by McClung, Amy
"Oh my gosh, we should call Cameron over because he absolutely would kill us for having piña coladas and Judd Nelson without him," Angel exclaimed.
"He definitely would. I'll call him and see what he's up to."
Cameron answered on the first ring and said, "Everything okay?"
I replied, "Yeah. I'm with Angel and we have piña coladas and Judd Nelson. I thought we'd see what you were up to."
He gasped. "Oh, you scamps! I'm out with Gavin. Girl, this must be love because normally I would ditch my date for some quality time with John Bender. Damn this man for being so perfect."
I chuckled at his frustration. "Come over later if you want."
He scoffed, "Please! You think I'm calling it an early night with him? Whatev! Love you girl, gotta go."
I shook my head and said, "Love you too, babe."
"Well, he's busy with Gavin," I said.
Angel grabbed her chest. "That must be serious for him to turn this down!"
I laughed. "I know, right? Too bad Mary Jane isn't here. The three of us could use a good girl's night together. Where is she anyway?"
Angel slurped a bit of her drink before responding, "Studying at the actual library. You know she is trying to get into that big engineering program. For some reason she thinks we are too loud here so she has to go someplace quiet."
She shrugged like she truly didn't understand, and we both laughed. On a normal night, this place was filled with music and laughter. It was one thing, I loved about living together.
Four drinks and two movies later, Angel's eyes drooped and she began to snore. I covered her with a blanket. My phone buzzed, it was Ash's fourth call of the night.
"Hey Ash," I answered. I could hear the relief in his voice.
"Hey bug, everything alright there?"
I glanced at Angel to be sure I hadn’t disturbed her. I moved to the kitchen to continue. "I miss you. Other than that, everything's great. Angel fell asleep a few minutes ago. I thought I'd curl up on the couch with her. Are you coming back here tonight to sleep?"
He answered with a tone of surprise, "You want me to?"
I laughed. "Duh, of course. I want to sleep in your arms. If that’s alright."
Ashton replied sweetly, "I'd love that, Gracie."
After we hung up, I tried to lie down for the night. Angel's snoring made it impossible to sleep downstairs with her. I moved to my room and found sleeping was equally impossible because I jumped with every creak and moan of the house.
Around four in the morning, I got a text from Ashton saying he was standing at the front door. Anxiously, I ran downstairs to let him in. I peeked through the peephole to make sure it was him. He looked nervous and tired. I opened the door and when his eyes met mine, his whole face lit up with happiness and relief. I waved him in.
"How was your night?"
He had a backpack over his shoulder that he sat down before hugging me. "It was fine. I wanted to be here though. Let's head upstairs, we both need sleep."
"What's in the bag?" I asked.
He smiled. "A surprise for another time, plus, a change of clothes for in the morning."
He stood there, waiting on me to make the next move. I grabbed his hand, pulling him up the stairs. I plopped onto the bed, held the covers open for him and said, "Sleep with me, Ash."
He chuckled. "Wow, talk about déjà vu."
I giggled.
He dropped his backpack in the corner and kicked his boots off. He had on a tight black t-shirt that he pulled over his head. I watched him undress. His back was turned to me. It was the first time I noticed the Celtic cross tattoo on his back. I bit my lip as he stretched, making the muscles in his back flex. When I heard his belt buckle open, I sucked in a breath.
He turned around. "Are you alright?" he asked.
Before I answered, he recognized the look I was giving him and he offered a sexy smile. "Are you watching me undress?"
I nodded slowly. "Oh yeah."
He turned to face me and slowly slid his belt off. He started to move his hips, gyrating them slowly forward and back, as though he were stripping for me. He teased me by slowly lowering his zipper.
Turning his back to me, he swayed his hips as he lowered the jeans down over his firm ass. His pants were off and he threw them aside, turning back to face me again. His thumbs moved to the waistband of his boxer briefs. He tugged them down, only slightly, giving me a view of 'the cut', then stopped. "That's enough for tonight."
