by Amy DeMeritt
Skylar rolls her eyes at Erin as she walks past her to the fridge and pulls a beer out, while Ashton releases a small laugh as she takes a sip of beer and shakes her head, which just increases Erin’s anger and frustration.
“Oh, come on, don’t act like you have never spied before. You’ve come in here when I’ve been talking to Gloria or other women I was dating or trying to date when you and I were broken up. Gloria spies. You spy. Skylar just happened to walk in when you were trying to slander her name and turn me against her. It’s only natural for her to listen. Gloria has been a witness to worse between us. You can’t really say you’re embarrassed by this. Besides, I would have told her everything anyway and you know that.”
“You’ve only been dating for a few days and you already gave her the passcode to your building? Does she have a key as well?”
Ashton waves her off as she turns to grab a couple of plates for their lunch. “I gave her those before our first date. She was coming over every day to keep me company and to distract me from my stupid medical leave. It was just easier for her to be able to let herself in. Alright, now, seriously, I’m done with this. I’m starving and this food is getting cold. Can we just be civil now?”
“Fine. I’ll talk to you later. I have things I need to do.”
“Okay.” Ashton wraps her in a hug and kisses her temple. “Have a good day and be careful.”
“Yeah, you too.”
She looks longingly into Ashton’s eyes as she steps away, then quickly turns and walks out of the kitchen and down the hall. Ashton waves as she walks out of the door, and after the door closes, Skylar envelops Ashton in a warm hug and a deep, passionate kiss.
“Ash, thank you for choosing me.”
“When I say I’m all in, I mean it.” She gently places the side of her forefinger on the underside of her chin and glides her thumb back and forth over the curvature of the bone. “I love you, Skylar. My relationship with Erin is history and it’s going to remain history. I’m only interested in being friends with her, if that’s even possible. I hope you can trust me when I say I would never do anything to hurt you. I would never cheat on you.”
“I do trust you, completely. I wasn’t worried you would cheat. But I was a little worried she would be able to manipulate you against me and you would break up with me.”
Ashton releases a small laugh as she bends down to kiss Skylar and glides her hand back through her hair. “You’re forgetting something, babe. I’m forty-years-old. I’ve had quite a bit of experience with jealous exes. I’m not that easily manipulated.”
“Good to know. Let’s put on one of your mom’s records and have lunch now.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
With their hands clasped and gently swinging between them, Ashton and Skylar walk into Beats, a large store specializing in everything needed to make and enjoy music. The outer walls are filled floor to ceiling with a massive variety of string, wind, and small percussion instruments - so massive it elicits a surprised whistle of appreciation from Ashton. Skylar releases a small giggle and allows Ashton to lead the way as she walks around the store admiring everything around them.
“Wow, I’ve never seen so many instruments in one place in my life.”
She freezes on the spot as her eyes catch something across the store. Then she quickens her pace, changing directions and making Skylar laugh as she has to skip to catch up with her.
“Damn, this is a beautiful guitar. Gibson Les Paul – that’s a good brand, right?”
“One of the best.”
Ashton runs her hand over the smooth shiny lacquer while she admires the way the yellow center deepens into orange and crimson as it moves out to the sides.
“It looks like fire.”
“And marigolds.”
Ashton smiles as she turns to look at Skylar, who is watching her with so much affection it causes warmth to spread across her chest. She bends down and Skylar’s smile widens against her mouth as their lips meet and part to share a quick, full mouth kiss.
“Do you like this guitar?”
Skylar nods. “It’s beautiful.”
“Do you want it?”
She bursts with a surprised loud laugh and shakes her head as she tugs on Ashton’s hand, trying to pull her away from the wall, but Ashton doesn’t budge. “I only came here for strings. Don’t make me send you back out to the truck to wait for me.”
A sales associate walks over with a grin, saying, “That’s one hella-fine guitar, isn’t it? We have an amp over here in this room if you’d like to plug it in and give it a whirl.”
