Nothing Left to Lose (44 page)

“Thank you,” I
whispered, snuggling closer to her.

She turned her
head to the side and smiled that mesmerising smile that melted my
heart every time. “You’re welcome, Pretty Boy.”

Closing the
distance between us, I pressed my lips to hers, kissing her
softly.

After a couple
of minutes of kissing, I pulled away. He looked so incredibly happy
and heart-stoppingly handsome this morning. Twenty-two certainly
suited him.

“I’m gonna go
make some coffee. Maybe we could get some breakfast out or
something?” I suggested.

“Sure,” he
agreed, before looking down at the items in his lap. “What the hell
am I gonna tell Nate?”

I smiled.
“Well, I thought about that a bit, and figured maybe you could say
that you won two in some competition. Tell him that you’re giving
him one so you could play against each other.” That was the only
thing I could come up with that fitted; he couldn’t exactly tell
him that the Senator’s daughter bought it.

He laughed, his
green eyes sparkling with happiness that made my heart soar.
“You’ve covered all bases here. You’re a devious planner, huh?”

I nodded,
rolling my eyes. “Oh yeah, I’m pretty sneaky, you need to keep your
eyes on me.”

“Oh, I plan to
keep my eyes and anything else that I can on you, don’t worry,” he
flirted. I laughed and pushed him away from me playfully before
jumping out of the bed and running across the room before he could
stop me. At the door, I turned and blew him a kiss, grinning.

I practically
skipped to the kitchen. As I flicked on the kettle, I let my eyes
wander around his apartment. The place was actually extremely
sweet. It was a total guys’ place though. The furniture didn’t
match, and was all designed for practicality and not for how it
looked, as with any bachelor pad. I smiled as I looked through his
cupboards, finally finding what I was after and grinned as I pulled
out two mismatched oversized mugs. I loved it here; his apartment
made me feel safe and calm. This place was Ashton all over.

“Well, that’s
definitely a nice view to wake up to in the morning,” a male voice
purred behind me.

I grinned as I
turned, knowing this would be the famous Nate Peters, Ashton’s best
friend. As I expected him to be, Nate was gorgeous. All blond,
spiky hair and blue eyes, tall and toned. The cocky, confident
smile that was stretched across his face made him look just the
right amount of cheeky. He was currently only wearing boxer shorts
and a white vest. I could see why the girls apparently went crazy
for him. In my opinion though, as hot as Nate looked, he had
nothing on Ashton.

“Well thanks. I
presume you’re talking about the fact that I’m currently making
coffee, and not the fact that I’m not wearing very many clothes at
the moment,” I stated, raising my eyebrows innocently.

He was smirking
at me. “Of course I was,” he replied, just as innocently.

“Good.” I
turned and grabbed another mug from the cupboard so I could make
him one too.

“You must be
Ashton’s girlfriend, Anna.” He moved so he was leaning against the
counter next to me and folded his arms over his chest as he looked
me over.

“And you must
be Ashton’s best friend, Nate,” I answered, giving him a cocky
smile.

“Yep,” he
confirmed, popping the p. I rolled my eyes and went back to the
coffee. “You know, Ashton said you were hot, but damn, that’s the
understatement of the century,” he continued.

“Well, he told
me you were a flirt who would try and get me into bed, but damn, I
didn’t realise you’d start before nine in the morning.” I smirked
back at him, chuckling. I liked this guy already; it was probably
the fact that he was Ashton’s best friend. Ashton loved this guy,
and anyone that got Ashton’s respect, got mine.

He laughed and
shook his head. “That’s what he told you about me? I’m a
womaniser?” he asked, faking hurt.

“Big time,” I
confirmed, laughing.

“Maybe I’m just
waiting for the right girl to set me on the right track, make me
want to settle down,” he purred suggestively.

“Right, you
know what? I can help you with that,” I answered, looking at him
through my eyelashes.

He raised his
eyebrows and smirked at me. “Oh really?” he asked, obviously
interested, leaning in closer to me.

“Yeah,” I
breathed, nodding and leaning in closer to him too, watching as his
eyes widened and he flinched back slightly. I smiled. Clearly he
was regretting flirting with his best friend’s girl now that I was
playing along too. “I’ll help you find a girl tonight when we go
out,” I added, winking at him and laughing as relief washed over
his face.

