Chapter 1
I'm thinking 'bout how people fall in love in mysterious ways. Maybe just the touch of a hand. Well, me, I fall in love with you every single day. And I just wanna tell you I am…
"Ashley, meet my favorite sister, Spencer. Spencer, meet my gorgeous girlfriend, Ashley."
Speechless. That's how she makes me feel. From the moment she stepped over our threshold, I was hooked. Mesmerized. Awestruck…
Less than five minutes ago, I made my journey down the stairs after hearing the engines of cars outside and expecting guests. What I was not expecting was missing a stair and momentarily loosing my footing. I got distracted…distracted by long, brown curls, accompanied by a heart warming smile. She looked up and that's when brown met blue. My legs felt wobbly. Before I embarrassed myself any further, I straightened up, cleared my throat, and finished descending the stairs.
Following behind the beautiful stranger was my brother, Glen, older than me by two years, taller than me by two inches, and plays two sports that I don't. His arm around her shoulder suggests a relationship that he introduced me to, shortly after noticing me.
"Ashley. Nice to meet you. For the record, I'm his only sister."
She extended her hand out for me to shake, but my palms were sweaty, so I wiped them in my shorts before taking her hand and shaking it. "Spencer. Believe me, the pleasure is all mine." The lids over her eyes closed down halfway and a gentle smile played along her lips. Or was it a smirk?
Why were my palms so sweaty? Am I nervous? Nervous from what? Is her presence making me nervous? Feeling the moisture build back up in my palms, I drew my hand away from hers.
"It's so nice to see you again sis! I can admit to missing you while I was gone for the two weeks to see Ash. Don't tell Clay, but you're the only one I missed."
"I heard that!" Came Clay's voice from the staircase I was previously on.
"No you didn't!" I was suddenly, and unexpectedly swept off of my feet, and put onto Glen's shoulder as he attempted to make an escape from our older brother.
"Glen! Put me down!" I attempted, to no avail. From over his shoulder, I looked to see a very amused brunette looking directly at me. I may have been hallucinating, but I think she winked at me right before Glen turned a corner, making her no longer in sight.
What I thought to have been a wink put me in deep thought. Although she hasn't spoken more than one phrase to me, I thought of her as a perfect girl. She seemed polite, her smile can weaken the strongest person, her eyes seem to pierce right through me, and overall…she's simply…beautiful.
I was finally allowed to use my feet again once we got to the kitchen and was met with our parents and Chelsea, Clay's fiancé. "Mom! Dad! Sis! I missed you all!" He went around, giving each said person a hug.
"Sis?" Chelsea inquired.
"…ter-in-law. So yes, sis. You're stuck with me as family now." Glen smiled at her and a smile was returned.
I went around greeting my family members, when Clay's voice was once again heard. "Tell me again, how did my brother manage to convince you to go out with him? You are way out of his league."
I'd have to agree with that.
"Har. Har. You are so funny." Glen said, looking less than amused, but not upset.
Ashley giggled at the family banter and I was back to my previous feelings on the stairs. Mesmerized. Everything she does seems to have an effect on me…
"Well, it took some major persuasion on his part," She paused and looked at him, sending him a nose crinkling smile, "but when I gave him a chance, I found out what a real sweetheart he is." She stepped closer to Glen, and placed a quick kiss on his lips.
My brother, not a big fan of PDA, shied down and simply gave her a short hug afterwards while trying to hide a light blush, and opted to go help our parents set the table.
Clay, leaving to go have a chat with Chelsea, left me alone with Ashley, who simply stared at me. No chatting, just staring with a small smile on her face. A part of me wants to believe she's just shy, but another part of me doesn't believe that. I racked my brain, trying to think of something to spark a conversation.
"So, you're from California?"
"Yeah." That was her only response and her voice changed to more of a sultry tone as she continued to just…stare.
Have you ever just felt your self-esteem diminishing when someone stares at you this long? Especially someone of her beauty.
We stood there staring at each other for a while, and I was growing awkward as I couldn't think of anything to say.
Aha! I have something.
"How did you and Glen meet?"
"On a boat." There was a pause, and for a second I thought that was all she was going to say to me. "My dad knows him and invited him for lunch with us on our yacht one day while he was visiting." She paused again to take her eyes off of me and they drifted over to look at Glen. "He was funny. After my dad left us alone together, he started flirting with me. I was unsure about going back into the dating world again but the way he looked at me that day, made all that uncertainty disappear." She bit her lip and smiled, as if remembering the day. Then she blinked, and when her eyes opened, they were back on me. "That's how we met."
Her voice was low the entire time, and it put me in a trance. Now I was the one just staring and not talking! She didn't seem to mind as I stood there, speechless, for a few minutes.
I was brought back to reality when I felt a warm hand on my upper arm that sent electricity jolting through me. I closed my eyes at the feeling and when I opened them, I was met with her smile that was still in place, and her eyes still firmly on mine. "You okay?" Was whispered from between her lips that looked ever so soft.
"Yeah, why?" I found myself whispering back to her.
