Fiction: Serving Up Trouble (Chapter 12)
I know I said I'd have this done earlier but it took me longer than I thought it would. Sorry so short! I really hope you like it. I want to once again thank all of you that take the time to read and review each chapter. I can't stress enough how much that means to me. I love seeing what you think, so once again, Thank you. From the bottom of my heart. Thank you. **hugs**
Title: Serving Up Trouble
Author: Jailynn
Rating: PG
Warning: I can't edit to save my life and this time I haven't had time to edit this chapter. SORRY!!!! Please forgive all mistakes...
Disclaimer: Not mine
Fandom: Y&R/GL
Type: Crossover, romance, friendship, humor, drama, angst, AU
Author's Note: As many of you know, Phillip (Chance's father) is back on the show already, but I'm not ready for him to show up yet in the story. It just goes to show how Alt-Universe my story really is. *laughing*
Feedback: Please and thank you
Word Count: 2228
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He laughs as her dog rolls again, kicking her legs into the air and making a sound that is caught somewhere between a growl and an attempt at singing. The rich sound of his voice, so filled with joy, causes tingles to form all over her skin. Ashlee forces herself to stop this train before she gets too far, but she knows in her soul she's too late. What she is starting to feel is so intense and way too soon. With her track record with men, its funny that it takes no time at all for her to recognize it. Love.
Four letters. Simple to say. Hard to understand. Easy to feel when she is around him. Even though it is still early to feel this way. Goodness, she thinks to herself, we've only just had our first kiss... a great, soul-scorching, mind blowing kiss, granted but still... Rolling her tongue along the fullness of her bottom lip, she wonders if he might feel something sizzling, burning between them as well.
It's a long shot. They just started connecting. And she doesn't even know if today counts as a first date. This could just be a friend thing...with really hot kisses involved. She closes her eyes and tries to control her breathing. Ashlee's body aches with need to feel his lips against hers again. It's crazy to need him so badly. To want to be with him so badly. What has he done to her? Common sense has left her in Chance's presence. He makes her weak and yet while in his arms, sitting beside him, telling him some of her story she felt like she's strong. He makes her smile, laugh, but she knows deep down if they continue down this road, if she lets him in any further, he will have the power to turn around and make her cry.
She takes a deep breath, then another and another after that. Would it be so wrong to go over there, to take this one chance and hope that he feels the same way? Looking down at her feet, planted on the concrete ground on the other side of her sliding glass door, Ashlee tries to think of all the pros and cons of what she is contemplating. She couldn't tell him that the insane chef is falling in love with him, but maybe she could show him? Or should she just enjoy the quiet between them and keep her wayward emotions to herself? It's only been a little over a day. Ashlee's not counting the two weeks since Fourth of July. That time was spent avoiding each other. A day isn't enough time to fall in love is it?
Maybe...maybe it is...She looks up at him out of the corner of her eyes. The fading summer sunlight catches his profile and she finds her heart pounding wildly in her throat. He looks so beautiful in that moment. There is a peace in the way he is standing, his shoulders aren't filled with tension, his face is relaxed and completely open. Ashlee wonders how many people have seen this side of Chance since he's come back home. How many people have been privy to this soft, yet masculine part of him. She pushes some hair over her shoulder and looks out at the world beyond her porch. The grass in the back is in the same shape as the grass in the front, dying with patches of lively green. Her wood fence is old and has some broken boards but keeps as much of the outside out as possible. Moxie jumps up from her spot in the rose bushes she recently planted and that are already dying, with dead, brittle, brown grass and leaves clinging to her fur. The sweet gray pooch chases her own tail for a moment then jumps as she nips the end of it. A warm feeling raises from her toes throughout Ashlee's body and she looks back at Chance. His eyes, sparkling with laughter look back at her. Once their gazes lock the rest of the world disappears. It's just the two of them on her back porch, nothing else exists.
Throwing caution to the wind, she rushes forward and presses her lips to his. Air leaves her lungs as his arms wrap around her, holding her soft curves to his firm body. It's perfect. So perfect. He moves them back so that her back is against the rough exterior of her home. She gasps a little sharply at the feeling of being caught between his heat and the hard wall. The small opening of her lips is all the invitation he needs and Chance snakes his tongue between her lips. The gasp she let loose only a moment before turns into a deep moan. Her head feels light and she can't tell if it's because of the lack of oxygen or because of her feelings for him. A smile blooms on her face when she realizes she just doesn't care. Her body arches up into him. She slides her hands up his solid chest to curl in the short dark hairs at the base of his neck.
Behind her eyelids there are explosions of color, fire blazes across her skin. She's burning up from the inside. He pulls away slowly and she feels the first real signs of being starved of air. Tilting her head back she pants into the night air as he kisses along her jawline. Chance starts laughing against her neck and her eyebrows slam together in confusion. He pulls back, keeping his hands on her cheeks, his thumbs graze her temples. His gray blue, summer bright eyes smile down at her. “I think Moxie is feeling left out,” he whispers.
Her confusion evaporates when she looks down and sees her dog resting on Chance's feet. Noticing that the humans are playing attention to her now, Moxie leaps up and places her paws on Ashlee's shoulders, giving both wet swipes with her tongue before barking. Ashlee uses the back of her right hand, which she reluctantly removed from Chance's hair, to wipe the slobber from from her face. Heat rushes up her neck and she can only laugh at the situation, “Uh,” she looks down at her dog and pets the puppy's head to break away from that intense, toe-curling stare of Chance's. “Would you like to go in and maybe watch a movie?”
