One of the Guys

Chapter 16: Partners

Ashton's POV:
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"Are you awake?" She pokes my cheek.

"No." I try hard not to smile and my jaw muscles are hurting from the effort.

"Yes, you are." She giggles and pokes my cheek.

I'm about to lose it. "No." I growl as best as I can without breaking into a grin.

"I thought we could have breakfast." She whines. The last time we made breakfast, things happened that shouldn't have.

"I'm asleep though." I snuggle my head into her shoulder and take a deep breath, relinquishing the moment.

"Fine I'll make it myself." She deep sighs.

I pull back and lay my head next to hers with a fake frown. "Your the worst."

She runs a finger down my nose and my eyes instinctively flutter. It doesn't help I'm sleepy. "Race you." She whispers and runs away laughing. I can't help but join her.

I slowly swing my legs over her bed. I rub sleep from my eyes and stretch. I quietly make my way upstairs. When I peek around the corner it takes everything I have not to laugh. Not because she looks stupid, she looks adorable. Her hairs a mess, but not a bad one. She has her football hoodie on, the one that was ordered the wrong size because the guy taking the order didn't believe a football player could wear that size. It goes down almost covering her shorts and she has long Nike socks on.

She turns the radio on and starts singing along:

"Lately, I've been, I've been losing sleep
Dreaming about the things that we could be.
But baby, I've been, I've been praying hard,
Said, no more counting dollars
We'll be counting stars
Yeah, we'll be counting stars."

I can't understand how I deserve someone like her. She's my rock and yes, I know that's unusual. The guy is always the rock. We're each other's rock, I'll lean on her and she'll lean on me. We have so many memories, so many special moments.

I'm not going to give up on her, I'm going to give her space. She needs to fall for me because she wants to, not with lies or deceit. I need to be there for her and be her best friend. Don't get me wrong, it's going to be hard, but it'll be worth it.

I quietly walk until I'm behind her and sing:

"I feel this love
And I feel it burn
Down this river every turn
Hope is our four lettered word
Make that money
Watch it burn.

Old, but I'm not that old
Young, but I'm not that bold
I don't think the world is sold
I'm just doing what we're told."

She turns off the music and slaps my chest. "You were listening."

"I wasn't doing anything." I rub my chest where she slapped it.

"Liar."

I hug her and grab one of the plates behind her. "You'll never know."

"Hey!" She tries to grab the plate, but I hold it out of her reach.

"Is there a problem?"

"That's mine." She jabs me in the stomach. "Why don't you have a shirt on?" She sighs, exasperated.

"Sorry mother." I roll my eyes. "Are we going to eat?"

She trails a finger down my chest and grabs the plate out of my hands. "Thanks! Make your own plate." She sits down at the bar and sticks her tongue out at me.

To be fair, I was distracted. Otherwise, she wouldn't have got that so easily. "When does your dad leave?" I pour us each a glass of orange juice.

"Monday." She sighs.