"You weren't talking for a while there." Our conversation seemed to have decreased to just whispers. Also, her hand was slowly sliding itself down my arm, leaving a trail of goosebumps behind. This moment felt so intense for me, and it seemed as just a normal conversation for her.
"There's no way that's true!" Clay's voice rang through my ears, and that seemed to wake me up from whatever this was. "Spencer, come back me up here on this!"
"Coming." I turned and said to him then turned back to Ashley, who just nodded her head and walked over to where Glen was, looping her arm in his and resting her cheek on his shoulder. I shook my head a little, trying to get back to my normal self and dragged my hands down my face.
She's not interested in you Spencer; she's your brother's girlfriend; She's straight; she seems to be in love with him.
As I let those thoughts settle in my head, I walked over to where Clay and Chelsea was sitting, and took a seat next to them. "What's up?"
"Chelsea is trying to tell me that Back At One by Brian McKnight is a better song for me to sing at our wedding than All Of Me by John Legend. Go on, tell her how crazy she is."
"Well," I started out, and by Clay's expression, I knew that he knows I'm not agreeing with him. "All I'm going to say is that if you like an old school love song, then Back At One is the song for you. If you like a new school love song, then All Of Me is the song to choose."
By the look on Chelsea's face, I can tell that she knew I just didn't want to pick sides for Clay's sake. "And old school love songs are better right, Spence?" Chelsea asked while giving Clay a 'you lose' look.
This is where I couldn't help Clay; everyone knows I like old school songs. "Yes, yes they are."
"Aww come on, Spence!" Clay pouted. "You were supposed to take my side."
I giggled and patted him on his shoulder. "Sorry bro, you knew this was a lost cause."
I chanced a glance over at Ashley and Glen. He was leaning on the counter, while on his phone, and Ashley was leaning on him while…staring at me. And I stared back. My eyes looked down, just a little, to where her tongue was now poking out, slowly gliding over her lips. I felt my body shiver a little at the action, and my eyes flicked back up to her mysterious, brown orbs.
I may have been hallucinating again, but I thought I caught another wink, just before my dad blocked her from my eyesight when he put the last dish on the table. "Alright everyone, time to eat." We all took a seat at the eight-seater dining table, mom and dad at the heads, Ashley and Glen sitting together on one side with an empty chair, and me, Chelsea, and Clay sitting on the other side. Clay faced the empty chair, Chelsea faced Glen, and Ashley faced…me.
Wonderful.
We all took from the different dishes on the table, asking for a few things to be passed, until we were satisfied with what was on our plates.
"So Ashley," My dad was the one to initiate conversation, and she averted her eyes from me to look at him. Am I the only one noticing her watching me? "Glen tells me that you're from California. Did you know that Spencer goes to school there?"
Oh my god…leave it to my dad to always take an opportunity to brag about me to others.
"Really?" Ashley was now looking at me again, but I just focused on what was in my plate. "No, no one mentioned that to me. What school?"
That's the most interested I have heard her sound all day.
"Stanford University. She was recruited with a full scholarship after she was observed at her high school's basketball state tournament. Everything I taught her seems to be paying off."
It's true, my dad did push me into sports from a young age, because Clay was more of an academic student and Glen just wasn't as interested, or as good. What? It's the truth! The only sport he plays great at is football, which he plays at Ohio State University. Dad doesn't play much sports, but he pushed me into everything possible. Basketball, soccer, tennis, track, baseball, volleyball, hockey, and he even taught me cricket. My coaches called me a sports prodigy, and wanted me to be on all the sports teams back in high school. It was a difficult task, but I pulled through for the most part. Glen plays football and golf, two sports that I don't play. Now, in my second year in college, I focus on basketball, because I want to go pro for that sport, the others I play just for fun.
"Stanford University. That's impressive. Sports, huh? Now I see where you get your figure from." Her eyes seem to be piercing deeper and deeper into me.
My figure? Was she checking me out the entire time? No, it can't be because I seem to be the only one reading too far into this because no one else seems affected by her words. My dad only chuckled and agreed.
"What about you, Ashley?" My mom spoke up. "What school do you go to? What do you study?"
I got another break from her stare when she turned her head to look at my mom. "I go to UCLA, I'm studying music."
"Really? I've never seen you around, then again, it's a big school and I finished last year. Maybe that's why." Chelsea spoke up. She and I were the only ones to go away for college while the boys stayed here in Ohio. She and Clay have been together since she was a junior and he was a senior in high school, which is why I'm so excited for their wedding. Even though Clay has already gotten his Bachelor's two years ago, they're both waiting until after the wedding to continue their education.
"I've seen you around the campus when I was in sophomore year, last year. You were always sitting outside and drawing something. Then, this year, I stopped seeing you, probably because you graduated. I just never knew who you were." Ashley said.
"Sounds like me alright." Chelsea giggled. "Now we have a chance to get to know each other."
"I'd like that." She said to Chelsea, but was staring at me when she said it. After she did, she smiled and looked down at her plate.
What can possibly be going on in this girl's head?
And why is she so focused on me?
