I burst into song, singing ‘I’m getting married in the morning, ding dong the bells are gonna shine,’ at the top of my lungs, which gained us a few weird looks from the few people stupid enough to be out at this time of the morning. Ashton laughed and shook his head, “It’s ‘ding dong the bells are gonna chime’, you dumbass. Not shine! Why would you be singing about bells shining?” he asked, looking at me like I was stupid.
I frowned. “Really?”
He nodded in confirmation as we both immediately raced for the elevator, practically pushing Seth, my dad and George out of the way as we both jumped in and jabbed the button for his floor at the same time. When the other three went to step in with us, we laughed and pushed them back out, Ashton hitting his fist on the close doors button so they would have to take the stairs.
“No. You assholes. Open the doors! I’m not carrying his heavy ass up thirty-odd flights of stairs!” Seth cried as he practically dropped George and glared at us.
Ashton and I both waved teasingly as the last few inches closed. “Last one to the apartment sucks balls!” I called, winking at Seth jokingly.
Ashton and I both burst out laughing as Seth started banging on the doors to the elevator, dramatically shouting for us to come back. I rubbed my stomach as it growled loudly; I was actually starving hungry now. When was the last time I ate? It had to be lunchtime yesterday. No wonder my vision was swimming.
“You gonna make food?” I asked, looking at him hopefully. At this point, I was past caring that Ashton had to be the worst cook in the world; I would eat anything before my stomach started eating itself.
He nodded and shrugged. “Sure.” I followed him down the hallway, both of us knocking on doors as we ran past, knowing that, by the time the occupants got to open it, the other three guys would probably be walking past and would get in trouble. Ashton and I were like little kids when we got together sometimes.
We were both snickering and shushing each other by the time we got to his apartment door. He let us in, and we both headed straight for the kitchen, trying to be quiet because Anna would probably be sleeping. Cameron, their baby, was with their in-laws, though, so at least we wouldn’t have to worry about waking him up.
As I rummaged through their freezer, I found chicken nuggets, onion rings, and a couple of frozen microwave meals. I threw them all in the oven and microwaved the meals, standing there with my stomach growling, just waiting to eat already. While I was doing that, Ashton was busy rummaging through his alcohol cupboard, pulling out more bottles and putting them on the side.
“Fish bowl?” he suggested. He grabbed one of Anna’s vases from the side, throwing the flowers on the side and tipping the water away. He didn’t even bother to wash it properly before he started adding the alcohol, just rinsed it out a couple of times. I winced. There was not a chance I was drinking that.
“Know what we should do? We should get the blender and add some food to it and make Seth drink it as a dare!” I gasped, grinning excitedly.
Ashton looked at me with wide eyes as he nodded, tipping some orange Fanta and Dr Pepper into the vase before adding shot after shot of stuff to it. In their fridge, I found some apple juice, so I tipped that in, too. This one actually looked worse than the one at the bar.
An urgent knocking sounded at the door, so Ashton went to answer it. I laughed as I heard Seth cussing him out, telling him that an old lady had just shouted at him for knocking on her door and waking her up. I grinned and checked the timer on the oven before looking through their kitchen to find the blender. I knew they had one somewhere; we’d had frozen margaritas here before.
Seth trotted into the kitchen, pouring himself a glass from the vase and sipping it before wincing. “This tastes like crap,” he groaned.
I nodded. “Know what would make that taste better, buddy?” He looked at me curiously, so I pointed to the oven. “Food.” I grinned excitedly. “How about we play dares?” I offered, rubbing my hands together happily.
I really couldn’t laugh anymore; my whole stomach hurt. Watching Seth try to drink the concoction we’d made, had almost made me sick, but it was so totally worth it. George couldn’t watch it at all; he literally was sick. He blamed it on the dare and Seth choking on a lump of unblended chicken nugget, but in reality, he was just expelling more alcohol again. He’d ingested way too much. He was currently dozing on the armchair, clutching a bowl on his lap in case he was sick again. My dad was lying on the floor, trying to fall asleep. Seth was zoned out on his back, whimpering in his sleep and frowning as he mumbled something about not being hungry anymore.
