My Girls| a.i.

five

"Go play, Mais," Ashton tells the toddler gently, turning his attention back to me as she runs from the room.

"I could say the same to you," I reply softly, his brows drawing together slightly as he looks at me questionably. "I was and still am pretty much a stranger yet here I am, eating some waffles that you made me after I invaded your home and you're the one saying thank you? I should be thanking you." I continue, his forehead relaxing as he shakes his head at me.

"You don't need to thank me, Elsie." He mumbles, stepping even closer to me till the space between us is limited to only a foot or two. "You're something special. I could tell that the moment we started talking in the café and I was more than sure of that when I came home to find my baby girl snuggled up with you." Ashton says, his hand lifting up towards me before faltering and dropping back to his side.

"I about died of shock when I walked in there and saw you two all cuddled up." He admits, his voice not sheepish as I thought it would have been but filled with awe and surprise instead. "She hasn't let any girl give her a hug, let alone snuggle with her since her mother left. I think she's too afraid that they're all going to walk out of her life like her mom and she doesn't want to get attached." He continues, his hazel eyes tinted gray with memories.

"And it makes me feel sick, you know? That my two and a half year old blocks herself off from nearly everyone so that she doesn't get hurt." Ashton adds, his voice tinted with a sort of disgust as he speaks. "No kid should have gone through something so that she has to do that." He admits, the disgust shifting to defeat as his shoulders sink, body folding in on itself as he nearly crumbles in front of me.

"And then she saw you." He mumbles, the words changing something inside him as he lifts his gaze back to mine, honey tinted wonder in his gaze. "She about tore my arm off dragging me to sit with you in the café. It didn't hurt as much as my pride though," He adds with a chuckle, cheeks tinting pink as he laughs at himself once more before continuing.

"I mean, it's pretty sad that my two year old daughter had more balls than me to go sit with the prettiest girl in the room." Ashton says, my lips instantly curving upwards at the sentence.

"I guess you're just gonna have to up your game." I tease with a small smile, his body gravitating closer to mine as I speak. "Is that right?" He murmurs, his breath fanning across my face as he hovers mere inches away from me. I nod breathlessly, my mind enraptured by his lips as they curve into a smirk right in front of my eyes.

I pull my gaze from his lips to his eyes, the hazel irises deep with longing as they flit between my gaze and my lips. His body shifts closer to mine unconsciously, the space between us reduced to almost nothing as our breath intermingles.

"Daddy?" The yell from the living room breaks the moment between us, his legs taking a step backward to pull himself away from me as my eyes fall to my lap. "I should go see what she needs." He says in a thick voice, clearing his throat awkwardly and sending me a longing glance before he walks out of the kitchen.

I let out a shaky breath as he leaves, blinking in astonishment as I run a trembling hand through my hair. I slide off the stool I had been sitting on, looking at the oven to see what time it was. I read the numbers, almost falling as I rush out of the kitchen, tripping over my feet as I rush down the main hallway and into the living room.

I look around for my shoes, shoving my feet into the boots quickly before rushing back into the kitchen to grab my phone and purse. In my hurry to shove my coat on my arms I almost forget about Ashton, key word being almost.

I pause in my rush, awkwardly walking back into the living room where a confused Ashton and oblivious Maisie are sat playing in the middle of the rug.