Ashton’s face cleaves open in a huge smile that makes Skylar laugh. “Yes, I think she should definitely try it out.”
“No,” Skylar laughs as she tugs on Ashton’s hand again, “I don’t need to try it out.”
“Ah, come on, don’t you hear that?” Ashton cuffs a hand around her ear towards the guitar. “It’s literally begging for you to play it.”
“I can definitely hear it.”
Skylar narrows her eyes at the sales associate and Ashton with a perturbed smile, but then laughs and shakes her head. “Fine. I’ll play it. You are such a brat.”
“Sweet.” The short and stalky young man, sporting a full three-inch brown beard and a ballcap flattening his big curly mane, steps forward and pulls the guitar down off of the wall. “Follow me. We’ll go in the fish bowl over here.”
As he turns his back to them, Skylar leans over and kisses Ashton on the lips. “You really are a brat.”
“Yeah, but you love me.”
She giggles as her cheeks blush. She toys with her bottom lip with her teeth as she looks at Ashton’s with the desire to fully kiss her, but she doesn’t want to get in trouble for PDA.
After the sales associate hooks up the guitar to an amp, he holds it out for Skylar to take, and she slips the support strap over her shoulder. As she glides her left hand up the neck, feeling the metal strings against her fingertips, her smile widens and adrenaline floods her veins. The sales associate offers her a pick, but Skylar has a habit of always having one on her, so she shakes her head as she pulls one from her pocket.
She pucks the strings one by one to get it tuned, then starts playing Guns and Roses – Sweet Child of Mine. She makes periodic adjustments with the dials on the guitar face, but after a minute of fiddling, she has the sound exactly where she wants it and starts to really get into the song.
Pride and love swell in Ashton’s chest while she watches Skylar play. Customers and associates are drawn to the “fish bowl” to watch from all four glass walls of the room that sits in the center of the store. As she gets to the big guitar solo of the song, tears sting Ashton’s eyes and the sounds of impressed comments tickle her ears. Ashton has watched her practice and perform on multiple occasions, and every time is an impressive experience.
As soon as the song ends, the sales associate in the room with them and the audience outside of the room start clapping for Skylar, making her release a small laugh. She smiles and briefly waves at the audience.
“You’ve got mad skills. So, what do you think of the guitar? It’s great, right?”
Skylar nods as she sets it down on a stand by the amp. “It’s very nice. Thanks for letting me play it.”
He picks up the guitar with a grin, saying, “Hey, this guitar was born to be in your hands. What kind of a jerk would I be if I stood in the way of destiny?”
Skylar laughs hard and takes a few steps towards the door shaking her head. “I know what you’re trying to do, but I only came in for strings today.” She grabs Ashton’s hand and tries to pull her out of the room, but Ashton doesn’t budge, making her laugh in an overwhelmed way again.
“So, what’s the deal with this thing? Will it work for all of the different types of music you play?”
Inhaling deeply through her nose, Skylar straightens up as she squares off with Ashton with slightly narrowed eyes, forcing a look of authority that is not convincing at all. In a hushed
voice, she says, “Ashton Maria Hyland, I am about to send you back out to the truck,” making Ashton laugh hard.
“Ah, come on, let me buy it for you.”
She looks over at the sales associate, and asks, “Do you mind giving us a few minutes?”
“Not at all, not at all.”
He sets the guitar down on the stand and moves his hands around it like he’s showing her a beautiful prize, then he walks out of the room.
When they’re alone, she quietly says, “Ash, this guitar is beautiful, the sound is incredible, and it felt great in my hands, but it’s very expensive. It just doesn’t seem right to…”
“Babe, forget about the money. I have the money. Do you love it?” Skylar bites her bottom lip as she looks over at the guitar. Ashton nudges her hip, saying, “Go pick it up again.”
She laughs a little and shakes her head as she groans and leans into Ashton, resting her head on her chest while she looks over at the guitar.
