Love Is...

18. Nothing

CHAPTER - 18

LOVE IS... NOTHING

'Love is nothing but an overrated emotion that brings nothing but pain to those unfortunate enough to suffer from it.' - Carole Mortimer

Ashton went towards one of the tables on the other side of the hall as nonchalantly as he could as if nothing at all had happened just now. While all I could do was stare at him with too many questions swirling in my head.

I could still feel him on my lips and to see if the kiss was actually real, I touched my lips with the tips of my fingers. It was as real as real could ever get. The trail that he had left with his warm hands on my body, suddenly felt cold. The lingering taste of alcohol and mint was still there on my lips and I bit my lips to feel it again, probably for the first and the last time.

"Pretty intense, huh!" A voice made my confused, flying thoughts land on earth and my head snapped towards Michael, who was giving me a teasing look. Apparently, we had just given a show to the guests in this wedding reception.

"Umm... well.." I thought of something to say but I couldn't as I was still in quite a shock.

"I really believed you when you said that he wasn't your date." He laughed and I shot him a confused look. I was already in a messy state and I really didn't want any kind of commentaries about what just happened.

"I've to go. I'll catch up with you later, Mike. Okay?" I managed to smile and he smiled back. He hugged me lightly and pecked my cheek before saying goodbye.

As soon as he went away, I marched towards Ashton who was now busy with his phone. But I was stopped once by my group of second cousins and twice by my far off relatives. Unsurprisingly, all of them had witnessed the kiss and were asking about my 'hot date'. This annoyed me further and I replied with 'I'll be back' to all of them.

Something that added more anger to my already pissed off and confused mood was the fact that Ashton didn't look bothered at all. He looked like his usual self - calm and without a damn care about anything or anyone, irritatingly so. Didn't the kiss have any effect on him? Looking at him, I concluded that yes, it didn't affect him at all. On the other hand, I was still in a daze. I was still under a trance, and there was no doubt that I wanted a repeat of the kiss. Instantly, I blamed my desire of second kiss on my hormones and Ashton, who proved that he was a pro at the art of kissing as well.

Soon I realized that probably same was the reason of his carelessness. Probably it had to do something with my kissing skills. I was out of practice. I sighed at the awful realization.

Before I could go in depression about my lack of kissing skills, I reminded myself of the more important question in the situation.

Why did he kiss me?

In order to get an answer, I marched towards him. With furious mood, I reached Ashton who still hadn't noticed me arriving. I banged the table with my hand in order to have his attention. I succeeded as he looked up abruptly and I hissed, "You kissed me, you a*shole."

He smirked his handsomely annoying smirk and replied, "You cursed me, Miss. Uptight." His reply left me speechless for a second and I opened and closed my mouth, thinking of a reply. This guy was insane, for sure. "Sit down," he suggested or more like ordered. I sat down beside him. "Drink some water." He passed a glass of water to me and I drank it in one go, only to spit it out as soon as it touched my taste buds.

"What the hell was that?" I grimaced, rubbing my mouth with the back of my hand.

"Cocktail." He grinned while I shot a disgusted look in his direction. He rolled his eyes at me and mumbled a comment, "Way too uptight."