Layla
I stared up at the striking pair of blue eyes with my jaw hanging wide open. My eyes traveled down the face to see an amazing jaw that was covered with a slight stubble. His face looked like it had been carved by an angel. I couldn’t look away. He was the most gorgeous guy I’d ever seen. He had dark brown hair that was almost black, and was styled in a sort of messy but sexy way. As I stood there like a complete idiot staring at him, I saw him smirk, making me realize that I was staring way too long.
“Uh, sorry,” I said, trying to back up a little, but the strong arms around me wouldn’t let me go far. Kacey stared at us.
“You’re good.” A deep voice rumbled from above me. My gaze once again snapped to his. “Dance with me,” he said, more a demand than a question.
“I—” I started to say, but the man grabbed my drink from my hand and set it on the bar behind me. He then unwrapped his arms from around my waist to grab my hand. I looked over to my left to have Kacey help me, but all I saw before I was pulled away was her smiling at me and giving me a thumb’s up. I was pulled onto the dance floor and into his strong chest. Of course, at that moment a slow song came through the speakers. Great, I thought sarcastically. I stood there awkwardly for a few seconds as we swayed back and forth before I found my voice.
“I…uh…what’s your name?” I asked, looking up at him. Even when I was in five-inch heels, he was still way taller than me. He looked strangely familiar as well.
“Ashton. And yours?” he asked, tightening his hold on me, bringing me somehow closer to him.
“Layla.”
“A pretty name for a pretty girl,” Ashton said, trying to use a pick up-line on me. I couldn’t help myself as I burst out laughing.
“Does that line ever work?” I asked, laughing still. The look on his face was of shock and amusement, like he didn’t expect me to catch him on it.
“On most women, yes,” he said, his expression turning to amusement.
“I’m not like most women,” I replied. I heard him mutter something but couldn’t quite hear it.
A part of me was yelling at myself, asking me why I was flirting with someone I literally just ran into. As I stood there staring up at him, I realized how wide and hard his shoulders were underneath my fingers. Swaying back and forth to the beat of the music, I looked him over. He was intimidating; he seemed to exude an aura of wealth and power. I could see why everyone moved out of his way when he walked by, or stared at him in awe. I couldn’t help but feel intimidated. You definitely didn’t want to cross him in a dark alley.
“You look beautiful in that dress,” he said, looking me up and down. A blush crept onto my face, and I looked at his chest, which was in front of me.
“What are you doing here?” I asked once I got my voice back. I felt him shrug under my hands.
“Looking for you,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows sexily at the cheesy line. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes.
“You need to work on your pickup lines. They are terrible,” I said truthfully. I bet he got plenty of women; I just hoped he would say something better next time.
“You think so? I think they are great.”
“Yeah, keep up with them and I bet you will have women falling in no time,” I said, grinning at him.
“Who says I don’t?”
“Cocky,” I said, not paying attention. Then I realized that the song had changed and that people were staring at us.
“Hmm,” Ashton said, smirking slightly. The corner of his mouth tilted up slightly. Yep, that was me noticing things about a complete stranger. For some reason, I could tell he smirked more than he smiled, but I bet when he smiled it made him look hotter.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, breaking me out of my trance.
“Oh, you know, looking for hot guys to get my claws on,” I said, keeping my face straight. He raised an eyebrow at me.
“Hot guys?”
“Yep,” I said then looked around the dance floor. “See that guy over there with the big glasses and going bald? That is sexy,” I said, gesturing with my head over to the guy across the dance floor. I looked up to see Ashton’s expression and almost burst out laughing. He had his eyes narrowed at the poor guy and I saw his jaw was clenched. I would have not said anything, but I felt bad for the poor guy.
“Stop. The poor guy is going to shit is pants,” I said, slapping the back of Ashton’s head. He turned his gaze to me and I almost flinched back from his glare. “I was kidding.”
“Did you just hit me?” he asked, his eyes wide now. It was almost like he’d never gotten hit by a woman before.
