Damaged ♡ Lashton ✔

Chapter 10

"Uncle Ashy!" a voice squealed the second the door was pulled open. Cass stepped into full view and tackled Ashton in a hug. He stumbled slightly but quickly recovered, wrapping his arms around the short girl and laughing at her excitement.

"Hi there, pretty girl. You remember my friend, Luke?" She pulls away and gasps when she sees me. My lips lift into a half smile and I give her a shy wave, but apparently that's not good enough because she quickly detaches herself from Ash and wraps her arms tightly around my waist.

"Hi, Lukey!" I laugh awkwardly and pat her back gently, glancing over at Ashton who's watching us with an amused smile.

"H-hi, Cass. It's nice to see you again."

"Cassandra Faith! What have I told you about opening the door?" a loud voice booms from inside. She quickly pulls away and blushes, hanging her head down.

"It's just Uncle Ashy and Lukey, Daddy," she says in a small voice, glancing up at him with wide eyes, and all I can think is damn, this girl has the puppy dog look down to a science. Corey lets out a sigh and his face softens as he reaches out for her. She quickly walks into his arms and he kisses the top of her head, holding her close.

"I know, angel, but what if it hadn't been? You know better than that, baby." His voice has softened considerably, and I have to fight the urge to giggle over how tightly this girl has him wrapped around her little finger. "Why don't you go into the back yard and we'll meet you there in a few?" She nods quickly and happily skips back into the house, disappearing around a corner.

As he watches her go with a fond smile on his face, Ash makes the sound of a whip cracking, followed by a giggle. I snort and try to cover it with a laugh as Corey turns around to glare at us.

"Fucking hypocrite. Why am I friends with you again?" he asks before breaking out in a grin and pulling Ashton in for a side hug. "Nice to see you again, Luke. How are you?"

"Good, thank you. It's nice to see you, too. You have a lovely home – thank you for inviting us." He smiles and gestures for us to come in.

"I'm glad you guys could make it, you're welcome any time." He leads us through the small home and through a sliding glass door which reveals a large back yard, complete with a pool, a full play set, and a beautiful stone patio with a large BBQ.

"Lukey, come play with me!"

I glance up just in time to see Cass reaching for my hand. I'm about to protest, but she manages to grab onto my hand and pull me over to a small table set up in the corner of the patio. She pulls out one of the chairs and pushes me down into it gently, then proceeds to pull my hat off to replace it with a tiara and wraps a hot pink feather boa around my neck.

"You look so pretty!" she squeals, jumping up and down while clapping her hands. I feel my cheeks heat up and glance over at Ash and Corey who are standing over by the grill with huge smiles on their faces. "Princess Lukey, would you like some tea?" she asks politely, holding up a small plastic tea pot. I clear my throat before nodding.

"That would be lovely, thank you."

She pours the tea (which I'm pretty sure is just water) into a tiny plastic tea cup placed in front of me, and then proceeds to do the same to the other three cups placed around the table. At first I think that the guys are going to come join us, but then she places a stuffed teddy bear and a stuffed dog in two of the chairs before sitting down across from me.

I completely lost track of time during our little tea party, too caught up in Cass' infectious giggles and overall adorableness. She was in the middle of telling me about the time she hid in a pile of stuffies and scared the crap out of Corey, and I was laughing so hard that I had tears streaming down my face at her dramatic retelling.