The rest of the afternoon passed almost too quickly, Ashley was just so much fun to be around that the time flew by. My family loved her. The way my mom was looking at her was enough to make Ashley run for the hills, but she didn’t seem to mind, in fact, she seemed to like it. She was happily chatting away to my mom, and joking around with my sisters as if she’d always been a part of us. When the party drew to a close, my family stayed on the beach and lit a fire, sitting around eating the last of the food up so it didn’t go to waste. I pulled Ashley onto my lap as we sat on the sand around the fire. My hands seemed like they had a mind of their own when I was around her, I couldn’t even stop myself from tracing my fingertips over up and down her legs, loving the feeling of her skin under my hand. A couple of hours ago she had donned my shirt, and holy fuck, the girl somehow managed to look hotter in my clothes than in that cut out little bikini thing. For a joke, I’d made her

I laid there with my mouth open in shock while she just stared at me with big wide eyes, looking like she wasn’t sure what to say or how to respond. I gulped. What the hell was that? Did I really just say those words? Why the hell did I say that? Why, Jace, Why? I’d just said the three words that I had never said to a girl in my life. I’d just told her that I loved her. What. The. Fuck? Seriously, how do I make this right? Quickly, Jace, think of something. Take it back. Rewind. Rewind! Shit! “I… I… sorry… I…” Fuck me, stuttering is NOT helping! She pulled back slightly and sat next to me on the bed, clutching the sheet and pulling it to cover her chest. She looked like she was terrified, like she was literally scared motionless. Oh God, help me! “Ashley, I-I haven’t been with a girl for a long time and that was just… I was… er…” Where the hell was I going with all this stuttering? I groaned and closed my eyes, wishing that a big bolt of lightni

The following two weeks passed quickly. I was hanging around Ashley and DJ like a bad smell; I literally couldn’t get enough of their time. The kid seemed to like me more and more each day. We hung out, laughed, played and joked around, it was fun. Even though it wasn’t his turn to have him, Josh had kept true to his word and had picked DJ up for a few hours, taking him to the park to play ball the following weekend after I’d given him the money. Although it was nice to get some alone time with Ashley, deep down I didn’t like the fact that Josh was making an effort. I knew that I should like the fact that he was trying to turn over a new leaf, but part of me wondered how long it would last for, and if he would hurt them both again in the long run. DJ especially would be hurt if he suddenly changed and stopped calling him every other night and turning up when he was supposed to. Ashley had obviously hardened herself to it because they’d been apart so long, but the kid would be

As I headed back to the group that I arrived with, I heard Ashley doing the introductions between our parents. I had no idea what George was going to think of my mother and all her craziness. I stepped to Ashley’s side just as they all finished shaking hands. Ashley turned to me and smiled. “You’re mean to him,” she whispered, slipping her arm around my waist, nodding at Seth. I laughed and shook my head. “No I’m not. He hit on your mom,” I replied. I looked back to my mom who was still crouched on the floor next to DJ, looking at him like he was the best thing since sliced bread. “Don’t scare him with your weirdness, Mom.” She beamed up at me happily. “I’m not scaring him, we’re doing stickers. Right, sweet pea?” She nudged DJ gently. He grinned and nodded, pulling out more of them. Bryson wandered back with Seth next to him. I stifled my laughter at Seth’s disgruntled face as he complained about the security. “What was that about?” I asked, nodding back to the do

I stood there with my mouth open in shock, staring at her because she’d just argued with her dad for me, she’d just told him that she was crazy about me and was fighting my corner. Part of me wanted to point at him and shout, ‘Ha! In your face, old man!’ The other part of me wanted to grab her and hold her so tightly that she wouldn’t be able to breathe. I loved those words coming out of her mouth, because I was totally crazy about her too. A smile pulled at the corners of George’s mouth as he shrugged. “Just checking.” “Just checking what?” she huffed. He laughed. “I was just checking if you were serious about him. It appears your mom was right.” What the hell? Was he testing her? Her mouth dropped open in shock. “You mean you were just trying to get to me say all that stuff about Jace, just to see if this was serious or not? Why didn’t you just ask me if it was serious, instead of making me blurt all of that out in front of him, probably making myself look li