78:

CARSON

“You should join us for a walk,” I said to Ashley as I saw her sitting outside, pressing her phone.

She shook her head and smiled briefly at me. Then she bowed her head again and continued to scroll through her phone.

She still hadn't relaxed with us. Brody and I made up our minds to not give up on pulling her close to us. We wanted her to feel very comfortable around us. But it seemed like we still had a lot of work to do.

It had taken a lot of convincing to get her to agree to swim with us. We begged her to join us in the pool. She eventually did and it felt so good being able to bond in that way too.

I moved closer to her. I expected that after we had such a passionate make-out at the drive-in cinema, she would relax completely. But apparently, it did not work that way.

“You are busy with something?” I asked, looking at her phone.

“Yeah, I am.”

“You should take a break then,” I said and stretched my hand to her.

She shook her head still, “I would pass.”

“I insist, As