the ceiling with my pulse pounding between my legs from that little move he just pulled. Either his morning wood isn't making him think straight or he's too tired to give a fuck about what he says to me. Maybe both. "Fuck, my blue balls are probably purple by now."

Okay. Definitely both.

I look to the side and down at said balls and swallow hard when I make out the imprint of his cock against his sweatpants. That looks painful and holy hell, do I want to relieve it for him. Why do I want to relieve it for him?

"You keep staring at me like that and I'm going to break my promise to not bite you."

His hoarse voice commands my attention and I meet his gaze as his tongue darts out to lick his lower lip.

"That's no way to talk to a friend." I point out a little breathlessly. Seriously, what the fuck is happening with us? It doesn't seem real. Maybe I'm still asleep?

"Friend, huh?" He glances over at me and drags his eyes down my body, pausing briefly on the way I'm clenching my thighs. He bites the corner of his lip and it looks like he's holding back a smile. If I had to guess, I'd say he's way too satisfied that he's not the only one who woke up sexually aroused.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I challenge and silently hope he doesn't call my bluff. I thought we were on the same unspoken page that we'd ignore the tension between us.

"Relax." He murmurs and rubs a hand over my forehead like he's wiping away my thoughts. I smack it away and toss a glare at him that he counters with his mischievous grin. "Did I get your panties in a twist?"

"My panties are none of your concern." I remove the pillow from under my head so I can throw it at him. He catches with a laugh that's still deep and raspy with his morning voice. It shoots straight to my girly parts.

"You say that but then you look at me like you want me to know everything there is about your panties." He props himself up on his elbow, the side of his head resting in his hand. "Are you even wearing any?"

"Dude." I can feel my eyes bug out. I have no idea how to respond to that so one of my classic defence mechanisms kicks in — attitude. "Get out of my room."

"Bossy." He mutters and stretches his arms above his head. His tank rides up and exposes a teasing sliver of skin, a hint of the v-shaped indent on his hips peeking through. His chuckle draws my attention to his knowing eyes and he winks when I scowl at him.

"Go." I point to my balcony sternly. "We're having lunch at Nate and Del's place in a couple of hours, anyways. I'll see you there."

"Fine." He relents mid-yawn. He gets up from my bed with noisy grunts that are entirely dramatic and saunters out of my room. I take a moment to admire his defined ass and briefly wonder if he'd enjoy having it clawed while he pounds into me.

Woah. I shake my head forcefully. Calm down, bitch.

I cover my face with a pillow to hide the look on my face Asher is bound to figure out. We really should not have had this sleepover. I'm losing my goddamn mind over here.

"Hey, Princess?"

"Yeah?" My muffled question comes reluctantly.

"We should do this again."

"Shut up, Asher."

His amused laughter fades off as he jumps over to his balcony and I finally remove my pillow to gape at the ceiling. If I thought I was confused before, it's nothing compared to how confused I am now.

***

"You made it!" Del smiles at us as soon as she opens the door.

"Gammy!" Zack squeals and reaches for Mom. He's unable to pronounce Grandma just yet but his alternative of the word is undeniably cuter.

"There's my baby!" Mom coos and takes Zack from Delilah's arm, kissing her on the cheek in greeting. "How's being a new home owner?"

"Busy." Delilah laughs and ushers is inside. "You're right on time."

"Which is surprising considering how long it took to wake Mia up." Lexie snorts.

We take turns hugging Del one by one before making our way inside the house.

"Oh, please." Mia rolls her eyes. "Your high school days were spent sleeping in more than I do."

"It's just the teenage brain." I remind them for the millionth time in an attempt to break up their bickering. Lexie and Mia argued like Tom and Jerry but they were also fiercely loyal to one another. "Sleeping in is a package deal for your teenage years."

"Really?" Eleanor frowns. My little sister was a morning person to a fault. "But I don't even like sleeping in."

"I know." Harmony groans. "Sharing a room with you is getting old. Why do you have to read out loud at seven in the morning?"

"I told you, I don't realize I'm doing it!"

"Girls." Dad interrupts in a firm voice. The quarrelling quiets down instantly and Dad sighs deeply. He meets my eyes and shakes his head when I snicker. It's probably times like this that make him wish he had more than one son.

