inhale, kevin day.

xvii. why stop now

chapter seventeen
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

There was much to be said about a hypocrite, but Maeve didn't exactly pause to judge herself for what she did next.

     Two hours.

     One hundred and twenty minutes.

     Seven thousand and two hundred seconds and she was giving in. To desire, to need, compulsion, she couldn't describe what it was just yet, but it had her driving back to Fox Tower after two measly hours and knocking on the boys' door. Aaron answered, raising his eyebrows in silent question as she strode inside and dropped a few takeout bags in the kitchen.

     "Eat." She said simply.

     Her feet led her to the bedroom and she was shutting the door, clicking the lock into place before it fully settled what she was about to do.

     Kevin laid unmoving up in the loft and she took a deep breath before kicking off her shoes and climbing the ladder. It was impossible for them to not touch in such a small space and the feel of him against her exposed skin sent a searing heat through her body.

"Is Andrew keeping his promise?" She was careful to phrase her words.

"Yes."

"Then why are you moping?" She watched as his leg, maybe unconsciously, moved closer to her own,"You've got your protector, your striker sub, your team's fractured, but together again nonetheless, I don't appreciate the thought of a whiny boyfriend."

"Not dating." He said simply.

She faced the wall to her right and his left, her fingers moved on their own, thumb twirling the ring on her index finger as she sighed,"Are you really gonna make me do this?"

"No one makes you do anything, Maeve, if nothing else, you've made that perfectly clear."

The frown on her face didn't move an inch as she continued fidgeting,"You have to understand... this isn't exactly easy for me."

"And you think it is for me?"

"Well then what the hell are we doing here? What's the game plan? I tried staying away for a day and I didn't even make it that, look at me, you think you're a mess? I'm pathetic, I called Neil out on his trust issues, but I can't even talk to my godmother, my once a week sessions aren't exactly going places, and for some reason I want to be around you."

     "Pretty big change from turning to me on the sidelines to flip me off or curse me out at every chance you got." Kevin was sitting up now.

     Maeve groaned, dropping her face into her hands and deciding fuck it before saying,"Matt thinks we've been into each other from the start and the glares were code for eye fucking."

     She could hear his surprise in his voice,"You, uh... you told him?"

     "No." The word was muffled.

     Kevin took her hands into his own and she sighed again,"He's mentioned you in passing a few times, and knowing him and those obsessive gamblers, there's probably a few bets floating around. He probably thought if he mentioned it enough times he could get a confession out of me and win his pot, but I'm not a sharer, it's why the Wymack and Abby bet is still going—"