Chapter 10, yay!
Big thanks to all of you who have reviewed so far. I appreciate every one of them.
Okay, drum roll please...
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It felt completely normal to get up on Sunday and find Arthur gone again. Nothing could possibly make her feel bad this morning.
She didn't bother to take a shower, but pulled on a thin bathrobe over the t-shirt she used as a nightgown. Taking her crutches, she went to the kitchen. An note form her father-with a cell phone on top of it-sat on the counter.
I'll be back in a couple of hours, and the phone is yours, the note read.
"A couple of hours. . . When?" she asked loudly, glancing at the clock on the wall.. It was 9:10.
She picked up the cell. It was a flip phone. Much fancier than the one she used back in Cincinnati. Spencer wondered of she could take it with her after the summer was over.
As she was looking at it, a phone stared ringing in the house. She quickly realized it coming from Arthur's office. After the second ring, she decided to go answer it and made her way to the door. It was locked.
The ringing stopped. She tested the door again. It wouldn't budge. She hadn't really looked at it before, but the lock on this door was much different than the other locks in the house. It was deadbolt lock that obviously needed a key. But there was also a security keypad.
"Ooooh," she murmured, "a secret chamber."
A sharp knock on the sliding glass door made Spencer practically jump out of her skin. She whirled around and saw Ash standing on the veranda.
For a brief couple of seconds, she panicked about the way she was dressed. But she figured Ash had already seen her standing there, so there was not much of a point in hiding. She never felt this self-conscious around anyone before. And tingly. She went to open the door for the taller girl.
"Good morning," Spencer said shyly.
The brunette answered her greeting by leaning down and brushing a light kiss on her check.
The blood rushed to her face. She quickly went toward the kitchen, hoping Ash wouldn't notice. Of course, she had to stumble over one of the high chairs by the counter. She recovered though, somewhat gracefully.
Last night had been a dream. Spencer didn't know how long they danced in that place. She'd been floating for most of it.
After she had broken her promise, and told Ash the undeniable truth of her sexual orientation, the brunette looked at her quizzically. Then, her eyes went wide and a huge grin spread her entire face. Ash didn't ask any questions on why the blonde didn't tell her before. She was to thrilled to anyway, plus she didn't want to ruin the moment. So, they danced on in there picture perfect world.
Mac's curfew was midnight, thought, so they'd all left together in time for her to get home. Aiden had gone with Mac, and Ash had taken Spencer.
Driving back, Ash turned on the radio. They'd wrestled playfully over the choice of stations, but Spencer was preoccupied. She didn't know what would happen when they arrived at the villa. She didn't know if Ash would kiss her or not. She knew she wanted her to.
The decision had been taken out of their hands, though, when they found her father waiting for them in the courtyard.
"Did you sleep well?" Ash asked now.
Too well," she said, turning to look at the brunette across the counter. She put her crutches next to the fridge. "We have more options for breakfast than just cereal this morning. Arthur went shopping."
Ash was looking at her that way again. Spencer knew she hadn't left a button undone. Yesterday, at the club, telling Ash those few simply words had practically opened the door for Ash to make a move on her. She now felt soft and warm all over.
"I'm pretty good at making eggs," the blonde offered.
"Sounds good, I'll help." She came around the counter, but then paused as her ankle came in contact with one of the crutches. "Eleven days left, hallelujah."
Ash like eggs over easy too, so that made it simple. They divided the jobs. Ash set the plates out and made toast while Spencer cooked the eggs.
The area behind the counter was tight, and they kept bumping into each other. Every time Ash moved, the blonde was aware of her presence. It was all she could do to keep from burning the eggs.
It was after one of those collisions, as they were bowing and apologizing, that Spencer saw the other girl pause. The look was there again, that sharp-edged glint of desire in her eyes. Spencer glanced down. Her robe had fallen open, and Ash was looking at the t-shirt she was wearing. Her underwear was just visible beneath the hem of it.