Speaking of his only son, Nate walks out of the kitchen with his easy smile in place as he wipes his hands on his apron. Yup. He's wearing a fucking apron.

He realizes his mistake instantly when all five of his sisters freeze in their tracks for a couple of shocked and disturbed seconds before we simultaneously break out into laughter. We're in borderline tears and clutching our stomachs over the sight of Nate quickly ripping the apron off with a scowl, a touch of pink colouring his ears. It's times like this that he probably wishes his parents had more sons, too.

"Alright, alright, get over it." He grumbles when our laughter doesn't slow down in the least.

"How's the domestic wife life going, honey?" Lexie swings an arm around his shoulders and her comment sets the rest of us off again.

Nate rolls his eyes. "Say what you want, brats. I'm perfectly confident about my masculinity and I'll wear a damn apron if I have to."

"Did you at least remember to water the flowerbeds?" Mia flutters her lashes.

"Oh, I definitely watered something this morning." He grins, his tongue swiping the corner of his lip as he moves his gaze to Del.

"Ew!"

"Nathan, what the hell?"

"I'm going to throw up!"

It's his turn to laugh as his sisters shudder and gag at the inappropriate remark that has Del smacking her red face in exasperation. Mom tsks at Nate's behaviour and Dad is trying hard to contain his sniggers into his fist. Real mature.

"I don't get it." Harmony blinks. Oh, boy.

I clear my throat and throw Nate the stink eye who has the decency to look sheepish as he pats Mona's head.

"What were you making, anyways?" I redirect the disturbing conversation much to everyone's relief.

"Oatmeal cookies. Angel loves them."

"And how'd you do?"

"There's literally only three cookies that can be considered edible and even that's a stretch."

"Must run in the family." Harmony sighs deeply, probably recalling all her disastrous events in the kitchen. She has a real passion for cooking and baking but admittedly is not the greatest at it.

"We're in this together, squirt." He promises and holds his hand up for a high-five that Mona returns enthusiastically.

"Who else is here?" Mia asks and takes a peek around.

"The rest of the Fighter's Den crew, Asher's parents, and Sebastian."

Lexie's eyes light up at the mention of her boyfriend and she turns to me with excitement. "You can finally meet him!"

I haven't even finished nodding before she grabs my hand and hauls our asses out of the living room like they're on fire.

"Lexie." I laugh at her surprising strength as she continues to drag us to the outrageously huge guest room. My eyes do a quick scan of all the guests, looking for one guest in particular, but my search is cut off when Lexie lets go of me so unexpectedly I almost trip and fall on my face.

By the time I steady myself and look up to see where she went, I spot her throwing her arms around Sebastian's neck who catches her around the waist with a smirk. Wow, he's even hotter in person.

For starters, dude is built like a tank — super tall and ridiculously ripped, accented by fitted jeans and a half-sleeve black shirt that looks ready to rip apart at his biceps. I recall Nate mentioning that he's ex-marine and I can definitely see that in him. Some of his military habits are still noticeable, like his constantly buzzed hair and stoic as hell face and rim-rod straight posture. If I saw him on the streets, he's not someone I'd want to approach. Yet when my sister grins up at him he loses all of that cool and grins back, making him appear boyish and sweet as hell. His ice blue eyes have so much adoration in them as he gazes down at my little sister that I feel my throat tighten in emotion. He bends his head to capture her lips while simultaneously lifting her up by the waist to get her closer and I feel my brows go up. That kiss is not meant to be anywhere except behind closed doors and I can feel the electricity behind it from all the way here. Go, Lexie.

I hear a growl behind me at the same time Sebastian slips his tongue into Lexie's mouth and snort, already knowing it's Nate.

"Is he trying to give her babies in my own goddamn house?" His nostrils flare like a fire-breathing dragon. "Fucker needs to step back."

I roll my eyes. "You love Sebastian like a brother and you know it. Back it up, He-Man."

"I like him better when his face isn't being vacuumed by my baby sister's mouth."

"You have more than one baby sister, you know that? If you keep stressing at this rate then you'll be dead long before Mona settles down."

"Sounds like a pretty solid plan to me."

I smack his arm and physically turn his face away from Sebastian and Lexie before his eye pops; it legitimately won't stop twitching.

