Nothing Left to Lose (35 page)

I chuckled,
shaking my head. “How did you even do that so fast?”

“Practice, lots
of practice,” he winced as he spoke, probably at the memory of
being made to shoot continuously or something, like when he’d told
me about having to swim all night as punishment for pulling a
prank.

The training
academy that he went to sounded like torture; I had no idea why
he’d liked it there so much. “And you can honestly say that you
enjoyed your training?” I asked incredulously.

He nodded,
putting all of the guns and equipment back into the box. “Yep, best
time of my life,” he confirmed. “Well, up until that point
anyway.”

I raised an
inquisitive eyebrow. “Up until that point?”

“Yeah. You’re
the best time of my life now,” he replied, closing his hand over
mine and walking off to the reception without waiting for me to
answer.

A blush crept
over my face as I bit my lip, fighting a smile. My heart was
crashing against my ribs because of how sweet that comment was. I
knew he was only joking around, as usual, but for some reason his
comment made my skin prickle with excitement.

The days passed
quickly. Ashton and I were growing closer and closer the more time
we spent together. I was just so comfortable with him now that I
didn’t even pay attention to how close he was to me. The pretending
to be a couple charade seemed to be getting easier and easier, and
I actually couldn’t seem to get through the day without a few of
his hugs. His arms were comforting to me in a way that I never
expected.

Since that
night when I thought he’d left, Ashton and I had shared a bed a
couple of times. Of course, we had the swanky new sofa bed in my
room, but that night after going shooting, I hadn’t wanted to be
alone so I’d snuck over into the sofa bed with him, just needing to
be comforted. The next night I just asked him to sleep in with me
because I was actually becoming addicted to that safe, contented
feeling that I got whenever his arms were around me. I slept so
much better when he was snoring in my ear. Luckily, I’d managed to
contain my slutty side that liked being in his arms
way
too
much.

Before I knew
it, Friday arrived, which also meant our ‘date’.

Unfortunately,
I was still tired because the night before it had taken me hours to
fall asleep because I’d never been on a proper date before. Jack
and I had been out to places, but because we were just kids, we
only went to fast food restaurants or the movies or something.

I stood in
front of the mirror, staring at the skin just under my eye,
squinting, trying to see if I needed to add a little make-up to
hide my sleepless night. A knock at the bedroom door made me jump.
“Anna, I’m just gonna go next door and speak to Dean about tonight.
I’ll be back just after seven, alright?” He actually sounded a
little nervous, probably because he was leaving me in the apartment
on my own. He took his job extremely seriously.

“Yeah, sure,” I
called, grinning at his overprotectiveness. Turning back to the
mirror, I decided that I could forgo the extra make-up. I’d already
applied a little and done my hair into a cute little up-do. As I
skipped over to my wedge heeled, cherry red sandals, I smiled,
excited to go to this restaurant that Ashton had adamantly refused
to tell me about. Much to my disgust, it turned out that the boy
liked surprises.

Just before
seven, I adjusted the red belt that accompanied my little, black
dress and headed out to see if he was ready, but the apartment was
still empty. Sighing, I sat down at the kitchen counter, waiting
for him to come back. Less than a minute later, there was a knock
at the front door. I glanced at it hesitantly. Ashton had strictly
forbidden me to answer the door, ever. When the knock sounded
again, I decided that I could take the risk. It was probably him,
but if it wasn’t, then no doubt I’d get scolded for it and a stern
warning about my ‘safety being of utmost importance to him’.

I pulled the
door open quickly, and my heart jumped up into my throat. Ashton
stood there looking incredibly handsome. The clothes that he’d
chosen for our date fitted him perfectly, clinging to him in a way
that would have any designer begging for him to model their
clothes. His jeans were faded and just the right amount of scruffy,
a white T-shirt clung to his body, and he accentuated it with a
chequered blue and white shirt over the top, which he wore
unbuttoned. My mouth started to the water at the sight of him. I
was very aware that I was practically ravaging him with my eyes, so
I reluctantly dragged my gaze up to his face.

As excited as I
was about the date, I actually didn’t want to go anymore. In fact,
I wanted nothing more than to drag him inside and take his clothes
off him because I knew they would look even better in a heap on my
bedroom floor.

