“I took care of it,” I told her. My former soccer teammate was working as the bouncer here this summer. I’d agreed to give him a hundred bucks to look the other way and let us in.
Yes, this date was costing me a fortune. During the school year I worked night shifts at a restaurant to earn some cash. This night was basically the equivalent of one week’s worth of tips, but Ash deserved this.
Harris was at the door as expected, and I slipped him the cash.
“No drinking, Campbell,” he reminded me. “It will only call attention to Baby Barbie.”
“I’m going to try and not be offended by that,” Ashleigh said, smiling up at Harris.
He smiled back, and I tugged her along behind me. On the rooftop there were scattered round, high-top tables, more twinkle lights. The music was the kind of soft jazz you swayed to. The dance floor was filled with couples doing exactly that.
Guiding her to an empty table I helped her up onto the high seat. “I can get you a drink if you want. Just wait here and I’ll order for both of us at the bar.”
She shook her head smiling. “I’m as high as I need to be.”
“Okay, then. Let me make the ultimate sacrifice. Ashleigh, may I have this dance?”
She tilted her head like she was the princess I’d always accused her of being. “Why, Marc, I thought you would never ask.”
I took her hand and guided her to the dance floor. She’d been taught to dance properly at some point so, rather than wrap her arms around my neck with my hands around her hips like I used to dance in high school, she placed her hand in mine, the other on my shoulder. While I brought her in close with my hand on the small of her back.
She sighed, pressed her cheek against my shoulder and I thought this felt pretty fucking good.
This was what I’d missed a few weeks ago, this feeling of her in my arms, but I was glad we were doing this here and now. With strangers instead of her classmates. I liked that we were invisible. I liked knowing she was all mine.
“Not going to lie,” I said, bending down so I could whisper in her ear. “You feel pretty good in my arms, Ash.”
She lifted her face to me, her expression nearly blissful, which made me wonder how she would look in bed after an orgasm. For the first time in my life, I didn’t crush the thought. I simply let it happen.
“I knew we would fit. You just didn’t trust me.”
It hadn’t been about trust, it had been… My mind went blank. I didn’t know how I felt about Ash. Ever. Because I wouldn’t let myself think about it. Ever.
I would never process what she was to me, because, if I did, the answer might be too damn scary.
Tonight, I wasn’t shoving her away. Tonight, I wasn’t calling her names. Tonight, I wasn’t going out of my way to hurt her.
And it felt pretty good. Not as scary as I once thought it might. She went back to pressing her cheek against my shoulder; I pulled her in even closer so our bodies were touching. I could feel her breasts against my chest.
I’d decided against wearing a suit and tie because of the summer heat, so I was just in a light blue button-down and slacks. There wasn’t a lot of space between us and I thought about shifting my hips back, making sure she couldn’t feel my semi-hard dick. But part of me wanted her to experience that, too.
She’d dropped her hand from my shoulder and wrapped it around my waist. I’d pulled her against my entire body. We fit up and down from chest to breast, from dick to pussy.
There was no semi about my arousal now, and the way she didn’t shift away from me, I knew she not only felt it, but welcomed it, cradled it.
Maybe it was a tease. I had no plans to fuck Ash tonight. She was still entirely too dangerous to me for that. But I wanted her to know she was beautiful, arousing and sexy as fuck. I wanted to give her all of that. From me.
The song ended, and people clapped politely. I tried to release her, but if anything, she clung tighter.
“Please don’t let me go, Marc. Please.”
There was a desperation in her voice I didn’t like. She’d sounded…she’d sounded too close to what I’d sounded like when I’d begged my mother for the same thing. Not to let me be taken by the cops. Not to let me go.
Firmly, I wrapped my hands around her biceps and pushed her back so there was a full foot of space between us.
I was shocked as hell to see that the whole time we’d been dancing, tears had been streaming down her face. The way the mascara smudged under her eyes, it was impossible not to see it.
“What the fuck, Ash? What’s wrong?”
