Samantha

"Okay, close your eyes," I smiled.

Ashton sat on my cinnamon bedsheets, his dark brows scrunched together. It was hard to contain my amusement at how out of place he looked. With his all-black outfit, terrifying Adam's apple, and facial hair, he looked stuck in a land of fairy lights and stuffed animals.

Butterflies hung from the ceiling, glowing purple. Strip lights lined the walls. Gold candle holders flickered on the carpet. Their warmth reflected on my sun shaped headboard, below a shelf with my favorite books and baby plants.

My safe haven.

"Open your eyes." 

"Jesus..." His angular face slowly stretched into a smile as he took in everything. "This is how you sleep?"

"Not always! I usually just leave one of my nightlights on. Stacy didn't like candles or string lights, but I love them. They remind me of stargazing, and I've always wanted to go. But you know, you need to be in the pitch-dark, so...this is my solution."

"I'll take you to stargazing," he said. His tone was so casual, I was stunned silent.

He's joking, of course.

"Oh." I laughed, sitting beside him on the bed. "Right, maybe we can do it for a photoshoot or something."

"And FYI, Stacy has no taste." He scowled. "What kind of a person doesn't like candles?"

"I didn't think you'd be the type." I bit back my smile at how he was staring at them.

"Why? What type of a person do I seem like to you?"

"A caveman."

He snorted, indenting his hollow cheeks with dimples. Gosh. My organs squeezed from the cuteness overload. Cutest caveman, I'm telling you.

"You haven't seen the best part yet, lie down," I said, flopping on my back.

"Oh-kay..." He lied back and put the salami plate on his chest, shoving a piece in his mouth.

"Jesus..." I chuckled. The smell of grease wrinkled my nose, but I guess he had the munchies. Besides, it distracted me from his spicy cologne and whatever that natural scent of his was. 

I turned on the projector and an anime show flashed on the ceiling.

"Whoa! Hey, that's pretty cool." Ashton lit up like a child, and I melted.

"Right?! It's the broke person's alternative for TV." I giggled. "Well, also the lazy person's. The only problem is if you're trying to eat while lying down, but you know, no pain no gain. A little bit of choking never hurt nobody."

He slowly turned with a devilish look, and I burst out laughing at the innuendo.

"I said what I said."

"Oh, is that so?"

"Stop." I tried to stop smiling so much. "Cara and I make dirty jokes all the time, you'll have to get used to it."

Because that's what this was. A casual, platonic friendship. Sure, maybe I had a little bit of a crush, but who could blame me? Ashton was amazing. But was it worth to ruin our friendship? Absolutely not!

People like him, who made me laugh so much, who made it safe to put my guard down, they were hard to find. At least for me.

"So do you watch porn on this?" he asked, ripping a salami slice with his teeth.

"Of course!" I joked, getting off the bed. Ashton chuckled behind me as I approached my media strategy (murder conspiracy) wall.

There were so many more pictures we had to replicate. We still had such a long way to go.

I sighed. "By the way, today's pictures didn't turn out so bad."

"You posted them?! Which ones did you post?"

"Not the ones with your boner, don't worry."

"Okay, good. We wouldn't want girls lining up outside, trying to get a piece of this."

I snickered. What a cocky bastard.

"You know, I'm right." He propped himself on his elbows, flashing a Cheshire Cat smile. His feet on the floor and legs spread got my heart racing. "...for such an intimate photoshoot."

"What?" I completely spaced out.

While I stared at him like a dumb idiot, realization settled over his eyebrows, and something dark blanketed over his entire form. The energy shifted.

"Whatchu thinking about?" He smirked.

"Nothing."

"Am I turning you on?"

"No."

He masked his groan with an indifferent sigh, reaching for another piece of salami. Unfortunately, he'd eaten all of it. "Damn it."

"I think you've had enough, pork breath."

"Why are you worried about my breath, Tinker Bell?"

"Tinker Bell?" I scrunched my nose with distaste.

"Have you seen your room?"

I smirked. "Have you seen yourself in my room?"

He rolled his eyes. "I was asking why you picked such an intimate photoshoot for our first day, dumbass."

"Oh! 'Cause it's all about strategy, you know?" I looked at the wall full of pictures. "I always study what other influencers are doing and how they get branded campaigns. Breakfast-in-bed is very popular for hotel ads, and there's so many luxury stays in LA. Go big or go home."

"That's very business-minded of you." He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

"I'm telling you, this is a lot of business."

"I thought it's more about posting pictures so other people can validate you."

"There's that too..." I walked back to him, staring at our socks facing each other. "I definitely seek that validation, I know that for sure."

"It's all bullshit anyway."

"No, it's just super difficult. The social media standards are so high. You have to constantly prove yourself."

