“I still wish that you would come with my family to the island,” Preston commented as he sipped his wine, “Is there anything I can do to change your mind?”
Ashley shook her head as they sat in front of the fireplace in Preston’s living room. It was the day before Christmas Eve and they had just exchanged presents. She now wore another sign of Preston’s affection on her wrist- a 25-carat diamond bracelet. She felt as if it were weighing her arm down. The simple sweater that she had given him didn’t seem nearly as extravagant, but for some reason she hadn’t been able to think of anything to buy him.
“You know I would love to, Preston, but I can’t. My parents are in Aspen and I can’t leave Bradley alone on Christmas,” Ashley reasoned.
“But you can go to Nick’s family’s home in L.A.?” Preston asked skeptically.
“Bradley’s going with me. We’re flying out right after we open presents on Christmas morning and we’ll be there just in time for Christmas dinner. Neither of us has seen the Carters since they moved and this is probably the only opportunity that we’ll have for a while.”
Preston leaned closer to her and whispered seductively in her ear, “Are you sure there isn’t anything I can do to convince you?”
Ashley cringed inwardly and her stomach did flip-flops at his innuendo, “Positive.”
She felt his lips against her skin, slowly making a trail to her mouth. His lips touched hers and it took everything inside of her not to push him away. Ashley couldn’t keep her mind from remembering Nick’s tender kisses and the way his hands had gently caressed her. Everyone of Preston’s kisses were the same, as if he had practiced, and were nothing at all like Nick’s. She felt Preston’s hands play with the bottom of her shirt and then in what Preston tried to make surreptitious, Ashley felt his hand against her bare stomach.
She pulled away from the kiss and pushed his hand away, straightening her shirt, “Preston, I don’t think that this is a good idea.”
Preston gave an aggravated sigh, “I don’t understand what the problem is, Ashley. It’s not like we’re not getting married.”
Ashley fumbled for an answer, “That’s not the point, Preston. It’s just that I’m not ready.” Silently to herself she thought that she just wasn’t ready for him. Had it been someone else, perhaps Nick, the story might have gone a little differently. She knew, though that Nick would never pressure her into anything she wasn’t ready for.
“I just don’t understand why you have to be so square about this,” Preston drained his wine glass and stood, “Are you going to be this way on our wedding night, too?”
Ashley didn’t respond for a moment, letting his words register in her brain. If he loved her, he should be willing to wait for her. Why was that never the case with Preston?
Ashley rose slowly from her spot on the floor, “Preston, I think I better get going. It’s getting late and I’ve still got a ton of wrapping left to do for Bradley. He’s staying the night at Nick’s so I can get all of it done and I better take advantage of it.”
“Why isn’t he at your parents’ home?”
“Because they’re out of town and there’s no good reason for him to stay there two days before Christmas with just the maids. I couldn’t do that to him.”
“Yes, well, let me get your coat, darling.”
Ashley allowed him to help her with her coat, thanked him for the bracelet, and made her way to the door. Just as she’d hoped he wouldn’t, Preston leaned in and kissed her goodnight. She ended the kiss before she knew he’d have liked it to end and slipped out the front door, questions running through her mind.
*****
Around the same time, Nick walked into his rec room, where Brian and Bradley were playing Sega. He sat down the three pizza boxes that had just been delivered on the table. Howie, A.J., and Kevin dug right into them.
A.J. looked up at Nick with a mouth full of cheese, “Aren’t you going to offer us anything to drink?”
“Are your legs broke?” Nick asked.
Howie spoke through the bite he was chewing, “I’ll take a Mountain Dew.”
“Mountain Dew here, too,” A.J., said.
“Okay, since the rest of you are incapable of getting off of your asses I’ll get the drinks. Kevin, Mountain Dew?” Nick asked.
Kevin wiped his hands on a napkin and stood up, “I’ll help you get everything.”
Kevin followed Nick up the stairs and into the kitchen, “Did you get Ashley home okay the other night?”
Nick nodded as he pulled several cans of Mountain Dew out of the refrigerator, “Yep. She puked everything she drank all over my shoes, but I finally got her into the car and back to her house.”
“Her actions were so strange that night. Kristen said that when they went to the bathroom Ashley said some stuff that worried her.”
“That whole day sucked. If I had wanted to, I could have gotten wasted out of my mind, too.”
“If you want you can tell me what happened,” Kevin offered.
Nick sighed, “I don’t even know what happened, Kevin. I mean I thought she was just my best friend and then, I don’t know, I guess everything started changing for some reason.”
