Miles of Pleasure (16 page)

Kaylee smiled. "I don't think he's crazy about me, I think it's just the thrill of the chase." She walked into her closet, and came back out with a couple of clothes hangers in her hand. "First of all, which outfit do you like best, and then I might need you to help me with my hair."

Jenny looked through the hangers, carefully studying each one. "Well, I like this one." She held up a classy pair of black pants and a button down blouse. "But Ashton will like this one." She handed Kaylee a pair of Capri pants and a halter top, and put the other clothes back in the closet. "Go get changed and then we'll do your hair. You'll need to put it up if you're going to wear that shirt."

Fifteen minutes later, Kaylee and Jenny stood back from the mirror admiring their hard work. She was finally ready, thanks to Jenny. Both women went to the living room where they found Ashton waiting. Jenny laughed at the longing look in his eyes when he saw Kaylee.

"Wow, you look great." He stood up from the couch and went to kiss Kaylee's cheek. "Do I get the honor of having the two most beautiful women on my arms as we make our appearance?"

Kaylee laughed at his attempt at chivalry, and hooked her good arm through his. Jenny smiled and took his other arm. He led the two women out to the back yard, where the party was already in full swing. Once outside, Jenny grabbed Kaylee and pulled her to the side.

"I just wanted to tell you to have fun tonight, okay? I'm not going to stay long, so I won't cramp your style."

"Jenny! Don't leave any earlier than you want to. We invited you because we love you, and we want you here with us. You certainly don't cramp our style!" Kaylee scolded.

"Just the same..." Jenny told her, before she walked off with a smile, leaving Kaylee alone with Ashton.

He grabbed her hand and led her through the crowd to mingle with all their friends who had shown up. There were a lot of people they hadn't seen in a while, and it was nice to catch up with everyone. More than a few people eyed them, since they'd never seen Ashton and Kaylee together and not fighting like cats and dogs. The biggest shock was to see them holding hands, cuddling, and kissing.

Everyone wanted to know what was going on between them, and their standard answer was always to smile and say they were 'just friends'. No one believed it, seeing how they were looking at each other, but they also didn't know what to think. Kaylee and Ashton were having a great time catching all their friends off guard with their 'relationship'. They even heard some of their friends making bets on how long it would be until they exploded at each other.

Kaylee was having a great time until a familiar face caught her attention. She tugged on Ashton's arm and pointed in the woman's direction. "What the hell is Brittany doing here?"

Ashton craned his neck to see the woman Kaylee was talking about. He had heard all about how Brittany had dumped Noah, leaving him completely heartbroken in high school. Even Ashton had a bad feeling about the woman.

"Only one way to find out," he said, dragging Kaylee over to where Brittany and Noah stood.

"Hey guys, look who made it," Noah said proudly when Kaylee and Ashton walked up.

"Brittany," Kaylee said coldly in greeting.

"Hey, Kaylee. How's it going?" Brittany asked with fake enthusiasm.

Noah watched the exchange between the two, and quickly pulled his sister to the side. He had such a hurt look on his face that it made Kaylee feel a twinge of guilt.

Luckily, the feeling didn't last long.

"What was that all about?" Noah asked his sister. "Don't you like Brittany?"

"Didn't you learn your lesson in high school?"

"People change, Kaylee, in case you didn't know that," Noah gestured toward Ashton.

"I know they do! I just don't trust her," she fired back. She knew Noah had a point, but Kaylee just had this feeling in her gut when it came to Brittany.

"Just give her a chance, please, Kaylee." His eyes pleaded with her. "I'm not interfering with you and Ashton. You could at least give me the same courtesy."

He was right and she knew it. Everything in her wanted to meddle and fight and interfere as hard as she could, but he was being kind by overlooking Ashton's faults. She could do the same here - even if she didn't like it one bit.

"Fine, but if she hurts you, I'll kill her." She knew that she couldn't resist the wishes of the person she was the closest to in the world. She still wasn't completely on board with the whole Brittany thing, but she'd try her hardest.

Kaylee and Noah rejoined Ashton and Brittany, only to have Ashton whisk Kaylee right away. He quickly pushed her through the crowd until they were completely on the other side of the yard.

"What the hell was that for?" Kaylee asked, feeling a little cross at being pushed the whole way without an explanation.

"That woman is a snake!" he exclaimed, his voice edged with a shudder.

"What'd she do?" Kaylee was getting madder by the minute.

"The little slut was all over me. She said she heard I was the playboy of the group, and that she and I could have a lot of fun together. I told her I wasn't interested and that I was seeing someone. She had the nerve to tell me that no one had to know, and in fact she preferred it that way."

The angrier Ashton got, the louder his voice got. It wasn't as though he had a problem with a woman who just wanted a good time - obviously he had had more than his fair share of those. But when it was a woman who claimed to want to be with Noah and tried to get with him the moment Noah turned his back, that went far beyond just wanting a "good time." That was the kind of thing that could truly hurt people, and Ashton felt dirty for simply being pulled into the middle of it.

Kaylee felt the steam rising inside of her. It was bad enough that the bimbo was playing her brother...again. But to make it worse, Brittany knew there was something going on with Kaylee and Ashton, but that didn't stop the cow from flirting with her man. 'Not that I have any stake on him, but...' Kaylee thought to herself.

"And just when I told Noah I'd give her the benefit of the doubt." She shook her head in disbelief.

"She'll hang herself soon enough," Ashton told Kaylee. He was sure she would. He had seen women of her kind before. Noah was his best friend, and he didn't want to see him hurt. But he didn't want to get involved, because he knew Noah had to see things on his own, or else he would never get rid of the girl.

