The Exclusive One

Chapter 8

Day 4.

6:00 a.m.

Parker:

I wake up wrapped in Ashton’s arms. We watched several movies last night and enjoyed each other’s company. And we also kissed… a lot. I stare up at his face and watch as he breathes steadily in and out. His eyelashes are so long that it makes me a little bit jealous because I would need makeup or fake eyelashes to get mine to look like that. I touch his cheek and watch as his eyes flutter open. He glances down at me and mutters, “I must be dreaming.”

I smirk, “Why on Earth would you say that?”

He scoffs, “Why else would I be in the same bed as you?”

I grin and roll over sitting on him as I lean down for a passionate kiss. He moans in approval as I lightly grind against him and he grabs my hips pushing me down on his erection. I gasp at his actions and he smirks into the kiss and I roll off of him with my cheeks burning so red that I’m sure I looked like a tomato. I hear him mutter, “You damn tease.”

I laugh as I look back at him and he smiles at me, “You know it’s cute when you blush.”

I don’t know if it’s possible, but I feel my face get even hotter by his words which means my blush must be blazing red. He lets out a loud laugh and says, “You are adorable, Par.”

I look back at him, “I still don’t want anyone to know about us yet.”

I see his eyes flash concern and he frowns and there’s a crinkle in his forehead as he furrows his eyebrows. I said, “I… just want to take this slow and enjoy my time with you without the pressures of others.”

He sighs, “Parker… I don’t quite understand what you mean by you want to go slow. You say that yet at the same time you’re making out heavily with me and… I’m just trying to understand what exactly you want.”

I sigh, “How about today we act like nothing has changed and you join me in here tonight and we will discuss more in depth about what exactly is going on here?”

He nods in agreement, “Okay, I suppose I should get back up to my room before someone catches us in here.”

I nod, “That’s probably a good idea.”

He leaves my room, per my request, but suddenly without him in here it feels cold and lonely. I sigh sadly, I’m already falling hard for this boy and it scares the hell out of me. I don’t know what I’m going to do with all of these emotions.

It makes sense that I’m falling so fast. I have known Ashton for years, but I just never allowed myself to get into that kind of headspace. I was worried how it would affect our friendship. But we’re older now… and I realize this could turn into something truly amazing.

I push myself out of the bed and go to take a quick shower. Whenever I get out of the shower I stand in my towel in front of my closet. I have no clue what I should wear. I want Ashton to feel attracted to me.

I hear a knock at my door, and I yell, “Hold on!”

I grab my bathrobe and yell, “Come in!”

Ryan comes into my bathroom and leans against the doorframe with his arms crossed as he smirks at me. I look at him, “What?”

“Something wrong?”

I roll my eyes and mutter, “Shut up.”

He laughs at me and I ask, “Do you know what the weather is going to be like today?”

He chuckles, “Snowy, like it always is at this time of year.”

I groan as I turn back towards my closet and he sits down on the edge of my bathtub as he pretends to inspect his nails, “Having trouble deciding what to wear?”

I sigh, “Yes, Ryan, I am having a perfectly normal girl crisis now shut up.”

He grins at me and I want to smack his damn face for the look he gives me. He comments, “You know… until last night you’ve never had an issue picking out an outfit.”

I glare at him and if it’s possible he smiles even bigger then asks, “Would you like some assistance from Ashton’s best friend?” He stands up and playfully tugs on his shirt as if he were playing with suspenders.

I mutter as I sit where he was at, “Yes please.”

He looks through my closet and pulls out a white sweater that’s long enough it hits right below my butt and then grabs out red velvet leggings and passes it to me. I scrunch my nose up mainly because I don’t remember owning either of these and Ryan smirks, “Nikki, Bella, and Lorelei have been occasionally sneaking clothes into your closet in hopes that you would develop a ‘feminine’ taste.

“Ha-ha so funny.” I say as I grab the clothes and get into my walk-in closet and c***k the door so I can still talk to him. I get out and ask, “How do I look?”

He smiles, “Ashton will drop dead, Parker.”

I roll my eyes, “Yeah, sure he will.”

I sit at my vanity and start putting on make-up and I hear Ryan say, “So, I got in touch with Bella last night.”

I turn towards him, “You what?”

He smiles softly, “Yeah, I was able to get into her head. She has no clue where they are and she seems weak, but overall it seems like they’re fairing decently well.”

There’s a knock at my door and I yell, “Who is it?”

“Ava!”

“Come in!”

She comes in and says, “Well, don’t you look gorgeous?”

I smile half-heartedly as I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear and say, “Really?”

She grins, “Yes.” She looks over at Ryan and asks, “Ry, would you mind leaving us alone for a few minutes?”

Ryan leaves the room and Ava looks at me with a smile and asks, “Would you like me to do your hair?”

I smile and turn my back to her passing her a brush and a hair tie. She gets started and says, “So… what’s the sudden change in your appearance?”

My cheeks are burning in embarrassment. I didn’t realize I was being so obvious and she giggles at me, “Fine, Parker, I’ll leave you alone until you’re ready to talk about it. But I will say that he must be a lucky guy.”

I mutter, “Thanks Ava.” Then I speak up changing topics, “Did you need anything?”

