Smash and Grab

Chapter 4. Ben

I wake up with my tongue glued to the roof of my mouth and my eyes feel like someone has used 150 grit sandpaper on them. The morning sun streaming through the window assaults my closed eyes, disorienting me. My bedroom faces west so that I don’t have to deal with the sun first thing in the morning after a late-night gig.

I groan and try to rub my aching eyes, but my right arm is pinned down to the mattress. I squint, trying to let as little light in as possible, and glance over to see what, or who, I’m trapped under. The sight of turquoise hair brings back memories of the night before. “Sh*t,” I mutter. The memories are disjointed, but they’re enough for me to remember what I did with her. Did I use a condom? Normally, no matter how smashed I am, I always remember to cover up.

Heh-heh, I got Smashed alright.

F*ck!

I try to extract my arm, knowing full well if I sneak off before she wakes up, I’ll be one hundred percent that asshole, but I’m also not sure how to face her or the situation I’ve found myself in right now.

I need coffee.

As soon as my arm moves, she sighs in her sleep and rolls over. Her head nestles in the crook of my arm, her hand low on my stomach, and her breasts press into my side. I can’t help but stare at her. She fits me so perfectly, and she’s angelic in the early morning light. For half a heartbeat I think about what it would be like to wake up to the sight of her every morning. I can’t go there, though, I remind myself savagely. She’s too young. This, us, never should have happened.

I close my eyes, berating myself for being the biggest idi*t and jerk on the planet. Wasn’t I just saying the other day that I was tired of one-night stands? That I wanted to stop using women to chase away the memory of my ex?

Smash sighs again and stirs next to me. I look down into her bright blue eyes looking up at me. “Hi,” she says in a sleepy voice.

I pause, wondering if she’s really as ok as she seems waking up next to me. “Mornin’,” I say, not knowing what else to do. I’m still trapped underneath her, and parts of my anatomy are waking up to the thought of being underneath her in more fun ways.

She blinks slowly, her mind engaging, and her eyes go wide before she jumps out of bed, pulling the quilt with her to cover her body. “What… what are you doing here?”

I sigh and try to shift so my morning wood isn’t so obviously tenting the thin sheet. Her eyes flick to my crotch, then back to my face, her cheeks stained a pretty pink. “I’m pretty sure it’s obvious why I’m here,” I say dryly.

“I… I should go,” she stammers, looking around the unfamiliar room while trying to wrap the oversized quilt tighter around herself. I’m trying not to be annoyed by her reaction, since mine wasn’t much better, but it’s still a little insulting nonetheless. Her eyes land on her suitcase stacked in a corner and she stops fidgeting, letting the quilt drop enough to show the top swells of her breasts. “Wait, this is my room! You should go.”

I sigh again and lever myself up to sit on the bed. My head pounds painfully and I pause to let the room stop spinning, resting my head on my hands. Something catches my eye on the floor and I smile to myself as I see the torn open condom wrapper. Thank goodness for small mercies.

Smash sucks in a hiss of air when I stand up and pad around the room looking for my clothes. I see no reason to be modest- her mouth was on my d*ck last night and I can still taste her on my lips. “Look, Smash,” I say gently as soon as I’ve hauled on my pants. I might be a total assh*le, but that’s no reason to be a d*ck about this. “We’re both adults here, so I’m sure we can deal with this with candor.”

“Can you call me Ashlynn?”

I blink at her. “Ashlynn?”

“Yeah, it’s… it’s my name. My real name,” her voice is quiet and it takes a minute for me to understand what she’s asking. I guess candor is out. It puts my hackles up, even though I know I really shouldn’t take it personally. In fact, I should be grateful that she’s making this easier to walk away from. Knowing that I should be grateful and actually being grateful are two very different things, though.

I nod stiffly and gather the rest of my clothes. “Fine, Ashlynn,” I try not to sound bitter, but it’s a hard pill to swallow. Literally everyone calls her Smash. Even Kayla’s prim and proper parents call her Smash. This feels like she’s putting up a wall between us, and although I should encourage that, and maybe even put up a few of my own defenses, I can’t help but feel a little hurt that she obviously sees last night with me as a mistake. “I’ll see you at breakfast,” I say as I walk out the door. At least my walk of shame is short and it’s early enough that no one is hanging around to see me stalk out of her room.

I take a quick shower, hoping it’ll wash the memories of my night with Smash- Ashlynn- out of my head. The more I try to not think about her, the more I remember, until I have a raging hard on. Everything about her is perfect. The way she moved, the way she looked, the way she sounded, the way she tasted. And yeah, ok, she’s young. Probably too young for me, but it was working out for Ash and Kayla. Why couldn’t it work for Ashlynn and I?

Because relationships are not your forte, I remind myself bitterly. One-night stands and casual s*x seems to be all I’m good at. It used to be enough, but the memory of holding Ashlynn in my arms last night, both on the dance floor and in bed, and waking up with her, before it all went to hell, at least, has put an insane idea in my head. One I need to snuff out fast, because she made it very clear this morning that she is not interested.

I pull on some jeans and a t-shirt and make my way to the shared dining room where the group is meeting to have breakfast before going our separate ways. I’m distracted enough by the emotions running rampant through me, that I nearly plow into the back of Tone. He’s hard to miss with his hair dyed the same color purple as Ashlynn’s dress last night. The sight of it brings back the memory of her dress laying in a crumpled heap on the floor at her feet. Her long, muscular legs leading up to… cr*p. I can’t let my mind go there right now.