“Do you love her?”
Nick pondered the question for a moment, being careful to choose his response, “If it isn’t love, then it’s pretty close. I always thought that being in love wouldn’t hurt like this though.”
Kevin began to respond but was interrupted when A.J. walked into the room, “Who the hell is in love? Nicky?”
“Oh, God,” Nick covered his face with his hands.
A grin spread across A.J.’s face, “Don’t be ashamed, Chaos. Who’s the lovely lady?”
“Five minutes ago you couldn’t get up off your ass to get a drink. Why are you in here now?” Nick whined pathetically.
“Because,” A.J. talked to Nick as if he were five instead of nineteen, “You took so long getting the drinks that Howie started choking. By the way you sound like a girl when you whine. Don’t do it. Anyways, who do you love?”
Nick threw his hands up, “I don’t know if I love anybody.”
A.J. looked at Kevin for an explanation.
“Ashley, Bone. He’s in love with Ashley. It wasn’t that hard to figure out,” Kevin answered.
“Oh, we always knew that,” A.J. said simply, as if it were common knowledge.
“I never said I was in love with anybody,” Nick protested.
“You might as well be,” A.J. took one of the cans of Mountain Dew from Nick, “What’d you get her for Christmas?”
“Remember that jewelry store in Italy? The one with all the heirloom stuff?” Nick asked.
“The really expensive place? That was on around the corner from the tattoo parlor?” A.J. recalled.
“That’s the one,” Nick walked over to the bar in the kitchen and handed A.J. a long velvet box.
A.J. opened it to find a bracelet. It was a thin gold chain with tiny teardrop pearls strung along its length. A.J. whistled under his breath, “This is perfect for her.”
“You think?” Nick asked, “I also bought her this music box that was like a hundred years old or something. It plays her favorite piece of music- Canon in D.”
“I’d say you did pretty good. Both those things seem right up her alley,” Kevin commented.
“Is somebody coming with the pop?” they heard Brian holler up the stairs.
“We’re on our way,” Nick yelled back.
“Hurry up, Carter! One of your dogs is peeing on the floor,” Howie called.
“Shit,” Nick cursed grabbing a roll of paper towels.
The doorbell rang as they were heading back towards the stairs.
Nick walked over to the door, with A.J. following him. He swung it open to see Ashley.
“Brown Eyes, what are you doing here?” Nick asked, precariously balancing the paper towels, a bottle of carpet spray, and Mountain Dew.
“I was just on my way home from Preston’s and I came by to see how Bradley was doing. If he’s getting on your nerves I can take him home,” Ashley offered.
“He’s doing great. He’s downstairs playing Nintendo with Brian. It’s A.J. who’s getting on my nerves,” Nick joked pointing at his friend who was standing at the door also, “What’d Preston give you for Christmas.”
Ashley sighed and held out her wrist to show him the bracelet.
Nick swallowed thickly. His present could never compare to the diamonds that sparkled on her wrist, “Wow. How many carats is that?”
“I don’t know. I think twenty-five or something. It’s weighing my wrist down though.”
A.J. grabbed her wrist, “Let me have a look at that.”
Ashley waited patiently for A.J. to finish examining her present. She was totally oblivious to the look of sadness on Nick’s face, “Well, I better get going. I just thought I’d stop by to see how he was doing, but I don’t want to interrupt your guys’ night.”
“You sure you don’t want to say hi to him?” Nick asked.
“Nah. I’m sure he’s having fun. Just tell him I said hey and I’ll see him tomorrow, okay?” Ashley turned to walk back out the door, “Bye, A.J. Bye, Nicky. Thanks for letting Brad stay here. See you tomorrow.”
Nick shut the door behind her and didn’t speak for a moment.
Kevin walked out of the kitchen, “Was that Ashley? What’d Preston give her for Christmas?”
“This massive diamond bracelet,” A.J. said, “It had to weigh at least a pound.”
Nick finally spoke, “I can’t give her that other bracelet.”
“What? Why not?” A.J. asked.
“You saw that thing she was wearing. My bracelet looks like it came from a vending machine compared to that.”
“Nick, you know she’s going to appreciate yours much more than Preston’s. That bracelet is not even her style, I’m sure. Yours’ is. Just give it to her. You have nothing to worry about,” Kevin reasoned.
“I don’t know. I’ll think about it. Let’s get downstairs though. I’ve
got to clean up that dog piss before it dries.”
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