Impossible (18 page)

“Sure, if it’s not too much trouble.”

“No, not at all,” his blue eyes crinkled with an easy smile. “You still live on Enson Drive, right?”

I tried not to outwardly react to the fact that Oliver knew the street I lived on, even though my stomach was doing somersaults on the inside. I managed to nod. “Yeah, that’s right.”

“Cool. My car’s this way.” Oliver headed down the street and I followed him in silence, trying to think of something to say to him that wouldn’t make me sound like a dork. Nothing came to mind until we reached his car—a brand new black BMW.

“Wow, I saw this a few days ago,” I admitted as I admired it. “I thought, maybe, it belonged to a teacher.”

Oliver laughed as he opened up the passenger side door and waited for me to get in. “Like they could afford this car on their pathetic salary.”

I tried to make myself comfortable, but the uneasy feeling I always got when I was in an unfamiliar car crawled into the pit of my stomach, refusing to budge. I took a deep breath to calm myself down and watched Oliver climb into the driver’s side.

Once the window was wound down, I felt slightly better and managed a smile.

Oliver turned the key in the ignition and the car roared to life. He drove out of the parking spot and I noticed that he was taking the long way to my house. Whether intentional or not, I got to spend a little extra time with him either way.

It was pretty obvious that Oliver wanted to spend time with me, that’s for sure. Instead of taking Kance home he was taking me. Guys didn’t do that for no reason—it meant something.

“So, you and Luca, huh?” he asked.

I nodded as the excitement in my chest built up so much that I was pretty sure I was about to burst. “Yep, me and Luca.”

Oliver glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. “I’d never have pegged him as your type. He was such a loser up until last week when he stopped dressing like an emo. Now, all the girls do is sit around and talk about him. Women.” He shook his head and tightened his grip on the steering wheel.

Oh. My. God. Oliver was jealous of Luca. Whether that had anything to do with me, I wasn’t sure. I’d just have to play it cool until I found out more. “Yeah, he has that effect on girls. I never saw it until recently either, but now I’m glad I gave him a chance. He’s an amazing…” I let my voice trail off. “Oops, I shouldn’t be talking about that with you.”

I could swear I heard Oliver growl and I suppressed a laugh. “So, are you going to the bonfire on Friday night? I’d love to see you there.”

I shook my head. Kendall and Yuki had been talking non-stop about it today, and wanted me to go—mainly, so that Luca would be there. Kance was putting the bonfire together, which was weird because usually I was the one organizing these things. “I don’t think I’m invited.”

Oliver pulled into my street and slowed down. “Well, I’m inviting you, so you have to come. Maybe we can hang out. Alone.” His words held a double meaning of the sexual kind.

“I don’t think Kance would like that.”

Oliver hit the steering wheel in frustration. “I don’t care what Kance thinks! I’m tired of her telling me what I can or can’t do. She’s just sleeping with me; she’s not my damn girlfriend. She doesn’t get to control my life.”

Trying my best to keep the smile from my voice, I pointed to my house. “You can stop here.”

Oliver obliged and pulled over. He stared out the window in disbelief. “He lives next door to you?”

I opened up the door and grabbed my bag, trying to act innocent. “Who?”

“Luca!” He fumed, pointing at the silver station wagon in the driveway. “I’d recognize that piece of junk anywhere.”

“Oh, yes, we’ve been neighbors for years.” I shut the door and began walking up my driveway. “Thanks for the ride!”

“Hey, Ashton!” I turned around to see that Oliver had wound down the passenger side window and was watching me intently. “Try and make it on Friday, yeah?”

“I’ll try!” I called back with a nod.

Seeming satisfied with my response, he put up the window and drove off down the street in his impressive car. When the BMW disappeared, I let out a squeal of victory and ran next door to Luca’s house.

Luca

Damn it! Ashton was coming over here.

The last thing I wanted to do was talk to her. I was still pissed off at her for inviting those girls over to my house and for her obsession with wanting to be popular. Couldn’t she see that she was fine the way she was? She didn’t need some stupid title to define herself. She just needed to stop worrying about what everyone else thought of her.

Moving away from the kitchen window, I stood in the center of the kitchen with clenched fists. I’d seen everything I needed to see. That ass wipe, Oliver, had driven her home. I bet she’d enjoyed every second of that.

I mean, I’d been so damn angry at her for pushing me away, that’s why I’d ignored her all day and driven off without her. Even though we’d really connected yesterday, she was still focused on all this meaningless crap. I thought things were going to change between us, but she still had her walls up—she still wanted distance from me. Maybe it was my fault, or maybe it was hers. Either way, I was getting pretty sick and tired of her double standards.

The doorbell rang and I contemplated not answering it. I could text Ash and tell her that I couldn’t go through with this game we were playing. She’d probably beg me to change my mind, but I’d remain stubborn. If she went back to hating me, I could care less. I didn’t need her, or her drama, in my life.

Sighing, I went to answer the door. Yeah, I’d show her. I’d tell her to her face. I’d make sure she never came round here again. I’d…I’d do none of those things.

I was a damn liar.

I was lying to myself about what I felt for her. I did care about her and, now that she was back in my life, I didn’t want her to leave again. I was scared of losing her for the second time. She got on my nerves, she rubbed me the wrong way but, shit, she was
my
Ashy. Not Oliver’s.

When I opened up the door, Ash gave me a firm look, but I could tell she was trying her hardest not to smile. The edges of her mouth were turning up, and she had to press her lips together to keep the smile fro
m showing itself. She was angry
at me, but she was also ecstatic—no doubt from her drive home with Oliver.

“What?” I asked in an apathetic tone.

Ash placed a hand on her hip in an attempt to look stern. In reality, she just looked too darn cute. I wanted to pick her up and hold her against me. “Why are you ignoring me?”

