Picture Perfect?

ASHLEY'S POV :

Amazingly , Dev , with a bit of help from Inna , manage to salvage the shoot , and even get done nearly on schedule . After they finish , most of the girls , as well as several of the crew , come to me and tell me how glad they are that they don't have to deal with Sheila anymore . It was pretty obvious that she was a bit of a diva , but apparently she made sure that I saw a much better side of her than the rest of them did .
It seems that she's been telling anyone who'd listen that she expected to become "Mrs . Purdy " before the year was up , because there was no way I could resist her . Holy shit ! And people wanna give me crap about MY ego ! She worked for the company for a couple of years , but apparently she wasn't smart enough to figure out that if I'd been interested in her , I would've asked her out instead of Tanya , or at least when we broke up .
After we finish loading everything back into the car , we head back to my place , so Inna and Jake can drop off their bags . Then we switch to my car and go out for lunch , and then , just for the hell of it , decide to go fool around in one of the casinos .
Jake and I don't have much luck , but Inna hits a streak on the blackjack table and wins a little over $300 , and Dev wins $175 on the nickel slots . I still feel like I've won , though . For the first time since I was with Kina , I actually feel comfortable enough to be out in public with a woman and actually hold her hand , or kiss her , without worrying about what's gonna come out later .
After that , we go back to the house and have a swim , and then the girls fix dinner . Fortunately , they're both great cooks , because Jake and I , ... not so much . I can manage a few things , but no one's ever gonna mistake me for Guy Fieri , and Jake only has a kitchen because it comes with the house when you buy it .
When we finish eating , we put on Netflix and the girls pick out a couple of movies . Inna decides that she's in the mood for "Pitch Perfect" , and Dev manages to find what she says is one of her faves , an old '70's gang flick called "The Warriors" . The rest of us have never seen it before , but it's actually pretty good .
I have two huge couches in my living room , and we wind up with Jake and Inna sprawled out on one , and me and Dev on the other , with the dogs . Killer is on the back of the couch behind my head , and Tokyo is curled up behind the bend of Dev's knees . I have my arm around her as we watch TV , with her head on my shoulder , and as the evening goes on , something that Sheila said keeps running through my head , messing up my concentration . Apparently ,I've made a noise or something , because Dev runs her fingers across my cheek and says , "What's wrong ? You've been spacing for a while now ."
"Just thinking about something , babe . I'll tell you about it as soon as I finish sorting it out ." , I tell her .
She kisses me and says OK , then goes bck to the movie , and I ever manage to keep up with most or it after that .
By the time the second movie is over , everyone is yawning , so we all decide to go to bed . Jake and Inna head to the guestroom , and Dev and I go to mine . After we get into bed , she asks me , "Did you just not want to talk in front of Inna and Jake , or is there something you actually don't want to talk about right now ?"
After thinking about it for a few seconds , I tell her , "It's not exactly that I don't want to talk , I'm just not really sure that I should right now ."
"That's entirely up to you , Ash . I'm not gonna push , but I hope you know that you can tell me anything you want , any time you want ."
After we're laying in bed for a few minutes , I can't keep quiet anymore , and I finally say , " I was thinking about something that Sheila said today , and the more I think about it , the more it bothers me ."
She props herself up on one elbow , looking down at me , and says , "I thought we all agreed that she isn't worth wasting the energy it takes to stress over her ."
"Not everything , just the one thing she was actually right about ."
"That being ?"
I look her directly in the eye , and say , "You're going back to LA . And it seems that I'm having a bit of trouble accepting that ."
She looks rather startled , and doesn't say anything for a minute or so , just sort of gnaws on her bottom lip .
Great , I just fucked up and scared her off !
Finally , she blinks a couple of times , and says , "Well , fuck ! Apparently I am , too ."
I pull her back down next to me , and say , "You have no idea how glad I am to hear that ! I was afraid that I'd completely weirded you out . I mean , we've only been an official couple for , what , less than twelve hours ?"
"No , what sort of freaked me out was how awful the idea sounded when you actually reminded me . And it's not just because I still don't have my own place , but it felt like there was a big , cold lump in my stomach , and I wasn't expecting that ."
I decide to go all in , and manage to keep tripping over my words as I say , "I don't suppose that ... I mean , is there any chance you might consider , I dunno , maybe ... staying here ? No , wait , I can't just expect you to disrupt your business , and everything else . Maybe we ...."
She does what she seems to have decided is the best approach when I start babbling , and kisses me . Then she pulls back and says , "Ash , my job is kinda like yours , I can do it basically anywhere , so that's not an issue .What IS an issue is that I want you to be completely sure of what you really want ."
Before she goes any further , I cut her off by asking , "Do you know that you are the first woman I have ever asked to move in with me ? All the time I was with Kina , we both had our own places , and I did the long - distance thing with Tanya for almost a year . That never bothered me before , but the idea of not being able to wake up and see you every morning bugs the hell out of me . So , yeah , I definitely know what I want , but it's completely up to you . I'll go with whatever you want ."
She smiles at me , and says , "Well , I do have to go back and get my crap from Andy and Juliet's , and close down my studio , but after that , I guess you have a new roommate . But I just want to be clear on one thing up front . I'm not ever going to try to tell you that you can't go out and have fun with your friends . However , if you come home hammered , one of us will be sleeping in the guest room . I have absolutely no interest in sharing a bed with a drunk ."
I laugh , and say , "Sounds like you've just motivated me to cut back on my drinking ! Alright , my ground rules are ; number one , you can't paint anything pink . And number two , you don't give me shit about my country music , and I don't give you shit about your old disco weirdness .
( Apparently , she found a bunch of her folks old albums when she was younger , and has sort of a fondness for the Bee Gees and KC and the Sunshine Band )
She yawns , and says , " Sounds completely fair to me , hon . Now maybe we should get some sleep . It seems that we've just given ourselves quite a bit of work to do ."

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