"Why don't you go find your girlfriend and suck her face?"

His lopsided grin and the stupid look in his eyes are enough to tell me this crisis has been successfully averted. Man, my brother is whipped.

When he heads back into the living room I take that as my cue to introduce myself to Sebastian. Luckily he's no longer trying to eat Lexie's mouth like it's his favourite candy and vice versa so the pair actually notices me when I stop beside them.

"Hey." I grin and hold my hand out. "I'm Aria. It's great to finally meet the man that puts that stupid smile of my sister's face."

Lexie blushes when Sebastian gives her a crooked smile of his own, one that screams confidence and swagger. Seriously, this dude is fine.

Sebastian shakes my hand and his grip is as firm as I expected it to be. "Good to meet ye too, lass. Yer definitely a superstar in Lexie's books as well."

I blink in shock at his obvious Scottish accent. I knew he had one but for some reason it still takes me by surprise. The accent definitely makes him ten times more appealing than he already is and I totally understand why Lexie is head over heels for him.

"Just don't break her heart or I'll have to break your balls." I tell him non-chalantly and pat his rock-hard arm. "Sister code and all."

"Ria." Lexie admonishes but her lips twitch in good humour, lips that are currently a bright red and double their regular size. It's obvious Sebastian gives his one-hundred percent in everything he does, including ravishing my baby sister. No wonder she's always happy — he probably gives her earth-shattering orgasms on a daily basis. I'm definitely going to ask her about his performance in the sack later today.

"Wouldn't have it any other way." He makes an "x" on his chest in promise and looks so serious that I have to laugh. I can tell that beneath his cool exterior is a loving softie.

"Good to hear it." I point a finger at him. "Take good care of her, alright?"

"That's the one thing ye won't ever have to worry about." He says it solemnly to show me that he's being serious and I respect the hell out of that.

Lexie deserves this kind of love, probably more than any of us Hunters. She was the one who held down the fort when I left for California and Nate took off for college. After my abuse, my little sisters were scared and felt vulnerable to the world around them because they'd seen the worst of it too soon in their lives. They'd been told too soon that monsters hide in plain sight and not just under the bed. Lexie, only eleven years old at the time, was forced to grow up too fast so she could protect her sisters and show them the world could be a good place too. She's always been mature as hell for her age and unfailingly selfish, handing out her love and goodness to anyone who'd take it. It's about damn time she received it back in the same amount, if not more.

"Good man." I tell Seb softly.

"Aw." Lexie scrunches her nose up at him. "You love me."

"Just a wee bit." He closes his index finger and thumb so close together there's barely a space left. When Lexie smacks his shoulder he laughs, a deep and husky sound as if he's not used to making it, and kisses her softly. "Joking, sweetheart. Ye know I love you with everything a have, aye?"

I hold a hand to my heart that I can practically feel exploding inside my chest when Lexie beams up at him, her arms winding around his waist. "I love you too, tough guy."

"I'm going to leave before I start crying." I tell them honestly, fanning my face with my hands to ward off my impending tears. Lexie rolls her eyes at my theatrics and Sebastian looks embarrassed, like he forgot I was there when he was declaring his love, and partially afraid at my scrunched up face and trembling lip. "I swear I'm going."

I wave a quick bye to them and head off to where Nate's friends are. My entire body feels warm and fuzzy from watching Seb and Lexie together and I can't help but feel so proud of my little sister for getting through the toughest years of her life in order to be where she is now. If there's one thing about us Hunters is that we don't go down without a fight for what, and who, we love.

"Who died?" Cameron asks seriously when he gets a good look at my face. I have to snort at the hot mess I must look like.

"No one. I just got emotional seeing Sebastian and Lexie together. They're adorable."

"They're sex fiends." Avery snickers. "We've caught them going at it like rabbits at your brother's night club on way too many occasions. Even the loud music doesn't drown them out when they get frisky. Sebastian is definitely a giver in bed."

I cough into my fist to hide my laughter. I guess I won't have to ask Lexie about her sexual life after all. "That's kind of surprising. Lexie isn't typically a rule-breaker."

"Neither is Sebastian." Cameron adds. "Dude does everything by the book. The two of them are responsible and driven as fuck but when they're together they're reckless and wild. It's fucking cute."

