^^ Shelby ^^

"Do you forgive me yet?" Ash asked me, as he approached the counter.

It had been four days since the incident at the nightclub and the MC had come into the café every day. And every time, Ash had come up to me at the counter and asked the same question before ordering. To be honest, it was becoming exceedingly hard to say no. He had bought me a sunflower yesterday when he came in. It was a baby plant, in a small pot and he had said, "I thought it would look nice in your lounge. Plus, it reminds me of you; bright, cheerful and beautiful." I had almost caved then, and it didn't help that Shelby was in the kitchen, fanning herself as she watched.

"You're not going to give up until I do, are you?" I sighed, trying hard not to grin at him.

He shook his head and winked at me, making me sigh again.

"Fine. You're forgiven, but only so I can get some peace and quiet!"

His eyes widened and he grinned at me before dashing behind the counter and grabbing me. He picked me up and spun me around before I could tell him he wasn't allowed behind there. "Thank you!" He said, putting me down and kissing my cheek. "You won't regret it!"

I laughed and shook my head. "I better not! Now get out. You can't be back here,"

He laughed and walked back to the other side of the counter, joining Jay and Banjo who were now propping themselves up against it. "What are you doing tonight?" He asked me, grabbing a muffin from the display case.

I frowned at him. "Oh please, help yourself," I snarked. "Tonight, I am going out with Shelby. And you lot," I paused, pointing at the three men. "You lot are all staying well clear. I'm going to dance and get drunk, and I won't need rescuing. Got it?"

They all looked at each other and Ash held a finger up while he swallowed his mouthful of muffin. "Fair enough. I just have one favour to ask."

"What?" I asked, dreading his answer.

"I'm going to give you my number," I went to argue, but he put his hand over my mouth, stopping me. "I am going to give you my number. Then if you do get in any trouble, or someone's irritating you, or you need a ride home, you can call. I solemnly swear I will stay away unless you call." He put his hand over his heart as he said the last bit.

I didn't really know how to answer that, but of course, my answer was, "The only person irritating me is you." He frowned at me and I sighed, rolling my eyes. "Fine, I'll take your number." I groaned and handed him my phone. I couldn't help but laugh when he handed it back and I saw he'd put his name in as 'Hot Ash <3', then I realised that he'd called his phone from mine so he now had my number too. "That wasn't part of the deal!' I complained.

He grinned at me again. "How am I going to know it's you calling if I don't have your number?" He asked, and I really couldn't argue with that. 

***

I was starting to think that me stumbling into the café after a night out was becoming a regular occurrence. Shelby was with me this time and I had persuaded her to come back to mine and carry the night on, after stopping for chocolate of course. The only reason I had stumbled was that Shelby had stopped in the doorway and I hadn't noticed until I bumped into her, which led to loud giggles from both of us as we struggled to stay on our feet.

"Why did you stop?" I asked her, whining and giggling at the same time – a feat that I'm pretty sure is only possible when drunk.

"Look!" She said, nodding her head towards the Bulldogs' usual table.

I looked over her shoulder to see what she was talking about. "What?" I asked, confused.

"Someone's missing!" She stage whispered.

I took another look at the table and saw Jay, Banjo and Smiler watching us with amused looks. It took me a moment to realise that she was talking about Ash's absence. "Huh," I shrugged, before walking behind the counter to grab some chocolate cake. When I came back, Shelby had taken a seat with the three men and I joined her, dropping my handbag on the floor next to me.

"So?' Shelby asked.

"So, what?" Jay replied, frowning.

"Where is he?" She demanded, looking between them. When their faces all looked blank, she sighed. "Ash!"

"Oh," Jay said, shuffling in his seat. "He, uh, didn't want to come."

Ouch. That probably shouldn't have stung as much as it did. I was kind of surprised by the kicked-in-the-gut feeling I got from Jay's words. I concentrated on my chocolate cake as I left them to their conversation.

"Why the hell not?" Shelby asked. It almost seemed like she was as hurt by this as I was.

Jay cleared his throat and looked to the others for help. Smiler sighed and rolled his eyes.

"He didn't want to be here if Mel brought a guy back with her," he explained.

My head shot up and I looked at him with wide eyes. "What? Why?"

Smiler groaned. "Really? You actually have to ask?"

"Oh!' I gasped. "This is the most I've ever heard you talk!" I exclaimed, trying to change the subject. It didn't work.

"Maybe you should call him!" Shelby said, with a wink.

"Why?" I asked again.

"So he knows you're okay! And alone," she winked again, nudging Jay and nodding towards me.

"It's probably a good idea," Jay said, his grin matching Shelby's. "He's been worrying about you all night, but he promised to stay away."

"He does realise he's not my dad, right?" I ask, pulling my phone out anyway.

Banjo laughed. "Oh, he's very aware that he's not your father. Although he probably wouldn't mind if you called him daddy some- Ow!" He bent down under the table to rub the shin I had just kicked hard enough to bruise.

I called Ash's number and put the phone on speaker, placing it on the table between us all. He answered on the second ring.

"Mel?" His voice came through.

"Heyyyy!" I slurred.

His laugh was loud through the phone and made me grin. "What's up?"

