MeetYouThere

Chapter Twenty-Five

The gentle graze of Ashton's fingertips over my cheek pull me from my nap and I stretch, slowly opening my eyes as he lightly giggles and sits on the edge of the bed, leaning on his arm he places behind my back.

"Did you have a good nap?" he smiles down at me, looking beautiful in the dim light as his eyes appear olive green and his dimples recede deep into his skin.

"I did," I smile before I scoot into his arm so I can feel his warmth. "You wore me out."

He chuckles before he bends down and kisses my cheek, "I know, you didn't even hear me leave to go to the store."

"No," I laugh, "I didn't. You got the ingredients?"

"Yep," he rubs his nose over mine, his curly hair tickling my forehead before he pulls away.

"Let's get to it then," I grin at him and smiles back, staring down at me and making my body feel warm, filling with the love I have for him and he clearly has for me.

I follow him downstairs and get a glass of water as he lays out the ingredients from his bags before grabbing what he had in his pantry. I get the utensils and dish items we will need, attempting to remember where they are stored at. He stares at me as I crouch down to look into a lower cabinet for a deep dish pan to cook the pasta pie in before he starts giggling.

"What are you doing?"

"Where is your casserole dish? Do you have one?"

"Um," he stares at the island with a frown as he thinks.

"Ashton," I laugh, wondering how he forgot that very important part before I look for alternatives.

He begins helping me and we collect all the baking pans in his kitchen consisting of a 6in round cake pan, a muffin tin, a cupcake tin and a shallow brownie pan.

"We can make individuals in the muffin and cupcake tins," he suggests, pulling them to us with a smile.

"How do you have a brownie pan but not a casserole dish," I laugh shaking my head perplexed.

"I didn't need a casserole dish to make weed brownies, I needed a brownie pan," he tells me matter of fact.

"Oh my gosh, Ashton," I shake my head as I take the brownie pan from him and return it to its cupboard.

"Is this going to work?" he asks me, looking down at the pans as I get out a pot to boil water for the noodles.

"I have no idea," I giggle, filling the pot with water.

"Should I google if its been done before?" he looks at me, his facial expression a huge question mark.

"I'm sure it has, so yeah."

"Okay," he grins before he turns to me, "Look at us! Making meals on the fly, what a team."

I laugh at his teasing and lean up to my toes to kiss him before he syncs his phone to the Bluetooth speaker, playing one if his most listened to playlists I still remember. Red Hot Chili Peppers fills the air as I sprinkle a small amount of salt into the water and then add a splash of olive oil. I turn around to find him leaning against the counter watching me with an adoring smile on his face.

"So we have to wait until the noodles are done to start the building right?"

"Yep," I nod.

"So we have some time?" he cocks his head and raises a brow.

"Ash," I roll my eyes and smile.

"What?" he giggles, licking his lip and grabbing my waist before he shrugs, "We need to do laundry." I start laughing and push him away, heading to the stairs as he follows me, "What were YOU thinking? Naughty thoughts huh?"