There she goes with the cats again. Was she still drunk?
She rolled over and allowed me to move my arm, so I answered my phone. Eden asked about Ashlyn, and wanted to check in to make sure everything was okay. I asked her about the voicemail message I had from her, then she burst out laughing and told me that I had to listen to it as soon as I got off the phone with her. Her reaction alone intrigued me.
Ashlyn was groaning softly, and I swear I heard her mumbling about how much she hated wine.
Eden said her goodbyes and, without lowering my phone, I pressed into my voicemails and started listening to what I assumed would be Eden’s voice.
“It’s me. Ashlyn. Calling on Eden’s phone. I’m going to buy some cats, probably two or three because they need friends. You were really warm tonight, and you bought my Pad Thai, and now I’m a little drunk on wine, but Eden is making me drink water. Do you like cats?”
I burst out laughing. Now I understood her fascination with cats. Ashlyn rolled over and looked at me like I was a crazy person.
“Josh, can you please be a little quieter?” she whispered. “I’m feeling a little under the weather.”
“Do you remember anything about last night? What you asked me?” I asked, once I got my laughter under control.
Her face went still. “What did I do?” she asked nervously.
It was an asshole move, but I couldn’t resist having a little fun with her. “I said yes. To be honest, I never thought you’d ask me,” I said, with an air of satisfaction and disbelief in my tone.
“What?” she choked out, her eyes wide, and the color in her face now completely drained.
“We’d have to make some calls, but I’m sure Ky and Eden would be willing to help.” I was barely able to contain my laughter. “How quickly do you want to do it? It’s a huge commitment.
She shot up in bed, and next thing I knew she was standing up and leaning over the end of the bed. “Fuck, my head is spinning. What have I done? You said yes?”
“Why wouldn’t I say yes?” I asked in a sarcastic tone that she didn’t seem to grasp. “Are you having second thoughts? Wow, Ashy, I never thought you’d be like that.”
“Fuck, what have I done? Josh, I like you, like really, really like you, but that? I would need to tell Austin. He’d either tell me I was crazy or tell me I was awesome.” She paced my bedroom as she completely freaked out.
“Why are you freaking out so much? I didn’t think buying a cat together would cause you this much stress.”
Suddenly, she froze . . . and I waited. She spun around and her eyes shot wide. With two steps, she was standing beside the bed. “What did you just say?”
I couldn’t contain my smirk any longer. “I said, I didn’t think buying a cat would cause you this much stress. Why, Ashy, what did you think I was talking about?” I grabbed her hand and pulled her back onto the bed beside me, then rolled to my side to face her.
“I hate you,” she muttered as she buried her face into the pillow and stifled a laugh.
“No you don’t. You really, really like me. You just said, they were your exact words.”
She lifted her face and attempted to glare at me, but her smile dismissed it all. “Well played, Crawford. Way to make the hungover girl feel even more humiliated. I thought I had proposed or something. Was I like ridiculously drunk last night?”
“You were cute drunk. Do you remember everything?”
“Yes, unfortunately. I’m surprised I didn’t try to jump your bones.”
“I’m not into fucking girls who are passed out. Now, enough with the chatting. You need to go have a shower, get dressed in your sexiest bikini, and meet me back here in an hour. We are going on a date.”
“A date?” she asked with a smile.
“Yep, a date. Fifty-eight minutes, Ashy.”
For someone who was suffering a hangover, I had never seen her move so quickly.
I entwined our fingers as we walked along the boardwalk that allowed us views of the Atlantic. Ashlyn was ready in record time, and had come back to my apartment within forty minutes. Maybe she was as eager as me for this date.
“I still have no idea where we are going,” she said with a laugh beside me.
“You’ll like it, I promise.”
We continued walking for another ten minutes before we turned off and headed down a track that led to a secluded part of the beach that looked like a cove. Not many people knew that this place existed, and I hoped that we would have it to ourselves.
As we came through the clearing, Ashlyn suddenly stopped. “This looks exactly like Lilac Cove,” she whispered. “My favorite place in the world.”
She dropped my hand, took off down to the water’s edge, and dipped her toes in the clear blue water. When she turned back to look at me, I was greeted with a smile that reached her eyes, and I knew I had made the right decision in bringing her here. I set down the picnic basket and placed the blanket under the tree, before pulling off my T-shirt and heading down to the water to meet her.
“Let’s go for a swim before we eat,” I said softly into her ear as I wrapped my arms around her waist. “Show me that body of yours, Ashy.”
“I think you should undress me,” she said.
She didn’t have to ask me twice.
I unwrapped my arms from around her waist, then my eyes roamed over her body, which was covered in a light pink dress that showed off her perfect curves. My hands landed on her thighs and slowly pushed her dress up over her hips to reveal purple bikini bottoms and her pert ass. Her eyes fluttered shut as my fingertips swept over her stomach then trailed over her tits before I pushed the dress off her shoulders.
“It’s like unwrapping the best present in the world.”
She shivered as I ran my fingertips down her spine. I loved the effect I had over her.
“Turn around,” I whispered, and slowly she turned to face me. I looked at her body in all its glory, and felt my cock swell at the sight of her. “You are absolutely stunning, Ashy. Never let anyone make you feel otherwise.”
Her cheeks flushed, and I knew I’d continue telling her until she believed it.
We walked into the cool water until it reached my chest. I lifted Ashlyn into my arms, and her legs twisted around my waist while her arms wrapped around my neck.
“So, are we good?” I asked softly.
“We are good. I just wasn’t expecting you to tell me that. I think it just shocked me, and I reacted badly. It was a beautiful thing that you did, and I never want you to regret it. We just need to concentrate on what is, not what could have been. The here and now.”
“That sounds good to me.” I leaned in and covered her mouth with mine. Her sigh of contentment spurred me on, and I pulled her closer to my body. As our kiss intensified, her body started grinding against mine in a perfect friction. Her fingers raked through the back of my head and my fingers dug into her ass. “How do you feel about public sex?” I groaned against her lips.
She giggled and broke our kiss, and then her face disappeared into the concave of my neck. “If we are going to have sex in water, then it has to be in the real Lilac Cove.”
“Let’s go there next weekend,” I said.
Her laughter made me feel like I had finally found my home.
After I calmed down and my cock decided to relax, we left the water and moved to the shade, where I pulled out the picnic basket that I’d purchased from the local café. It contained sandwiches, fresh fruit, juice, and chocolates. We ate and spoke about everything and anything. I teased her about cats, and she told me that she’d hold back, not only those pussy cats, but hers. That was the last I’d tease her about cats.
Once we finished eating, she moved down until her head was resting in my lap. Silence fell between us, and her eyes drifted shut as I ran my fingers through her hair.