"So not in a friend way."  She said after she gained her composure.

"No not in a friend way."  I laughed.  She smiled at me.

"Spence, what does this mean?"  She asks, not looking at me.

"I don’t really know Ash.  I mean I’ve never done this before.  I didn’t think I was gay, but now I don’t know.  You’re the only girl I’ve been attracted to."  At this she blushed looking up at me.  "But I’ve wanted to kiss you since the first time we bumped into each other in the hall."  I smile, making it my turn to blush.

"So what if we take this slow?"  She asks taking my hand in hers.

"What does slow mean exactly?"  I ask with a smirk on my face.

"Umm…it can mean whatever you want it to mean.  We won’t do anything you’re not comfortable with.  We don’t have to label this, for now.  I really want to do theis right Spence."  She says sweetly, rubbing my cheek with her free hand.

"Okay.  Slow is good.  I’d like that."  I smile, leaning into her touch.  "But for now could you just hold me?"

"Come here."  She says crawling to the head of the bed.  I follow suit and curl up in her arms.  She wraps her strong tan arms around my waist as I rest my head  in the crook of her neck.  I have my arm draped over her chest and our legs are intertwined.  I’ve never felt happier in my life.

As we cuddle, I’m looking at the table beside her bed and I notice all the pictures she has.  I recognize Ashley, Kyla, Aiden, and her dad but there’s this girl hugging Ash in one photo and I don’t know who she is.  It’s none of my business, but I need to know.

"Hey Ash.  Who’s that girl in the photo?"  I ask pointing to the picture.

"Oh, that’s Rachel."  She says looking at the photo.

"Is Rachel an old girlfriend?"  I ask playing with her shirt trying not to sound jealous.

"Aww.  Is somebody getting jealous already?"  She laughs, kissing me on the head.  Seeing the flustered look on my face she goes on to explain.  "Well, you have notheing to be worried about.  Rachel is my best friend ever.  Wow, I can’t believe I didn’t tell you about her.  She would totally kick my ass for that one.  She’s more like a sister than a best friend.  We’ve been friends since birth, well my birth cause she’s three years older.  Her parents owned the record label my dad signed with so we were always around each other.  I can’t wait for you to meet her, she’s gonna love you.  She’ll be back in a few weeks from a business trip in New York."

"Well, if she’s that important to you I can’t wait to meet her."  I say as I kiss her cheek.  She smiles back at me when…

Beep-Beep, Beep-Beep

"What was that?" I ask confused and startled by the noise.

"It’s okay Spence, it’s my phone alarm.  I set it so you wouldn’t be late for dinner."  She says turning the alarm off.  Aww, that was so sweet.  I simply beam at her, kissing her on the cheek once again, causing her to blush.  "Yeah, well I can’t have your parents disliking me before we’re even dating or I’ll never stand a chance."

"About that Ash, can we keep this a secret from my family.  I mean if my mom finds out she’ll flip.  I’d probably get sent off to some gay detox camp or something."  I plead.

"No worries Spence."  She says pecking me on the lips.  "I said we would take things slow.  Now let’s get you home Cinderella."

"Okay but stop calling me Cinderella."  I say with a pout, climbing off the bed.  Ashley walks over to me and kisses my pouting lips and I smile wrapping my arms around her.

She pulls away from the kiss saying "We’ll finish this tomorrow,"  giving me a wink.  I can’t wait.

TBC