Oh my freaking God! Not only did she buy me this, but she bought the same for my best friend so we could play against each other because she knew I missed him? Damn it, I need to marry this girl! Please let her fall in love with me, I promise I’ll make her happy, please! I begged silently.

“Anna, this is incredible. So thoughtful. I’m kinda speechless.”

She grinned and shrugged as if it was nothing. “I wanted to do something for you. I owe you more than I could ever give you for what you do for me. I just wanted to make up for that in some small way so you know I appreciate you.”

“You don’t owe me anything,” I countered, frowning. Everything I did for her, I did because I wanted to. I wanted to be there for her and make her happy; I knew deep down inside that was what I was made for.

“I feel like I do,” she shrugged.

I sighed and looked deeply into her chocolate brown eyes, wishing I could make her see that we were made for each other. “Well you don’t,” I dismissed.

She smiled and shrugged, reaching for my book. “Let’s just agree to disagree.” She flopped back against the pillows, flicking through the pages.

I shook my head, wondering if she’d ever see how special she was. I didn’t think she would. I settled back against the pillows too, looking through the games with a huge grin on my face. They were all things that I would choose for myself, and I couldn’t wait to play them. After a couple of minutes, I rolled on to my side, resting my arm over her stomach, just taking her in.

“Thank you,” I whispered, snuggling closer to her.

She turned her head to the side and smiled that mesmerising smile that melted my heart every time. “You’re welcome, Pretty Boy.”

Closing the distance between us, I pressed my lips to hers, kissing her softly.

Chapter Twenty-Two

~ Anna ~

After a couple of minutes of kissing, I pulled away. He looked so incredibly happy and heart-stoppingly handsome this morning. Twenty-two certainly suited him.

“I’m gonna go make some coffee. Maybe we could get some breakfast out or something?” I suggested.

“Sure,” he agreed, before looking down at the items in his lap. “What the hell am I gonna tell Nate?”

I smiled. “Well, I thought about that a bit, and figured maybe you could say that you won two in some competition. Tell him that you’re giving him one so you could play against each other.” That was the only thing I could come up with that fitted; he couldn’t exactly tell him that the Senator’s daughter bought it.

He laughed, his green eyes sparkling with happiness that made my heart soar. “You’ve covered all bases here. You’re a devious planner, huh?”

I nodded, rolling my eyes. “Oh yeah, I’m pretty sneaky, you need to keep your eyes on me.”

“Oh, I plan to keep my eyes and anything else that I can on you, don’t worry,” he flirted. I laughed and pushed him away from me playfully before jumping out of the bed and running across the room before he could stop me. At the door, I turned and blew him a kiss, grinning.

I practically skipped to the kitchen. As I flicked on the kettle, I let my eyes wander around his apartment. The place was actually extremely sweet. It was a total guys’ place though. The furniture didn’t match, and was all designed for practicality and not for how it looked, as with any bachelor pad. I smiled as I looked through his cupboards, finally finding what I was after and grinned as I pulled out two mismatched oversized mugs. I loved it here; his apartment made me feel safe and calm. This place was Ashton all over.

“Well, that’s definitely a nice view to wake up to in the morning,” a male voice purred behind me.

I grinned as I turned, knowing this would be the famous Nate Peters, Ashton’s best friend. As I expected him to be, Nate was gorgeous. All blond, spiky hair and blue eyes, tall and toned. The cocky, confident smile that was stretched across his face made him look just the right amount of cheeky. He was currently only wearing boxer shorts and a white vest. I could see why the girls apparently went crazy for him. In my opinion though, as hot as Nate looked, he had nothing on Ashton.

“Well thanks. I presume you’re talking about the fact that I’m currently making coffee, and not the fact that I’m not wearing very many clothes at the moment,” I stated, raising my eyebrows innocently.

He was smirking at me. “Of course I was,” he replied, just as innocently.

“Good.” I turned and grabbed another mug from the cupboard so I could make him one too.

“You must be Ashton’s girlfriend, Anna.” He moved so he was leaning against the counter next to me and folded his arms over his chest as he looked me over.

“And you must be Ashton’s best friend, Nate,” I answered, giving him a cocky smile.

“Yep,” he confirmed, popping the p. I rolled my eyes and went back to the coffee. “You know, Ashton said you were hot, but damn, that’s the understatement of the century,” he continued.