I loved it when she was direct. It was so hot. “Because you piss me off constantly.”

“You are so immature.” Ash rolled her eyes and pushed past me to get inside.

“Hey!” I shut the door and hurried after her as she strode into the kitchen. Her hair flowed behind her like gold silk. “This is trespassing, you know?”

Ashton stopped and leaned against the counter, regarding me with amusement. “Then arrest me.” Her lips formed a teasing smile.

Whoa. Was she flirting with me? There was no denying the twinkle in her eyes. Yep, she definitely was. Hell must’ve frozen over. Again.

I walked over to where she was standing and placed both hands on either side of her. Ashton followed my movements and then looked up at me, her face slowly turning pink.

“I could just pull out from this stupid plan of yours. How do you know it’s even going to work?”

“Because Oliver actually noticed me, and Kendall and Yuki are treating me like I exist. It’s because of you.” Her breath was warm on my face and my gaze lingered on her pink lips. There was this amazing smell coming from them, like strawberry and cream.

I blew out a breath and tried to regain my train of thought. I was supposed to be angry at her, but I kept getting distracted every time she was near me. No, I had to tell her. I couldn’t go through with this. Getting close to her again had been a bad idea. Things weren’t going to end well. Once she got what she wanted, she wouldn’t give me a fuck about me.

I slammed a fist on the counter and shook my head. “I’m not doing this anymore. You can find someone else to use. I’m not your toy, Ashton. You can’t play around with me anymore.”

Ashton’s eyes grew wide and glistened with tears that she was fighting to hold back. Great. Now I felt like a complete ass for making her upset. I never did anything right.

“I am not using you. I care about you. I’ve always cared about you. You’re the one who pushed me away all those years ago. Maybe if you hadn’t, things would be different between us. The fact of the matter is you don’t trust me anymore.”

“Of course I don’t trust you anymore,” I fumed. “You used to spend your time making fun of me and my friends. I screwed up big time when I pushed you away all those years ago, but you’re the one who took it to a whole new level. If you’d just gone on and acted like I didn’t exist, I wouldn’t have cared, but instead you decided to target us, belittle us like we were worthless.” I let out a breath and continued. “Sure, we reached an understanding yesterday, but I can see how happy you are that Oliver drove you home. You’d do anything to get on the good side of those people. All you care about is being popular and once you’re in with that crowd again, you’ll go back to treating us the way you did before.”

“That’s not true. You always think the worst of me.”

Her voice wavered, and I turned away so I wouldn’t have to look into her guilt-stricken face. She could deny it all she wanted, but deep down she knew I was right. She’d eventually trade me in for the popular kids.

Her hand touched my cheek and she turned my head so I was forced to look at her again. There was a flash of blonde hair, and then Ash’s lips were on mine. For a split second, I thought I was dreaming. She couldn’t really be kissing me, could she?

The tension in my mouth eased and I finally regained control of my senses. I pushed her back and crushed my lips against hers. A moan escaped Ash’s mouth as I pressed against her harder. Those sweet lips of hers were hungrily tearing against mine like she might die if she didn’t have me. Her kisses were driving me insane. Sure, I’d kissed girls before, but none of them compared to this. Maybe because none of those girls had been
this
girl.

None of those girls had been Ashton.

I pulled away and Ash looked up at me in surprise, her cheeks a deep pink. Placing both hands on her waist, I lifted her up onto the counter top. Before she had a chance to say anything, I resumed kissing her. She sighed deeply against my mouth and wrapped her legs around me so there was no space between us. I could feel every inch of her body and she could feel every inch of mine. Including the hard-on that I was pushing into her.

Ashton began pulling my shirt off with an urgency that confused me.

Shit.

She’d just been ecstatic about the whole Oliver thing, yet here she was trying to get naked with me. I mean, I get that I looked different, but was it enough to make her to want to have sex with me? I couldn’t rationalize her behavior, and, frankly, I didn’t want to. I only wanted what my body was telling me, and that was her. I’d wanted her for a long time, and I’d been lying to myself.

Judging from her reaction, we’d both been lying.

My fingers slipped
beneath her short dress and I tugged her leggings down
. She pressed into my erection and I groaned, pushing her down onto the surface of the counter. A bowl of fruit and some old newspapers fell onto the floor as I climbed on top of her, and Ash let out of a squeal.

Laughing, I pinned her down and gazed down at her in awe. She was so beautiful, and she was lying there looking up at me with those bright eyes. The message in them was so clear.

She wanted me.

Her gaze flicked over my upper body and there was lust in every look she gave me. We didn’t need words to express how we felt. We wanted each other, and that was something we both understood. The realization made me dizzy. I was going to have sex with Ashton Summers on my kitchen counter.

Ashton reached out and wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling me against her body. She was warm and so alive beneath me—it was doing crazy things to my head. I wanted to pull that damn dress right off her, but I didn’t want to rush things. I wanted to enjoy every second of this.

We kept kissing—tingles shot through my stomach every time Ash’s tongue touched mine. My head felt light and weightless, like everything else was shutting off around me.

That was probably my biggest mistake.

“Luca!” My momma’s voice cut into my thoughts, and I sprang away from the counter like I’d been shot. “
Ashton
?”

The change of tone in her voice showed how shocked she was to find that the disheveled girl beneath me was Ashton. She’d probably assumed it was Stace, considering the amount of times she’d walked in on us making out heavily in my room.

It was pretty embarrassing to be caught by your mother, but I wasn’t nearly as humiliated as Ash was. She scrambled off the counter,
pulling up her leggings
at the same time, and stared down at the floor as she addressed my momma. “Mrs. Byron, I’m so sorry…oh my gosh, I don’t know what…um…”