Nothing Left to Lose (54 page)

She giggled and
poked me in the ribs, which just started a tickle war that she most
certainly lost before she begged me to stop, claiming she was about
to pee herself. Happier than I had been in a long time, I settled
down on the sofa next to her, just breathing her in as we talked
about nothing in particular. In the back of my mind, I knew that I
had to be the luckiest guy in the world because Annabelle Spencer
was in my arms.

When the sound
of the front door opening cut through the happy cloud I seemed to
be floating on, my heart took off in a sprint. Reacting
instinctively, I jumped up and wrenched my gun from my ankle
holster, pointing at the door ready to shoot if it was Carter or
one of his men.

Instead though,
Nate gasped and his hands flew up innocently. “Whoa shit! It’s me.
Damn it, Ashton, calm down!” he shouted, shaking his head in
disbelief.

I recoiled
quickly, immediately clicking on the safety on my gun. “Shit,
sorry, I wasn’t expecting you back so soon,” I admitted
sheepishly.

“Soon? Dude,
I’ve been gone an hour,” he grumbled, frowning at me as if I’d lost
my mind.

“Oh, I didn’t
realise,” I admitted, running a hand through my hair. I hadn’t
realised we’d been cuddling and talking for that long. My eyes
flicked down to Anna; she was sitting up, seemingly frozen in
place, her eyes wide, and her mouth agape. I knelt down next to the
sofa and shook my head. “I’m sorry, Baby Girl. Are you okay?”

She nodded,
finally closing her mouth. She pushed herself up to her feet, not
looking at me. “I’m gonna go take a shower.”

As she walked
off, my gaze dropped to her hands, noticing that they were shaking.
I frowned, hating myself because I’d frightened her. Following her
up the hallway, I slapped Nate on the shoulder apologetically. My
hand closed over hers as she got to the bathroom. “Are you really
okay? I’m so sorry that I scared you. It was a shock, I wasn’t
expecting anyone, I just reacted,” I explained.

She nodded. Her
face was pale, and her eyes were a little vacant. “It’s fine.”

I traced my
hands up her arms, gripping her shoulders. “If it’s fine, then why
are you shaking all over?”

A tear escaped
down her face. “I… I just thought, when you jumped up like that, I
thought for a second he was there and he’d come back for me,” she
whispered. Her lip trembled as she spoke.

I groaned,
looking up the hallway to see that Nate was watching us curiously.
I couldn’t have this conversation in front of him. Reaching behind
her, I pushed the bathroom door open and guided her in there,
closing the door tightly behind me. “He won’t hurt you again, I
promise. You don’t need to be scared anymore. I won’t ever let him
hurt you,” I vowed, kissing the top of her head as I pulled her in
for a hug. She nodded and clung to me tightly. “I’m so sorry I
upset you, this is my fault.”

She shook her
head quickly. “It’s not your fault, it’s mine. I’m such a stupid
idiot.” She pulled away from me and swiped at her face roughly,
wiping the telltale tears away.

“You’re not an
idiot, Baby Girl. You’re perfect.” I hated the way she thought of
herself so badly. She always seemed to turn everything bad around
and make it her own fault. It was no wonder she didn’t cope
particularly well sometimes; she shouldered too much guilt and
blame.

She sniffed and
looked over at the shower. I took that as my cue to leave and
dipped my head, kissing her cheek before walking to the door. “I’ll
just be outside,” I muttered.

“Wait!” she
called just as my hand closed around the door handle. “I don’t want
to be on my own. Will you stay with me?” she begged. “Please? Just
sit on the toilet or something.”

She wanted me
to stay in here while she was in the shower? “Er, yeah, sure okay,”
I replied, nodding. I made my way over and sat on the toilet,
watching as she brushed her teeth before turning on the shower. I
groaned internally because I was about to be in the same room with
her, naked. As my shirt that she wore fluttered to the floor, I
closed my eyes so that I wouldn’t see.

“You’re really
going to sit on the toilet with your eyes closed?” she chuckled
weakly.

