Want a Kiss I'll Give You a Punch

Chapter 34: Something New

Dane 

Before Ashlyn could run away, I flung another bathrobe over her head and fumbled to tie it around her waist, so that she couldn't shake it off again. Besides Jacquelyn, I never met anyone in my life so stubborn. It was like the girl couldn't understand that if she didn't dry off from the rain she would catch a cold, and to keep her dry I had to fight her. 

"I already got a robe on. What is with you and all these layers-"

Ashlyn's whines were muffled from the white, fluffy robe's sleeve wrapped around her face, but it didn't stop her from putting up a fight and doing everything she could to slap my hands away.

"Why the hell do you not have a jacket," I questioned out loud in my own frustration, doing what I could to keep her from taking off the robe while blindly patting the counter to find the hair dryer, "And, you got to have these layers. With the way the AC is blasting, you're going to catch a cold."  

A portion of her head managed to wiggle out from the second robe I encased her in, and two hazel eyes peered up at me to shoot a playful but somewhat genuine glare of irritation, "You don't think a shirt, a sweatshirt, a jacket, and a second robe is enough? You are going to burn me to death-" 

Now, I didn't mean it.

The button to the hairdryer was a lot more sensitive then I thought, so the second I whisked it off the counter it roared to life and blasted directly into Ashlyn's face, the wave of scorching hot air startling her into a jump. It was a good thing that the hair dryer was the cheap, downgraded hotel version or I actually may have done some damage.  

But there was no harm done and I couldn't help but stifle a laugh at the dumbfounded expression frozen into her face. 

The words first came slow, almost like her mouth was trying to thaw from the shock, but after she finished gawking she got back into full swing and chucked a plastic cup at my chest, "You really are trying to burn me!" 

"No," I laughed while I fended myself from another plastic cup that Ashlyn lobbed at me from the sink, "that was a complete accident."

"Is this why you chose such a dingy place to stay at for tonight? You are a Nor. Where are the missing three stars to this place? You trying to murder me?" Ashlyn laughed, and with each acquisition she poked my chest, each time harder than the last. With head cocked to the side, she grinned up at me. By the glint, Ashlyn was up to something. I knew she was, but before I could prevent it she snatched the hair dryer away and claimed her vengeance. 

Blaring the heat into my face, I was distracted and Ashlyn made a mad dash towards the window. 

Theatrical and dramatic by fashion, Ashlyn flung open the windows and hollered into the pouring and thundering rain, "I'm being smothered and overheated to death. Someone send help! Please-" 

Holy shit. Was she insane? Although the storm outside was raging away and was loud enough to mask any sort of cry, someone below us could hear and believe she was really in danger.

"Do you actually want me to get arrested?" My laughter grew when she giggled at how frantic I was to snatch her away from the window, "And, besides, your hair isn't even dry yet. You're going to get sick and kill yourself before I have the chance to." 

Ashlyn exploded into another fit of giggles, slapped my shoulder at the last remark, turned around in my arms to face towards the window, and persisted to squirm towards it, "Well, I guess I have to go my own way before you do it for me-" 

My hold on her nearly lessened when I gasped at the crudeness of her joke. Dark humor, of that sort, was hardly my taste. Still at a loss for words, I scoffed with a light laugh, tightened my hold, and shook my head, "No, I can't let you go. At least-" words struggled to come to mind after being caught so off-guard, "not with wet hair."