“You’re really serious?”
“Completely. Does that mean you love it?”
“Yes.”
“Will you please allow me to buy it for you?”
She lifts her head to give Ashton a brief kiss on the lips and caresses her cheek. “You have to promise me something first.”
“Okay.”
“Promise me you’ll never pull this stunt again.”
Ashton laughs hard and shakes her head. “I can’t promise you that, babe. But I will promise to try to be better behaved the next time you allow me to come here with you.”
With her bottom lip between her teeth, Skylar looks between the guitar and into Ashton’s mesmerizing light gray eyes and at the loving smile curling her red lips. As a flutter erupts in her chest, she concedes. “Okay. You can buy me the guitar.”
“Thank you.”
With a groaning laugh, Skylar turns towards the guitar, saying, “I can’t believe I’m allowing you to buy me a three-thousand-dollar guitar.”
“Just look at it as me investing in your talent and happiness.”
She spins and throws her arms around the back of Ashton’s neck, pulling her in tightly as their mouths meet in a passionate kiss. The sound of someone banging on a drum pulls them apart.
“Ash, I love you so much. Thank you for doing this.”
“I love you too. You ready to find your strings and check out so we can go home? Maybe you can put on a record and you can play along with your new guitar.”
“I’d love that.”
***
While Ashton drives, Skylar keeps glancing back at the hard-shell guitar case laying on the floorboard of the back seat. Ashton releases a small laugh after catching her for the fifth time, and Skylar giggles as she leans over to firmly kiss her cheek.
“Thank you. I really love the guitar.”
“You’re welcome.” She tilts her head to kiss her lips, then looks back at the road. “Is there anywhere else you need to stop before we get back to my place?”
“No, I don’t think so. Oh, wait.” She leans forward and points to the left. “Pull in there.”
“Asteroid’s Garden World?”
“Yes.”
With a curious, “Okay,” Ashton turns her blinker on to switch lanes. She waits in the turn lane for a slew of oncoming traffic, then crosses the three lanes to pull into the parking lot of the large garden center. Before she even has the keys out of the ignition, Skylar jumps out of the truck and jogs around to Ashton’s side. She laughs as Skylar grips her hand and yanks her forward with a brilliant smile on her face. She tugs Ashton up and down row after row of flowers, herbs, and bushes till she finally comes to a stop.
“Voilà!”
She throws her arms out to the sides to showcase the display of marigolds in front of them.
“You’re adorable.” Skylar giggles as she hops up and kisses Ashton’s lips. “What are your thoughts, here? Are we going to have a bunch of little pots or a couple of big pots on the balcony?”
Skylar shrugs a shoulder. “Whatever you want. Do you like the idea?”
“I love the idea. How about three pots? Two bigger pots, maybe a gallon or two in size, that can sit on the balcony in the corners. And one smaller one for the table.”
“Good idea. Hang on, let me get one of those carts over there.”
Skylar jogs down the row to get a two-tier garden cart, then jogs back glowing with excitement. As she comes to a stop, she releases a laugh and throws her arms around Ashton. As she combs her fingers up through the back of Ashton’s hair, getting a grip in the two-inch-long locks, she pulls her into a slow, soft kiss. Ashton wraps her arms around Skylar’s waist, pulling her body in flush with hers, and Skylar releases a purring moan into her mouth.
After several minutes, Skylar pulls back breathless and blurry eyed. She smiles as she inhales deeply through her nose and caresses Ashton’s cheek. Then, with a hop in her step, she turns towards the flowers.
“Okay, which ones do you want to get?”
As Ashton wraps an arm around her waist, sidling up next to her, she points, saying, “I’m partial to those – the orange ones with the reddish edges.”
“I love those.”
They load a flat of the flowers into the top tier of the garden cart, then Skylar pushes the cart down the row, leading Ashton to the large assortment of planters in various sizes, shapes, and materials.
