Dreams & Other Lost Things {Sequel to B&TBR}

Chapter 22: Our Epic Love Story.

We ended up buying a few records because neither of us could resist in all honesty. We were addicted to them, just like we were addicted to one another.

After our moment in the record store, I felt as if I was on cloud nine. There was no better feeling than knowing I was loved. Not only that I was loved, but that I loved someone else. In the long run, it only matters that I opened my heart in the first place for a kind soul like Asher's. Being closed off from people like him was my biggest flaw.

I loved to talk to people and make them laugh or just smile, but when someone wanted to do that for me, it was a warning sign. To me, it meant that I would be vulnerable to being hurt, to getting attached and then left behind by death or just failing love. It was a constant battle for me.

But Asher brought me into a different version of myself. One that I absolutely loved. I could let myself fall in love with him and not feel an ounce of fear that it wouldn't work out. Because for once in my life, someone loved me as much as – or maybe even more – I loved them.

We arrived back at his hotel room which was a complete mess. Clothes were strewn all over the place, and he hadn't even been there much longer than I had. After retrieving my bags from Grayson's room, I took a long, hot, and much needed shower. As I cleaned myself and began to relax, I felt the butterflies swarming in my belly.

Falling in love was the craziest thing. At first it was like taking a test because you stressed over learning all about them. Then it was like floating down a river; you'd hit rough spots but then you would come to the areas in the river that you could just sit and relax on. I think that was the fun of it, you didn't know what to expect or when to expect it, but it made you excited.

As I stepped out of the shower with my head in the clouds, I realized what I had forgotten. In a hurry to get all my things together, I forget to grab pajamas. I looked through the duffle bag to see if I could find a pair of soft shorts or even sweatpants, but that was a lost case.

I suddenly remembered the night Asher and I spent together in New York before we parted ways, after the band's first big concert and the day before they signed with Gold Records. He had given me his shirt to sleep in after my shower and when I couldn't sleep in the bed next to his, I crawled into bed with him.

Wrapping the towel tightly around my body, I let my hair fall down my back as I peeked out of the door to see Asher sitting on the floor beside the big bed that in the middle of the room.

"Asher?" I asked. He jerked his head over to look at me and his eyes ran over my body more than once.

"Yeah?" He finally answered after a few seconds.

"Can I have a shirt to sleep in, please? I was kind of in a hurry to leave so I forgot my pajamas," I explained. The water in my hair continued to drip down my shoulders and arms and landed on the floor.

He grabbed one of his shirts and walked over to me, smirking. "You know, for a second there I thought you were going to ask me to join you."

"For a second there I thought you weren't going to make suggestive comment," I replied with a grin. He handed me the shirt, but caught my hand in his and pulled me against him.

"Am I imagining things? I have this freakin' beautiful girl all to myself?" He half-yelled and half-snickered excitedly.

"You aren't crazy, but you're wet now because my hair is soaked." He let go of me just enough to see that his shirt was wet where my hair had been pressed between us. He shrugged and pulled me into a hug once more.

"How'd I get so lucky?" He said in a whisper as he rested his head on top of my wet one.

"I know right, you hit the jackpot," I joked before dashing out of his arms and into the bathroom to change.