He chuckled and
shook his head. “You’re funny, no wonder he likes you. Mind you, I
can think of a few other reasons too,” he muttered as his eyes
skimmed my body again.

“Well at the
moment, Nate, I’m struggling to find anything that he’d like about
you,” I teased.

“Ouch, Anna,
you wound me.” He put his hand over his heart, faking hurt.

The kettle
boiled, so I spooned the cheap instant coffee granules into the
mugs, plucking the milk from the fridge. “So how do you take it?” I
asked, putting sugar in my coffee and extra milk in Ashton’s.

“I’ll take it
and give it any way you want, baby,” he flirted again.

He’s an even
bigger flirt than Ashton! Can he just not help himself?
I
wondered. “Right, well how about I give it to you strong and
straight?” I offered, putting a strong black coffee down in front
of him. He laughed in response. “I’m gonna go take this into my
man, and start his birthday off right for him,” I winked at him and
picked up the two coffees.

“Well, I will
definitely see you later, Anna.”

I rolled my
eyes as I stepped back into Ashton’s bedroom and kicked the door
closed behind me. “Hey, Nate’s here,” I chirped, as I plopped back
on the bed.

Ashton’s body
seemed to stiffen as he frowned. “He’s up already? He was working
until twelve.”

“He’s up; I
just met him in the kitchen. He’s a funny guy,” I shrugged.

Ashton’s eyes
tightened. “He hit on you, didn’t he?”

I smiled at his
question. He was so overprotective of me, sometimes he seemed to
forget that I wasn’t actually his girlfriend, although most of the
time lately, I wished I was. “Yep, but don’t worry, I told him I
wasn’t interested,” I promised, scooting to his side, setting the
coffees on the bedside unit.

“I think you’re
the first girl I’ve met that wasn’t interested in him,” he smiled,
wrapping his arms around me, pulling my body closer to his.

I waved my hand
dismissively. “Nah, I told you, I already have an extremely hot
boyfriend,” I stated, smiling before continuing, “even if he is an
old man now.”

He scowled
jokingly. “Hey, don’t start with the age jokes; I’m a little
sensitive about it.”

“Well, we could
always say you’re twenty-one and three hundred and sixty-six days,”
I offered, shrugging.

He laughed
again. “Yeah, that definitely sounds better than being an old man,”
he answered, trailing his fingers up my arm, making me ache all
over. He grabbed his new camera off the bedside unit and held it
out in front of us, snapping a photo before I could even
protest.

“Hey! I haven’t
even brushed my hair,” I whined.

“You look
beautiful, Baby Girl. I love your messy bed hair.”

I smiled at
that. I had a feeling he wasn’t joking either, I loved his messy
bed hair too.

After drinking
our coffee, I headed into the shower, and he went out to talk to
Nate. I could hear him laughing and catching up with his friend;
mostly they were talking about me. I showered and went back to his
room to get dressed, pulling on a pair of cropped skinny jeans and
a white tank top, slipping a black waistcoat over the top. After
pulling on a pair of black wedges, I quickly dried my hair,
scraping half up and leaving the rest half down. I didn’t bother
with make-up today.

When I walked
into the lounge, the talking stopped immediately, and two sets of
eyes fell on me. I frowned at the abrupt change of mood and looked
down at myself, wondering if something was wrong. “What? Should I
change? Is this not appropriate LA clothing?” I asked, concerned
because I didn’t bring lots of clothes with me, so I was limited on
options.

“Damn, you look
so damn hot that my mouth’s watering,” Ashton practically growled,
looking me over slowly.

I laughed with
relief and felt the blush creep onto my cheeks. When my gaze fell
on Nate, I saw he was looking at me too. I raised one eyebrow,
knowing I needed to show him that I wasn’t interested. As the plan
formed in my head, I didn’t even think twice about it as I strutted
over to Ashton and plopped myself down on his lap, straddling him.
Dipping my head, I pressed my lips against Ashton’s, wrapping my
arms around his neck. He kissed me back, moaning in the back of his
throat. The small sound he made seemed to set my body on fire and
turned me on more than anything else.

