Lily's POV

As I crawled further up the bed, trying to rid my brain of the memories, from the past, Asher walked closer to me. His steps were slow and steady, his eyes set on his target without any deterioration. The target was me and I couldn't have wanted him to stop any more than I did at that moment. He sat down on edge of the bed, leaning closer to me. Despite my discomfort, I was left a blushing mess. I would've thought that I was overcome by my blushing side but I was too busy trying to scoot away from Asher to notice.

Suddenly, he took hold of me by the waist and put me down in his lap. I looked at his face wide eyed, all thoughts of Carter gone from my head. He leaned in closer and put his forehead against mine, closing his eyes. He then said,

"Why do you do this to me? Do you have any idea how hard it is to restrain myself when I see you being so strong and beautiful?"

I was beyond confused. What was he saying. Suddenly, his eyes opened and he looked at me, his eyes filled with... admiration. Before I knew it, he had pushed my body fully against his and his soft lips were attached to mine. His kiss was soft, slow and warm. It didn't fill me with sparks. Rather, it made me feel as if someone had lit up a cozy fire in my icy body. Once I got over my shock, I kissed him back. His hands moved from my waist to my face and he gently cupped my cheeks, as if I was a fragile cloud that would dissipate if not handled gently.

His kiss filled me with warm emotions and I couldn't stop myself from kissing him back. Once, I ran out of breath, I pulled back, blushing brightly. We both caught our breaths before Asher took me by my arm, made me lean back against the headboard, and started kissing me passionately. Tingles shot up my spine as I tried to kiss him back.

Suddenly, an image of me and Carter in a passionate kiss flashed in front of my eyes. The first time we had kissed. When I had fallen into his trap. I pushed Asher off me and pushed him outside the bedroom, locking the door and sinking to the ground. Holding my head, I tried to get rid of the memories. I could hear Asher knocking against the door, but I ignored him. After a few minutes, his knocking turned into banging and my breathing increased as it was exactly the way that Carter would demand me to open the door. Tears started to flow down my cheeks as I scratched at the door, silently begging Asher to stop.

His knocking continued, and I could faintly hear him asking me something that sounded like "Are you okay?". Having had enough of the banging, I mustered up the last bit of my strength, leaned up and opened the lock, peering outside to see Asher frozen mid-knock. His eyes were roaming around my face, looking at my tear stained cheeks and quivering lips. I hoarsely whispered,

"Please stop. I-I can't.... I-it's just... memories. Please stop."

His wide eyes showed recognition and he immediately opened the door wider, coming inside and engulfing me in a hug. He buried my face in his chest and softly stroked my hair. At that moment, I knew that he was nothing like Carter and pushing him away had been a big mistake. But I also knew that this reaction of mine wasn't a one time thing. I wasn't ready to be in a relationship because it would be unfair to my partner. He wouldn't get to kiss me or anything else without reminding me of Carter. I knew that Asher probably wasn't looking for a relationship, but if he was, I planned to reject him. No matter how much my heart would hurt, I couldn't make him suffer with some broken girl like me.

In that moment, right there in his arms, I had made my decision. I wasn't going to back out of it any time soon. His soothing hug and comforting presence made it hard for me to get away from him, but eventually, I forced myself to detach my arms from his shoulders. He looked at me intensely and said,

"So... Is the kiss... okay? I mean... I really like you a lot and... I don't want us to remain friends."

His eyes were shining with so much hope that I had to force myself to do what I did next. Taking a deep breath, I said,

"Um... well... I'm not interested. I guess it was just a spur of the moment kind of thing. I'm sorry."

I bit my lip, hoping he would believe me. His face instantly hardened and his eyes narrowed.

"You expect me to believe that? Obviously there's a bigger story. However, the reason that you're giving me is genuine, I'm not gonna stop trying to change your mind. I'm not sorry."

With that, he kissed me on the forehead and left the room, leaving me in a state of pure shock. How did he know me that well? I mean, hadn't it been only a few months since we actually started to talk? I got up from the floor, walked to my bed and sat down on it. Reaching for my ringing phone, I saw that Cole was calling. I picked it up and the first thing I heard was,

"We were outside the window. Explain."

Slowly turning my head to look at the window, I saw three, angry looking guys sitting on the ledge with branches and leaves stuck in their hair. Looking at the ceiling, I thought,

"What did I do to deserve this?"

*laughs nervously while hiding behind a couch* Hii! How are you doing? Please don't kill me. It'll get better. If you guys didn't already plan my murder, please comment, vote and share. Thank you all for reading. Love you! Peace out! <3

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