Layla
I woke up with my face pressed against something hard and warm. Warm breath blew against the back of my neck, making me shiver slightly. I slowly cracked open my eyes and lifted my head slightly. Looking down, I saw a bare chest. I turned my head and saw Ashton dead asleep, with me on top of him. How did I end up like this? I asked myself.
As I stared at him, I couldn’t help but think about how cute he looked when he slept. Even though his hair was sticking up and his mouth was wide open, he still looked hot, if that were even possible. His heavy arm was draped against my waist, keeping me against him. I wanted to run my fingers through his hair, but I resisted the urge in case he woke up. I had the feeling that when he woke up and saw me staring at him and draped against him, he wouldn’t be that happy.
I tried smiling softly at him, but my cheek pulled painfully and I grimaced in pain. I prayed that he wouldn’t wake up as I slowly moved out from under his arm. The gods must have been listening or something because I was able to get out from under his heavy arm and out of the comfortable bed. I glanced at the time and saw it was eight. Crap, I have to be at work in two hours, I thought bitterly. It wasn’t like I hated my job…okay, I hated it a lot but it was the only place that paid me a fair amount of money so I could pay my bills. Staring down at Ashton one last time, I smiled sadly then turned to leave.
As silently as I could, I made my way down the stairs to the living room. Grabbing my dress and heels, I went in search for the bathroom I used before. Once I found it, I quickly changed but kept the heels off. Holding them and the clothes Ashton let me wear, I made my way toward the front door. I took once last look around the apartment. I opened the front door and quietly shut it behind me. I walked over to the elevator and got in. The entire way down, I couldn’t help but think about what has happened in the last twenty-four hours.
The elevator came to a stop and opened up. I took a deep breath and stepped out. Before the doors closed, I took one last look at Ashton’s door. It almost seemed like once the doors closed, everything that happened would go away, like dust in the wind. Once the elevator door closed, Ashton would fade into a memory, like I would for him. Reluctantly, the doors closed and I stood there staring like an idiot. It was weird how I felt like I was missing something when I got off the elevator. Just a moment with Ashton and I felt connected to him, as weird as that probably sounded.
Turning around, I made my way out the building. I passed by people, and everyone looked at me, some even stopping to stare. I couldn’t imagine what they were seeing. I bet my hair was everywhere from sleeping, my cheek black and purple, and plus I was wearing at party dress at eight in the morning. Ignoring the stares, I made it to the door and thankfully the doorman opened it for me.
“Miss, do you need me to call you a cab?” he asked me.
“That would be nice. Thank you.” I smiled thankfully. He nodded at me then followed behind me. He stood on the curb and waved down a taxi.
“Here you go, miss.” He opened the door for me.
“Thank you so much.” Smiling at the doorman in thanks, I slid inside the cab and told driver my address.
The whole way there I made sure that the driver was really taking me home, not like last night. As I sat there lost in my thoughts, I only vaguely realized that I left my phone at Ashton’s place. Once the taxi pulled to my apartment, I got out, glad that I made sure to put my money back in the top of my dress. Paying the man, I opened the front door and made my way up the stairs. When I opened the door to mine and Kacey’s, I was instantly bombarded with a yell and something hard hitting me, making me fall against the closed door.
“Where the hell have you been?” someone yelled in front of me. Peeking from under my bangs, I saw Kacey standing in front of me with her hands on her hips and a look that could kill.
“I—” I started but she interrupted me.
“You’ve had me worried sick. I thought you were murdered or kidnapped or something! What happened to ‘I’m just going home. I’ll see you at home.’”
“Sorry, I—”
“And here you are in last night’s clothes at eight in the morning, been god knows where, doing god knows what, while I was here worrying sick about you. And you didn’t even think to call me! Your best friend!”
“Kacey—” She kept yelling at me. Every time I tried to say something, she would keep talking. By now she was pacing back and forth, stopping every so often to point at me.
“Layla, I…what the hell happened to your face?” When she saw my face, she froze for a second before charging toward me and gripping my chin.
“Ow, Kacey, stop!” I finally yelled and ripped away from her. Somehow, I was able to squeeze by her and fell onto the couch. “First, I’m sorry I kept you up worrying over me. I didn’t mean for that to happen. After I left the club, things became…a tad crazy, and some things happened and I’m sorry. As for my face and why I’m late, I’ll explain after I go shower and take these clothes off, okay? After that, then I’ll tell you everything you want to know,” I said, taking a deep breath and getting up once again.
Not giving Kacey a chance to answer, I pushed past her and into my bedroom. Thankfully, she followed me and helped me out of the dress without saying a word. She seemed to get I needed a few minutes to get cleaned up. Smiling at her, I went into the bathroom to shower. I was lucky to have Kacey as my best friend. She knew when to say something and when not to. Plus, she knew when I needed a shoulder to cry on or someone to give me advice. I made sure that when I get out of the shower I’ll hug her and tell her everything that has happened.
