Souvenir [Complete]

Twenty-seven. Great Lakes

"So why Ashton Elliot?" Luke cooed, laid out on the little beach towel. The sun was bright and hot in the sky over Lake Ontario.

"Why not?" Ashton cooed as he pretended to sleep under the summer heat.

"Well it's just a very strange choice," Luke looked at his nails. The red was still bright—but that was because he kept painting it when it would chip. "Having two first names is so eighties."

"You've read books. Figure it out," Ashton teased him softly, never leaving his resting pose.

"So no hints?" Luke pouted at him.

"Not a single one."

"No fair...you're kind of the worst boyfriend ever." Luke huffed. Still testing out the word every so often to see if it fit them.

"Guilt tripping me won't work, angel."

Luke's tummy filled with butterflies at the nickname. "Fine. But when I figure it out—and I will figure it out—I'll get pay back."

"For what?"

"Whatever I feel like..." Luke hummed. "You know I call the shots now."

"Oh, do you?" Ashton purred, finally rousing himself up enough to hug Luke's waist close to him. His skin was burning hot from the sun, it sent chills up Luke's spine. "Does that make me the brawn?"

"I don't know, do I seem like a brainiac to you?"

"We're fucked."

Luke giggled and melted into Ashton's embrace. He pressed soft kisses all along Ashton's lower lip, half in a daze of intimacy and heat. He smoothed just hands over Ashton's bare chest and tummy, and he could feel the firm yet still somehow soft muscle definition just under his skin.

And Luke loved touching Ashton's skin. He couldn't get enough. He counted every freckle on his bare shoulders already that day. He'd inspected the soft thrum of Ashton's pulse point on his neck. He'd had pressed gentle fingers on the slight rise and fall of Ashton's belly as he breathed.

To be human is so intricate.

Luke kissed at his jaw. "What are you thinking about?" He asked softly.

"You and how funny you look asking me questions." Ashton cooed.

"I don't look funny," Luke pouted, and Ashton shook his head on a laugh.

"Sure."

"I swear! You're so mean to me," Luke huffed hugging him closer. "Tell me something about yourself."

Ashton sighed. "Fine. I'm a criminal," Ashton cooed.

"Ashtonnnn..." Luke whined.

"Luuuuke..." Ashton mocked with a chuckle and then giggled. "Fine, damn. My name—as you might have guessed—is Ashton Irwin. I'm twenty-years-old. I've been selling since I was seventeen. And I've got maybe four people on this planet who even give a shit about me. And one of them is you."

Luke looked at him with soft eyes. "Only four?"

"Mhmm." Ashton cooed. "See I'm not the roots kind of guy, so I keep my circle small."

"Oh..."

"But like I said, you're one of them."

"What do you mean by small?"

"I mean minimal impact in case something happens."

Luke didn't know what to say to that.

"What I do is dangerous baby. I'm not a good guy. I'm a criminal. And I have been for a long time. In one moment, this could come crashing down on me. It almost did with you with me."