"Why would you put yourself through that?"

"I don't have a choice." I knitted my brows at the obviousness.

"Said who?" He scoffed. "I understand why fake bitches like Stacy have to do it. They have no personality. But you have so much to offer.
Why would you lower yourself to what others think of you? You'll never be satisfied."

He was right. I knew he was, but it didn't stop me from wanting it. I didn't know what else to do. How else to be. Maybe once I reached that fame, and saw it meant nothing, then I could let it go.

"I've been to some influencer events with Luka for his own stuff, and I hated the people there." Ashton continued. "No respect. No manners. Just a bunch of spoiled, self-centered kids with too much time on their hands. You're the farthest thing from it."

"Well, Luka's an influencer and he's great..." I said. "They can't all be bad."

He shook his head, the corners of his jaw clenching. "You don't know anything."

Rude... I knew some things. "Hey, but you're helping me? For someone who hates it so much, you agreed to help." I smiled at him to lighten the mood. "And I appreciate you for it."

His anger simmered, sinking his shoulders down. Aw. It was so sweet that I had that effect on him.

"If it'll make you feel better, you can choose what we shoot next." I pointed at the wall.

He scowled at something in that direction. "You want a take picture with you on my lap?"

"Huh?" I turned to find not one, but five different versions of it on the wall. Oops. I laughed it off. "Yeah, I mean...it's a very popular pose. And I figured you have the perfect body type for it." I wiggled my eyebrows at him. "Got to take advantage, if you know what I mean."

He tried not to smile, but I saw the corner of his lips curve while he rolled his eyes. Hot.

"You got that daddy vibe," I added.

"Oh, God." He laughed into his hands, then groaned. "Shut up."

High five to me for pushing his buttons. I gently put my hand on his shoulder. "It's a good thing."

"That I have a daddy vibe?"

"Yes! It's a compliment, see." I turned to the mirror that was leaning against the wall across from him. "See how you're man-spreading with your long legs? And how you're hunching over with broad-ass shoulders? Well, girls are like monkeys. We like to climb shit. Plus, that glare in your eyes like you want to rip us to pieces. Yes, please. Girls would go crazy over you online."

"You have a very weird taste, you know that? You want a guy to basically be a psychopath."

"Just a little bit." I pinched my fingers together.

"Really." He threw his hand on the back of my thigh and pulled me between his legs. "That's what you like?" He groped my ass in both hands. "You want me to be rough with you?"

I failed to process, to think with steam flooding over me head-to-toe. "What are you doing?"

"Touching your ass. Why. Do you mind?"

"Yes?" I shrieked with a cringe laugh.

"I don't." He stretched his neck behind me and looked in the mirror, sucking in his breath. "I don't mind at all."

"Ashton—" Before I could finish my sentence, he flipped me around and put me on his lap. "Ashton!"

"It's daddy to you."

My jaw broke off my face. "Excuse—"

"Doesn't feel good, does it?" He chuckled, staring at me in the mirror. "Tease, and get teased back. That's the only way."

"I-I didn't even freakin' tease—why am I still on your lap?!"

"'Cause I want you to. Don't move."

"Oh my God..." Why the HELL was this turning me on? I couldn't find my voice with all the lava sliding over my skin. Words. What do I say?

"You like it too, don't you? Look at you. So fucking flustered already. You want to be on my lap. You're just too shy to admit it." He smirked behind my shoulder, watching me in the mirror.

"Ashton, I think you've lost your mind..." I tried to sound firm, I tried to. But my voice came out so weak.

"Have I?" He kissed the back of my neck, open-mouthed, wet on my overheated skin. Shivers flew down my arms, tingling between my legs. "Stop squirming so much or I'll fuck you."

"I'm not squirming, you're just being too much!" My voice cracked, and fuck if that didn't just turn me on more. What the hell. Just what the hell.

"Yeah, keep whining like that."

"Stop!" I whipped my elbow on his chest and he fell back, balancing on his hands. I could've slapped him, but I didn't have the heart. So I just smacked his forehead, which made him squint his eyes shut and turn away.

Before I could even celebrate my victory, he threw me on the bed. I shrieked and scrambled, but it was hard to see anything with his bear hands all over my face. He was cackling like an evil clown from a horror movie.

"Stop!" I laughed, throwing my hands where I hoped his face was. My arms were getting so tired. "Okay, okay, you win! Stop, you win!"

"If only you could see your hair right now."

"Shut it."

He snickered. "Sore loser."

"I wasn't even playing! It was a joke! You took it to a whole another level!"

"It's not my fault. I ran out of salami."

~A/N~
Ahaha... Ashton, the crazy guy.... *nervously backs away from the laptop...*