“Yes, you deserved it,” I said simply. Silence made its way around us as we swayed side to side, even though the song was fast and upbeat. The song once again changed, but this time I realized I should be going. I kept trying to pull away but I couldn’t seem to. His hard body felt good against mine. I even enjoyed his breath on top of hair and neck. Finally, with a lot of coaxing from my brain, I pulled away from Ashton’s warm body.
“Well, thank you for the dance, or dances,” I said, moving out of his arms.
“You’re leaving?” he asked, reaching for my waist again but I took another step back.
“Yeah. I have to get going.”
“It’s only eight.” Wow, we’ve been here for three hours already? I thought.
“I have plans,” I said, even though all I planned to do was order pizza, change into my PJs, and watch TV. He stared down hard at me. For a second I was tempted to stay…okay, maybe I was more than tempted to stay but I knew I shouldn’t. “It was great meeting you. Get some better pickup lines.” I smiled and turned to walk away. “Bye.” I knew that if I stayed any longer, I would do something I’d regret.
I made my way over to Kacey and saw she was with a tall, good-looking guy. Smiling apologetically, I butted in.
“Sorry for interrupting, but can I borrow you for a second?” I said to Kacey. She nodded and I pulled to a few feet away. “I’m going to go home.”
“What? Why? I thought you were dancing with that sexy guy you almost spilt your drink on?” she asked, slightly angry.
“It was good, but I’m getting a headache. You stay, though,” I said.
“No, I’ll come home with you.”
“No. Stay. You seemed to be having a good conversation with that guy. I’ll get a cab and I’ll meet you at home.” I knew she didn’t want to leave and I was fine with that.
“But—” she started to say.
“No buts. I’ll be fine. Stay and have fun. Just don’t drink too much and be home at a reasonable time.”
“Okay, Mom,” she said sarcastically. “Thank you! I’ll be home soon, I promise,” she added.
“Bye.” I hugged her and made my way to the door.
Stepping out of the bar, I took a deep breath. With the sun down, it was slightly chilly but not cold. Thankfully, one of the bouncers outside hailed me a cab. I was instantly glad Kacey and I came earlier, because a long line went all away around the block. Smiling in thanks to the bouncer, I got inside the cab and give him my address. As the car started forward, I stared out the window. Ashton’s face popped inside my head and I couldn’t help but smile. Something about him seemed very familiar, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. For someone I just met, he plagued my thoughts the minute I walked away from him. The car stopped, so I paid the driver and got out. Not paying attention, I didn’t realize I was not in front of my apartment building until the taxi was gone.
I was standing in front of a black, empty street. I glanced around starting to get scared. I didn’t know what was down the dark street, and I didn’t really want to find out. Knowing I couldn’t just stand there, I walked back toward the direction I came, hopefully toward the club. The only sound that could be heard was the click of my heels. I tried to take my thoughts away from the bad things that could happen to me. I was so busy talking to myself that I didn’t hear voices and footsteps until it was too late. I whipped around and came face-to-face with five very large, mean-looking guys. I unconsciously took a step back but they did the same, following me.
“Look what we have here. Are you lost?” one of the guys said, coming forward. I couldn’t answer. My voice was caught in my throat. I could tell my eyes were wide and scared. I should have just stayed at the club or even paid more attention when the taxi driver stopped. I’d always heard the stories about walking alone at night in New York City, but I never really paid any mind to them until now.
The group of guys got closer and I started freaking out. I’m too young to die! I screamed inside. I would have laughed at how dramatic that sounded, but with the situation at hand, I couldn’t really laugh. Normally someone would be praying, thinking about their family members and what dying would do to them, or even saying their last goodbyes, but not me. I stood there thinking about how my parents wouldn’t even care if I died right now in a ditch. They’d probably throw a party, actually. The thought of my parents made me sad, but for some reason, I couldn’t see why. They never loved me. Hell, they never liked me honestly. But it’s weird that is what my mind immediately went to. Not even the thought of screaming entered my mind. The sound of the men’s voices right in front of me tugged me out of my thoughts.