My bottom lip jutted out. Pouting, I said, "You don’t want to be all bound in those while you sleep do you?"
He laughed. "It's how I always sleep."
He crawled into the bed next to me. He seemed unsure of what would make me comfortable. He was on his back. I moved over and put my head in the crook of his arm, wrapped my arm around his waist and slid my leg over his. His hand moved to caress my arm with his fingers lightly tracing circles. He kissed my forehead.
"I love you, Gracie. Goodnight, bug."
I knew this would be a good night's sleep for me.
In the morning, I was on my side, with Ash spooning me. I rolled to face him. He groaned sleepily and moved to his back. I slid my arms across his chest and down to his boxer briefs. He didn’t wake.
My hand slowly eased inside his shorts as I found his morning erection waiting for me. I pumped him slowly with my hand. He moaned in his sleep. His breathing sped up, though still sleeping, he breathed out, "Gracie," which touched my heart, and other parts of me, knowing that he was thinking of me in his aroused, yet unconscious, state.
I moved down the bed. His eyes popped open; I looked up at him without stopping. The passion in his eyes was heady. His head fell back to the pillow in bliss. I ran my free hand up his chest and he entwined his fingers with mine.
He kept moaning my name, driving me to orgasm, without him ever touching me. I curled up next to him after I finished him off.
He kissed me and said, "Good Morning to you too."
I chuckled.
“Did you sleep well?” I asked, hopeful for a positive answer.
“Best sleep I’ve had in years. Best wake-up call ever too.” He grinned as he pulled me closer.
"Something told me you'd like that."
He grinned. "Oh yeah, but you didn’t have to do that, I…"
I covered his mouth with my lips to stop him. "I like taking care of you. It was so hot that you called my name, even in your sleep."
His hand stroked my cheek, his expression sincere. "You've been in my dreams since the day we met."
I sighed. "Sweet, romantic and gorgeous: I've died and gone to heaven."
He brushed his finger across my cheek. "You have no idea how many times I fantasized about waking up next to you this way. If you knew how hard it was for me to keep from kissing you every time we were together. I'm such an idiot for not telling you sooner how much I wanted you."
His words gave me chills. All this time he felt the same way about me that I did for him. How could we have both been so stupid to not say anything?
“I want to spend the day with you, if you don’t have any plans,” he said, grinning as if he was up to something.
“Yes, definitely," I said, with genuine enthusiasm.
Then he asked, “What would you like to do? We’ll do whatever you want for the first part of the day, and then I have a surprise.”
It took every ounce of courage I had to say, “Go to the police station.”
His face was a mixture of emotions, the most evident being fear. “Are you sure about this?”
I nodded, though I wasn’t one hundred percent. “As long as you'll come with me.”
He squeezed my hand. “I won’t leave your side.”
Chapter Fourteen
Ashton made breakfast while I got dressed. I picked out a pair of dark blue jeans with a teal blouse. I pulled my hair up into a simple ponytail.
The door opened and Angel's face appeared, "Breakfast is ready."
I walke
d downstairs with her. On the last step, she headed to the kitchen while I stopped beside the door to grab something from my purse.
There was a knock on the door. I opened it to find Hudson standing there. His expression was sad. I tried to slam the door, he stuck his foot in it.
"Please, just listen to me,” he said.
I panicked, letting out a shrill scream causing Ashton to come running in. He grabbed my shoulders, pulling me back from Hudson. He took a protective stance in front of me. He was shaking, attempting to hold back his anger.
"What the hell are you doing here? You need to stay away from Gracie or I swear to you…"
Hudson interrupted him. "You gonna threaten me? After what I did to your boyfriend?"
I pushed forward and Ashton's arm stopped me.
Angel came in the room with her phone in her hand. "Yes, I need an officer at the house now, we have an intruder."
Hudson threw his hands in the air. "I'm leaving!" He turned one last time and pointed to me. "I'll be back for you, baby. You're mine, don't you forget it."