“Do you think ceramic or clay pots would be better so Ember can’t easily knock the plastic ones over when she’s bigger?”
Ashton nods as she looks up and down the row of clay and ceramic pots stacked on the ground. “That’s probably a good idea. Whisper, my last cat, she used to knock over the pots of some plants.”
“Just some plants?”
Ashton laughs a little as she nods and bends down to pick up a pot to inspect the details closer. “Yes, if she didn’t like it, she would knock it over. It took me a while to realize she just really didn’t like the plant and she wasn’t just be a moody bitch.”
“What kind of plant was it?”
“Some grassy thing a neighbor had given me when he moved out. It was a nice-looking plant, but it had these super tiny barbs on the blades that made it stick to you if you rubbed up against it. Whisper didn’t like that.”
“I would have had to side with Whisper on that one. I wouldn’t like that either. I hope Ember likes these. They sort of match the orange patches she has.”
“She’s still too little to be left alone on the balcony, so it should be fine for this season if she doesn’t like them. Do you like this black pot?”
“Yeah, it’s nice. They have a smaller one that matches for the table.” Skylar picks up the smaller pot to examine it. “We should get those cork board trivets that they sell to go under these so they don’t scratch your table or the wood balcony.”
“Okay, babe. We need soil too.”
***
As Ashton is setting the flat of flowers down on the small glass table on her balcony, she smiles as she looks back through the sliding glass door. Skylar has set up the vinyl record player on the dining room table just inside the door with one of her favorite 80’s records playing.
She walks out with two beers, and as she offers one to Ashton, she says, “I thought since your mom used to play music for her garden, we should do that too.”
“You’re really fucking great.” Ashton kisses her smiling lips, then they clink the rims of their beers together to take a sip. “Are you sure you want to plant these before you get to play with your new guitar?”
“I’m sure. Do you have one of those small garden shovels?”
With a grin, Ashton corrects her. “A trowel? No, I don’t have one. I can get a plastic cup or we could just use our hands.”
She bumps her hip against Ashton’s for teasing her. “I guess we don’t really need one.”
She takes Ashton’s hand and pulls her over to the side of the balcony where the pots and soil are. Ashton tears a hole in the bag of soil, then
hoists it up on her knee. While she shakes and pours, Skylar guides the flow of rich organic soil into the three pots, filling each two-thirds of the way to the top. Ashton sets the bag down and Skylar brings the flowers over. Working together, they pull the small plants from the flimsy rectangular plastic plant starter pots.
While Ashton gently pulls the roots apart, Skylar creates wells in the pots, then they bury the roots and pack soil around the base of the plants to give them support.
After they have planted the last small marigold, Skylar playfully smudges Ashton’s nose with her dirty fingers with a grin and giggles.
“That was fun. I’m going to get some water for them and the dust pan and broom to clean up our mess.”
“Hey, come here, you have something right…” Ashton caresses her cheek with her fingers, leaving a large dirt smudge. “Oh, oops, I just made it worse.”
Skylar laughs as she grabs the sides of Ashton’s face with her dirt covered hands and pulls her forward to fully kiss her for a few moments. With every second their mouths remain united, their hearts grow fonder of each other, the day they’re having together, and the life they’ve started to build as a couple.
Chapter Thirty
“Ash, I’m here.”
Skylar walks into the apartment, closing and locking the door behind her. She doesn’t receive a response, but she sees Ashton’s keys and wallet in the wooden bowl on the sidebar. She sets her purse down next to the bowl and walks to the kitchen. It’s empty.
“Ash!”
She walks down the hall to Ashton’s bedroom and smiles as the open master bathroom comes into view. Her temperature rises and her clit starts throbbing with desire. She can just make out Ashton through the steam and beads of water on the glass door of the walk-in shower.
“Looking good in there.”
Ashton wipes a hand over the glass to get a better view of Skylar and her lips spread into a wide grin.
“Hey, babe. Just give me a minute and I’ll be right out.”
