Ashton's Lie

chapter twenty one

I shrug and put my head against my teddy bear's. "We're having fun," I say.

Jonah looks at me for a moment. "This is Michael," he introduces.

Michael holds his hand out. "Nice to meet you, Taylor."

"Same here," I reply.

Ashton comes back holding two cotton candies. I stand up upon his appearance and take mine. Ashton looks between the two.

"Didn't know you guys were here," he says.

Jonah smirks widely. "Oh, come on, buddy. You know you love it."

They both do a bro hug while Michael and I stay back and watch. I take a lick of my cotton candy.

"You and Ashton are a cute couple," Michael says.

I bite my lip. "Thank you." I look at him to see him focusing on Jonah. "Are you two ..."

"Dating?" he asks. I nod. "Yeah, we are."

I let out a soft laugh. "I didn't know Jonah was gay."

"Yeah, he doesn't look or act the part."

"How long have you two been dating?" I ask.

"Six months." He has a small smile on his face.

I wonder if Ashton's ever looked at me the way Michael's looking at Jonah.

I shake my head. It couldn't be true.

Ashton and Jonah walk over to us. He wraps an arm around my waist and pulls our bodies closer together.

I don't stop him.

I can't even if I wanted to, he was stronger than me and I didn't want to make an unnecessary scene in public.

A cameraman comes out of no where and holds up his camera. Ashton and I smile brightly on instinct and pull our bodies close together. I put my hand on his chest and his head resting on top mine.

"Hey," I call out. "Can I have that picture?"

I can feel Ashton's eyes behind me but I don't acknowledge it. The cameraman smiles and nods. He pulls out a small photo and hands it to me.

"You two are perfect," he tells me. "Hope you stay and fight for each other." I knew he meant about our parents.

I nod, knowing he meant that our parents will most likely try to tear us apart. Jonah and Michael look at the photo in front of me. Ashton comes up behind me and wraps an arm around my shoulder.

"You guys are couple goals," Michael says. "Honestly."

Jonah flicks him on the head. "We're alright, too."

I laugh softly. Ashton excuses us and takes me to the Ferris wheel. He gets in after me and buckles the both of us.

I put my bear in front of me where my feet were. I was planning on putting it in between us, but I knew Ashton would think otherwise.

"So how's the date so far?" he asked.

"I like it," I say. We were halfway to the top now.

He nods and looks down at his fingers.

"Are you okay?" I ask, holding his hands with mine.

He shrugs. "My parents froze my bank account. All my credit cards, gone."

I gape at him in shock. "Are you serious?" I exclaim. "What did you do?"

He gives me a lazy grin. "Relax, sweetheart, I have cash stashed away. I planned this for a long time, remember?"

I shake my head, trying to process his words. "Your parents took away your money and you're telling me it's alright?"

"I knew they would do it sooner or later," he says. "It still hurts a little to know they actually did it even though I was expecting them to." I heard the slight disappointment in his words.

"I'm sorry, Ashton," I say, really meaning it. He knew his parents but it hurt when they did what he expected.

They hated me.

I won't let him choose me over them, even though they were horrible people. Fake people who are nice to my face but behind my back, they're snakes.

He lets out a dry laugh. "Don't worry about me, sweetheart. I'm staying at the hotel."

"What did they tell you?" I asked.

"Leave you and keep the money, go to College and take after my father's company."

"Or?" I push.

"Or, I be with you and live my own life the way I want."

"What's your decision?" I ask, half curious.

"I haven't decided just yet," he says. "I want to see how far they're taking it. If they're truly serious on this. If they truly hated your family that much to loose their son."

"Did they disown you or ..." I trail off.

He shakes his head. "My father knows why I'm doing this. He tells me to move on. I even brought my mom into the conversation."

He looks at me. "She'll be arriving in California shortly."

I wince. "Does that mean I have to meet her?"

"Relax, she's nice. Not like Robert and Amanda," he assured me.

I release a small breath. "I hope not."

He covers my hand with his. "You okay, sweetheart?"

I shake my head. "Everything's working out for me," I say. "Why not for you?"

"I made sacrifices for myself," he says. "I knew what I was getting into. Don't worry about me, worry about yourself."

I look down at our hands. "I've grown attached to you," I say softly.

He grins. "And I, you."

I bite my lip and caress his knuckles with my thumb. I feel Ashton leaning in so I do the same. His soft lips caressed mine as I gripped the collar of his shirt and bring him closer to me.

I grip Ashton's hair tightly as I move my tongue with his, us both moaning in pleasure. I slide my hand down his chest when I slowly back away from him.

It was silent for a while and before I know it, we arrive at the bottom, Ashton letting me get off first and holds my big bear for me.

"Does Jonah know about us?" I ask as we walk to his car. My head was still foggy from the heated kiss.

"Yeah," he says. "I told him the day of the interview. He went ballistic that I fooled him of all people."

I laugh softly as I get in and drives speedily. I gaze out the window, feeling the wind on my fingertips.

"So what's our plan on Valentine's Day?" I asked.

He shrugs and looks at me. "Sex?"

I smack him in the arm. I blushed in embarrassment since he's offering sex after we just kissed for the second time.

He laughs and it sounds great. I've never really heard him truly laugh before. Other times they were just chuckles or dry laughs.

"You should smile more," I decide to say.

His smile wipes off his face. "There's not much to smile about."

I take his hand off the steering wheel and hold it. "What about me?" I grin.

He looks at me. "Maybe just you."