More Than A Favor

< More Than A Favor

Chapter 98

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Ashton had come looking for me quite a few times before, but this time, he was standing right at my door.

“What do you want now?” I asked, trying to mask my confusion and lingering unease.

“I agree,” he said simply.

I frowned. “Agree to what?”

“To date you and be your temporary boyfriend,” Ashton clarified.

I blinked in surprise, caught off guard by his change of heart. “Why did you change your mind?”

“If I didn’t, you’d keep putting yourself in dangerous situations, like going on blind dates with men who follow you home,” he said, his tone a mix of exasperation and sternness.

His blunt answer amused me. In the dim light of the hallway, his reluctant yet resigned expression brought a smile to my lips.

“You’d be doing something against your will,” I teased. “Won’t that make you unhappy?”

Ashton must have caught on to my playful tone because he took a step closer. Instinctively, I backed away, but the railing behind me left me nowhere to go.

He reached out an arm, placing it on the railing and effectively pinning me between him and the cold metal. My breath hitched.

“Ashton…” I murmured, my voice trailing off.

“How could you be so foolish to go on blind dates like that?” he scolded softly, his voice warm and close to my ear.

A shiver ran down my spine. His words chastised me, but his tone was laced with something tender, almost affectionate.

I didn’t move or speak, the moment stretching between us.

The silence wasn’t awkward–it was charged, alive with an energy I couldn’t quite put into words. Standing so close to him, I could hear his heartbeat, steady and strong.

After a while, Ashton withdrew his arm and stepped back. “You’re not allowed to come home this late by yourself again.”

“Okay,” I replied quietly, unable to argue.

A moment later, I remembered my manners. “Thank you,” I added, my voice soft.

I was thanking him for saving me earlier, for agreeing to help me deal with the Mercer family, and for being there when I needed someone the most.

respond; he simply looked at me. I gestured toward

to leave, he said, “That guy made it all the way to your building. Who knows

He had a point. What if the man returned?

Ashton

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< Chapter 98

confused by

keys,” he said simply.

surprise. “You want to stay at my place?”

else? Do you want me to sleep at your door?” he asked, his tone

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added, “It’s not like we haven’t

in the same room before, and nothing had happened. It was safe.

keys,

“I’ll sleep on the couch,” he said.

over ten years old, small, and barely long enough for s

another room in the apartment–my parents‘

I offered. “I’ll take my parents‘ room.”

bag and rummaged for a pair of my dad’s old slippers, handing

while I grabbed

to enter my parents‘

at him. He was standing in the doorway of

had calmly shared a

a moment of silence, Ashton spoke. “I think it’s more appropriate

at him, speechless.

your room,” he continued. “I…

me feeling like I was somehow mistreating

to push me, slowly but surely,

quiet men being the most cunning seemed to

said, brushing him off before retreating to my parents‘

fear from earlier still lingered, and my mind replayed the hallway incident over and over.

up, my meager defenses might not have been enough, and the consequences

been

see me tonight? The timing seemed almost

I wondered if he was really sleeping on

was still awake, likely moving around or washing

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