"Why don’t you just tell your parents?" Ha! Yeah, I’ll definitely do that.

"And have my mom come after me with a Bible and holy water, exorcism style? No, thanks."

"Oh, I get it," she nods and bites her lower lip. "Mom’s a homophobe?"

"She’s their leader," I chuckle.

"Noted," she laughs. "So, Aiden doesn’t know either?"

I shake my head, "Nope," I let out a small sigh. "We were gonna tell him eventually."

"I see. So since you’re being so secretive about it, I’m guessing she’s your first?"

"Damn, you’re good."

She laughs, "Of course."

"I don’t know. See, there’s something you have to understand. Ashley and I were never really ‘just friends’," I use air quotes to prove my point, "There was always that little something more."

"Oh! How romantic!" she gushes as she clasps her hands together and batsher eyelashes.

I roll my eyes, "Oh, shut up," I scolded as I playfully hit her on the shoulder. "Sometimes I just wish that I didn’t have to hide her."

"I get that," she says sincerely. "It doesn’t sound like fun."

"Well, I dunno, apparently secret relationships are hotter," I joke.

"Oh-ho, good point. I bet you and Ashley are pretty wild behind closed doors," she jokes back while wiggling her eyebrows.

"Ha. No way. We haven’t done anything…yet."

"Wow, a month and you haven’t done anything. That’s will power, my friend."

I roll my eyes, "Whatever. I probably would have done something after our first kiss. We had some serious sexual tension build up. But I was nervous, of course, and she probably sensed that, so she didn’t push me. The day after she also explained that we didn’t go that far because she wanted a chance to do a relationship right."

"That’s sweet."

I shrug, "In a somewhat strange way, yeah I guess it’s sweet," I say smiling.

Kyla laughs, "Nice."

"Yup," I lean back in my seat and stare through the windshield off into the distance. "She’s something else, that’s for sure."

"What do you mean?"

"I’ve just been seeing a whole different side to her, lately. When I first met Ash, she was fast and loose. A live fast, die young kind of person. She was somewhat harsh, and she always had her rough edges. Not to mention she was always guarded. But now…" I glance over at Kyla. She’s listening closely…Damn she’s curious. "Now, she’s sweet and careful. She’s pretty open with her emotions, and it’s like she just wants to see me happy…"

"Sounds like she really loves you."

Say huh?! "Whoa, what? Nah–"

"Haven’t used the L word, yet?" she smirks.

I look down at my hands, "Well, no…I mean, she almost let it slip once, but that was before we were together."

"Do you love her?"

Annnnd suddenly my mouth is dry…Is it hot in here? "I, uh…" my brow furrows in thought. "I haven’t thought about it…much. I don’t wanna scare her off. See, Ashley’s been let down by people who love, loved, or should have loved her before, so I don’t wanna overstep any boundaries…"

“Yup, you love her,” Kyla continues to smirk as she puts her hands behind her head and leans back.

“Kyla!”

“Whaaaat?” she giggles.

“God, you are such a loser!”

She turns to face me and just gives me a huge toothy shit-eating grin.

I can’t help but laugh, “You suck.”

“Oh, yes. I suck because I have the ability to point out fact.”

I roll my eyes and scoff, “Okay, you’re going home, now.” I put that car in gear and get back onto the highway.

“So,” she starts, “what up with Aiden?” she asks while wiggling her eyebrows.

I just laugh and shake my head. Who knows, maybe they’d be good for each other. God knows that Aiden needs to keep away from Madison. We’ll have to look into it.

I can’t help but contemplate what we’ve just been discussing, though. I care about Ashley a lot, that’s for sure, but…Do I love her?