Ashton shifts from under me, sitting up straighter with me on his lap. It takes him a few attempts of opening and closing his mouth before he’s able to speak. “Are you serious?”
“As serious as a heart attack,” Samuel responds with a chuckle under his breath.
Ashton shakes his head in astonishment. “Wow, I don’t know what to say … I mean, they left the rings to you and Mom. It doesn’t feel right accepting them.”
Samuel shifts forward in his seat, focusing his eyes intently on Ashton. “Me and your mom want you to have them, and your grandpa and grandma would want you both to have them too. You know how much they loved a good ol’ love story … and they would have loved you, Ava,” he says shifting his gaze to me before returning his attention back to Ashton. “It’s just such a shame they couldn’t be here to witness how happy you are, but there is no doubt in my mind that they wouldn’t want you to have them.”
Ashton’s smile brightens, but he still seems a little hesitant to accept the rings. “And is this okay with Tyler? I have kind of taken the shine away from his wedding a little. I don’t want to take this from him too.”
This time Alana is the one to speak. “Yes we’ve spoken to him, and he’s happy for you both to have them.” Ashton glances at me with a smile before looking back to his parents. “We would be honored to have them, thank you,” he says sincerely. Samuel passes Ashton the rings and Ashton looks down at them with admiration. I find myself mesmerized as the fairy lights surrounding us flicker against the antique gold bands. They’re simply beautiful. Ashton takes hold of my left hand and slowly slides his grandmother’s wedding ring on my finger. What begins as an elegant move ends drastically when the ring won’t even pass my knuckle. I look up to Ashton’s eyes in amusement and we both laugh, along with Alana and Samuel.
“Well that isn’t as romantic as I’d hoped,” Ashton laughs.
“Yep, my mother sure had petite fingers,” Samuel says.
“You can say that again,” I giggle as Ashton pulls the ring from my wedding finger and slides it on my little finger, where it fits perfectly.
“You can wear it on your little finger until we get it resized,” he says, placing a kiss against my temple. He attempts to put his ring on, but I stop him by clasping his hand with mine.
“Um, my turn,” I say with a sharp tone that causes his eyes to widen.
“Yes, ma’am,” he responds with a slanted smile. I take hold of his grandpa’s wedding ring and gently slide it onto Ashton’s finger. Thankfully it slides easily over his knuckle, but I snort when it’s unable to go any further.
“It looks like mine needs resizing too,” he chuckles. “Why do they always make it look so simple in the movies? It’s total crap.”
“Because it’s Hollywood ... Nothing ever goes wrong in a Hollywood happily ever after.”
After a moment, his laughter subsides and he gazes into my eyes with a look of love and lust that has my heart in a fluttering mess. “Well who needs a Hollywood happily ever after when we have our own? Fuck Hollywood,” he murmurs before his mouth captures mine and his tongue flicks out and traces my lips. The kiss is short-lived when the sound of coughing interrupts our lustful flow and I pull away, heavily blushing as I look up at a smiling Alana and Samuel.
“We’ll leave you two lovebirds to enjoy the rest of your night. We just wanted to give you the rings and tell you how happy we are for you,” Alana says as she stands up and pulls Ashton and me into an embrace, pressing a kiss to my cheek and planting a big one on Ashton’s head.
“Thanks, Mom,” Ashton begins as Alana pulls away. “We’ll treasure the rings; you know how important Grandpa and Grandma were to me.”
“I know you will … and about last night,” she says with a little hesitation as she gently strokes his right cheek. “I’m sorry; I should never have hit you, but the thought of you hurting this beautiful woman right here …” She looks towards me before returning her eyes back to Ashton. “It lit a fuse within me. She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to you and for a split second I thought you had ruined everything.”
“It’s fine, Mom, but I would never hurt her. She’s my world.”
My insides practically melt at his words, and I find myself clutching tighter against his hold.
“I know, but just promise me that you won’t ever let her get away.”
“I promise,” Ashton says without an ounce of uncertainty.
Alana finally steps back with a smile and mist-filled eyes, allowing Samuel to affectionately squeeze Ashton’s shoulder, followed with a slap on the back. He then presses a kiss to my cheek. “Welcome to the family, sweet girl,” he says before standing to his full height and walking away with Alana on his arm. I smile dreamily at Ashton, but as I go to speak, the sound of Alana’s voice from a distance freezes me in place.
“Today’s been perfect but I desperately wish that Christopher was here too.” My eyes close with sadness. I can’t even begin to imagine what it must have been like for her to lose her son in such tragic circumstances. I open my eyes and trace my fingers through the silk tendrils of Ashton’s hair, seeing how his beautiful green eyes have a hint of sadness in them.
“Do you think if Christopher was still alive, he and Jo would have gotten married?”
“I’d like to think so. He was crazy about her. He’d been her best friend since they were in kindergarten.” He pauses for a split second, softly laughing. “His relationship with Jo came as such a surprise to us. Christopher never really showed interest in the opposite sex, to the extent that we were all convinced he was gay,” he says with a chuckle. “He was always focused on his studies, what with him being a genius and all. Even when he wasn’t studying, he was helping others learn. I mean, he never looked the part, but he was definitely a geek at heart. We all loved that about him … we were all smart but he was like super human smart. I remember girls flaunting themselves at him and he wouldn’t even bat an eye at them. Then just before he was graduating college, he announced out of the blue that he’d been in love with Jo all his life and that they were dating. I had no idea he thought of her like that, but I was happy he found something good for him that wasn’t solely surrounded with studying.
“They never had what you would call a normal relationship; it was long distance for the majority of the time that they were together, but they loved each other. He was her first everything …” He trails off and I hate how the raw sadness catches at the back of his throat. He misses him … they all miss him. I press my lips to his, desperately wanting to soothe his pain away with the simple touch my lips can bring. It seems to do the trick because when I pull away the sparkle in his eyes returns. I rest my forehead against his and gently bring my hand up to his beating heart, feeling it pattering against my fingertips.
“I love you,” I say for what seems like the millionth time today, but Ashton doesn’t seem to mind the repetitiveness of my words. If anything he seems to crave them, and the way his pupils dilate every time he hears them tells me that.
“You have no idea what those words do to me,” he huskily says, almost as if he can read my mind.
“I think I have a little idea of what they do to you,” I respond flirtatiously with a little wriggle of my hips as I feel him begin to stir beneath me. His hand sweeps gently through my hair until he’s cradling my head. His eyes trace my entire face before they land back on mine.
“I love you,” he breathes across my lips before he lightly brushes them against mine. His taste and aroma fill my senses and my world begins to spin as we become lost in each other, with our hearts, bodies and souls melding together as one. Through the haze, I instinctively feel my fingers reach out to the collar of his shirt, and as I begin to release the first two buttons, I hover my lips over his, pulling away slightly. I need him …