For the Love of Gracie (15 page)

It started to rain. He stepped forward. I backed away and ran for the nearest pavilion. Why I didn’t just get in the truck was beyond me.

He ran after me, grabbing my shoulders before I reached cover. The rain was coming down harder, we were both drenched now. 

Grasping my shoulders gently, he said, "What would you say if I told you I don’t want to be friends anymore either?" 

He pulled me close. His hand moved my drenched hair from my face and pressed against my cheek. He leaned down, his lips pressed against mine
, softly at first.

I allowed myself to accept it, knowing he was only testing himself. Cameron and I went through this same thing in high school. He’d pull away and tell me he was sorry that he didn’t feel the same.

He wasn’t pulling away. His arms went behind my back pulling me closer. The rain continued to pelt us. Ashton tightened his grip around my waist. I wrapped my legs around his middle as he lifted me off the ground and moved us to under the pavilion that we were merely a few feet from.

His lips alone made me feel things I'd never felt.  I ran my tongue along the seam of his mouth. His tongue slid into my mouth in response. I moaned at the sensation it sent all over my body. His body reacted to my moan, by pressing closer. Our hearts raced, I could feel his beating against my chest at the same pace as mine. The heat was building between us.  This kiss
was what I had been dreaming of and I didn’t want it to stop. 

He lifted me to sit on
a table so that I was closer to his level. Ashton's right hand cradled my head while his left hand moved inside the hem of my shirt.  His fingers caressed my bare skin, sending chills all over my body. In my head, I was begging for him to go higher, but he stopped short of my bra line.

When we came up for air, he placed his palm against my face gazing at me as though it was the first time he’d seen me. It hurt because
it was what I had always wanted and it wouldn’t last. I shoved him away from me. He stumbled back with a look of rejection and hurt.

“You’re a jerk. I’m not here to be your science project.”

He cringed, “What the hell does that mean?”

Stomping toward him, I sternly stated, “I’m not here for you to test your attraction for girls on. I told you that I have feelings for you. Instead of letting m
e down gently, you lead me on?”

"I'm not gay, Gracie. I never have been," he said. 

"What?  How can that be? If that's true, why didn’t you tell me before today?" I demanded. 

"I had no clue you thought that!" he cried out. 

"You didn’t think it was strange that I let you touch my boobs, I undressed in front of you, and I even let you sleep with me?"

He smiled. "Shouldn’t that tell you I'm straight? What straight guy would complain when a drop dead gorgeous female wants to show her body to him?" 

I bit down on my lip, trying not to laugh.  His grin told me that he could see it was hard for me to hold back. "Why didn’t you hit on me or tell me you were interested?" 

He stepped closer. "You were with Hudson. I'm not that guy that goes after girls that are taken. I held back until yesterday. When you told me that you weren’t in love with him and were going to end things, I made my move. After we spent yesterday together I knew more than ever that I wanted you. That's why I painted the portrait for you." 

The memory of his gift warmed me, and I hadn’t thanked him for it. "You always give me the most thoughtful presents. Wait, you painted it?" 

He nodded, "Last night, after I dropped you off."  

It was time to ask the big question, the one that could break my heart for good. "Do you have feelings for me?" 

His head nodded slightly. "Part of you has to know the answer to that.  I gave you a cutesy nickname, you're the first one I call for anything,
and we talk all the time. I'm falling in love with you, Gracie. I have been since the moment I first saw you."

I coughed, choking on a sob as I said, "Why didn’t you tell me before? If you had told me sooner, I'd have left him. I didn’t know…I didn’t know anyone else wanted me. I thought I had to get you out of my system."

As soon as I said the words, I wanted to retract them. The way they came out sounded as though I blamed him for Hudson's actions. 

Ashton closed the distance between us, his palm
touching my bruised cheek. He whispered, "If I'd known he would do this…" He kissed my forehead, his soft beard tickling my skin, and said, "I've always wanted you.  Every time we were together, it took everything I had not to kiss you. Several times I tried to kiss you and we were interrupted. I assumed it was a sign that it was for the best." 

He leaned forward, slid his tongue across my bottom lip, then said, "That morning when you forgot it was me next to you, I wanted to make love to you right then and there. The day I saw you at the restaurant, Hudson was all over you, it made me sick. I wanted to pull him off of you. When I drove you home from the restaurant, when you kissed me, I wanted to kiss you back so badly. I thought it was you trying to get back at Hudson or something and I wanted our first kiss to be special." 

A warm feeling swept through my body, causing me to gasp softly at his confession.

"How could you not know I was into you?  I practically undressed you with my eyes every time we were together
," I replied. 

He frowned, "I noticed the first night we met. After that, you were always telling me about your intimate moments with Hudson. I didn’t think you would tell me that stuff if you were into me." 

I covered my mouth. "I'm sorry, that probably wasn’t easy to hear." 

He shook his head. "No, it wasn’t."

"I've wanted you ever since we first met too, Ash.  I've had fantasies about us, lots of them, not all dirty either," I said. 

A wicked grin came over his face. "Well I'd like to hear about the naughty ones first," he said in a husky whisper. I blushed causing him to laugh.  He lifted me up in a bear hug, careful to not squeeze my sore arm. 

He set me down, stepped back, and gave a loud, "Woohoo!",  jumping up and down, for a moment. 

I laughed. "What was that?" 

He replied, "That was me cheering at finally telling you how I feel!" 

He pressed his lips against mine again and I giggled. "Your beard tickles." 

He grinned. "I'll shave it." 

I gasped, "Don’t you dare!" He lifted me, spinning me around. 

"I can't believe you thought I was gay all this time,” he said with a laugh. 

"You must have thought I was such a tramp!" I exclaimed.  

