Nothing Left to Lose (Guarded Hearts 1)

I frowned; confused as to where we would be going that would require warm clothing. “Where are we going, Ashton?” I called as I strutted back into the bedroom and found a hooded sweatshirt.

“It’s a surprise, stop asking.”

I rolled my eyes and slipped the sweater on, going back out to the lounge again. “Do I pass the examination this time?” I asked sarcastically, twirling on the spot.

He grinned and nodded. “Trust me, you pass every time, but I want you to be comfortable so…” he trailed off, taking my hand again and leading me to the kitchen. Sitting there on the counter was a dozen white roses; he hadn’t given me any for two weeks because last date night we were in LA. He handed them to me, grinning.

I smiled gratefully as I smelled them, breathing in their sweet aroma. “You’re so romantic, Ashton. Thank you,” I gushed, running my finger over the soft petals. He opened one of the drawers and held out a rectangular silver tin. “What’s this?” I asked curiously.

“Open it and see,” he instructed, leaning on the counter next to me.

I opened it to see a brand new set of inks, the professional expensive kind that would be perfect for my project at school. I gasped from the surprise. “My God, these are perfect!” I cried excitedly. “Thank you!” I threw my arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.

“You’re welcome, Baby Girl,” he answered. He pulled out of my arms and picked up the bouquet of flowers, putting them into a vase and filling it with water. “I’ll let you arrange them later. Come on then, let’s go before the suspense kills you,” he teased.

The drive to the secret location for our date took about forty minutes, and he even overstepped the mark by making me sit with my hands over my eyes for the last couple of minutes. “Oh come on, you’re taking this a little far,” I complained.

“Will you stop whining? Jeez,” he scolded, laughing. I huffed and sat in silence. It was killing me, but I actually didn’t peek like I normally would have done, he was so excited about it that I didn’t want to ruin anything for him. The car rolled to a stop, and his door opened then closed. A couple of seconds later, my door opened too. “Keep your eyes closed,” he instructed as he took hold of my elbow and helped me climb from the car.

Sounds of screaming and laughing filled my ears, and in the background there was soft music playing. The air smelled sweet, like popcorn. I grinned, not having a clue where we were. The suspense was killing me. “Ashton, come on, please?” I whined, bouncing on the spot.

He chuckled wickedly. “Okay fine.” His hands closed over my shoulders, turning me the other way. “Open your eyes.”

Pulling my hands from my face, I blinked a couple of times as bright lights and colours overwhelmed me. I gasped as it all started to make sense. A fairground. I could see the Ferris wheel going around with twinkling fairy lights looped around every post. There were guys dressed up as clowns walking around on stilts, roller coasters, stalls where you win prizes, food stalls. I laughed excitedly and turned to Ashton, grinning, finally understanding the reason for the warm, casual clothes.

“Ashton, this is awesome,” I chirped, grabbing his hand and stepping closer to him.

“Do you like fairground rides?” he asked as he guided me over to the ticket booth, paying for two wristbands.

“I love them,” I admitted. “Provided you hold my hand,” I added quickly.

He smiled as he wound the blue plastic band around my wrist before holding my hand tightly. “Now that would definitely be my pleasure,” he flirted, dragging me into the park. We both ignored Dean and Peter, who paid for entry only behind us and followed us in.

Deciding to do the scarier rides first, Ashton and I went on a couple of rollercoasters which, of course, made me scream like a little girl. My near guard had found my high pitched girlie scream extremely amusing. After, he led me to a hot dog vendor.

“Hungry?” he asked.

“Yeah, they have a Denny’s chilli cheese dog here?” I joked, slipping my arm around his waist.

He just laughed and kissed the top of my head. “I wish.”

Taking our food into one of the large marquees, we ate and chatted at the same time, joking around and flirting. A brass band was sitting in the corner, playing old fashioned show tunes and people were dancing on the grass. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. Every date night seemed to get better and better. Ashton surpassed himself on the thoughtful, romantic stakes every week. I knew he was still doing his job perfectly but, even so, he always managed to make me feel as though I was the most important girl on the planet.

When we’d finished eating, he took my hand and gave me a little tug in the direction of the makeshift dance floor. We danced for a couple of songs, fooling around and laughing the whole time before I stopped and nodded over my shoulder towards the exit.

“Let’s go do some other stuff. I want to make sure we do everything before we leave.”

As we stepped out of the marquee, the Ferris wheel caught my eye, so I dragged him over to it. Sitting on the Ferris wheel with him was extremely romantic. The fairy lights twinkled, the stars were out in force tonight and the music could still be heard from the marquee. I sighed in contentment and sagged against him. He grinned down at me before placing his lips over mine softly. I whimpered against his lips and kissed him back, reaching up and tangling my hand into the back of his hair. I hadn’t kissed him like this since LA; we’d toned it down a little at school this week because people already knew we were together, so we didn’t have anything to prove now. When he nibbled gently on my bottom lip, I gladly deepened the kiss. Our tongues danced together in perfect unison, and I moaned at the taste of him. I’d missed this more than I realised.