“This isn’t right, Zoe. I’ll teach you to ski, how to wrap a sprained ankle in the middle of a blizzard. Hell, I’ll teach you chess, but not sex.”
“I already know how to play chess,” I said a little stiffly.
“Not like I do.”
Neither of the other two refuted that or made fun of it, so he must be really good. But it still hurt.
“Why?” I asked.
“This is a bad way to be introduced to sex.”
“Then show me a better one.”
He shook his head and looked away, his jaw tight.
With a sigh, I turned back to Asher. “Two instructors are better than one. So what do you want?”
“A favor,” he said simply.
“What favor?”
“Not now. A favor in the future.”
“But you can’t tell me what it is?”
He shook his head.
“Then I can’t agree to that. It could be anything. You could tell me to—” I paused.
“Tell you to fuck me?” he asked. “Isn’t that the point?”
This was getting confusing, but I nodded. “All right, a future favor, within reason.”
“Done,” he said, as emotionless as I was supposed to be. He turned to Landon. “Are you going to make a problem for us about this? Turn us into management?”
“Of course not,” Landon said. But he didn’t look happy.
Wow. My brain was having a hard time catching up with the events of the last few minutes. I was shocked that I’d gotten up the courage to ask in the first place, and more shocked that they’d said yes—or at least two of the three of them had. Relief, nerves, and a few doubts about my own sanity swirled around inside my head.
“When does the first lesson start?” I asked.
“No time like the present,” Kai said.
My jaw dropped. “Really?”
“Don’t get shy now, babe. You were doing so well.”
“She was?” Ash asked, and I glared at him.
“Yes, she was,” Landon confirmed. “She was brave as fuck and didn’t back down when we looked at her like she was crazy.”
Wait, he was defending me? “Does that mean you’re in after all?” I asked.
“No,” he said gently. “So I’ll say goodnight.” And he got up.
Suddenly I was scared. For the first time since I’d proposed these lessons, I let my vulnerability show. “Don’t go.”
He sighed, turning toward me but not looking me in the eye. “Zoe, this isn’t usually a spectator sport.”