"You know what, I've had enough of this party," he said, pulling Kaylee closer to his body. "How about you and I go inside, get away from these people, and have wild, crazy, dirty sex all night long."

Kaylee blushed as she looked into Ashton's eyes. She wanted nothing more than to take him up on his offer, but she still wasn't sure if he was really into their 'relationship'.

"Or..." she smiled.

"Or we could go make out until I am so sexually frustrated that I can't stand it anymore, and I beg you to have sex with me, but you still say no, and I finally pass out from frustration but I'm still surprisingly okay with that?" he said.

Kaylee laughed hard. "I like the way you think!" She led him into the house, making sure to put a little extra wiggle in her hips since she knew that's exactly where his eyes were focused.

"Uh, you're killing me. But what a sweet, sweet death."

J
enny was walking down the hall from her bedroom to the kitchen the morning after the party when she saw Kaylee and Ashton come out of Kaylee's room together. It was very apparent that they had spent the night together, and both of them had just woken up.

Kaylee blushed as she met Jenny's eyes. Ashton looked between the two women and told Kaylee that he'd go start breakfast. He disappeared almost instantly, leaving them alone.

Jenny smiled, sensing Kaylee's nervousness. "Seems like you two are getting rather close. I thought you weren't going to rush into anything," she asked quietly, with care in her voice.

Kaylee nodded. "I know what I said, but we've spent so much time together since they got back from the tour, and for some reason, it just feels so right to be with him. It's like when he's not with me, I feel all alone. He's constantly in my head, and nothing I do gets him out of there," she sighed.

"That sounds like a wonderful feeling," Jenny said.

"While it's a great feeling, it worries me too."

"Why is that?" Jenny asked. "I've listened to everything you've said to me about him, and I've been keeping my eye on him. He seems to have only honest intentions, and he seems to really care about you. I can see that in your eyes."

"But what will happen when they go back on the road? What happens when there are girls throwing themselves at him? Will he still want to be with me, or will he just up and leave me to be with them?" As Kaylee spoke, her voice got louder. She didn't realize that she could now be heard by others in the house.

"Why don't you ask him?" Ashton's deep voice interrupted the conversation.

Kaylee froze and her eyes widened.

Ashton looked to Jenny, asking for some privacy. She in turn gave Kaylee a sympathetic pat on the shoulder, and left the two alone for their long overdue conversation.

Ashton pushed Kaylee back into her room and shut the door to give them some privacy. This was obviously not a conversation that he wanted to have interrupted. It looked like he was finally going to get Kaylee to talk about their 'relationship'. Just the thought of that would have made him disbelieve months ago, now it was something he was welcoming. He just hoped that he could lay to rest the fears that she had just voiced.

Kaylee looked to the floor, refusing to meet his eyes. "Look, it's not that big a deal. I mean, what you do is none of my business, especially once you go back on tour in a few months. I don't even know why I said something so stupid," she stammered.

Ashton gently put his hands on her upper arms, holding her still and waiting until she looked up at him. For the first time, her eyes met his, and he saw the uncertainty that she was hiding.

"Kaylee, it is a big deal, and it is your business," he said softly. "Listen, I like you a lot, more than I wanted to or expected to, and that is a big deal to me. I'm not messing with you, so get that out of your head. I want to be with you. I care about you. I thought you understood that."

He was trying not to let his frustration get the best of him. At the same time, he was trying not to let the fears he held deep inside come to the surface. Ashton had never talked about his feelings like this with anyone before, so he wasn't sure of the right words. It was a completely foreign land, this place he was standing in with Kaylee. Everything was new to him, and he didn't want to screw up.

"I do understand that, but do you really think you can give up all other women to be with me?" she asked.

Ashton sighed and frowned. "I'm not going to lie and say that it's a piece of cake. Will there be temptation? I'm sure there will be, but I think I'm a strong enough person now to resist it. You'll never know unless you give me a chance."

"And I'll never get my heart broken if I don't give you the chance," Kaylee retorted. She glared at him, angry at herself for having these feelings, but also angry at Ashton for making her feel this way about him.

Ashton shook his head at her. He wasn't going to get mad. He needed to be the calm one, for once. "Do you honestly think you can walk away from me right now and not have it hurt?" He felt triumphant when he saw the answer in Kaylee's eyes. It was the final push he needed to admit everything.

"I know I've hurt you in the past, but something's changed between us. How many times do I have to tell you that I like you and that I want to be with you before it sinks in? Can't you just give me, give us, a chance to see where this leads?"

Kaylee looked into his eyes. Where she expected to see teasing, she only saw care. But she had to know... "How do I know I'm not some conquest? 'Let's see who can take her virginity?'"

Ashton sighed again. "Come on, do you really think that?" He was starting to get angry and let his frustrations show. "Have I ever once tried to go further than you're ready for?"

"No," she said, ashamed that she had even made that suggestion. She knew that wasn't all Ashton wanted from her, but her mind wouldn't let her give in that easily to him. "I don't want to sit here, constantly wondering when you're going to get bored with me and what I'm giving you."

"Well, when are you going to get bored with what I have to offer?" Ashton countered. "Nothing in this world is certain, Kaylee. Sometimes you just have to let go and see where the wind takes you."

They looked at each other for a long moment. "When did you get so smart?" she asked, with a smile across her face for the first time since their discussion began.

"I listen to a lot of song lyrics," Ashton said proudly. They both laughed, sucking all the tension out of the air. "So, we're cool?"

"Yeah, we're cool," Kaylee said, without hesitation.

"Good, now can I go make my girlfriend breakfast?" he asked. Kaylee nodded, thankful that Ashton, unlike her, enjoyed cooking.