His finger curls under her chin and tips it up so that he can see her. A quiet moment passes between them. Soft and full of something...something she knows the name of but is trying to convince herself it isn't real, it can't be real. His fingers caress her skin gently. She sucks in a slow breath to force the air into her lung. His eyes are holding her captive and she is coming to realize that she is only too happy to be under his control. The space between them shortens as he leans down inch by agonizing inch. Their lips brush slowly and softly but no less passionately when she feels the first drop.
Heavy drops of water fall onto her shoulders and her head. She squeals, jumping slightly and knocking his nose with her head. “Oh god, are you okay?” she asks when he lets out a sharp curse of pain. “I'm so sorry. I,” the rest of her sentence is drown out by the torrent of rain that descends upon them. She grabs his hand in hers, the one that isn't holding his injured nose, and pulls the sliding glass door open. Moxie runs in ahead of them, shaking the excess water from her body as Chance and Ashlee walk in. She quickly shuts the door, watching the rain come down harder. She shakes her head. It's impossible to see the other side of her yard now. Turning around, she bites her lower lip and moves closer to him. “Are you okay? Did I break it with my hard head?”
Chance drops his hand from his red but not bleeding nose and smiles a little mischievously at her. “First you punch me in the gut, then you head butt me...are you trying to leave me with permanent scars,” he holds her head in his hand again, “so I don't forget you?”
The teasing tone in his voice makes her want to smile. She swallows that smile and tilts her head into his hand. “Are you going to try and forget me, Chance Chancellor?”
The grin on his face slips and she hopes that she hasn't ruined the moment. Her fears fall to the side when he grips her neck tight enough to pull her in and whispers against her lips, “I don't think I could forget you even if I tried to Ashlee Wolfe.”
Her breath is taken from her body by the deep growl in his voice as he pulls her into his arms and devours her lips like a starving man would devour a feast. Her knees feel weak, so weak she isn't sure they can hold her weight. Luckily for her, Chance is holding her in his strong arms, keeping her from falling to the ground. The kiss breaks slowly, each wanting to savor the feel of this moment, of this connection. “You are quite a good kisser,” she says breathlessly and accidentally. Sometimes she wishes her mouth would ask her brain for permission to speak. Her cheeks flush a deep crimson. “I...uh...,” Ashlee ducks her head, shaking the fog from it.
He chuckles at her embarrassment and her statement. “You aren't so bad either.” Their hands link together, fingers entwine and their foreheads touch. “You are a surprise I had no way of being prepared for.”
“A good surprise,” she asks because she can't stop herself.
A beat passes, then another and another, her heart slams into her ribcage so hard she thinks it's going to fly out of her chest and land on the floor at his feet. As she begins to kick herself for asking that stupid question, he says, “You have no idea how good or how much I need someone like you in my life right now. Ashlee I need to tell you something. It might change your mind about starting this, whatever this is between you and me.”
“You can tell me anything,” she tells him as firmly as she can while being scared to death. What could he possibly say that would change her mind about wanting to be with him? She couldn't think of a single thing that would make her run...unless he turned out to be like Grady but... She smothers a shiver that slides down her back at the thought of her ex. Almost of their own volition her eyes fall on her computer screen. Ashlee forces her mind back on the subject at hand and wraps her arms around his neck. “I'm not that easy to get rid of.” Chance opens his mouth when the door bell rings. She swallows down a groan of frustration, holding up her fingers. “Let me get rid of this person and then we'll finish this.”
Walking over to the door, she stands on her toes to see through the peephole. A deliveryman stands on the other side with a clip board in his hand. She sighs and opens the door, putting a fake smile on her face. “Hi can I help you?”
“Uh, Ashlee Wolfe?” The blonde guy asks while looking at his clip board.
“That's me.”
He shifts the papers and pulls out a pen, pointing to the x at the bottom of the page. “I just need you to sign this while I go and get your package.” Ashlee opens her mouth then shuts it again, signing her name. She can't imagine what this could be. She isn't expecting anything. “Here it is.”
Looking up, Ashlee can feel the blood drain from her face. With shaking hands she takes the flowers from deliveryman's hands and tries to smile. She feels like throwing up. Her eyes glaze over as she watches the guy turn and leave her holding the flowers he brought her. She backs into her house and somehow has the presence of mind to close the door behind her. Ashlee tosses the bouquet of flowers, wildflowers- the type Grady always gave her after he beat her to a bloody mess as a way of making her forgive him- into the trash before running past Chance to the bathroom. She barely makes it to the toilet before everything she had to eat comes up. Tears roll down her face as she heaves. Once she's convinced nothing else will come up, she moves over to the sink and rinses out her mouth. In the mirror behind her, Chance stands there with a worried expression on his face. She turns and runs into his arms. Grady can't come back, he can't, she chants silently to herself, all the while wondering how long she can stay in denial.
“Hush,” he whispers into her ear. “It's okay. Whatever it is, it will be okay. I'll make sure it will be.”
Ashlee prays he's right.
TBC>>>>