I wasn't about to get into the whole story of Mom calling and asking to see us after being MIA for years. I needed to shut my brain off for a while. I felt my anger melting away right there on that deck, next to Ashtyn, surrounded by smoke and darkness. She glanced at me, her blue eyes twinkling in the moonlight. Fuck, she was beautiful.
“I guess we’re kind of alike in that way,” she paused. “Your dad chooses work over you and my mom chooses booze, men, and pills over me.” She took one more drag off the joint and passed it back to me. Her eyes told the story her lips couldn't. She was sad, hurt, and in pain from everything inside the house behind us.
“How was the party?”
“Same as every weekend. A bunch of privileged brats get wasted and end up throwing up or hooking up. Or both. Sometimes at the same time.”
“Ew. And you?” She eyed me.
“Not interested in either right now.”
“I find that hard to believe,” she said quietly.
I chose to ignore that. “How was work?”
Ashtyn tensed at the question, her eyes looking everywhere but me. “It sucks, but it pays the bills. Can’t complain about that.”
“Is that why you were crying earlier?”
“No, it wasn’t that. It was more of…”
“Of…”
She sat up abruptly. “Sometimes the hopelessness of this place gets to me. I try not to let it but–I can’t ever get ahead, you know? Unless I want to start blowing strangers for money, I’ll never get to a point where I’m comfortable. Financially.”
I sat up and stiffened my spine, stubbing out the joint on the deck. I had to choose my words carefully when it came to Ashtyn’s job. Although I gave her shit for working at Aces, she did it so she wouldn’t end up living on the streets. Her freeloading mother took advantage of her and made it so she didn’t have a choice other than to work in a place like that.
“You’re way too fucking good for that shit.”
“Am I though? What if that’s the only option? I don’t even know if I’ll get accepted to GPU, let alone how I’m going to pay for it.”
I don’t know why, but I put my hand on her jaw and turned her head so she faced me. I stroked her bottom lip with my thumb, trying my hardest to not reach out and bite it. “It’s not your only option, princess. You’re smart and talented. You’ll get into GPU and all this shit will be a distant memory one day soon. Don’t sell yourself short.”
“Wow, a compliment? Did you hit your head at the party?”
“You know I can be nice sometimes. Just don’t tell anyone. And I mean every word. You don’t need any of that bullshit.”
“I’m not going to do it, it’s just…some of the shit I saw tonight was…surreal. It could easily be me. I hate this shit. I hate living here. I just want to fast-forward ten months and be at GPU, not having to worry about Mom or Remington or the back rooms at Aces.”
My thumb didn’t leave her lip. My eyes devoured hers and I saw the desire lingering there. She wanted me just as much as I wanted her.
Fuck it.
I pulled her neck towards me and enclosed her mouth with mine. She froze at first, unsure if she wanted to continue or pull away. I licked the seam of her lips and she opened for me, exploding her locked-up emotions all over the place. She fisted the front of my shirt and pulled me closer. I kissed her fiercely and she returned the fire right back at me. Our teeth clashed, our kiss going from fierce and violent to slow and languid as her tongue swept the inside of my mouth. I bit her lower lip, and she sucked mine, letting out a moan that went straight to my cock.
I kept one hand on the back of her neck and the other on her waist to hold her close. She ran her hands over my shoulders and up to my neck, up through my hair, tugging just hard enough to hurt. She rubbed her thighs together, a good indication that she was just as turned on as I was. I pulled her onto my lap so she straddled me, and she ground down onto my hard cock. I felt her heat through her shorts and my pants, and she moaned in my ear as I thrust up.
I could make her come just like this.
She rolled her hips, her hands still pulling at my hair, and kissed my neck. Her hot tongue traced my skin, leaving a trail of fire. If she didn’t stop, I was going to lose it in my pants.
Almost like she read my mind, she pulled away, trying to catch her breath. Her eyes were wide and blown with desire, her pussy still hot against my lap.
The deck light at my house flicked on, the equivalent of dumping a bucket of ice water over us. Dad could probably hear our moaning and groaning from the sliders being left open a crack. Asshole.
Ashtyn extracted herself from my lap, fixing her clothes back into place and touching her puffy lips with her fingertips.
I felt calm and relaxed, and not just from the weed I’d smoked. She made me this way. Her presence calmed me when I wasn’t busy trying to fight it. When I wasn’t fighting her. I tucked a piece of damp hair behind her ear and kissed her forehead gently. It was probably a good idea to pump the brakes–with how our relationship had been lately–although my dick had other ideas. Sex would certainly complicate whatever the fuck it was we were doing.