Ashton slammed the door on Hudson. He embraced me. "Calm down, bug. I won't let him hurt you."
Angel stepped closer. "Is she alright?"
He nodded. "She's pretty shaken up, but she'll be fine."
He bent to look me in the eyes. "Right, Gracie?"
I nodded, still shaking. I held on to Ash with every bit of strength in me. "Angel, I'm going to take her out for a bit. You guys enjoy breakfast."
Angel patted my back. "Take care of my girl, Ash. Call me if you guys need anything."
I wrapped my arms around Ashton, from the back seat of his motorcycle. I pressed my face against his back, closing my eyes to imagine that I'd never met Hudson. He didn’t say where we were going, I just assumed it was to the station.
Instead, he drove us into downtown Nashville. He passed by Centennial Park, pulling into a parking spot on the street in front of a meter. He dropped a few coins in the meter as I fixed my helmet hair.
"What about the station?"
He took my hand in his and said, "We'll go, after this stop. Let's enjoy the first part of our day."
It was barely eleven in the morning. He guided me across the street to the back side of a brick building. There was a neon sign that read Rotier's Restaurant, above the door. At first, I thought it was the backdoor to a fancy restaurant, by the name of it.
He opened the door for me and motioned me inside. We were greeted with a smile from a pleasant woman behind the cash register, at the end of the bar, in front of the entryway.
She said, "Y'all can sit anywhere you'd like."
We moved passed the cash register to the back room where there were more tables away from the door. Ashton chose a booth in the back left-hand corner that was near the kitchen.
I loved the interior. The walls were full of neon beer signs and pictures of news clippings regarding the owners, as well as articles about the 'best burger in town'. The booths were dark green vinyl and old fashioned. The place seemed to have been around for a while, yet I'd never discovered it.
"Have you been here before?" I asked, glancing around.
The waitress came over, and Ashton ordered us both a sweet tea and an order of fried zucchini.
"You haven’t?" he asked, genuinely shocked.
I shook my head.
"I've been coming here since high school. Best food in town, hands down. You ever had fried zucchini?"
I wrinkled my nose, "Not a big fan of zucchini."
He closed his eyes and moaned a little. "Mmm…you will be. I'll get you the best meal, if you trust me to order for you."
I handed the menu back to him. "Go for it."
The waitress returned with our teas. Ash ordered us each a grilled cheeseburger and fries.
"So, why did you bring me here?" I inquired as we waited on our food.
"It's my favorite place and I wanted to share it with you."
He leaned down to whisper in my ear, "I also plan on giving you an orgasm today, without sex."
I snorted and covered my mouth embarrassed. "Sorry. And you already did that, this morning."
His left eyebrow rose in curiosity. "How?"
I whispered, "Moaning my name while I was pleasing you."
I felt him shiver at these words. It was the same shiver he always had when I would bring up topics like this, made me wish I had known how significant it was before.
He grinned proudly. "Wow. Well, this will just be another way I can please you."
It didn’t take long for our orders to come out. The grilled cheeseburger was on buttery, toasted, white bread. One small bite was all it took to convince me. My eyes rolled back in my head as the delicious buttery goodness invaded my mouth. This was definitely the best burger I'd ever tasted.
Ashton watched me intently as I enjoyed the first tasting. "Good, right?" he asked, grinning.
I nodded and licked my lips slowly.
He grunted, "Geez, Gracie…I think watching you eat is even more of a turn on then watching what you did this morning."
I chuckled, and grabbed a piece of the zucchini. I cringed. "I'm going to try this…for you. Pray I don’t regurgitate."
He pushed my hand closer to my mouth. I took a small bite. The flavor erupted in my mouth. It was greasy and delicious. The best food always was in the South.
We ate everything on our plates. I leaned back with my hands holding my stomach. "Ugh, I'm so full. This was amazing."