“Mmm hmm,” I
mumbled, not trusting my voice to speak. The sound of the water
changed, so I knew she was under the spray. I put my head in my
hands and tried to think of something else other than the water
caressing her flawless body. This felt like torture.

“Ashton?”

“Yeah?”

“We’re still in
LA, you know,” she giggled.

My body jerked.
Does that mean what I think it means?
“And?” I prompted, not
wanting to get my hopes up.

“And, get your
hot ass in this shower with me and make me think about something
nice instead of what I’m thinking about right now.”

I stood so
quickly that I almost stumbled as my hands went to the bottom of my
T-shirt. She didn’t need to ask me twice. Once naked, I stepped
into the shower and groaned because of how stunning she looked.

She smiled
weakly. “That was fast,” she teased.

“Well, that was
an offer I couldn’t refuse,” I answered, my voice husky and thick
with lust. I watched as the water ran down her body, caressing
every inch of her. She gave me a sexy smile and stepped back
further into the spray, holding out one hand towards me. I gripped
her trembling hand, vowing to take her mind off what happened even
if it killed me.

The day passed
incredibly fast. While she packed her clothes, I hung out with Nate
in the lounge. Although we were playing a video game, I couldn’t
keep my mind off the hot, little shower scene that had gone down
hours before. I’d probably never be able to take a shower again
without thinking of it. That was another thing she’d ruined for
me.

Suddenly, Nate
groaned and looked down at his watch. “I have to leave for work.
Where’s that sexy ass of a girlfriend you have? I want to say
goodbye.”

“
Bedroom, packing.
”
I pushed myself up and he followed me into
the bedroom, where she was still gathering stuff up. I noticed that
she’d started packing my clothes for me too.

“
Hey, Anna, I’ve got to go to work now. It
was really good to meet you,
”
Nate said, walking up to her with his arms out. I
stiffened, knowing that she wouldn
’
t want to be that close to him.

I saw her hold her breath as she hugged
him.
“
Yeah, you too,
Nate. Thanks for letting me stay in your bachelor pad.
”

He grinned wolfishly.
“
You know what, you can come and stay
anytime you want.
”
He
turned back to me, slapping me on the arm.
“
Seriously, Taylor, bring her back here,
she
’
s a lot of
fun.
”
I could tell by
the way he said it that he’d meant it, he genuinely liked
Anna.

“
I will,
”
I confirmed. I would certainly be working on her,
trying to convince her to come back here with me in her next
scheduled school break. Hopefully her father would go for it a
second time, seeing as this trip was so successful.

He gave me a hug and slapped me hard on
the back.
“
I
’
ll give you a
call, we can arrange a time for playing,
”
he chirped excitedly. I grinned and nodded in
agreement, thinking lovingly about my PS4 that I had waiting for me
at our apartment.

“
Yeah, definitely. I’ll call
you.
”

Anna smiled and
waved as he left the room, closing the door behind him.
“
Nate’s a great guy. I can see
why you like him.
”

“
Yeah, he
’
s cool, all the girls think so,
”
I replied, grinning at
her.

“
Hmm, that
’
s funny; he just doesn
’
t do it for me,
”
she winked at me, and we both laughed and packed
up our belongings. Before we left the apartment, I took a few shots
of the place. I already had the exact pictures that I wanted on
here. There were at least fifteen good photos of me and Anna, and
more than that of just her on her own, looking like a
goddess.

On the way to the airport, we stopped by
Denny’s to get another chilli cheese dog. That was another thing I
would miss about LA. Before we boarded, I called Dean to make sure
that he knew where and when to meet us on the other side of the
flight. Once everything was set, we were ushered through and seated
in first class. As soon as we were in the comfy chairs, she scooted
closer to me and I wrapped my arm around her tightly. Within
minutes, my eyes became heavy due to my lack of sleep the previous
night. When I knew I couldn’t fight it anymore, I rested my head
back on the chair and just let myself doze.

“
Ashton,
help me please!” she begs. I can hear that she’s crying, her
breathing is hitching somewhere off in the darkness, but I can’t
see her. I turn, running in the direction that I think she is, but
I can’t find her. Doors and corridors stretch off into the
distance, and her crying seems to echo from the walls so I can’t
get a sense of direction. The place is like a maze. “Please, he’s
coming. Please help me!” she screams.

