Reconsider Me

Part 20

It was well past midnight, when Stevie unlocked the door of her home. Careful not to make a sound, she slipped off her boots and put away her purse. The house was quiet, dark. It had to be given the time of night. She didn't want to switch on the lights, so she slowly made her way towards the staircase by feel and memory. Once she got to the top, she heard a low growl to her left. Shushing her dog, she assured that she wasn't an intruder, before she walked to the master bedroom. For a second, she thought, she saw a dim light coming from underneath the door, but when she pushed it open, she found the room to be surrounded by darkness as well. She breathed a sigh of relief. It went against all of her rules, but she didn't want to disturb Kyle, so she undressed and slipped under the covers. 

It felt like a minute hadn't passed by, when Stevie felt Kyle roll over and glue himself to her back. His arm wrapped around her middle and he pressed a kiss to her shoulder. It was as if someone had stuck their hand right into her chest and squeezed her heart. Guilt. She felt guilty. Even if Kyle had slept with another woman during the time their relationship status was unclear, even if he constantly did things that irritated the hell out of her, he didn't deserve what happened tonight. He might never find out, she hoped, he would never find out, but it did not erase the guilt. 

Just a kiss. It was just a kiss, it didn't mean anything. They repeated that several times, but it still happened, when it shouldn't have. They were supposed to have moved on. So much time had passed, so much had changed. No matter what they were telling themselves - they hadn't. Not when it came to the two of them together. 

"How much did you have to drink?" Stevie stilled at Kyle's muffled, sleepy voice. "You smell like a brewery."

"Oh, uh... I was going to take a show, but I didn't want to make too much noise and wake you up." Stevie replied. The smell of the alcohol wasn't what she wanted to wash off - the feeling of Lindsey's hands all over her body was. "I guess, I can do that now, since you're awake."

"Don't be silly." Kyle wasn't about to let her go. "How did it go? I hope, you didn't get into a fight."

"It went fine." She spoke slowly, doing her best not to give away the fact her throat had closed up and her eyes misted over. "We didn't argue, just talked."

"Good." Kyle said and planted another small kiss on her hair. "I'm glad you're back."

"Ye-yeah." Stevie gulped and patted his hand. "Go back to sleep."

"Goodnight. I love you." The words rolled off his tongue so easily.

"Goodnight." She said and stopped there.