Ashton and I were still sitting on the sofa, laughing about old times. I had my hands behind my head; my feet were resting on their coffee table just because Anna wasn’t awake to tell me to move them. Seeing as it was just the two of us left awake, we were playing a game; you had to say the first answer which popped into your head to the other’s question.
“Best movie?” Ashton asked.
I thought about it for a split second. “Indiana Jones, Temple of Doom.”
“Most fuckable female on the planet?”
“Rosie,” I answered without having to think about it.
He laughed and slapped me on the shoulder, looking at me proudly. “That was a great answer. If she was here right now to hear that, then you would be in for a treat, I’d bet,” he congratulated, waggling his eyebrows at me. “Best friend?”
“Seth,” I joked, wincing as he punched me in the shoulder. “Ow! You little bitch, that hurt,” I grumbled rubbing it gently.
Ashton laughed and resumed the game. “Favourite cartoon?”
I frowned. “That’s too hard. I’m torn between South Park and SpongeBob,” I stated.
He laughed and rolled his eyes at me. “Hottest cartoon character?”
“Ariel the mermaid,” I answered immediately, nodding appreciatively.
He frowned and looked at me like I was crazy. “The mermaid? Seriously? Not Jessica Rabbit?”
I shook my head quickly. “No way, I’ve always had a thing for Ariel. Best Disney movie ever,” I assured him.
He laughed and pushed himself up. “Don’t let DJ hear you saying that,” he countered. I laughed because Ashton was right; my soon-to-be stepson would hate to hear me say that anything was better than Toy Story. Ashton grinned as he walked over towards his wall of movies and pulled out The Little Mermaid, raising one eyebrow.
“Hell yeah, put it on,” I agreed eagerly. He grinned and pushed it into the DVD player. As he headed back over to me, he stopped next to Seth and pinched his nose, laughing to himself. After a few seconds, Seth snorted, sucking in a deep breath through his nose and waving his hand in front of his face, still sound asleep.
Ashton plopped down next to me, grinning moronically. The movie started, and we both sat there watching for a little while before my eyes started to get really heavy; I knew I couldn’t last much longer. “Thanks for my bachelor party,” I said, smiling at him tiredly.
He grinned and threw his arm around my shoulder. “No worries, dude. I’m really proud of you, you know. You’ve finally grown up and are becoming a man.”
I laughed and pushed my empty beer bottle onto the side. “Thanks, Taylor.” I pointed at the TV as Ariel was on the full screen. “Tell me that’s not hot.”
He laughed and nodded in agreement. “Okay, yeah. She’s hot, but not as hot as Jessica Rabbit.”
“Jessica has bigger tits; that’s all it is,” I yawned and blinked a couple of times. My vision was getting blurry; I really needed to sleep. “Don’t shave my head while I’m sleeping,” I mumbled, snuggling down on the sofa to get comfortable.
He laughed. “Wouldn’t dream of it,” he joked.
I laughed and shook my head. “Ashton, you know I love you, right? In a non-homo way, of course,” I mumbled with my eyes closed.
“Yeah, I know you do. Everyone loves me. I’m the best,” he replied, yawning.
“No, I’m the best,” I counter
ed.
“Whatever. Shut up and go to sleep. And, by the way, I love you, too,” he stated. I smiled and drifted off to sleep, praying I would wake up with my precious blond hair still attached to my head. The last thing I heard before I fell asleep was George puking into the bowl again – at least, I hoped he got it in the bowl.
The End
Other books by Kirsty Moseley:
The Boy Who Sneaks in My Bedroom Window
Always You
Free Falling
Nothing Left to Lose
Enjoying the Chase
Reasons Not to Fall in Love
www.kirstymoseley.com
One Wild Night: An Enjoying the Chase Novella (Guarded Hearts Book 3) Page 7