hardest things he had ever done, but he did it, then sat up in bed.
"Oh my God, I can't believe what I almost did!" he groaned, his head in his hands, his breathing ragged.
"Why are you stopping?" Kaylee gasped. "I'm giving you the green light!"
"As much as it pains me to say, it just isn't right. Not right now," he replied, still panting.
Kaylee was getting angry. Her whole body flushed red with embarrassment and shame and too many other emotions to name. She yanked the blankets over her bare body. "What do you mean? You don't want me?"
Ashton looked absolutely horrified at the suggestion. "It's not that, trust me it isn't that! Does it look like I don't want you?" he asked, his frustration evident as they both looked down.
"Then...why..."
"Can you honestly tell me that if all this stuff wasn't happening with your brother that you'd still want this, right here, right now?"
Kaylee was silent for a minute. Her mind was clearing, and she began to understand what he meant. "It's not that I wouldn't want it, because I do, but I'm still afraid. I probably wouldn't have let it go that far if it hadn't been for the other stuff happening."
"That's exactly why I said 'Not now'," he pointed out.
There was a long pause. "Thanks, I guess," she finally said sheepishly. She couldn't believe how wrapped up in the moment she got.
Ashton leaned over and kissed her forehead. "If you'll excuse me, I have a date with a cold shower." He swung his legs over the side of the bed and was about to stand up when he felt a soft hand on his arm.
"Not so fast..." she murmured, and looked up at him. "I think I owe you something in return. Don't you?"
"You don't owe me anything," he said.
"But..." She gave him an impish grin. "What if I want to owe you?"
Ashton grinned and let her pull him back to the bed, where she proceeded to give him more pleasure than a shower ever could.
They both went to sleep that night with smiles on their faces. Kaylee was thinking about how different Ashton was with her than he was with all the other girls, and how impressed she was at his ability to stop himself, especially when she had lost all of her self-control. Ashton fell asleep thinking how great it would be when they finally did take the next step - but in the meantime, everything Kaylee did was absolute heaven to him.
"You guys need to stop ganging up on me and Brittany," Noah told Kaylee the next afternoon. "You know, I always thought I'd have you on my side. I never expected my sister to turn her back on me."
Kaylee sat at the kitchen table in shock. Noah had walked into the kitchen and immediately went after his sister, who had no idea that she had anything coming to her.
"What?" she asked, completely confused.
"You heard me," her brother growled.
"Noah, I never have and never will turn my back on you. I don't know what Brittany said to you, but she was the one who was rude to me. I was trying to get along with her."
"You've been against me and her from the beginning. I never said anything bad about you and Ashton, I'd appreciate the same from you," Noah spat at her and left the room.
Kaylee felt blind-sided. She didn't know what had just happened, and even though the fight wasn't that bad, she broke down crying. She and Noah rarely argued, and when they did, Kaylee felt the weight of the words a lot heavier than they actually were.
Ashton walked in a few minutes later to see a dazed look in Kaylee's eyes, tears streaming down her face. "Hey beautiful, what's wrong?" he asked, as he knelt next to her chair and took her face in his hands. He wiped the tears from her face with his thumbs, waiting to see what she had to say. It broke his heart to see her so upset.
"Noah and I. Got. Into. A. Fight," she sobbed. "About Brittany," she finally finished.
Ashton grabbed a tissue for her, and she blew her nose. After he threw it away, he pulled her out of the chair and sat down himself, pulling her back onto his lap. Her head went to his shoulder as his arms encircled her body and held her tight. He let her cry for a few more minutes, knowing that she'd be able to talk about it