Desperation
makes me feel sick as I run and run, crashing through door after
door, trying to get to her. “I can’t find you, Anna! Where are
you?” I shout, spinning in a little circle as I grip my hands into
my hair, totally panic stricken.

“
Please help
me,” her voice is a whisper and it breaks my heart as I start
running aimlessly again.

A wicked laugh
echoes down the corridor and my hair stands up on the back of my
neck as I hear his voice. “Well hello, Princess, long time no
see.”

I jerked up,
gasping for breath as my hand shot straight down to my ankle,
fumbling as I reached for my gun. But it wasn’t there, my holster
was empty. I’d had to check it in, so it was locked in a little box
in the cockpit with the pilot because of the standard air travel
procedure. Sweat beaded on my brow as I looked around quickly,
realising that I wasn’t in some darkened maze trying to find her; I
was, in fact, still sitting in first class. Anna looked up at me
worriedly, her sketchpad balanced on her knees.

“Ashton, what’s
wrong?”

“Nothing, Baby
Girl. I just had a bad dream.” As soon as I said it, I wished I
hadn’t.

“Really, what
about?” she asked, snuggling against me. Her touch made my panic
fade marginally.

I grasped
wildly at anything that wasn’t to do with Carter. “Car crash.”

She recoiled,
scrunching her nose up. “Maybe I should drive when we land,” she
replied, raising one eyebrow teasingly.

I shook my head
and laughed, feeling my tense body relaxing. “No. You were driving
in my dream.”

She slapped my
chest playfully. “I’m not a bad driver!”

“Yeah right, I
won’t trust you to drive our kids around,” I joked.

She poked me in
the side playfully. “I’m not having your babies, Pretty Boy.”

I shrugged
casually. “Hopefully you’ll change your mind. I still have time to
make you fall for me. I predict we’ll be engaged within a year,” I
teased, pulling her body closer to mine, noticing how she tensed at
my words.

Her forehead
creased with a frown as her eyes tightened. “You still under the
impression that I’m gonna fall in love with you?” she replied
sarcastically.

“I’m hoping.” I
smiled and couldn’t help but laugh; if she knew I was serious,
she’d freak the hell out! Knowing I needed to change the subject
before she saw though my playful joke that wasn’t actually a joke,
I nodded at her sketchpad. “What you drawing?”

She smiled and
turned it around so I could see. On the page was a perfectly drawn
portrait of Nate and me sitting on the sofa in my apartment.

“That’s
incredible.” What she could do with a piece of paper and a pencil
amazed me.

“Thanks,” she
nudged my shoulder with hers. “So, that girls’ night…” she trailed
off, looking at me hopefully.

I suppressed my
groan and forced a smile. I had agreed to it after all, so there
was no backing out now. “Yeah, whenever you want.”

She beamed at
me and her whole face seemed to light up. “I’ll talk to them about
it tomorrow then, maybe we’ll arrange it for Friday night?” she
suggested, watching my face.

I nodded and
looked away so she didn’t see that panic that was starting to burn
inside me at the thought of leaving her alone. Technically, I
wasn’t allowed to leave her alone if there was someone else with
her, but I would be right next door. I could maybe have a
background check done on them before they came, just to make sure
nothing flagged up. Today was only Sunday, so I had a few days to
get some searches run before Friday. I’d definitely keep that
secret though, she’d probably kill me if she knew I was screening
her friends.

As I slowly
started to wake up on Saturday morning, I realised my head was
pounding. I groaned and put my hands up to my head, squeezing my
temples, trying to get the pain to subside. The previous night had
been girls’ night, and I had certainly made the most of it. Though
my head was now telling me that there had been way too much
giggling, pizza, popcorn and vodka.

“Suffering?”

I groaned again
because of the loud voice that was almost gloating near my ears. I
squeezed my eyes shut tighter, nodding. He laughed and my ears
instantly rang. “Shh!” I mumbled, rolling onto my front, pressing
the pillow over my head. “Ugh, don’t let me drink ever again!” I
moaned.