***
Ashton
Stop kissing her, goddammit! Stop! Stop!
I pulled my lips away from her soft ones and unwrapped her legs around my waist. I didn’t want to stop kissing her, but the rational voice inside my head was screaming at me to stop, and that it wasn’t right. For some reason, I didn’t want to hurt her and lead her on. Ignoring the sad look on her face when I pulled away, I stiffened my expression and spoke.
“There are spare toothbrushes in the drawer over there. I’ll go get you some clothes,” I said, sounding cold. I didn’t spare a glance back at her and left the bathroom. Standing outside the door for a minute to get myself under control, I headed toward my room to get some clothes for Layla. As much as I wanted to see her in lingerie left behind by other women, I chose a pair of my boxers and a plain gray t-shirt for her instead.
Heading back downstairs to the bathroom, I knocked and waited for her to answer. A minute went by and still no answer. I knocked again, pretty loudly. Getting fed up and slightly worried, though I wouldn’t admit it, I reached for the door handle and felt it was unlocked. Opening it, I walked in and saw Layla standing there brushing her teeth and staring into the mirror with a glazed-over expression. It seemed like she wasn’t here and was off somewhere else, or lost in thought. Getting more worried, I shook her shoulder and she finally snapped out of her thoughts.
She turned toward me and looked at me in surprise. A small part of me couldn’t stop myself from admiring how beautiful her gray eyes were.
“Huh?” she asked.
“I just said that I brought you some clothes. I only have men’s, so I hope they fit,” I replied. Suppressing my feelings, I made sure my face was void of emotion. I was used to doing it, as sad as that may be. Nodding once at her, I turned and left again. I knew I was being rude, but I didn’t want this to turn into anything. I’m just here helping her out, then taking her home tomorrow, I told myself. Before I made it to the stairs to go and change, I heard Layla calling my name. What—I turned back. Coming around the corner, I saw her standing in the middle of the hallway looking lost.
“Yes?” I asked.
“I, uh.” She blushed and bit her bottom lip. I sighed inwardly. “I can’t unzip my dress,” she said quietly. Smirking, I gestured for her to turn around. Putting my hand in between her shoulder blades, I started unzipping her dress. I noticed a shiver went down her spine as my hands trailed lower, following the zipper. Just as I got to the end of the zipper, Layla mumbled a quiet “Thank you” and ran off to the bathroom, shutting the door.
Shaking my head at myself, I made my way through my apartment and to my room. The apartment was clean as always and everything was in order. In a way, I had OCD because I didn’t like anything out of place. Once in my room, I threw my phone, wallet, and keys on my bedside table before unbuttoning my dress shirt sleeves.
Seeing Layla’s cheek all swollen and already purple, I couldn’t help but feel bad. If only I had gotten there sooner, I thought. A little voice inside my head made me stop for a second. Why is it your responsibility to make sure she’s okay? Why do you even care about what has happened to her? Ashton, you literally just met her seven hours ago. You don’t know her and should not give a shit about her. When I heard Layla’s soft voice call out my name, I yelled, “Here.”
I turned around and saw Layla walking into the room and my heart almost stopped. Even wearing my boxers and oversized t-shirt, she still looked sexy. She somehow made it look sexy when others would just look stupid or like a drowning rat. Biting the inside of my cheek, I stared at her. As she took a seat on my bed, her long tan legs came into view and I had to stop myself from going over there and jumping on top of her. I started unbuttoning my dress shirt, and shrugged it off.
“Like what you see?” I asked, staring at her in amusement. Her eyes raked up and down my body. To say I was fit was right. I made sure I worked out a good two hours every day and ate healthy. My body was hard, and it definitely helped with the ladies. A combination of being a billionaire, a bachelor, and having a nice body are exactly what girls want.
“I, uh.”
“Thought so,” I said, raising an eyebrow as I reached for my pants.
“What are you doing?” she yelled, covering her eyes like a five-year-old.
“Getting undressed. It’s not my fault you walked in on me undressing.” Pulling off my pants I threw that at her, hitting her on the head. She glared at me, but it didn’t move me at all.
“These belong to you,” Layla said and threw them back at me. Smirking at her, I caught them.
“Don’t act like you don’t want some of this.” I gestured to my practically naked body and made my way to my closet.
“Whatever you say.” She was trying to act like I didn’t affect her, but I could tell by her voice that she was affected somehow, even if she’s trying to hide it.
I went into my closet. I usually didn’t wear pajamas, but I didn’t want the last string of my self-restraint to snap. Taking a deep breath after changing, I came out and saw Layla sitting there looking tired. I could see she was trying to fight it, but wasn’t succeeding. Smirking, I made my way toward her.