“I actually wanted to see if you’d like to come into the office with me today. I’d like to work on something with you.”

I grin in response, “I’d love to.”

“Great! Whenever you’re ready just let me know.” She gets up and I look in the mirror to see that she did a side braid on my hair. She grabs something out of my closet and places a cream knit beanie on my head with a burgundy pompom ball on the top. I smile, “Thanks, Aves.”

“Anytime, girl!”

She exits my room and I breathe out slowly hoping that Ashton likes it. I grab my favorite pair of combat boots and head out the door.

 ******

Day 4

9:00 a.m.

Ryan:

I’m sitting at the barstool at the island with Jasper sitting next to me. Tom is standing across from him and Ashton is in front of me. Travis standing on the side with a scowl across his face.

He always looks like he ate a sour lemon. I don’t know if his mood is because we don’t know where Lorelei is or if it’s just because he’s a grouch. Emma turns around from the oven and exclaims, “Hold your plates up boys!”

We all lift our plates up as she comes by scooping scrambled eggs onto them, then stacks bacon, and then pancakes. I smile at her, “Thank you Emma.”

The other boys with their mouths full all thanked her as well.

We hear a door open and look over to see Ava coming out of Parker’s room. She rushes to Emma’s side and grabs her plate and whispers something to Emma that has them both giggling. Then Ava announces, “Parker is gonna come with me to work today.”

Tom asks, “What for?”

“I have a special project I wanna do with her.” She looks over at Jasper and asks, “You wanna join us?”

He smiles, “I’ll help when I can, love, but I have work I have to accomplish as well.”

She nods in understanding and we hear the door open again. I look at Ashton and watch as his mouth pops open from the sight of Parker. She smiles as she greets us, “Good morning everyone!”

She takes a plate from Emma saying thank you and Ashton still hasn’t taken his eyes off of her. I get into Ashton’s head and say: Dude if you don’t shut your mouth, you’re going to catch flies.

Shut up.

I smirk as I watch him quit staring at her with a blush covering his cheeks. She glances over at me grinning ear to ear because she knew she got Ashton flustered.

We all chat around the table and soon Parker, Ava, and Jasper all leave which left Thomas, Emma, Travis, Ashton, and I left.

Thomas and Emma quickly go off to their room and Ashton excuses himself and runs up the stairs and Travis glares at me with his arms crossed. I sigh, “What’s your problem, man?”

He scoffed as he slammed his hands down on the island, “My problem is your sister.”

I feel like I’m seeing red from the rush of rage running through me. I growl, “Don’t bring her up.”

He yells, “It’s all her fault that Lorelei is gone!”

I yell back, “Bella is gone too! I know what you’re going through! I can’t help what she did so why the f**k are you taking it out on me!”

Before I knew it, his fist was colliding with my face. I am in shock by his actions. I glare at him and go to fight back. He dodges my hit easily and kicks me so I’m now on the floor. I look up at him as he takes a kick to my ribs. I grab his leg and pull him down and we both fight for control.

I hear Ashton yelling in the background.

I hear more footsteps and know that Emma and Thomas are probably in here too. I hear the faint sound of their screams, but I’m not focusing on what they’re saying because all I can focus on is Travis.

We finally get separated and I can see the bruise forming on his face and his split lip has blood coming out of it. He scowls at me and then the others and yells, “This is it! I’m out of here!”

He runs off and Emma and Thomas both chase after him to talk to him and Ashton looks at me, “What happened?”

I shrug, “He started bringing up Nikki and I got upset and then he punched me.”

I can see in Ashton’s face that he’s skeptical, but he’s also not going to press any further right now.

******

Day 4.

1:20 p.m.

Parker:

I went with Jasper and Ava to work today and so far, it’s been pretty fun. I learned that they work more in our computer and design department. So, part of what Ava does is she designs uniforms for everyone, and Jasper helps customize it to hopefully help enhance people’s powers. It’s still a work in progress, but Ava wanted me to come in today so she could get my size and let me help her pick out fabrics for the design she will be making me. Jasper won’t be working on it until he sees what powers I end up gaining.

We decided to make a jumpsuit for me we know that it will be black, and it’s made with a fabric to help me keep warm and dry in the winter but wouldn’t make me overheat in the summer.

Ava is still sketching and trying to figure out what else she wanted to add to it. I read a book and glance up seeing that Jasper and Ava constantly make lovey dovey looks at one another. I smile softly I’m glad that they have each other.

And I can’t help but wonder is that what Ashton and I look like when we look at each other?

Jasper gets a phone call and I can tell he’s stressed out over what he heard. Ava goes to him and rubs his shoulders trying to get him to calm down. He looks at her then over at me and says, “I gotta go help Tom with something. I’ll be back later girls.”

We both nodded in understanding and after he left she looked over at me and said, “Travis is leaving the house.”

My brows furrow and I ask, “Why?”

She sighs as she shakes her head, “There’s been a lot of issues going on with him that none of you know about, but he just got into a fight with Ryan and he left to go pack.”

“So… he wants to leave?”

She nods yes and I sit back in my chair. I guess it’s for the best he never really fit in with the rest of us. It seems to me like it came out of nowhere though and that’s just odd.