Castle in the City

44

I chuckled at the joke Ashton made before throwing a fry in my mouth. I then sipped my milkshake before laughing at the joke again.

"Your laugh is hilarious," Ashton chuckled.

I chuckled, "It's disgusting, rather."

"Nah, it makes you a little cuter, even though your laugh sounds like glass breaking," Ashton teased, and I burst into laughter again.

"Shut up," I smiled, and he chuckled in response. If it were Damien, I'd hear a Come make me in response. Damien was just bold like that. He was confident, knew what he wanted, and knew the right ways to get it. Ashton was more laidback and shy. He was patient and humble, even though he was one of the best looking players in the football team. "What do you like about me, Ashton?"

I didn't want to put him on the spot, but I wanted a little bit of clarity for who to choose. What Ashton and I had was something that recently began, so I knew it would be unfair to simply choose Damien who I had been with for two months before he left. I also knew Damien longer, and I didn't want my old feelings mixed with my new feelings for Damien to overpower my developing feelings for Ashton. In other words, I wanted to give Ashton a chance.

"You're ambitious, intelligent, assiduous, funny, compassionate, humble, patient, beautiful...the list honestly goes on," Ashton replied as he played with the straw in his cup. "Your smile always makes me wanna smile. It's quite refreshing. And your eyes....I could get lost in them forever." His eyes flickered to mine, and I blushed while looking away. "I know your family has money, and I like that you're not snobby either."

I lightly frowned, "What else do you know about my family."

"Well, they're very powerful people. They own so many big corporations back home and all over the world. Your dad is also well known for his art," he answered. "My dad's an investor in your dad's most recent tech company, so he tends to blab on and on about the visions your dad has for that company and how much of a great businessman he is."

I knew from what Ashton just told me that he came from a very wealthy family because my dad only allowed big time millionaires to invest in his company.

"Did you know about my family before you met me or is this what you learned along the way?" I asked.

"Before," he answered. "I would've mentioned it earlier, but I didn't know if you'd bug out or something. That's not the first impression I'd want from you."

I smiled, "I understand. Zach told me you live near my home."

"I wouldn't know where you live, but I'm guessing Zach's been to your home before, so he'd know," he shrugged. "I live in the city though."

"Nice," I smiled. "I live in the suburbs, but the very secreted part, obviously. There's barely any houses there- mostly wide land. What's the city life like?"

Ashton answered, "The area I live in is quite quiet. It's just a bunch of penthouses and condos. I only go to the busy areas for-"

"Shopping," we said in unison before chuckling and nodding in agreement.

"Sometimes I go just to have fun places to hang out with friends too," I said.

"Yeah, exactly," he agreed. "The city-city is really busy, so I don't really mingle there unless I have a purpose going there."

I related, "Yeah, me too."

The following morning

"So now you have to choose either Damien or Ashton," Natalie concluded while palming her face.

I sighed, "Yeah. I should've listened to my gut from the jump, but Ashton is actually a really nice guy. I just don't know what to do anymore."

"Does Damien know?" Zach asked, and I nodded.

"He figured it out," I answered. "I told him I'd call him back, but I haven't yet. I just don't know what to say to him."

Justin asked, "Was he upset?"

"He didn't sound that way," I shrugged.

Aria mentioned, "He did say that it would be okay for you to move on tho."

"Yeah, but still," Justin said in his defense.

"Still what?" Natalie asked.

To raise a point, Justin asked, "If you and Nico had to break up for a while and you told him to move on if you're not back soon and all while you're away, you have no one to talk to or think about and you come back to find out Nico is with someone else- how'd you feel?"

"Like I told him to move on," Natalie shrugged.

Zach disagreed, "Yeah, right. Even if you felt that way, you'd still feel a bit of regret."

Aria agreed, "Facts, I'd be a bit bitter, but I wouldn't admit it because I'm the one who said to move on."

"Exactly," Justin agreed. "I honestly thought we wouldn't hear from Damien for another six months or so. If I had known that within a month of you talking to Ashton, Damien would pop up, I honestly wouldn't have told you to try things with Ashton."

"So you prefer me being with Damien," I nodded.

Zach slightly frowned, "It's not about what any of us prefer. It's about what your heart or gut is telling you."

"Eventually, you'll have to choose either or," Justin shrugged.

But who?