Chapter 11

                                    

                                          
Soap and I basically spend the whole day together, talking and laughing. He really helped me get my mind off of things. We had plans to grab dinner together with Alejandro and Rudy.  I went to my room to wash up and when I arrived in the kitchen they were already sitting at the table. 
I took a seat and joined them, even after we finished we stayed to have a drink and chat some more. It was getting late when Ghost walked in with the others. 
"Mind if we join?" Roach asked looked over at us. 
"Not at all." 
Roach quickly takes a seat next to me and starts chatting away. It forced Ghost to sit across from me and Maria took a seat next to him. I still haven't had a chance to talk to him about earlier which only made things feel a bit awkward and weird. 
I didn't really listen to Roach much, I was more focussed on Maria and how she kept touching Ghost. A cough brought me back to reality and I heard Roach flirting with me, giving me compliments and trying to find a reason to touch me. He must have used a trick out of Maria's truck book. 
Occasionally I looked at Ghost and saw him staring back at me. Even when Maria was trying to get his attention he didn't chance his gaze. Price walks in and greeted the group before turning to me. 
"Ashley can we have a word?"
"Yeah sure." Saved by the bell. I was a little surprised that he asked to speak to me in his office but I couldn't be happier to get out of there. 
Sitting in the chair opposite of him did make me nervous, my hands started sweating and it didn't help that he took his time telling me what was wrong.
"Laswell and I talked after that last mission and we are still worried about Shepard and the involvement of the Russians in the missing missiles. I can't shake the feeling that they are planning something, and I need your help to find out what that is."
"How can I help?"
"We want to find Shepard first, he should have all the information so he is the best chance at finding out the truth, but he has gone of the radar. We need you to locate him so we can bring him in for questioning. It's more your expertise."
"Alright I'm on it." If that was all he wanted from me, I had no reason to be nervous. 
"Thank you" I got to my feet and walked to the door before he stopped me in my tracks. "oh and Ashley, nobody can know about this. We don't want to cause worry for nothing."
"I understand."  Fuck that was a lot harder. I'm sure both Soap and Ghost were going to ask questions and I'm a terrible liar. With the miscommunication there is between us already I couldn't use this right now. 
Should I just tell him? I can trust him and I know he'd keep it a secret from the others but Price asked me not to tell anyone and with everything Price had done for me, the last thing I wanted to do was disappoint him. 
I was walking back to my room, until I knew what to tell or not tell the others, I figured I'd be best to stay away for this evening. Who knows, if I find him tonight then I maybe won't have to lie.
I'm afraid talking to Ghost will have to wait till tomorrow. I opened the door to my room and went inside. A figure was already inside waiting on my bed.  
"Hi, what are you doing here?" 
"Just came to talk, is that alright with you?" Ghost asked, tapping the bed next to him. I went towards him and sat down as well. 
"I'm sorry about earlier. I hope Soap and his big mouth didn't make things weird between us." 
There is an awkward silence in the room, I felt too nervous waiting for his reaction so I kept my eyes on the ground. He turned to his side and took my chin in between his fingers so I had to look at him. Then he places a sweet kiss on my lips.