I looked at the guy in the lead, not sure what he was saying. My body was numb from fear and the realization that something was going to happen to me. I heard the slap before I felt it. My head snapped to the side, and I staggered back a step. My hand flew up to my cheek. Before the guy could take another hit or move closer, the sound of screeching tires echoed around us. All heads snapped up as bright lights blinded us. I squinted and stood still, not knowing if the person inside the car were here to help or not.
All five men stood watching the car, glaring. Time seemed to stand still as the car door opened and a tall silhouette stepped out. My breath hitched in my throat as I heard a familiar voice say something…Ashton? With the car only a few feet in front of me, I did the first thing that I could think of: I ran toward Ashton’s car. I flew past a surprised-looking Ashton standing in front of the open door and jumped inside. He must have realized what I was doing, because he quickly slid in after me, telling the driver to drive. The car was peeling away before Ashton even shut the door. I glanced through the back window and saw the group of men starting for the car, but they stopped once they obviously realized it was no use. I let out a loud sigh and slumped against the comfortable leather of the seat.
About five minutes later, the car came to a stop in a parking garage. I didn’t know where we were, but I wasn’t too frightened. Ashton opened the door and stepped out, waiting for me to follow. I stumbled out of the car and to his side. The limo pulled away and his hand on my lower back guided me to the elevators straight across from us.
The ride up the elevator was silent and awkward. My cheek throbbed and my body felt exhausted. I was ready to crawl into bed and forget this whole thing ever happened. Thankfully, the elevator came to a stop a minute later, and I followed Ashton out and down a hallway. We stopped in front of a door, and he entered a code before throwing the door open. When he gestured for me to go in, I squeezed past him and entered what I could only guess was his apartment. When I walked in, I froze.
My mouth dropped open when I caught sight of the room. It was huge like a penthouse! Everywhere I looked I couldn’t help but gawk at everything. How can he afford this? I thought to myself as Ashton took me into a bathroom.
“Where are we?” I finally asked as I watched Ashton move around the bathroom looking for something. I stood awkwardly off to the side.
“My apartment. Hop up on the counter.” I wanted to ask why but instead, I did what he asked.
“Apartment? More like a penthouse,” I said, amazed at the size of the bathroom. It seemed to be a spare one, but it had a long granite counter with two sinks, a toilet, and dark wood cabinets. Everything about the bathroom screamed money to me. All Ashton did was shrug. He moved around the room quickly and then came and stood in front of me. Gently he pushed my knees apart and stood in-between them. I stared up at him trying to not show how I was affected by his touch.
“This may burn,” Ashton said, bringing a cotton ball to my cheek. “You have a slight cut on your bottom lip,” he added, probably in response to my confused look. I nodded and held still. I felt a stab of pain the instant he touched my cheek. I gripped the counter and bit my bottom lip so I wouldn’t make a sound, but pain laced across my bottom lip. I let go of my lip and hissed. The pain went away a minute later. Honestly, the pain was not the worse I’d ever felt; it was actually a speck compared to other times I’d been hurt. Ashton started wiping my cheek and bottom lip softly while looking to see where else I was hurt.
“Ashton, stop, I’m fine,” I said as he kept wiping my face. He reluctantly stopped and threw the cotton ball in the toilet.
“Does your cheek hurt?” Ashton asked, looking down at me.
“No, it’s fine,” I said, shaking my head and looking into his blue eyes.
“It’s bruised and swollen.”
“Nothing I can’t take,” I replied honestly. Punches, even a few kicks were nothing to a smack on the cheek. “Thank you, by the way.”
I looked up and saw his blue eyes staring down at me. Something about the way he looked at me made my heart flutter. I sat there on the counter staring up at Ashton, my stomach doing flips. I didn’t know how he found me in the alley, but I was thankful and I couldn’t think of how I would ever repay him. I watched as he slowly came closer to me. My eyes latched onto his lips and I couldn’t look away. My body instantly started to move toward him and in a split second, my mouth was against his.