His arms
circled my waist, pulling me tightly against him as the kiss
deepened. My whole body seemed to pulse with desire as his taste
and the warmth of his tongue resonated through my senses. As I
pressed myself against the hardness of his body, all I could think
about was getting closer and melting into him. Every nerve ending
in my body seemed to come alive as an uncomfortable ache seemed to
be building inside me. I needed him.

I was so
thoroughly lost in the moment that someone clearing their throat
next to me made me jump and come back to reality with a bump. I
reluctantly pulled my mouth away from Ashton’s, dragging in a
ragged breath. Ashton’s eyes shone with excitement and lust – as I
would imagine mine did too.

“Happy
birthday,” I whispered, making no moves to get off his lap.

“Definitely the
best birthday ever,” he breathed, resting his hands on my hips.

He moved me
slightly, but the small movement made us rub together in places
that were already way too excited for my own good. A little zap of
pleasure pulsed through my body. I gasped, tightening my hold on
him as I wriggled, trying to ease some of the tension and pressure
from my body. His lips found mine again, and in that moment I was
lost all over again. His fingers bit into my thighs as another
little bolt of the same sensation washed over me. I couldn’t take
any more teasing, my body needed relief. It felt like I would
spontaneously combust if I didn’t release this tension from inside
my body. It was then that I decided that I would make this weekend
special for him.

“Er… you two
need a room? Hello, best friend here!” Nate teased. “Not that this
isn’t hot to watch,” he added, laughing.

Ashton groaned
and pulled his mouth from mine, somewhat reluctantly. “Dude,
seriously, go away!”

Realising this
was inappropriate for their lounge sofa, with Nate watching, I
blushed and gulped. “Let’s go eat. I’m starving,” I suggested,
changing the subject. I smiled over at Nate. “You coming?”

A devilish grin
broke out on his face. “Not yet, but you can help me with that if
you want,” he purred, winking at me.

Ashton suddenly
punched him in the arm. “Mine!” he growled warningly, looking like
he was only half joking.

Nate gasped,
rubbing his arm as he winced. “Ouch, dude! I was kidding.”

I giggled
uncontrollably at his put-out face. He looked like a kid that had
gotten caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

Ashton scooted
forward on the sofa, still holding me on his lap. “Come on, Baby
Girl, Nate doesn’t want to go where we’re going, I already asked
him.”

Nate shrugged.
“Actually, I think I’ll come for breakfast, but I’m definitely not
coming to the museum,” he chimed in, standing up.

I frowned,
confused. Ashton wasn’t into that kind of thing, so that was a
weird choice of thing to want to do. “Museum? What museum?” I asked
curiously.

“There’s a
really cool museum I thought you’d like,” he explained,
shrugging.

I shook my head
incredulously. “What? We’re not going somewhere for
me
on
your
birthday,” I protested, attempting to push myself off
his lap, but he held me against him tightly.

“Aww, come on.
You’ll really like it there, I promise,” he whispered, leaning
forward and kissing my cheek before trailing little kisses down my
neck.

My body
tingled. “Maybe I like it right here,” I mumbled, closing my eyes
and enjoying the sensations his mouth was creating within me.

I felt him
smile against my neck. “Well, maybe I like it right here too,” he
replied, nibbling on my earlobe.

“Maybe I’d like
to go eat,” Nate chimed in, laughing.

Ashton sighed
and moved his face away from my neck; I bit my lip so I didn’t
whimper at the loss of contact. “Come on then. Let’s go eat,” he
agreed, rolling his eyes and finally letting go of me so I could
stand up.

We walked to a
little café down the road from their apartment, talking casually
about nothing in particular. As we walked inside the café, Ashton
mumbled ‘shit’ under his breath as a waitress came over, smiling
broadly at him.

“Well hi there,
Ashton. How are you doing? Long time no see,” she breathed, setting
her hand on his arm as she batted her eyelashes.

“Er, hi Kelly,”
he greeted, clearly uncomfortable.

An angry
expression crossed her face. “It’s Shelly,” she growled. I burst
out laughing but quickly turned it into a cough when she turned to
glare at me, which of course, made Nate laugh. Ashton was just
staring at me in horror as the waitress looked me over
distastefully. “Who’s this?” she asked, obviously trying to be
polite, but failing miserably.