It’s a buffet style breakfast, so I grab a plate and fill it up with food, not paying much attention to what I’m grabbing. I’m not very hungry, but I need something to do with my hands. Once my plate is full, I turn to head to our table and come face to face with Ashlynn.

How is she even more gorgeous than she was yesterday? She’s pulled her hair back into a low ponytail, wearing a pair of gym shorts and a baggy t-shirt, and all I can think about is ripping her clothes off and ravishing her on the breakfast table. I swallow as I imagine her crying out my name like she did last night as I lick maple syrup off her n*pple.

“Hey,” she says, her eyes darting away from me nervously. I get it, she doesn’t want our night together to be public knowledge. It stings a little, but it makes sense. I really should follow her lead. Not imagining her naked on top of a stack of pancakes would be a good start.

“Hey,” I say back, trying to sound casual, but even I cringe at the forced tone. You’d think I’d be better at this morning after stuff, and usually I am. With Ashlynn it’s different, and I don’t really know why.

Not knowing what else to say to her that won’t get me in trouble, I flop down in one of the chairs at the table and start picking at my food. It’s just Ashlyn, Tone, and I in the room, and the tension feels suffocating. I glance up and realize Ashlynn and Tone are staring at each other like they’re having an entire conversation with their eyes. Tone notices me looking and turns his attention to the plate in front of him. The three of us sit in silence and it’s uncomfortable as f*ck. If I didn't have to take the newlyweds to the airport after breakfast, I'd probably take off early just to get away from this heavy feeling.

Finally, Ash and Kayla breeze in. She’s giggling at something he’s said, and I swear it’s like they’re even more in love this morning than they were yesterday. They each fill a plate before joining us at the table. My eyes bulge out of my head when I see how much food is loaded on Kayla’s plate. She’s a tiny thing, but there’s enough food in front of her to feed an army. Ashlynn and Tone both stop eating and stare at her while she tucks in.

After a few bites, she realizes we’re staring at her and she looks up, asking, “What?” with a forkful of eggs half way to her mouth.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you eat breakfast,” Tone says. “It’s weird.”

Kayla shrugs and chews her eggs. “It’s like reverse morning sickness,” she says without thinking. “The baby demands food in the morning. I get early afternoon sickness to make up for it, though.”

Ashlynn and Tone share a look that says a lot, while Kayla pales as she realizes what she just admitted and Ash smirks like the smug bastard he is.

“I knew it!” Ashlynn says triumphantly. She points across the table at Tone with her fork, “And you owe me five bucks!”

“I did not take that fool bet!” Tone says with a hint of indignation. “I’m the one that said she was knocked up first!”

“Sh*t, that’s not really how I wanted to make the announcement,” Kayla whispers and her eyes fill with tears. She sniffles and uses her napkin to wipe her eyes.

“Babe, it’s not a big deal,” Ash wraps his arm around her shoulders but he looks baffled at her reaction.

I roll my eyes and get up to get a box of tissues to put in front of Kayla. “Thanks,” she whimpers.

I shake my head and sit back down to continue to pick at my food. “When my sister was pregnant, she said the hormones were the worst part. Literally would start crying for no reason at all. It’s perfectly normal,” I try to reassure her. She gives me a watery smile that I return. Ash looks stricken and it takes all my will power not to laugh.

“When are you due?” Ashlynn asks. I feel a little bad that I know before Kayla’s best friends, so I keep my mouth shut and my eyes on my food.

“February 24th,” Kayla says. The minor crisis seems to have passed and she’s back to shoveling food in her mouth.

There’s a pause while Ashlynn and Tone do the math. “You’ve been pregnant for three months and didn’t tell us!” Ashlynn cries.

“Girl!” Tone adds his voice to the outrage, but they’re both smiling. “I blame you,” he adds, pointing his fork at Ash. “Our girl could not keep secrets until you came along.”

“Me? It was her idea to keep it quiet until after the wedding!” Ash says defiantly. “And who am I to deny my baby what she wants?” he adds, leaning over to give Kayla a kiss as she beams happily at him.

“Whatever,” Ashlynn says excitedly. “I’m going to be an aunt!”

“You already are an aunt,” Kayla points out and I remember one of the little girls that was a flower girl in the wedding ceremony called her Aunt Smash. Of course, she also called Kayla Aunt La-la, and Tone was her uncle, too, so I’m not entirely sure who she’s actually related to.

“Yup, and I’m going to spoil this little one even more than I do Olivia because I can!” Ashlynn smirks. I study her out of the corner of my eye, thinking about what she would look like heavy with our child.

I shake my head, trying to dislodge the thought. Nope, not going there! I need to get away from all this happy couples cr*p and get my head on straight. Of course, I still have to drive Ash and Kayla to the airport. But then, I’m going to get myself together and forget about any of these impossible thoughts about Ashlynn.

She chooses this moment to bite into a muffin and groans in pleasure. My d*ck jumps to attention, recognizing the sound instantly, and I close my eyes to try to get my body under control.

“So, this is a really nice place,” Tone suddenly says. “And the cabins are… mostly soundproof,” he adds with a pointed look at Ashlynn before sliding a look in my direction.

“Uh-huh,” Kayla smiles, ignoring his unspoken meaning. “And Preston seems nice.”

Tone’s fork clatters on his plate and he jerks his head in her direction, his eyes wide. “I… yeah, he’s… he’s a good guy,” he stutters. “He’s straight.”

Kayla snorts, but doesn’t say anything else. Tone’s implied meaning between Ashlynn and I is forgotten, and there’s tension again. I look to Ash, his brows drawn together while his eyes dart between the three friends. Finally, he looks at me, shrugs, and goes back to eating his breakfast.

What the hell just happened?