The whimsical sound of wind chimes and the cadence of morning birds filled my room. My eyes fluttered open to the sight of a dull grey morning. The thick swirling clouds in the sky curtained the bright rays of the sun, casting their darkened shadow across the valley. My body quivered as I thought of that second erotic dream I’d had about Ashton as a demon. I guess there was no harm in enjoying a naughty little dream. Besides, it could be kept a secret between me, myself, and I.
I sat up with a smile and slipped out of bed. I had tried to make plans to go mushroom hunting with William and Amelia today. They had both initially agreed to come, but unfortunately bailed on me last minute like a couple of frosted flakes. William had a paper to write, Amelia was called into an early morning shift at her job, and I didn’t even ask Lacey because I knew that she had class already.
It was probably a dumb idea, and I knew Oliver would kill me if he found out, but I had decided to go alone anyways, despite all the crazed serial killer hullabaloo. I had been hunting for a patch of reishi mushrooms all season and I was determined to find those suckers, regardless of the possibility of running into a foaming at the mouth, heart collecting maniac, prowling around in the woods.
I threw on a dark red tee-shirt dress, and brushed out my hair but left it down. I knew that it would probably become rather tangled while I was out in the forest, but a killer would be less likely to attack me if I looked like a cavelady who’d just wrestled a bear. I grabbed a basket to collect with and threw my aunt's journal in to read later in the peace and quiet.
I briskly walked down the stairs, basket in hand, with a bright smile across my lips. I turned the corner and... froze with a horrified look on my face.
Oh shit...
Ashton was here... inside my house... in the living room... talking and laughing with William...
Fucking fuckity fuckfuck!
I carefully began to slowly and quietly creep backward. If I could just make it back around the corner and up the stairs without him seeing me, then I could go hide under my bed like a frightened house cat...
His golden gaze quickly snapped over to me and met the ‘deer caught in the headlights’ look that I was giving him... Dammit!
“Good morning, Gwendolyn.” He said with a devilish smile.
“Um... Good morning, Ashton.” I nervously cleared my throat. “W-what are you doing here?” I began slowly and warily walking a little closer to them, pretending that I wasn’t just trying to sneak away.
“You left your phone at my place. I’m returning it to you.” There was a mischievous twinkle in his eye as he held my small phone out in his large hand.
“Isn’t that just so sweet of him?” William said while giving me a ‘bow-chicka-bow-wow’ eyebrow raise, and pointing his eyes at Ashton in a suggestive manner while grinning.
“Oh... um okay, well thank you.” I walked over and he handed me my phone with a warm smile. “Well, I have to get going. Goodbye.” I quickly said and tried to skillfully slip out the door before he could say anything else. I didn’t even have my shoes on yet, but fuck shoes, I had to make a run for it!
In one swift swoop, his large muscly arm lassoed my body and pulled me into a big unreturned hug, locking me in with his tight boa constrictor grip. My arms were glued to my sides and my hands flopped around a bit.
“And where are you off to today?” He asked while smiling down at me.
“Oh, I’m just going to do some boring.. uhh.. stuff.. at um.. a place..” I said nervously with my stiff body still squished against him.
I certainly didn’t need this whacko knowing what I was doing or where I’d be, and I especially didn’t want him knowing that I’d be alone!
“She’s going mushroom hunting on the trails just down the road and everyone bailed on her, so she’ll be completely alone.” William pipped in. “Oh my god, Ashton, you should totally go with her!” He enthusiastically added, to my dismay.
“Oh, I’d love to.” Ashton answered with a sly grin.
“No, nono, I’m going to go alone.” I tried to squirm out of his iron grip while giving William a death glare.
“Gwendolyn, can I speak with you for a second?” William asked in a more serious tone while getting up and pulling me away from Ashton. “Do you mind?”
“Not at all.” Ashton replied as he shook his head and put his hands up.
“We’ll be right back.” William pointed down the hall, then quickly dragged me into the bathroom and shut the door behind us.
“Girl! What are you thinking!?” His voice was a stern sibilant whisper yell. “This drop-dead gorgeous man has seemingly descended down from the heavens upon you, and you’re really going to give him the cold shoulder like that!?” He scolded while shaking his perfect french manicured finger in my face.
“Dude, you don’t even understand! He’s a complete and total psychopath!” I sharply whispered back.
"Shushhh! He seems perfectly normal to me! In fact, he seems like a really nice guy! You’re just making up excuses to justify your incessant self-sabotage! Just let him go with you for crying out loud!”
“No, I won’t!"
“Yes, you will!"
“No!”
“Yes”
“No.”
“Yesss.” He hissed with a scowl.
“Listen, there is a motherfucking bloodthirsty serial killer prowling around somewhere out there, and you’re seriously telling me that you’d rather go into the woods all by yourself than with that behemoth of a man to protect you!?” He was stink-eyeing me hard. “Do not make me go wake up Oliver!”
“Okay, okay, I guess I’ll let him come with me.” I huffed.
I really just didn’t want to argue, and I especially didn’t want a lecture from a grouchy freshly awoken Oliver. Plus, it was weird that Ashton was currently here and waiting for us to finish squabbling in the bathroom.