“Can you take me home?” Layla asked quietly, her eyelids obviously getting heavier and heavier.
“At one in the morning? I don’t think so. You’ll stay here,” I said, grabbing her hand and pulling her up. Pulling her to the top of the bed, I softly pushed her down. Going around to the other side, I slid into bed as well and pulled the covers up over us. She mumbled something, but I couldn’t make out what it was. Smiling, I turned her around and wrapped my arms around her pulling her tight against me. Unconsciously she snuggled deeper into my body, and we both drifted off to sleep.
***
I woke up the next morning to an empty bed. Groaning as I sat up, I rubbed my eyes and looked around. This was the first time a girl left me alone in bed. It was usually me who left or kicked them out. Shaking my head at how different that girl was, I got up out of bed and stretched my muscles. Even though today was a Saturday, I had a meeting at one, as well as some work to finish up. Glancing at the clock, I saw it was 8:30. I had about five hours before I had to be at the restaurant. I decided on working out, but made my way to the kitchen first to grab a cup of coffee.
When I pressed the brew button, the coffee pot came to life grinding up the coffee beans. Opening a cabinet, I grabbed a mug and set it on the counter. Even though I had only gotten a few hours of sleep these last couple of days, I had to force myself not to crawl back in bed. A minute later, the coffee stopped and I poured myself a mug. Taking my coffee black, I grabbed it and leaned against the counter sipping it. My thoughts drifted to Layla once again, and for some unknown reason I kept seeing her face in front of me and feeling her body pressed against mine.
Something about her drew me in. Honestly, she wasn’t even my type. I liked a girl who was tall, long legged, big breasted, had a nice ass, and looked like a model. Layla wasn’t any of those things, but she was still pretty somehow. Shaking my head at even thinking about her anymore, I drained my cup and made my way to my gym room. The apartment had four bedrooms and I only occupied two; my bedroom and office I used when I worked at home. With two spare rooms, I turned one into a gym and another where Nick could crash when he stayed over, which was somewhat often, and where I slept with girls. I didn’t let them in my bedroom. Glad I was already wearing basketball shorts and no shirt, I went straight over to the treadmill to run.
***
Layla
I sat there quiet after I had just finished telling Kacey everything. Kacey had been sitting there with her mouth wide open for the last five minutes, and I was getting worried her mouth would be getting dry, or a bug might fly in there. Leaning back on my bed, I ran my fingers through my freshly washed hair. I had just finished showering as Kacey burst into my room and demanded I tell her everything or she wouldn’t move from my bed.
“Kacey?” I asked her, deciding it was time to see if she were still alive. Waving my hand in front of her did nothing. Getting kind of fed up, I pinched one of her cheeks hard and was rewarded with a yell and a slap to the hand. Smiling, I looked at her. “Better?”
“I just…wow” was all she said.
“I know.” I leaned back again against my pillows and sighed. Everything that had happened seemed so unreal. Never in a million years would I have danced with someone as handsome as him, nor gone home with him. Well, technically nothing even happened. I knew that was true, but a small part of me wanted to live up the fact that I, Layla Kingston, stayed at a very hot man’s house. The only downfall was I knew he would or already had forgotten about me, and I didn’t even know who he was.
“What was his name again?” Kacey asked suddenly, knocking me out of my thoughts.
“Um, Ashton something. He never told me his last name,” I said with sudden realization. Nice, Layla. If you wanted him to find you, he doesn’t even know your full name!
“That name sounds very familiar,” she said with her brow furrowed.
“Yeah, because thousands of guys have that name,” I pointed out.
“No, that’s not why. Wait a minute!” Getting up, she left my room. I was confused. A second later, she came bounding into my room again with her laptop. She plopped onto my bed and opened the screen and turned it on.
“Care to tell me why you grabbed your laptop and are practically bouncing up and down?” I asked, watching as her laptop loaded.
“Because that name’s so familiar and I have to search it up.”
“How? Facebook?” I scoffed.
“Yes, and Google,” Kacey said in a “duh” tone as she clicked on the Safari icon. I stayed silent as she did her thing. She went onto Google and typed in the name “Ashton” and pressed enter. I couldn’t even count how many results popped up.
“How about images? If you see him, then we can find out what his full name is and see what he does and stuff.”
“Okay,” I agreed as she clicked images.
Instantly, pictures of all different kinds of guys popped up. Just as I was looking at the first line of pictures, one stuck out at me. I gasped when I saw it was Ashton. Kacey must have seen my face and followed my eyes to the picture. I couldn’t talk, and she clicked on his picture. A site pulled up, and I couldn’t help but gasp. The site that popped up showed a big photo of Ashton and had an article underneath it. As I started reading it, my eyes got larger and larger the more I read.
Ashton was the Ashton Miller! Multimillionaire, playboy, and sexiest bachelor in New York City!