He lifted his index finger and thumb an inch apart, signifying a little. My mouth gaped open in shock.  He roared with laughter and lifted me up again. I gasped as pain shot up my arm. He dropped me back to the ground.

"Baby, I'm so sorry. I should've been
gentler." 

"I'm fine. I'm better than fine. Call me that again."

He stared at me curiously. "Call you what?" 

I smiled. "Baby." 

He caressed my face, "I'll call you baby from now on if it elicits that smile." 

"Do you mind taking me back to see Cameron?  I need to make things right with him." 

He nodded. "Sure, let's go." 

He opened the car door for me. As he drove, I
placed my hand on his thigh. The moment I had placed it there, his leg twitched as he repositioned himself. I smiled, knowing that I was driving him nuts with my hand so close. To tease him, I slid it toward the inside of his thigh. 

He chuckled softly. "You're so bad." 

I bit my lip as I laughed.

When we arrived at the hospital, he came over to open my door. He pressed his body up against me as he pressed me against the side of the truck. His deep husky voice whispered in my ear, "Does that feel like someone not attracted to you?" I bit my lip and felt him grow more. 

He closed his eyes and groaned, "Can you make up fast?" 

I nodded.

Ashton held my hand. As we approached Cam's room my squeeze became tighter. We stopped just outside the room. He turned to me and asked, "You sure you're ready?" I gave his hand a squeeze and nodded.  

As we walked in, Cam and Gavin looked up at the two of us, quickly noticing our fingers entwined. Cam gave me a sly grin and said, "You're such a tramp!" 

I knew, at that moment, that all was forgiven.  I
wanted to throw myself on him, but I was gentle with my embrace. "I love you, Cam." 

He patted my hair, "I love you too, girl. You just make me so crazy, Gracie." I cringed at the words Hudson would say. Cameron could feel my distaste, "I didn’t mean it in a bad way." 

I sat up. "It's not that. Hudson used to say that all the time." 

Cameron's face hardened, "If I ever see that bastard…"

Before he could finish, Ashton wrapped his arm around my waist, kissed my hair and said, "Don’t worry.  I'll take care of him if that ever happens." 

Cameron smiled as he watched me relax against Ashton. He exclaimed, "It is about damn time you two got together."  

Something annoyed me, I had to ask. "You knew I thought he was gay and you never said anything. Why?" 

Cameron patted my hand, "Gracie, I know you too well.  You thought Ashton was gay so you were comfortable with him. You opened yourself up to him, you gave
him a chance. If I had told you he was straight, you'd have frozen up and never had a chance for anything real. He’s a good guy and for some reason, you always fall for the scum or the unattainable. I had to step in this time and hoped that it worked. Don't be angry at me. If I'd known what Hudson would do…" His voice trailed off as he became sad. 

I glanced at Ashton, then back to Cameron and said, "I'm not mad. Everything you said is true. I'd never have opened up to him otherwise." 

Ashton sat patiently, talking to Gavin, while I reunited myself with Cameron. Finally, Cameron grew tired and Ashton offered to drive me home. He walked me to my door and gave me a light kiss on the lips.

"Goodnight, call me later?" 

I shook my head. "Nope, not a chance." I grabbed a fistful of his t-shirt, pulling him inside. 

He grinned,
and then stopped short. "We can wait, Gracie.  I've waited so long to be with you.  I don’t want to rush things now." 

He was too good to be true, I thought. He placed an innocent kiss on my cheek and turned to leave.  "Ashton?" 

He stopped "Yeah, bug?"  His hand rested on the door, muscles flexed. 

"Before you leave, can you help me change? I haven’t gotten used to this splint yet and I'm not sure how much I can do with this arm being in pain."  

I knew I could take the splint off if it got in the way, but I had other plans for him. He stepped forward, motioning for me to lead the way. He waited patiently as I went to my closet to grab some pajamas to change into. I set them on the bed, sauntering over to him. The mood was intensifying in the room as he unbuttoned my shirt. When my bra came into view he sucked in a breath and stopped momentarily. I peered up at him from under my eyelashes, noting the passion in his eyes. 

He used one hand to keep the shirt closed and the other to continue unbuttoning it. At the last button, he gently spun me around putting my back to him. He slipped the shirt off my shoulders.  Reaching up, I moved my hair, exposing my neck to him. I felt his fingers fumble with my bra. 

He stopped again and sighed. "My willpower sucks when it comes to you."

He slid his arms around my waist; I felt his mouth on the nape of my neck. I moaned with pleasure. He responded with a growl in his throat as he tightened his grip around my waist, pulling me against him. I gasped in pain. He immediately pulled away, turning me around to face him. He cursed. His hands carefully moved to my stomach where he saw the deep purple bruises that Hudson's foot left.

"Baby," he whimpered. The simple term of endearment sounded heartbreaking at that moment. I hid my face, ashamed. He kissed my cheek, sighing again in defeat. His arms moved around my back as he unhooked my bra. He slid the straps down slowly, never taking his eyes away from mine. 

"You're so beautiful." 

He was the first man that made me believe those words. His hands moved to my jeans as his mouth met mine again. He worked to unbutton my jeans, as his tongue slid against mine seductively.

He stepped back, sliding my pants to the ground.  He gasped, falling to his knees in front of me. My legs had bruises all over them from Hudson's kicks as well as a gash from hitting a nail when I fell against the wall. He hid his face in his hands as he grew silent. 

I stepped out of my jeans. I knelt down to face him. "I'm sorry. I know I look horrible with all these bruises."

His face lifted. "You're beautiful, Gracie-bug.  No matter what. You shouldn’t have these bruises though. I should've done something. I should've told you how I felt sooner."

Tears slipped from his eyes, making my heart ache. My hands embraced his face, and I kissed the spot where his tears fell.