"Nobody's perfect," I clarified.
"Not even you?"
"Ha, I'm far from perfect," I snorted.
"Why do you say that? From everything I've heard from Fran and your best friends, you practically float on a gold cloud playing a harp. I quote, 'she's the nicest person you'll ever meet and if you hurt her I'll cut off your balls.'"
"Let me guess, Fran?"
"Would you believe she and Tressa pretty much gave me the same speech?"
"I'm touched they think so highly of me, but they really haven't known me that long. I have an uncanny habit of disappointing most people I know," I admitted. I instantly regretted my words. I knew it sounded like I was painting a woe-is-me picture of myself, and that was the last thing I wanted.
"Shit, that had an after-school special ring to it," I joked, trying to make light of the moment.
"Maybe you just don't see yourself clearly, or maybe you've set the bar so high for yourself that when you don't quite make the mark you think you've failed."
"Maybe," I agreed, though I knew he was wrong. If he knew the facts, he'd know just how wrong he was, but then that was the point. He'd never know the facts, so there was no reason I should obsess over it.
"Okay, so now that we've established we're not perfect, whatever will we do with our tarnished selves?" he asked, trailing his hand up over my calf. "Maybe we should work on perfecting this," he added, trailing his hand farther up my leg.
"True, practice makes perfect, doesn't it?" I agreed as he hauled me into his lap.
"And god knows we definitely want perfection on this," he said, dropping his lips on mine. Any other talking was forgotten as I lost myself in the touch of his lips as they discovered parts of my body they had missed the first night we spent together. No longer needing the quilt, I pushed it off me so he could have easier access to the places I wanted his lips the most.
"I think you must like that," he said when his tongue made my sensitive nipple hard.
I nodded, pulling his head back to me.
"And this?" he asked, trailing his lips down my stomach. My only answer came out as more of a pant as he shimmied my pants down over my hips. Desire roared through me like a runaway train as his mouth continued to move down before settling between my legs.
Chapter 20: The First Snow
Nathan
I was fucked and I knew it. The moment I touched Ashton, I realized that getting her out of my system was easier said than done. In my stupidity, I'd convinced myself that once I had her it would curb the desire that crackled like a live wire between us. What an idiot. After lying with her curled up in my arms for the third night in a row, losing myself in her body yet again, it had become glaringly obvious that getting her out of my system was like trying to get off crack. It was an ironic analogy, but she was my drug of choice. Everything about her pulled me in and clouded my mind more sufficiently than any drug would ever be able to. When I was with her I was no longer the same person. Laughter in my regular life was sporadic at best, and yet, with Ashton it was as natural as breathing. Each new discovery I made about her was as enchanting as the last and made me want to continue probing until I knew everything that made her tick. It was becoming almost painful not to know the secrets she hid behind her smiles and jokes. I needed to know what we were facing. The complexity of our relationship was daunting. A week ago I would have balked at it, but everything was different now. In a week she had changed me completely.
I tightened my arm around her taut midriff, pulling her more snugly into my arms. She sighed with satisfaction in her sleep, and though I had just made love to her a short time ago, I immediately became aroused just watching her. Every curve. Every lightly-colored bit of peach fuzz on her stomach. I buried my face in her hair, inhaling her, feeling drunk from the scent. I felt comfortable lying here. So much so that I drifted to sleep, wrapped around the woman I wasn't supposed to fall for.
I woke the next morning to Ashton's excited squeals. I sat up blurry eyed and smiled when I saw her literally dancing at the front window. "Did you win a new car or something?" I teased, climbing out of bed to stand behind her.
"It's snowing," she crowed, clapping her hands with glee.
"I'm taking it you feel better?" I asked, chuckling at her enthusiasm.
"Much. We have to go out and play in the snow," she said, frantically pulling warm clothes out of her wardrobe.
"I don't think it's going anywhere, sweets," I said, placing my hands on her to still her frantic movements.
"Oh, you're naked," she said, stating the obvious as her eyes darted down to my morning companion.
"Yeah, we sort of went to bed that way," I teased, watching as a delicate shade of pink crept up her neck, staining her cheeks. "Does it make you uncomfortable?" I asked.
"What? No, it's just like, you know, 'Ta-da. Here I am.' It threw me off," she stumbled out.
"Well, for your information, this is pretty common for most guys in the morning."
"Really? How unfortunate," she said.