We both calmly and casually walked out like nothing even happened. Ashton was now crouched down and petting Sr. Pepper Paws. My sweet fluffy kitty seemed to really like him. He was purring like a little motorboat and rubbing back and forth against his leg.
“Alright, I guess you can come if you want.” I exasperatingly mumbled.
“Wonderful.” He grinned at me as he stood up.
We both said goodbye to William as I threw my boots on. They were mischievously smiling at each other and glancing over at me as if there were some unspoken bro code going on between them. I scowled at William and walked out the door, with Ashton following closely behind.
The sight of a big black furry head lifting up to look at me, with much too intelligent yellow eyes, caught me off guard and made me jump. With a small whine, Belzar rose up to his feet and happily barked. You have got to be kidding me...
“Come on, Belzar.” Ashton patted his fluffy head and the three of us walked down the steps together.
An eerie mist swirled across the lawn and along the edge of the treeline. Its ghostly tendrils danced around the abundance of dewdrop adorned goldenrod and asters. The dark clouds wisped above us and smothered out any rays of light that might have tried to shine through their thick veil. Songbirds were pleasantly chirping away, allowing their voices to be carried through the balmy air.
“So which trail are we taking?” He casually asked as we began walking down the driveway. He put an arm around my lower back and his large hand grabbed my small waist.
“Oh right... Um, you’re not coming. I only invited you to get William to leave me alone.” I stated while trying to step away from his unsolicited touch. “So you can scamper on back to your car now.”
He quickly pulled me closer to him. “Hmm... No, I don’t think so. I’d much rather come with you. Besides, you may need protecting, there’s a serial killer on the loose after all.” He bopped me on the nose with his finger.
“Ugh, okay fine.” I groaned with an annoyed glare.
I figured that he’d probably end up following me like a little duckling regardless and I didn’t want to put up a fight. Plus, maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea for him to tag along. Who better to protect me from a psychopathic murderer than a fellow psychopathic murderer?
“I’m going on the blue marked trail, just a little further down the road. It leads to a big grove of hemlocks. I’m hoping to find some reishi mushrooms in there.” I said while tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.
“Excellent. It’s a date then.” He happily grinned at me.
“No, it’s not.” I said back, coldly glaring at him again.
He just laughed and put his arm around my shoulders. He constantly pulled me closer into his side every time I tried to sneakily slip away, as we continued to walk down the road towards the entrance of trails. Belzar was sniffing around and prancing happily behind us.
We eventually turned down the trail and began walking into the forest. Wonderful smells of earth and pine mixed with the fiery spice scent of Ashton filled my nose. The dense shade provided by the trees caused the forest to become much darker as we entered the hemlock grove. The sun still hadn’t peaked out from behind the clouds, allowing the thick morning mist to swirl around the forest floor unhindered like a ghostly shroud.
The birds continued to sing their sweet musical songs and flutter around in the branches above me. A tiny chickadee landed on a low-hanging limb of a hemlock, right in front of my face. Its little black eye inquisitively stared into mine, and I smiled at the bird as it sang its little “chicka-dee-dee-dee” song for me.
I knelt down to pick some St. John’s wort that grew from the damp forest floor. As I put the small yellow blooms into my basket, I looked over at Ashton, who had started playing fetch with Belzar using a large fallen stick. They looked like otherworldly beings dancing around as they played in the mist together. Belzar looked especially at home as his barks echoed through the dark forest. I could tell he was happy to have come along with us.
Ashton looked downright ethereal as his long raven hair flowed down the length of his back and danced around his masculine face in the misty breeze. His Black t-shirt and pants did nothing to hide his large muscular body. He wasn’t too bulky, in fact, he had just the perfect muscle-to-height ratio. His biceps and back flexed each time he held the stick over his head and threw it.. and the way his pants perfectly framed his butt... Oh my, how was this man so perfect looking?
My eyes slowly drifted away from his rump, and back up to his smugly grinning face. My cheeks instantly burned and became bright red as I realized that he’d just caught me leering at him. I nervously looked away and began awkwardly fidgeting with the hem of my dress... Whelp, I guess I should go find a rock to crawl under right about now...
"Oh, Buttercup! I think I may have found something over here.” He called over to me while motioning me over.
I composed myself and stood back up. He was still waving me over to him, so I slowly walked his way. Dead leaves and small sticks crunched under my boots until I was suddenly pulled into his side.
“Are those what you’re looking for?” He gestured over to a bunch of red shelf mushrooms embellishing an old rotting hemlock tree and raised a brow at me.
They were reishis ...Bingo!
“Oh my gosh!? Yes! I can’t believe that you found them so quickly! I’ve been looking for some all season!” I excitedly exclaimed in surprise with a small bounce. “Let’s go pick a few!” I said while giggling a bit as he smiled down at me, and we walked over to the patch together.
"Uh oh, looks like these mushrooms are in trouble now!” He snickered and reached up to grab a few.
I laughed as I held the basket out and he gently placed three of the crimson and amber ringed fans inside. He gave me a smile and I genuinely smiled back. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach from the way he was looking at me, and I almost forgot how crazy he was... almost.
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