Something in the Way He Needs (Family 1)

“Shoot! I could have sworn I had a few ones in here.” The guy looked inside his hemp wallet long enough to make Asher wonder whether he thought money would magically appear. Then the bus ticket dropped from Clumsy’s hand, just as the money had at the kiosk, and Asher saw his opportunity. He squatted down and picked up the ticket.

“You dropped this,” Asher said, then glanced down at the ticket nonchalantly. “Oh, you’re doing the double decker tour too?”

The man turned his head and fixed soulful brown eyes on Asher, causing an unfamiliar sensation in his stomach. Asher smiled and the guy blushed, dropping his chin and shifting from foot to foot.

“Yes, I was planning on it.” He lowered his voice even further. “Course I’m having trouble finding the bus stop.”

Honest. Not trying to hide a shortcoming. Fucking adorable. Where had that last thought come from? Asher had always been attracted to tough, not adorable. And besides, since when did someone with holes in his barely-managing-to-stay-up jeans and various stains on his stretched-out sweatshirt meet the definition of adorable, or anything else positive?

Asher couldn’t hold back a small grin when the guy quickly looked up at him. It turned into a broad smile when that fair skin flushed and the gaze dropped back to the ground. Turning to the vendor, Asher pulled his wallet out of his pocket.

“Two waters, please.”

He handed over the cash and twisted open one bottle, handing it to Clumsy before opening his own bottle.

Those brown eyes did that confused blinking thing and a long-fingered hand reached for the bottle before hesitating. Asher covered the distance and pressed the water into his hand. “Should we?” he asked.

The man immediately nodded and then furrowed his brow. “Should we what?”

Knowing Clumsy had agreed with him without knowing what he was being asked caused an involuntary hardening in Asher’s pants. Damn, but did he ever like a guy who could follow orders. What else would the stranger agree to do?

“I thought we could walk to the bus together,” Asher explained. “Let’s go.” He smirked when the guy followed him without hesitation. “So, what’s your name?”

Clumsy turned in his direction. “Daniel. Daniel Tover.”

Chapter 2

“WELL, hello, Daniel Tover. I’m Asher Penaz. It’s nice to meet you.”

Daniel looked into Asher’s eyes and smiled gently. “It’s nice meeting—” The man’s words were cut off when he tripped over his own feet. Thankfully, Asher managed to catch him before he hit the ground.

“Are you okay?” Asher put his hand on the small of Daniel’s back and rubbed circles on it, instinctively trying to soothe, and then wondered which rock that particular instinct had been hiding under for his entire life.

Instead of pulling away, that thin body nudged a little closer to him. “I’m fine. Just a little, uh, distracted sometimes.”

Asher didn’t mention that he’d already noticed that trait. They kept walking, with Asher’s hand remaining on Daniel’s back, subtly leading them toward the bus stop and avoiding the solicitors handing out pamphlets with pictures of remarkably well-endowed women who were naked from the waist up with the exception of tiny, strategically placed stars.

Were the stars supposed to add allure or were they actually pretending to cover something? Whatever. Naked women weren’t as interesting as the badly dressed man next to him.

“So, tell me about yourself, Daniel. Are you in school?”

Daniel graced him with another shy smile. Melted chocolate. That’s what came to mind when Asher looked into those brown eyes.

“Just how young do you think I am?” Daniel asked.

Asher stopped walking and raked his gaze over Daniel, from head to toe and back again. He smirked when he saw the other man flush. Those jeans were annoyingly baggy, but Asher was pretty sure the bulge in the front looked a little fuller than it had before his appraisal.

“Well, we are in Vegas, so I’d say you’ve got to be at least twenty-one, maybe twenty-two.”

In other words, way too fucking young for anything other than a little bondage, or a spanking, or maybe a quick fuck. So why was Asher interested in talking to the guy? In joining him on a tourist attraction?

“I’m thirty-three,” Daniel said and then laughed at the shocked expression on Asher’s face. “Yeah, I know. Older than I look. I get that a lot.”

Shaking his head, Asher chuckled and then started walking again, putting his hand on the nape of Daniel’s neck instead of his back and giving him a little squeeze. “I’m usually much better at this type of guessing game and figuring out all sorts of stuff about people. Thirty-three. Really?”

“Yeah, really.” Daniel laughed again and pulled his wallet out of his pocket. He took his driver’s license out and handed it to Asher. “There you go, officer. Proof that I’m legal.”

Asher coughed and looked at Daniel in surprise. Was that a figure of speech or had the younger man somehow figured out what he did for a living?