When I looked
back at his face, I realised that he was still staring at me; doing
exactly the same thing I had been doing moments before. I hid my
grin and cleared my throat dramatically. “My eyes are up here,
Ashton,” I stated, trying to sound annoyed, even though I was
actually flattered he was paying so much attention to my body.

He jumped, as
his eyes flicked up to meet mine. “Right, yeah, sorry. I… er… I was
just, er…” he gulped, shaking his head, clearly flustered at being
caught.

“Checking me
out?” I offered, shrugging.

He grinned
sheepishly. “Right. I was just checking you out,” he confirmed
guiltily. I chewed on my bottom lip, tasting the sugary sweetness
of my strawberry lip gloss that I’d applied. “You look stunning,
Anna. You take my breath away,” he breathed, letting his eyes
wander my body again.

I internally
swooned at his sweetness.
Does he just pull those comments
straight out of a how to make a girl fall for you book or
something?
“You look extremely hot too,” I replied. He didn’t
take my breath away exactly; it was more like he made it speed up
with excitement. I grabbed his hand and gave him a little tug into
the apartment. “Come on in, my boyfriend’s just popped out so he
won’t even know,” I joked, breaking the tension.

He laughed and
brought his hand out from behind his back, producing a beautiful
bouquet of white roses. I gasped, shocked. “Second favourite after
dandelions, right?” he teased, grinning. I smiled weakly. I
remembered telling him that in our little ‘getting to know you’
session on the dock when he’d first started. “I didn’t want to give
you dandelions because I thought that was Jack’s thing, so I went
for these instead,” he added, looking a little uncomfortable as if
he thought he was going to upset me or something.

Overwhelmed by
emotions, but for once, not in a bad way, I did the only thing I
could think of in that moment. I stepped forward and kissed him,
slipping one arm around his neck as I pressed my body against his.
Silently, I wondered how on earth one person could be so sweet. He
was killing me with kindness. I was so confused that, at this
point, I almost didn’t even know which way was up.

After a small
intimate kiss, I pulled away and smiled gratefully. “Thank you,
they’re beautiful.” I headed over to the sink and picked up a jug
to put them in.

“I got Peter to
buy us a vase for you to use. I put it under the sink yesterday,”
he said easily. I smiled over my shoulder because of how thoughtful
that was. This was already the most perfect date I’d ever been on,
yet we hadn’t even left the apartment. Leaning down, I found the
glass vase and filled it with water before putting the flowers in
so they wouldn’t die. I’d arrange them properly later. “I got you
something else too, but this wasn’t specifically for our date, I
just waited to give it to you until today,” Ashton said behind me,
sounding a little uncomfortable.

I turned to see
him holding out a small, rectangular red velvet box. I gulped;
already knowing that the box contained jewellery because of the
name on the top of the box was the one from the jewellers in the
shopping mall near the lake house. I hadn’t seen him buy anything,
but then again, he had left me with Dean for a few minutes while I
was trying on clothes, so maybe he’d snuck off to buy it then.

“You shouldn’t
have bought me anything.”

“Open it,” he
instructed, holding his hand out to me again.

I stepped
forward and took the box from his hand, prying open the lid,
holding my breath the whole time. Inside was a breathtaking, thin
and delicate gold chain. Attached to it was a little, round pendant
set with a green stone. It was so beautiful that my vision blurred
as my eyes filled up.

“You said green
was your favourite colour.” He took the box from my hand, fiddling
with it and removing the chain. “Did you know that the colour green
is supposed to make you feel calm and safe? I thought it was
appropriate for me to give you an emerald considering it’s my job
to keep you safe.” He stepped behind me, setting the chain around
my neck before fiddling with the clasp.

I opened my
mouth, but nothing came out. He’d brought me an emerald necklace?
He seemed too good to be true, this boy. Once he’d secured it, I
turned and shook my head in awe, reaching up to grasp the little
pendant in my fist carefully. I couldn’t help but notice how he
seemed a little unsure of himself, his smile a little weak.

“It’s so
perfect. Thank you,” I whispered, knowing that my voice would crack
if I tried to speak properly.

