The Sweetest Summer

Chapter Thirty - Nine - Anyone

Eli -

I didn't think she'd climb in the taxi. I really didn't. When her fine ass shimmied into the back end, I thought I may lose it right there, taking her in the back of the bright yellow car.

I barked out the address and rested my arm on the back of the seat, playing absentmindedly with her hair. I just couldn't keep my hands to myself.

"You have a place here too?" Her voice was a little more quiet than usual. Was she....nervous? With me?!

"It's not really mine, I'm just using it for tonight. You remember Tommy?" Her pouty lips curved downward into a frown.

"How could I forget?" She deadpanned. "Please don't tell me we're going to his place."

"Nah, it's just a friends of his."

"I'm surprised he has any of those."

"Any what?"

"Friends." She smirked and I laughed loudly. She was cute when she was annoyed.

"He's not so bad." She looked at me sideways. "He grows on you..."

"Like a disease." She argued, but her smile covered her face now. Fuck how I missed that smile.

"Well I guess it's a good thing he won't be there. It's just you and me, babe." I teased, but she swallowed harshly and looked out the window again.

***************

I switched on the light switches and lit a few candles across the flat, even going as far as to flip on the gas switch for the fireplace as Avery used the restroom in the front hall. The penthouse apartment was really too much for one person. It was comprised of five bedrooms, six bathrooms, and took up the entire floor with sweeping balcony views of the Eiffel Tower.

"Wow." Avery's small voice joined me at the windows, and I jumped a little. "So this is how rich people in Paris live?" She giggled and I looked at her sideways. I would give it all up for her. The lifestyle, the money, the cars, the clothes, if it meant I just got one more shot with her. I wondered if she knew. Of course she didn't. She still saw me as her former best friend that had fucked everything up.

"I'm sure your place is nice too." I offered politely, trying to be present with her in this moment.

"Ha." She muttered unwrapping her croissant and I followed suit, amazed that it was still warm. "My apartment is the size of the bathroom up front." She tossed her wrapper in the kitchen trash and offered to toss mine as well. "But it's cute and I love my roommates, and it's in a good area."

"Doesn't sound so bad." I shrugged and she smiled, crossing the kitchen to join me again.

"It's not." She tapped her croissant against mine and took a large bite.

"Cheers!" I smiled and took a generous bite feeling the fluffy bread melt in my mouth. Fuck this was good. "Wow."

"You like it?"

I nodded emphatically and took another large bite. We stood in silence, staring out the windows, eating together while standing a few feet apart. It felt so natural to stand here with her like this. Like these past four hundred days apart had never happened.

"I'm sorry." I blurted, breaking our peaceful silence.

"For?" She studied me through narrowed eyes as she sucked some sugar off of her index finger.