"Reminds me of us." Avery says wistfully.

Cameron smirks at her and pulls her into his side with an arm around her waist. "Duh. That's exactly how I put a baby in you."

"How're you holding up?" I ask at the reminder of Avery's pregnancy.

"Pretty good. Now that my morning sickness is gone, I eat like a whale. My cravings are out of control."

"She woke me up at four in the morning because she wanted In N' Out." Cameron confirms. "I suggested my dick — Cameron Junior or CJ as I like to call him — could offer all the ins and outs her body wanted and I got slapped for it. Personally I thought it was a fantastic joke."

"It was, Hermoso." She looks apologetic but she's also giggling. "You know I love CJ but these days he's at war with my love for carbs."

"On CJ's behalf, he is extremely appetizing and is zero calories. It doesn't get any better than that."

"Leave the poor girl alone." Emily calls out from a few feet away from us. "Can't you see how horrified she is?"

Avery and Cameron stop their bickering to look at me and I try to keep my expression neutral. Seriously, though. These two are...bizarre. But it's too hard not to love them for it.

"Sorry." They say at the same time and offer matching grins. I find myself laughing as I often do with these two. They're definitely made for each other.

"Did your best friend come with?" Jaxon asks.

I shake my head no. I met Lenny a couple of days ago for lunch and meant to introduce her properly to my family and friends but I rarely see her as much as I used to so I selfishly hogged her to myself for the entire four hours we hung out.

"Next time." I promise. "She really wants to meet you guys."

Jax gives me a nod, not much of a conversationist. He's a neutral guy and definitely respectful but he reserves all his fucks to give for his wife and his children only. While he's impassive with the rest of the world, he overflows with love and adoration for his family. The only times I've ever seen him smile are when he's with them. I find it absolutely beautiful.

A hand settles on my shoulder and my breath stutters for a moment, recognizing the heavy and warm touch without turning around. Only one person can make my stomach flip over violently the way it's doing right now. The familiar scent, cologne and something soapy, is a giveaway too and it wraps all around me almost obnoxiously. Everything about Asher is dominating and while I used to be immune to falling under his spell as a young girl, I'm definitely not immune to it anymore. If I was then I would have told him "no" when he asked to spend the night but I was weak and couldn't put up a fight for even a minute.

"What's up?" I smile at him over my shoulder casually and pretend like I didn't get a personal demonstration this morning of what it would be like to have his dick between my legs. Fun stuff, right?

His lip curls like he sees right through me, eyes briefly dropping to my mouth. He's been doing that a lot lately. "You clean up pretty nice, brat."

Fuck yeah, I do. I'd made more of an effort than I usually do knowing he would be seeing me today. In the back of my mind, I wanted to impress him. I wanted to test him and see if what we shared this morning and last night was real. Did he really see me beyond that of a friend or was it just his hormones getting the best of him?

I watch Asher's reaction to me now as he does a once-over of me that's more like a thrice-over because he keeps double-taking on my ass. That's exactly why I continue to look at him over my shoulder instead of turning around to face him. That and I don't think I have enough self-control to keep my hands to myself if I'm too close to him. After all, in his notorious full black attire and obviously styled hair, he looks good enough to sneak into a closed door and not come out until several orgasms later. He left me hot and bothered this morning and I clearly haven't recovered yet.

"You two might as well start fucking if you're going to stare at each other like that." Cameron chirps.

I startle out of my way too dirty thoughts and look away from Ash, laughing a little nervously. "It's not like that, Cam. We're just friends."

"That's like saying CJ is small." He winks. "Spoiler alert: he's like the hulk of all penises."

"He really is." Avery nods seriously, even going as far as to patting Cameron's crotch affectionately. O-kay.

"Want to go and grab a plate?" Asher asks me, ignoring his friends' remarks. But that's Ash for you. He's not big on talk or being kind out of formalities. If he has nothing to say then he has nothing to say. His friends don't seem offended at all so I guess they know that by now, too.

"Sure." I answer and let him lead me away from Cameron and Avery who I wave to, blushing a little as they wiggle their brows back.

We weave around the crowd of people who are talking amongst themselves and I make sure to stop and greet the people I know. Asher offers his classics chin-tips and nothing more. I sometimes forget how anti-social he is because he's the total opposite with me. Always has been.