"Not much. Just sitting here at the café with Shelby and the guys. Seems like someone's missing though," I winked at Jay, who put his fist against his mouth to fight a laugh.

Ash paused for a moment before speaking. "Well, I promised I'd stay away,"

"So did Jay and Banjo, yet here they are!" I laughed.

"How long are you going to be there?" He asked, and I could hear his grin.

"Well, I'm drunk, and there's chocolate here, so," I dragged out the last word.

He laughed again, and I could imagine him nodding as he spoke. "A while then. I'll be there soon,"

As soon as he said that, the guys and Shelby all burst out in cheers and I could just about hear his laugh over their noise. I tried hard to fight the blush appearing on my cheeks as I told him I'd see him soon and hung up the phone.

"He's so whipped!" Banjo laughed, almost falling off his chair.

"He knows what's good for him," I winked, making them all laugh even more. I took a moment to look at the guys and enjoy the laughter. If you'd have told me a few months ago that I'd be sitting in the café laughing and joking with the guys from the MC, I would've told you you're crazy. I'd lived in this town my whole life, and had of course seen them around, especially at the café. But I'd made an effort to avoid getting involved with them, and my only conversations with them up until recently had been about their orders. I wondered how different things would be if I hadn't moaned at Ash that day when I was hungover. It was so easy to forget about their lifestyle when they were like this, and for a moment that scared me. Until Shelby slapped the back of Banjo's head for a comment I had missed, and we were all laughing again.

Ash walked in as I was wiping tears from my face. I'd laughed so much that my cheeks ached and I'm pretty sure my make up was halfway down my face. I jumped up as I saw him approach and before I knew what I was doing, I was jumping into his arms.

"You came!" I squealed, trying not to sigh as his strong arms wrapped around my waist.

He laughed. "You call, I come."

"Whipped!" Banjo coughed behind us, making us all laugh again.

Ash sat in the chair I had just vacated and pulled me down onto his lap. I ignored the grins that Jay and Shelby were sending me and went back to eating my chocolate cake.

"Did you have a good night?" Ash asked, his breath tickling my ear.

I nodded. "Yeah, it was really good. Shelby found a man," I winked at her, glad to have the attention off me for a while. Banjo and Jay were asking Shelby all about the guy she had met on the dance floor but she wasn't giving them any details. I tried to ignore the heat from Ash's hand as it rested on my bare thigh, just under where my dress ended. I shuffled to get comfortable and his hand squeezed my leg.

"Stop moving," He groaned quietly in my ear.

I froze. "Sorry," I whispered, trying really hard to stay still.

Jay had given up on getting answers from Shelby and looked at Ash. "No bike?" He asked him. It wasn't until then that I realised Ash was wearing grey tracksuit bottoms and a tight white t-shirt. Whenever I'd seen him on his bike, he'd been wearing jeans and his leather cut.

He shook his head. "I brought the car in case the girls needed a ride home."

"Aww!" Shelby cooed. "That's so cute!"

I turned my head to look at Ash and my grin widened when I noticed the pink tinge on his cheeks. His olive skin tone almost hid it, but I was close enough to see it clearly. "Well, this one complained about being kidnapped when I carried her last time," He joked, squeezing my leg again. 

It was almost four a.m. when we finally left the café. Ash took Shelby and me in his car, and the others followed on the bikes. I didn't really think the escort was necessary but I was too tired to argue with them about it. I had a feeling I wouldn't win anyway. It only took a few minutes to get to my apartment block, but Shelby was fast asleep on my shoulder by the time we got there. I tried not to laugh as I watched Jay reach in and try and carry her from the car without bashing her on anything. I stepped out and stretched, noticing Ash's eyes on the bottom of my dress as it rode up slightly. I ignored him and walked to the front door of my apartment, holding it open for Jay to carry Shelby through.

"Put her in my bed," I whispered as he passed. I didn't need to direct him; he remembered the way from when they brought me home last time. This was happening far too often for my liking. I watched Ash as he walked to the fridge. I was about to ask him what he was doing until I saw him grab two water bottles and walk towards my bedroom with them. He walked out a minute later behind Jay and they walked past me into the hallway. Jay, Banjo and Smiler said their goodbyes and left me alone with Ash, who turned to look at me.

"You'll be alright?" he asked quietly.

"Of course. I'm just gonna sleep," I told him. I reached up to place a kiss on his cheek and noticed him tense. I pulled away and tilted my head to look at him.

His green eyes bored into mine before his gaze dropped to my lips for a second. I so badly wanted to kiss him in that moment. "I should go," he said, his voice husky. He turned to leave and I grabbed his hand to stop him.

"Thanks, you know, for bringing us home," I said, trying to keep my eyes on his green ones, not on his lips as his tongue darted out to lick them.

He nodded and squeezed my hand gently. "I really have to go. You're way too tempting right now."

My breath caught in my throat. "Ash," I started, but he shook his head.

"You're drunk, and I have to go before I do something you'll hate me for in the morning,"

I bit my lip and nodded. "Goodnight," I said, before closing my apartment door and leaning back against it. The hallway was silent for a moment, but I stayed there until I heard his footsteps walking away.