Page 8 of High Achiever
Ryder immediately clocked Ash’s tone of voice. He set the juice down on Ash’s bedside table and crossed his arms, widening his stance. Maybe it was supposed to look intimidating, with the muscles and the tattoos and the buzz cut, but in Ash’s opinion, he just looked kinda hot. Hot andannoyed, sure, but hot. The fact that there were people who kept their distance from Ryder because they thought he was scary was just further proof that people were idiots.
Ash widened his eyes in faux innocence. “You don’t wanna?”
Ryder shook his head. “You’re sick, bright eyes.”
Something in Ash warmed at the familiar nickname. Ryder only used it when it was just the two of them. It was disgustingly sweet. Ash should have put a stop to it a long time ago.
Not today though.
“I’mnotsick. Or maybe I am. But I’m also …” Ash wriggled in his sheet tangle. “Kinda worked up.”
Ryder cocked a dark brow. “The nipple piercings?”
Ash frowned. “Just in general. It’s not just him.” He reached out a hand, gripping Ryder’s tattooed forearm. “You know that, right?”
Just like that, Ryder softened, taking a seat on the edge of Ash’s bed. “Yeah. I know.”
Of course he did. He always did. Other people may not get where Ash and Ryder stood, but they always knew where they stood with each other.
The thing was, as an unpresented dude almost in his twenties, defined relationships weren’t in the cards for Ash. There were too many unanswered questions, most of them out of his control.
Nobody knew what their pheromones would do after they presented, or who their instincts would tolerate. What if Ash presented as an alpha and he couldn’t stand the challenge of Ryder’s pheromones? What if he got aggressive during a rut and attacked the one person who had always been there for him?
There was too much still up in the air, too many pieces that didn’t fit together quite right. So Ash and Ryder lived together, and they loved each other with everything they had, and they occasionally … helped each other out, as it were.
And because Ash’s sex drive was low—which could be either how he was naturally or another aspect of his unpresented status—and since he wasn’t interested in tying anyone to him exclusively, Ryder was allowed to seek satisfaction elsewhere when the need struck him.
It had never bothered Ash. Not really. He didn’t have the possessive instincts Ryder had, and while he got twinges of jealousy, he also knew who Ryder came home to at the end of theday. They weren’t exactly boyfriends, but they’d reached a kind of stasis that worked for them.
But right now, Ash didn’t care about all that.
He just wanted Ryder’s hand on his goddamn dick.
So Ash did what he did best—he pushed.
“You like the nipple piercings too.”
Ryder huffed out an almost laugh. “Do I?”
“Ever since he got ’em, you look at his chest when you think no one’s watching. His ass too. I think you have a thing for it.”
Ryder took the bait. He lay on his side next to Ash, propping his head on his hand, his bicep flexing with the movement. “He does a lot of squats,” he said mildly.
“Mm. I know.” Ash slid a hand down his belly, under the waistband of his boxers. Ryder’s dark eyes followed the movement. “It’s hilarious, you having a crush on a gym bro.”
Ash wrapped a hand around his cock, gasping at his own touch, and Ryder’s eyes narrowed, the heavy-lidded look sending a tingle down Ash’s spine. Ash may not have been able to scent Ryder’s pheromones, but he could feel the air thickening with them.
God, he wished he could smell them.
“I use the gym,” Ryder said softly, his voice a low, husky rasp.
Ash let his hand glide to the tip of his cock, thumbing at the head. “You—mm—lift free weights at the garage. It’s different.”
Ryder smirked, even as his eyes went hot. “And you run like someone’s chasing you.”
Ash met his gaze head-on. “Someone is. You.”
Something close to a growl left Ryder’s throat, and then he was knocking Ash’s hand away. “I can do better.”