When of Nate's old friends and a co-worker of Delilah's, Mark I think his name is, accidentally bumps into me, Asher holds on to my waist to pull me aside and narrows his eyes at him. Mark apologizes and I insist it's no big deal, elbowing Asher when he won't stop glaring.

"He didn't mean it." I say when he leaves. "Would you stop that?"

"Nope." He deadpans. He also doesn't let go of my waist and I don't bother pointing it out. He keeps his hand in place until we reach the kitchen and when he finally lets go, I miss his touch instantly. It's kind of pathetic.

Wordlessly, Asher starts to pile up a plate and it takes a few seconds to realize he's making it for me. He puts together all my favourite things and hands it to me when he's done. It's perfect. It would have looked exactly like this if I'd done it myself.

"Look who remembered." I remark casually.

"Why would I forget?" He shrugs just as casually. He makes his own plate but it has significantly less food than mine.

"Not hungry?"

"I'm on a training diet and need to watch what I eat."

"Is this for pros?"

"Nah, I'm not going pro."

That gives me pause. I'm not sure how well the other Fighter's Den boxers fight but I do know how well Asher fights and he's too talented to not take his fighting to the next level. He's lethal in the ring and has all the characteristics of a champion — calculated, ruthless, and most importantly, tough as hell.

"Why wouldn't you go pro?"

He shrugs again, behaving differently. But I know that look in his eyes way too well. It's grief. He's torn about not going pro like he's always talked about doing since he was a kid and I'm burning with curiosity as to why. What the hell is going on with him?

"Ash?" I prod quietly when he doesn't answer.

"Please drop it." His tone is cool and detached. He really doesn't want to talk about this. "If you keep asking then I'll have to lie to you and I don't want to do that, okay?"

His words only intrigue me further but I appreciate his honesty and don't push it. "Alright."

"Thanks."

We take our seats on a little table in the kitchen since no one's here. Asher stares a hole into his food, pushing it around with his spoon instead of eating. Seeing him upset has ruined my appetite, too. I can't take it and feel so fucking guilty for bringing up something he was clearly trying to forget.

"You know I'm here, yeah?" I cup the side of his face and tilt it up so I can meet his eyes. They stare back at me blankly as if he's purposely trying to ignore the emotions he's feeling. "I don't know what's happening in your life but you're not alone. I'm here for you if you'll let me."

He laughs but the sound is hollow. It makes me flinch. "I've never been good at letting people in. You know that, Ria."

He's right. It's true that I know Asher better than anyone and he's told me some of his deepest secrets but there are still plenty of things he hides from me. Back when he got involved with his birth parents I didn't have a damn clue about it. It also took him years to come forward about killing Marshall. No matter how much I've managed to get through to him in the past sixteen years, there's still several walls built up around his heart.

I brush my thumb across his cheek and offer a smile. "You might not be good at letting people in but I have one hell of a way of bulldozing into people's business. If there's anyone who can figure out how to get through to you it's me, Ashes."

"Stop calling me that." His eyes flash at the use of my nickname for him. His parents call him that too, mostly his dad, but they don't know the true meaning behind it. Only we do and right now there's a torture in his eyes as he assess what I'm trying to do by bringing our past up. He's wary. Even now, he has trouble trusting others one-hundred percent, me included. But in the end our friendship wins when he says, "You're right, you know? It could only be you, Princess."

My heart stutters, missing its next beat. I almost draw my hand away from his face but Asher must sense it because he places his hand over mine, keeping it there. Why do I have a feeling we're talking about something entirely different now? All I can do is swallow harshly when I fail to come up with a response.

"Anyways," He squeezes my hand once before taking it away from his face and placing it on his thigh. His fingers are still intertwined with mine. "Let's eat."

We do just that and he doesn't let go the entire time.

________________________

A/N

So many exciting things in this chapter!!

The steamy morning Asher and Aria shared, some cuteness overload from Sebastian and Lexie (my new favourite ship, I almost want to give them their own story), and more progress between our couple of the hour. I love how they're slowly but surely getting where they need to be! They're so cute!

Please VOTE, comment and share if you liked this chapter!

Happy Reading :)