Swimming Lessons | AI

26- Advice Followed

When I arrived back to the hotel suite I could tell no one was here. "Hello?" I called out but there was no response. I wondered back to Ashton's room to find it neater than when I left. The bed had been made and things off the floor. I dragged the suitcase I was lugging around and lifted it onto the chair in the corner of the room. I unzipped it and pulled out a pair of clothes and sat them on the bed before heading to the bathroom.

I looked in the mirror at my appearance and frowned. The makeup from last night was faded and smeared. It was obvious it was from the night before. In the reflection of the mirror, I could see the large jetted bathtub behind me. I opened the cabinets beneath the sink and found a container of bubble soap. "I might as well take advantage of having the place to myself," I said out loud to.

I started the bathwater and dumped the bubble causing liquid into the water from the gushing from the facet. Bubbles started forming as it filled and I quickly turned it off before they could take over the bathroom. I slipped off my clothes and tossed them to the side and then stepped into the bathtub and eased myself into the hot water. I took a few moments to adjust before I slipped completely under while holding my breathe. I popped back up and gasped to see I was no longer alone.

"Ashton," I said dipping lower into the water even though I was already covered. "I thought I was alone, sorry."

"I just got back," He said, his voice cracking. "I should probably go in the other room, I can talk to you whenever you're done."

He turned around to leave but I called out, "Wait! Can you get my shampoo and conditioner out of my suitcase?"

With a nod, he continued on his way out but returned moments later with my requesting items. He walked over the edge of the bathtub to hand me the bottles. His brows furrowed as I took the bottle from him. "What happen to your lip?"

"Oh," I whispered forgetting about my busted lip. The pain had subsided for the most part just leaving the visible swollenness. "Hailey and I got into it and threw a couple of punches. I got her pretty good too."

"You shouldn't have went back there." He said with concern. "We could have replaced all that stuff."

"I'm not going to bow my head and let her get the satisfaction of winning. Plus, I found out the truth with Blake." I went into the explanation of what was said at the dorm and by the time I was done Ashton had taken post on the counter only feet away from me. "After I left the dorm, I went to my parents. I told them what we did."

"Speaking of what we did, I agree with you. Maybe the annulment would be for the best us." He didn't make eye contact as he spoke and I could tell he was lying.

"My mom gave me some really good advice so I was thinking that we could make it work, but if you changed your mine, I understand." I said but his face lit up.

"Really? What did she say to you?

"That I need to live a little and live in the present. I guess I focus too much on the future and the future isn't something you can always control."

"So what now?" His beamed as he stood to his feet. "Actually we should call my mom." He goes to take his phone out of this pocket but stopped before he dialed the number. "Better yet, we should pay her a visit and surprise her."

"Y-you mean go to Australia?" I stuttered.

"Of course! That is unless she sees the rumors, then I'm sure she'll ask me."

"My classes?"

"Shit. I forgot about them. We'll figure something out so we can go."

"What about this summer?" I suggested. "It'll give us some time to get use to the reality of all of this? Of course tell her the news, but lets wait on the trip because I can't see why we can't plan some things out and maybe have something like a ceremony down there. We could invite my parents, make it something formal?"

"That's a wonderful idea!" Ashton's lips curved into a smile. "I could kiss you right now."

I could feel the heat rise to my cheeks as they turned pink red. "What's stopping you?" Those were dangerous words to play with, but I decided to play with them anyways. Although I can't remember, but from the series of events we uncovered, Ashton and I already kissed. From the embarrassing video, it looked as though a lot more happened so why not play a little dangerously.

His cheeks also went a slight shade of pink, but his smile never faded. "I was waiting for the perfect moment."

"No moment, like the current moment," I winked as I took my mothers advice on how I should live in the moment. "You should hand me that towel." I gestured to stack of towels underneath where he was sitting. Ashton slide off the counter and pulled a towel out and walked over to me as I stood up from the tube, the soapy water dripping off my skin.

Ashton's eyes drifted down in surprise before holding the towel up so I could wrap myself in it. His eyes quickly met mine again as he held out his hand to help be over the edge of the tub so I wouldn't slip and fall.

Our eyes held each other's gaze for a moment before Ashton's lips met mine. The palm of his hand rest gently against my flushed cheek as out lips moved in sync. I held on tightly to my towel with one hand as I used the other to fumble with the buttons on the shirt he was wearing.

He quickly pulled away and I could see the smile was gone. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"I want this so much, but I don't want you to feel like you have to do this." He waved around his arms signaling all that we were doing. "I can wait."

"If I didn't want this," I said as I took his hand and pulled him towards the bathroom door, leading into the bed room. "I wouldn't have initiated it. I'm a few things, but a tease is not one of them." I ran my hand back behind his head, his soft messy hair intertwined in my fingers. "I've turned over a new leaf on how I want to live my life. Let me share it with you." Stepping on my tip toes, still holding tightly on my towel wrapped around my body, I pressed my lips back to his forcefully.

Ashton back me up until the back of my legs hit the bed frame. I fell back, bringing him along with me, his body resting on top of mine. He held his weight above me. A giggle escaped us as I quickly went back to unbuttoning his shirt, this time with both hands. I was successful and pushed the fabric off his shoulders with his help. I closed my eyes taking in the feeling of his lips gliding along my jaw, down my neck and to my collarbone, softly nipping at my skin. My thighs pressed tightly against his hips as I felt the weight of his body pressed harder to mine.

I reached down for the button of his pants, popping it undone when there was a knock at the door. Ashton and I both frozen. "Just ignore it," He whispered into my ear, his lips grazing along the edge. He brought himself to his knees, grabbing the waist of his jeans when there was another knock and then a click of the door knob, signaling the opening of the door. I quickly flipped myself off the bed onto the floor hiding myself from the view of the door as it opened.

Ashton cursed loudly at his friends. "The door was shut for a reason."

"So does this mean you guys are sticking with the whole marriage thing, or is this just a friendly fuck?" Michael asked as I popped my head up from the other side of the bed.

"We're sticking with it," Ashton said annoyed. "Can we have some privacy now?"

Michael smirked as he backed out of the door way. "Gladly."

The door clicked shut behind him and I watched as Ashton walked over and locked it. He turned back to me and chuckled as I still remained on the floor. "Let is finish what we started."

He moved around to where I sat on the floor and held out his hand to help me up. Once I was to my feet, I loosened the hold I had on my towel and let it fall to the ground.

A/N: Ok so things are little back to normal. I've been working on this chapter all week so I'm so happy I got it to where I could finally post it. If you follow me, you might have noticed I posted a cast list and blurb to "Singles Cruise". If you haven't already, you should go check it out and add it to your library. First chapter will be out shortly after the new year.

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