Ashton's hand pressed against my cheek, turning my face toward him. He leaned down and his tongue slid across the corner of my mouth before he kissed me. The kiss sent electric tingles all the way to my toes. My eyes stayed closed, for a moment, as I delighted in the feelings my body was experiencing.
He snickered. "Ketchup, on the corner of your mouth."
In a daze, I said, "Wow. I like that better than using a napkin any day."
He slid out of the booth and grabbed my hand to help me out.
"Let me get this," I said as we approached the register.
He caught my hand before I could pull my wallet out. "Absolutely not! This is our first official date. I'm not letting you pay."
"Where to now?"
He held the door again. I stepped out onto the sidewalk and he tugged me toward the park. There was a concrete platform, shaped liked the front end of a boat, in the park. An older couple was sitting on a bench in front of it. Ashton handed them his phone and dragged me up on top of the 'boat.'
"What are they doing with your phone?"
He snickered suspiciously. We ran up the stairs to stand and lookout at the park. Ashton dragged me to the edge and placed me in front of him. He grabbed my arms and raised them straight up, using caution with my sore arm. I stood there, confused, with my arms held out to the side. He put his arms around my waist first and kissed my cheek. The woman below was either taking pictures or videoing this, I couldn’t tell.
He raised his arms, in the same fashion as mine, and screamed, "I'm the King of the World."
Once I realized that he was mimicking Leonardo DiCaprio's line in Titanic, I bent forward in a fit of laughter. His hands grabbed my waist to keep me from falling. I heard his laughter echo in my ears as he held me.
"I've always wanted to do that," he said.
Ashton helped me back down and we took his phone back.
When the woman handed it to us, she said, "You two make the sweetest couple. When's the big day?"
I looked to Ashton for comprehension.
He pulled me close, kissing my cheek. "No date yet, but soon, we hope."
She smiled and pointed at her husband. "You remind me of how we were at your age. My Arthur and I have been married for sixty years. I hope you two are as happy as we were back then, and as we are now."
Ashton took her hand and kissed it. "Thank you again for the video."
She nodded and went back to her husband.
It hit me what she was asking us. "She thought we were enga
ged?"
He nodded as he slid his arms around my waist. "You acted like we were. Why?"
He lowered his head, pressing his lips to mine softly. He dropped to one knee, my breath caught in my throat, and I panicked.
"Ash…we…I…"
He burst into laughter and said, "Gotcha!"
He took off running. I chased him clear across the park. His legs were so much longer than mine that he was never within reach. I caught up to him as he sat on a swing. He looked at his watch
"'Bout time you caught up!" He winked.
I flopped down on his lap. "You're a shameless teaser." I kissed his cheek and leaned down to whisper in his ear, "I'd have said yes, if you meant it."
I couldn’t decipher how he felt about my confession, his face was unreadable.
He reached into his pocket and his hand came out closed over something. "Nothing would make me happier than to marry you, Gracie."
I held my breath.
“I don’t have a ring, but I do have something for you.” He placed his fist out, turned it over unclenching his fingers. In his grasp was a silver charm of a cowboy boot.
“This is for your bracelet. It’s to represent our night playing pool. That was one of my favorite memories. It was the first night you slept in my arms. You fell asleep shortly after the movie started and you curled up against my chest. I was pretty stunned at first and thought about moving you so that you didn’t wake up embarrassed. Then you ran your hands up my chest and said my name and I couldn’t move. It felt too homey.”
I laughed. “Sheesh, all I do is molest you in my sleep!”
With the sexiest smirk he replied, “You won’t hear me complain about that.”
I leaned in and said, “You whispered my name in your sleep that night.”
He grinned. “I remember the dream too. I'll just say that my pool table had never seen so much action."
Ashton's arm pressed against my back, pulling me closer. I rested my palm against his cheek as I kissed him.
My phone rang, interrupting the moment. I didn’t recognize the number. "Give me one second."
I stood up and walked away to take the call. "Hello?"
