Unconditionally

Chapter Thirty-four

"Travel changes you as you move through this life and this world. You change things slightly. You leave marks behind, however small and in return. Life- and travel -leaves marks on you. Most of the time, those marks- on your body, or on your heart -are beautiful. Often, though, they hurt."

A slight breeze brings goose bumps to my body. I snuggle into my heat source with a smile on my face. Seconds later, someone kisses my bare shoulder, making me open my eyes in surprise. Ashton watches me with a wide smile on his face.

"Morning, beautiful." He says.

I blush and look around. I'm in a different room that's much bigger than the one I picked last night. I plop back down and close my tired eyes.

"Please tell me you didn't take me to your room just so you can sleep with me."

Ashton chuckles. I hit his shoulder with my eyes still closed.

"Sorry, my bedroom is nicer than yours so I had to."

I open my eyes and roll them. Ashton wraps his leg around my waist and pulls me closer to him. I try to push him away with a growing smile on my face. He tightens his hold on my waist, and surprisingly pulls me closer to him.

"I like waking up with you in my arms." Ashton mumbles.

My heart begins to pound, and the most important three words almost slip from my mouth. I bite my tongue and instead rest my head on his bare chest.

"Same, when did you wake up?" I ask.

"Probably a few minutes before you."

"So you just watched me sleep?" I ask, smiling wide.

I feel and hear Ashton laugh. He releases me, and I push myself up to lean against the head frame.

"No, I was actually looking at the view. It's nice."

I raise an eyebrow and look at what has his attention. Patio doors bring in sun light and a glare grabs my attention. Glancing at Ashton, I get out of the large bed and head to the doors. I gasp and quickly unlock one of the doors to actually see if it's what I think it is. The warm air feels nice, and I can smell the salty ocean. The glare is from the sun that's on the waves of the ocean. I smile when I hear the crash of waves. A few houses are in front of ours, but I'm still able to see joggers running and boats on the horizon.

Arms wrap around my waist and a chest presses against my back.

"Nice, isn't it?" Ashton asks.

I look up at him in disbelief. "Are you kidding? It's more than nice!"

Ashton let's go of me and heads back inside the bedroom. I give the beach one last glance before following after my boyfriend. Ashton is pulling on a tee-shirt and smiles at me.

"Want to check it out before Haze and Carter wake up?"

"Yes!" I exclaim, pulling off my hair tie on my wrist and putting my blonde curls in a loose bun. Ashton throws me a tooth brush and tooth paste. I catch it with ease and give him a grateful smile. The bathroom is beside the closet door so I brush my teeth and splash some cold water on my face.

Once I finish, Ashton and I quietly walk down the hallway and the two stair cases. A random pair of flip flops is at the front door so I put them on. I reach for Ashton's hand as we walk down the small trail that leads to the beach. The crashing of waves gets louder. We climb up the old, wooden stairs with the wind blowing. I smile and squeal when I fully see the waves.

"C'mon, Lotest!" I rip off the flip flops and rest them at the top of the stairs.

I rush down and laugh when the cold sand goes between my toes. The wind blows the hair that fell from my bun in my face. I run the distance of the stairs to the water with a smile on my face. The oncoming sea water tickles my feet and ankles at how cold it is. My legs get used to temperature of the water after a few seconds of me standing in one spot.