Sprinkles {#Wattys2018} ✔

25 \ P U D D L E

24 [p u d d l e]

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Charlotte reacted instantly to his lips, closing her eyes and savoring the softness of his lips gliding over hers. He cradled her cheek while she.  began to wound her arms around his waist securely.

That's when she hastily pulled away, putting her arms limp against her sides.

"You confuse me. You can't just kiss me like it will make everything okay," Charlotte sternly pointed out.

Asher furrowed his eyebrows, coming closer to Charlotte to hold onto her. She flinched away.

A flash of hurt went across his eyes but he didn't move away from her. They locked gazes with each other, both unable to fetch words to fill the silence.

"How am I confusing you?" Asher spoke to break the silence. Charlotte shook her head and looked away.

He, however, kept staring at her features, soaking in every detail of her features. He loved her baby blue eyes that shine bright when she talked about things she loved or when she laughed. Her smile was contagious, and Asher wasn't the only one to notice. He loved her witty remarks and how she could make you feel so happy when you were in the dark.

She's so beautiful, he thought.

Charlotte became angry at his ignorance. "You said that what we had was a mistake, didn't you? That you shouldn't have kissed me in the first place. But here you go, playing with my feelings like I'm some toy!" She spat the exact truth, and Asher knew it.

Asher felt a pang of guilt hit him in the chest, and he wiped a stray tear that had escaped from her eyelid with his thumb. Charlotte shuddered at his touch and her cheeks were red and puffy from crying.

"Charlotte, I was so stupid."

He kept confusing her by the minute. One moment he was saying they were a mistake, the other he was saying his actions were foolish.

"Just tell me how you really feel, Ash," Charlotte pleaded him, her wide irises staring into his. "I need to know, I can't go through this again."

Asher saw the look of confusion plastered into her beautiful face, and he sighed deeply before speaking. He put his hands up to her cheeks, which was still streaming with tears. Had he hurt her that bad?

He started off softly, "I was so stupid to even think that we were a mistake because, goddamnit, I think you are the greatest thing that has ever happened in my life."

Asher looked at Charlotte with total sincerity and before she could utter a word, he spoke again.

"Babydoll, you might not realize it, but when I dialed your number that day and heard your voice, it was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard. I wanted to keep hearing it everyday, and when you kept talking to me--even if it were for a minute--I never got tired of it," the smallest smile reached his lips as he admitted his feelings to her.

"I was so stupid to think that we were ever a mistake because what have is something we should never let go of. I don't regret kissing you, not at all. What I do regret is letting you go on that date with Nick the Dick," Asher immediately frowned at the thought. "I just think that you deserve someone better and I just-I just don't even know why I said those things in the first place. You do deserve better, that is the honest truth—"

"You don't actually think that we were a mistake?" Charlotte whispered, unable to find words. He shook his head furiously, his green eyes sparkling.

"Of course not, Charlotte. I'm such an asshole and I'm so incredibly sorry. I don't know if you're ever going to forgive me, but—"

She cut him off by kissing him.

He put his arms around her waist and kissed her back with equal force. Their lips molded together, setting their bodies on fire. She played with the dark hair on the back of his neck and tugged it closer to her so there wasn't any space left between them. Their chests touched and each caressed one other in an embrace.

"I'm so damn sorry, Charlotte," Asher whispered to her while he rested his forehead against hers. Their hot breaths mingled as they were the closest they had ever been before. 

"You have no idea what you do to me."

"Does this mean you like-like me?" Asher joked, his lips curling into a grin of a mad man whom had just got away with murder.

Charlotte stuttered, fumbling over her words. "I-I, um—"

"That's okay, because I sure as hell do," Asher grinned even wider, faint dimples appearing on his cheeks.

Her sapphire eyes widened largely at the statement. "What? Wait—"

Asher moved his face even more closer to hers and put his mouth to her ear, murmuring,

"In fact, I love you."

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