“Well, he told me you were a flirt who would try and get me into bed, but damn, I didn’t realise you’d start before nine in the morning.” I smirked back at him, chuckling. I liked this guy already; it was probably the fact that he was Ashton’s best friend. Ashton loved this guy, and anyone that got Ashton’s respect, got mine.

He laughed and shook his head. “That’s what he told you about me? I’m a womaniser?” he asked, faking hurt.

“Big time,” I confirmed, laughing.

“Maybe I’m just waiting for the right girl to set me on the right track, make me want to settle down,” he purred suggestively.

“Right, you know what? I can help you with that,” I answered, looking at him through my eyelashes.

He raised his eyebrows and smirked at me. “Oh really?” he asked, obviously interested, leaning in closer to me.

“Yeah,” I breathed, nodding and leaning in closer to him too, watching as his eyes widened and he flinched back slightly. I smiled. Clearly he was regretting flirting with his best friend’s girl now that I was playing along too. “I’ll help you find a girl tonight when we go out,” I added, winking at him and laughing as relief washed over his face.

He chuckled and shook his head. “You’re funny, no wonder he likes you. Mind you, I can think of a few other reasons too,” he muttered as his eyes skimmed my body again.

“Well at the moment, Nate, I’m struggling to find anything that he’d like about you,” I teased.

“Ouch, Anna, you wound me.” He put his hand over his heart, faking hurt.

The kettle boiled, so I spooned the cheap instant coffee granules into the mugs, plucking the milk from the fridge. “So how do you take it?” I asked, putting sugar in my coffee and extra milk in Ashton’s.

“I’ll take it and give it any way you want, baby,” he flirted again.

He’s an even bigger flirt than Ashton! Can he just not help himself? I wondered. “Right, well how about I give it to you strong and straight?” I offered, putting a strong black coffee down in front of him. He laughed in response. “I’m gonna go take this into my man, and start his birthday off right for him,” I winked at him and picked up the two coffees.

“Well, I will definitely see you later, Anna.”

I rolled my eyes as I stepped back into Ashton’s bedroom and kicked the door closed behind me. “Hey, Nate’s here,” I chirped, as I plopped back on the bed.

Ashton’s body seemed to stiffen as he frowned. “He’s up already? He was working until twelve.”

“He’s up; I just met him in the kitchen. He’s a funny guy,” I shrugged.

Ashton’s eyes tightened. “He hit on you, didn’t he?”

I smiled at his question. He was so overprotective of me, sometimes he seemed to forget that I wasn’t actually his girlfriend, although most of the time lately, I wished I was. “Yep, but don’t worry, I told him I wasn’t interested,” I promised, scooting to his side, setting the coffees on the bedside unit.

“I think you’re the first girl I’ve met that wasn’t interested in him,” he smiled, wrapping his arms around me, pulling my body closer to his.

I waved my hand dismissively. “Nah, I told you, I already have an extremely hot boyfriend,” I stated, smiling before continuing, “even if he is an old man now.”

He scowled jokingly. “Hey, don’t start with the age jokes; I’m a little sensitive about it.”

“Well, we could always say you’re twenty-one and three hundred and sixty-six days,” I offered, shrugging.

He laughed again. “Yeah, that definitely sounds better than being an old man,” he answered, trailing his fingers up my arm, making me ache all over. He grabbed his new camera off the bedside unit and held it out in front of us, snapping a photo before I could even protest.

“Hey! I haven’t even brushed my hair,” I whined.

“You look beautiful, Baby Girl. I love your messy bed hair.”

I smiled at that. I had a feeling he wasn’t joking either, I loved his messy bed hair too.

After drinking our coffee, I headed into the shower, and he went out to talk to Nate. I could hear him laughing and catching up with his friend; mostly they were talking about me. I showered and went back to his room to get dressed, pulling on a pair of cropped skinny jeans and a white tank top, slipping a black waistcoat over the top. After pulling on a pair of black wedges, I quickly dried my hair, scraping half up and leaving the rest half down. I didn’t bother with make-up today.

When I walked into the lounge, the talking stopped immediately, and two sets of eyes fell on me. I frowned at the abrupt change of mood and looked down at myself, wondering if something was wrong. “What? Should I change? Is this not appropriate LA clothing?” I asked, concerned because I didn’t bring lots of clothes with me, so I was limited on options.

“Damn, you look so damn hot that my mouth’s watering,” Ashton practically growled, looking me over slowly.