His shoulders
relaxed and his smile turned more genuine, and in that second it
dawned on me that he was worried I wouldn’t actually like it.

“You’re very
welcome, Baby Girl.” He held out a hand for me to take. “We’d
better go so we don’t lose our table.”

I sighed
happily and placed my free hand in his, letting him lead me out of
the apartment and to the car. I couldn’t keep the smile off my face
as he drove to the surprise restaurant; not once did I let go of
the little pendant. I was already in love with this necklace and
didn’t ever want to take it off.

When we pulled
up outside where we were eating, I burst out laughing and turned to
him to see if this was a joke. “Seriously? You’re taking me to eat
at… Harvest Grill?” I asked, grinning from ear to ear as I read the
sign above the awful-looking restaurant. It actually looked more
like a truck stop café than a restaurant you would go to on a
date.

He held up one
finger to silence me. “Ah, just wait and see! You think I’m crazy
now, but keep an open mind, okay?”

I shrugged,
already feeling overdressed as a guy wearing a pair of jazzy, green
board shorts and a string vest walked out. I sat in the car,
waiting for him to come around and open the door for me. That was
another one of his ‘rules’ that was apparently for my safety. I
didn’t see the point in it all, but he seemed more relaxed if I
just went along with what he wanted.

As we walked
into the place, I grinned, biting my lip so I didn’t laugh. The
place was practically empty aside from two other people. Casting my
eyes around, I noticed that the tables were covered in some sort of
plastic cloth, the chairs were old and had a worn covering on the
base of them, and as Ashton pulled me forward, my foot stuck to the
floor in a couple of places. I was definitely overdressed.

In the corner
of the restaurant, there was a reserved tag on the table. “Lucky we
got here on time, wouldn’t want them to be overrun and have to give
our table away,” I joked.

Ashton laughed,
waving for the waiter’s attention. “Open mind, remember?” he
muttered as the guy walked over to us.

By the time I
was done eating, my cheeks hurt from all the smiling. As it turns
out, despite the lack of ambiance in the place, I was actually
having a fantastic time. The food was merely average, my chicken
was a little rubbery and the fries were a little cardboard-like,
but the company was faultless. Ashton and I chatted easily the
whole time, laughing, joking and even flirting a fair bit too. It
was the best date I’d been on by a clear mile.

When the waiter
came and cleared our table, he and Ashton exchanged a secret look
before he turned to me and grinned. “Now for the real reason we
came here.” He nodded over my shoulder and I twisted in my seat,
seeing the waiter coming back. On the table in front of me he set
down a ginormous slice of chocolate fudge cake and a little pot of
hot fudge sauce. My eyes widened in surprise as my mouth
immediately watered. Ashton had remembered my favourite dessert and
pre-ordered it for me?

Ashton leant
back in his seat with a smug smile. “I asked around, apparently
this is the best chocolate fudge cake in the whole of Arizona.”

I shook my
head, bemused. He was so incredibly thoughtful. I hadn’t expected
anything like this in the slightest. “Seriously, I just… you’ve put
so much thought into this, huh?”

He shrugged as
if it was no big deal. “Well yeah, I guess. I just wanted to make
it special,” he explained. “Well try it then,” he laughed, pointing
to my cake.

“Aren’t you
having anything?”

“Nah, I need to
watch my figure,” he joked, winking at me playfully. More excited
than I should be over a piece of cake, I grabbed my spoon and cut
off a huge mouthful. “Wait, wait!” he cried, as my spoon was half
way to my mouth. “You have to try it properly,” he smiled and
picked up the little pot of sauce, and poured it over my dessert
before waving his hand, giving me the go-ahead.

After scooping
a little of the sauce onto my spoon too, I greedily shoved it in my
mouth. The sickly sweetness and richness of it made me moan in
appreciation. It was easily the best thing I’d ever tasted. “Oh my
God, you have got to try this!” I mumbled with my mouth full.

He chuckled
wickedly. “Very lady like,” he teased, grabbing a fork and cutting
off a piece, shovelling it into his mouth. “Holy shit, that is
good!” he agreed with his mouth full too. I burst out laughing,
covering my mouth with my hand as I laughed so hard I thought I was
going to choke.