Alaska

Chapter Seventeen

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

"I-I thought you left," Lexi muttered, her face flushing red.  "What's up?"

Ashton's face was gaunt and his jaw jutted out tensely, his glassy blue eyes shifting uneasily from the retreating Ryan to the guilty looking Lexi

"I decided not to leave," he replied placidly in a small voice that sounded nothing like his usual self.

"Oh," Lexi nodded.  "Well, Ryan left."

He raised a thin black eyebrow and pushed his long straight fringe out of his piercing blue eyes. 

"Looks like he had quite the parting gift.  Are you two back on?" He questioned, monotonously.

Lexi's eyes rounded and she frantically shook her head.  "No, no, no!  Of course not.  He's a jerk and he always has been."

"Doesn't seem like you thought of him as much of a jerk," Ashton smirked, cutely.  "That was some kiss!"

Lexi gulped, her eyes lowering sheepishly.  "It was nothing," she said in a barely audible voice.  "It was a mistake.  He didn't even come to see me for the baby.  He happened to be in town and thought he'd cuddle up to me to see if I had a problem with him going for my best friend back at home."

"Oh, but he gave you a rose!  And he's so sweet!" Ashton protested, in a high and clear sarcastic voice.

Lexi frowned, feeling embarassed and irritated at Ashton's mocking.  She decided to snap back with a snarky comment.

"Why are you even acting like this?" She asked, coldly.  "Why is it any of your business?"

The teasing grin disappeared from his face and he gritted his teeth, his eyes shifting to the rusty metal railings beside them.

"Just bored," he mumbled.

Lexi raised her eyebrows, a cheesy smirk on her face.  It was clear that he was jealous of Ryan and the moment the two of them had just shared.  No matter what, it was getting harder and harder for Ashton to hide his attraction towards Lexi...  And she loved it.

"I think," Lexi started, stepping forward and trying to get him to look at her again.  "It's because you don't think he's good enough for me."

He snorted and glanced at her, an innocent look in his mesmerizing eyes.  "Clearly!"

"Why's that?" She asked obliviously, with a hint of a flirty smile on her face.

He noticed this and couldn't help but break into a gleaming toothed smile and Lexi could have sworn his cheeks flushed red under the pale sunlight that was coming in through the sheltering trees.

"Because," he said, in an it's-so-obvious tone of voice.  "You deserve better!"

"And what's better?" Lexi pressed in, her heart pace staring to pick up as she looked up innocently into his eyes.  He looked down at her with a hungry expression on his face, as he glazed Lexi's hard-candied lips.

He exhaled and gritted his teeth, restlessly smoothing his already straight black hair. 

"I don't know.  Someone that'll treat you right," he mumbled, softly.  They were both looking at each other's lips.  It was clear on what they both wanted.

"Why am I so attracted to you, Ashton?" Lexi blurted out in a whisper and she widened her eyes, realizing what she had just said.

A grin spread across his face but he didn't dart his eyes away from her lips.

"I could ask myself the same thing, Alexia," he replied, and Lexi's heart soared.

"We don't have anything in common!" Lexi reminded him, feeling her stomach tying up into nervous knots.