Project Daddy || a.i

Chapter 44 || "Stay the fuck away."

"Please, help yourself to food." Natalia urged, gesturing towards the large trays she had placed in the centre of the table.

I automatically placed my hand against Ashton's thigh as Harry leant forward, dishing himself up some lasagne before taking a small glance towards me. His green eyes only held mine for a couple of seconds, but those couple of seconds were almost enough to completely obliterate my chill.

"Are you okay?" Ashton muttered, taking a worried glance towards my hand.

I nodded, instinctively leaning into his shoulder. If Harry could see that I was in a 'relationship', then maybe he would tone down on the whole 'I'm hot let's fück' vibe he had going on, and let me eat my dinner in peace.

"I've seen you before," Dana randomly stated, her eyes focused intently on Isabella "where have I seen you before?"

"Probably Target," she shrugged, her eyes focused nervously on the empty plate in front of her "I work there most of the week."

"She helped me buy your massive fücking shopping list that one time." I informed Evie, receiving a soft smile in return.

I knew she felt extremely uncomfortable sitting at this table, but she would have to act nice if she ever wanted to be accepted into this social circle.

"So, are you two dating or something?" Ashton asked, his voice tight with annoyance.

Just from his question, I had a pretty good idea of what had went on between himself and Isabella, and I couldn't help but feel slightly threatened.

"No," Harry chuckled, running a hand through his beautiful brown curls "we're just friends."

"Cool accent dude." Michael complimented, causing his cheeks to flush an adorable shade of pink.

"Thanks."

"Where in England are you from?" Evie questioned, speaking for the first time in what felt like forever.

She was always so chatty, it felt weird for her to be so quiet.

I didn't listen much to Harry's answer, too distracted by Ashton's hand that had randomly begun crawling its way up my leg. It continued up towards my inner thigh before slowly creeping its way back down, avoiding where he knew I wanted him the most.

"Let's go upstairs." He murmured, his lip pressed softly against my ear.

"We can't." I replied, my voice lowered to a strained whisper.

"Please?"

"No Ashton."

His lips pulled down into a disappointed pout before he placed a soft kiss to my cheek, attracting the attention of Harry. I felt my cheeks flush a deep shade of red as his forest green eyes met my own, his pupils dilating slightly as his lips tugged upwards into a cheeky grin.

God help me.

"So Pandora," he began, his thick English accent enough to send my toppling over the edge "I was wondering if you'd want to go for coffee sometime?"

I felt Ashton stiffen beside me as almost everyone's jaws dropped, their eyes wide in a mixture of horror and surprise. Was he really asking me out? In front of my boy- Well, whatever the fück Ashton was.

"I know it's abrupt," he chuckled, awkwardly scratching at the back of his neck "but we never managed to go last time, so how about now?"

I thought for a couple of seconds before nodding, going against my better judgement. I guess I could be friends with Harry.