She closed the front of the robe and tightened the belt. "Sorry. I should have taken a shower and changed. I wasn't expecting-"
Ash kissed her. A soft kiss on the lips that teased her with the promise of more. A lot more.
"Around me, you can dress like this anytime."
Spencer restrained herself from attacking the other girl right there. This was all new to her. Actually wanting someone to touch her, kiss her. It had never been like that with her ex-boyfriend. She'd always looked for reasons not to be alone with him. She'd used every excuse she could think of to keep him from getting too touchy-feely. That was when he called her incapable of showing affection.
It wasn't true. She now realized that the problem wasn't her, it was her ex. It was boys, period. She wanted girls. She wanted Ash.
"Oh no, no! The eggs!" She reached for the frying pan with her bare hand and immediately realized her mistake. The pan was hot as hell. Ash was right behind her with a potholders as jerked her hand of the iron handle. Ash took the pan off the stove. And flipped the eggs onto the toast she laid on the plates.
"Impressive," Spencer said, putting her burned fingers to her mouth. "You've done this before."
"Let me see your hand."
"It's no big deal." She held back her hand.
"Spencer," Ash said in a more authorities voice. "Let me see what you did to your hand."
"It's fine. See? Nothing." Like Pinocchio's nose, the blisters on the red skin grew as they looked at it.
"Come with me." The brunette ordered, dragging the younger girl toward the door.
"Wait a minute. The eggs are getting cold." She planted her feet. "Seriously, I can't go outside looking like this."
"Yes, you can."
"No, I can't"
The blonde gasped when Ash lifted her by the waist and carried her to the sliding glass door. Ash opened the door with one hand, and before she knew it, they were outside.
"You're being a bully." Her feet touched the ground by the tables ad chairs in the courtyard.
"You asked for it. Now sit."
"Seriously it's fine."
Ash pulled up a chair behind Spencer and pushed her down onto the seat.
As son as she bent down over the large plants and broke off a leaf, the blonde knew what the other girl was doing. "Aloe?"
"Yup."
"You could have asked nicer. I would have walked out here by myself."
Ash smiled and crouched down before her. "Now what would have been the fun in that? Give me your hand."
She put her hand on her knee and watched Ash split open the fat leaf she'd taken from the plant. Aruba was covered with aloe plants. She remembered reading somewhere that at the beginning of the century, Aruba was largest and biggest exporter of Aloe in the world. A picture of the plant was on the national coat of arms- or maybe it was their flag.
Either way, it was important.
The liquid inside was clear and goosy, almost like gel. But when Ash put it on, it felt cool on the blonde's skin, and the burning stopped immediately. Then she caught a whiff of it.
"This is foul."
"No, it's not."
"It's gross. Seriously, I have to wash it off."
She tried to get to her feet. Ash put both hands on her shoulders, keeping her down.
"Don't be a baby."
"I'm not. But it smells horrible. No self-respecting person would want to get within a
hundred yards of me."
"It's not horrible." To prove her pinot, she leaned toward the blonde, but she didn't smell her. Instead, she kissed her. Again. And again. Pecking little kisses on her lips.
It felt so right. Spencer's arms wrapped around the other girl's neck. She was lost in the moment. In the taste of her. In the smell of her. In the feel of her. Her mind emptied of everything that didn't scream Ash.
Unfortunately, the brunette pulled away from the kiss. Spence felt kind of dazed, wanting more. Ash took her hands from around her neck and put them in the blonde's lap. Perplexed, blue eyes looked into hazel ones. Ash leaned over and whispered in her ear.
"I just heard your father's car pull up into the yard."
Spencer bit her lip to hide a smile and closed the robe tighter on her chest before standing up. She kissed Ashley quickly on the lips and they made their way back inside.
The whole thing was pretty amusing. Yesterday, she was complaining about Arthur was away too much. Today, she wished he would have taken his time getting home.
Although, she was looking forward to giving those eggs another try. For the three of them.