I stare at myself in the mirror, hoping I can pull this off. I'm not from this area, so I'm not worried about being recognized. What I'm worried about is the fact that I'm not like Dalton. I can't just turn it on and off like he does. The things I see here, are the things I see when I close my eyes at night. And based on what I saw between Sloan and Asa today, I won't be getting much sleep.

I run a washcloth under the water and wet my face, willing myself to sober up before I exit the bathroom. I toss the washcloth into the hamper of clothes. I stare at the hamper, full to the brim of dirty laundry, and wonder if Sloan is the only girl that lives here. I'm assuming she's probably the one that gets stuck with all the laundry. Not to mention the rest of the house.

When Asa and I walked in on her cleaning the kitchen this afternoon, he stopped in the doorway and watched her clean for several minutes. I stood over his shoulder, taken aback by the fact that it was her...but more so by just how beautiful she was, swaying to the music. The lyrics to the iconic Rick Springfield song, Jessie's girl, were running through my mind as I stood behind Asa, watching him watch her. I wanted to be the one watching her like that.

Like she was mine.

I inhale a deep breath and open the bathroom door. My eyes are pulled to the vision standing in the doorway across the hall. She spins around when she hears the bathroom door open and her slinky dress spins with her. When she comes to a standstill, I can't pull my eyes away from the dress. It hugs her in all the right places, the spaghetti straps holding up a barely there top that squeezes her breasts together, leaving no room for any type of bra. It pisses me off that I'm mentally thanking Asa for telling her to put this dress on.

Breathe, Luke. Breathe.

I finally bring my eyes to meet hers, and the look on her face doesn't match the sexy, confidant attire she's sporting at all. She's been crying.

"You okay?" I ask, taking a step toward her. She glances at the stairwell with a look of fear in her eyes, then back up at me. She nods. She starts to head toward the stairs and I reach out and grab her hand, pulling her back. "Sloan, wait."

She turns back around and faces me. The girl I'm looking at right now is not the girl I met in class today. This girl is fragile. Scared. Broken.

She takes a step toward me, folding her arms across her chest. She stares down at the floor between us, tugging on her lip with her teeth. "Why are you here?" she asks quietly.

I don't know how to answer her. I don't want to lie, but I also can't tell her the truth. I'm pretty sure it would be frowned upon if I told the girlfriend of the guy I'm trying to bust the real reason why I'm here.

"I was invited," I say.

She darts her head up. "You know what I mean," she says. "Why are you even involved in all of this?"

"You're dating the very reason why I'm here," I say, referring to our mutual involvement with Asa. "It's just a job."

She rolls her eyes as though she's heard that excuse before. The difference between my excuse and Asa's, is that mine is the truth. She just doesn't know exactly how much of a job it really is.

"Sloan, I think it's safe to say we both left a few important facts out of our class assignment today."

She laughs a desperate, pained laugh. "Yeah. He should have assigned us more than three. I think five would have covered it."

"Yep," I say. "Five facts probably would have been enough to clue me in to the fact that you have a boyfriend."

She glances up at me, her chin tucked in. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

She drops her shoulders and lowers her voice even more. "For the way I acted in class today," she says. "For flirting with you. I shouldn't have said some of the things I said. I swear I'm not that kind of girl. I would have never..."

"Sloan," I interrupt, hooking my finger under her chin. I stare down at her, knowing full well I need to drop my hand and back the fuck away from her. "I don't think that about you at all. It was harmless fun, that's it."

The word harmless looms in the air like a dark, ominous cloud. We both know that Asa is anything but harmless. Talking to her in class, standing with her in this hallway...it's the harmless moments like these that, if they occur enough, will end up being a hell of a lot more than just harmless. Asa's threat from earlier repeats in my mind. Everything about this girl is off limits. Asa has made that clear...my career makes that clear. Why can't I see it that clearly?

I begin to drop my hand when a voice from behind us causes us both to jump.

"You're missing the party, man."

I spin around and Dalton is at the top of the stairwell, eyeing me like he's about to beat my ass. He has every right to, considering the mess I almost just got myself in.

"Yeah."  I take a deep breath and turn back around to face her.  "We'll talk in class," I whisper.  She nods and lets out a breath, relieved that the voice at the top of the stairs belonged to Dalton and not Asa.  She's not the only one relieved by that.

She turns around and heads back into her room, rather than downstairs.  I can see now, based on her environment, why she doesn't get any sleep.

 As soon as the door closes behind her, I spin around and come face to face with Dalton.  His nostrils are flaring, a dead giveaway that he's about to hit me. He shoves me against the wall and wedges his arm between my chest and throat.

        "Don't fuck this up," he seethes.   He slaps his palm against the side of my head.  "Play smart."

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ASA - 5

Chapter Five

ASA

 I fold my arms behind my head and lean back on the pillow.  "Take off your panties."

 She grins and bends forward, hooking her thumbs in her panties as she slowly slides them down over her hips.  Her breasts are pushed together nicely in a black, transparent bra.  I think I'll let her leave that one on.

    "Come here."

She bends down on the bed and crawls toward me, her long blonde hair tracing up my legs as she slowly glides up my body. She positions herself above me, straddling me.  This chick knows what she's doing.  That can be both good and bad.  I like a girl who knows how to fuck, but it also makes me wonder how many guys she had to fuck in order to get so good.  I reach over to the nightstand and grab a condom, handing it to her.

  "Put it on," I command.  She keeps her eyes trained on mine as she opens it, then brings her hands to my dick.  I grab her wrists and shake my head.  "With your mouth."

  She grins and begins to lower her head when I hear the footsteps. Then the bedroom doorknob makes an unsuccessful turn. Fuck."Asa, open the door!" Sloan yells from outside the room.

"Fuck!" I shove the girl onto her back.  I stand up and grab my pants, pulling them on as the girl on the bed looks back and forth between me and the door.  I pick her clothes up off the floor and throw them toward the closet, pointing for her to go hide.