Choices (Book Four)

Chapter 22

Shawn

"Do you want me to make some breakfast?" Mikayla asks as she rolls over in bed so she's laying across my chest, smiling down at me.

"I could definitely go for some nourishment," I reply with a wink and she giggles before she rolls towards the edge of the bed and hits her feet, skipping out of my room with a quick glance back at me over her shoulder before she disappears down the hall.

I stare up at the ceiling as I think about the whirlwind my life has been the past eight weeks. Eight weeks ago I injured my knee and had surgery. Four weeks ago, Mikayla cooked me the best fajitas I've ever had in my life. Four weeks ago I got the green light to lose my crutches. Two weeks ago Mikayla and I kissed. I had convinced her to let me take her out for dinner now that I could manage to walk around and I wanted to repay her for all the cooking she had been doing for me almost every night after the fajitas. We went to a small Greek place town I'd heard was good from some guys on the team. We laughed throughout dinner, everything felt so easy and comfortable with her.

We could talk about anything for hours on end, we actually ended up staying until the place closed down and Mikayla blushed slightly when our server had to tell us the place was closing and we needed to settle our bill. I fought her for the bill, ultimately winning. We drove around town for a little bit afterwards, listening to the music on the radio and telling stories from high school. It was the first night I had seen her apartment when I dropped her off. It was a nice looking place, only about ten minutes from my house. She argued with me to stay in the car and not walk her to the door but her argument was futile.

We reached her door and she turned to face me, surprising me when she leaned forward, her hand gripped the back of my neck and her mouth landed on mine. I was frozen initially as her lips moved against mine and a few seconds passed before I finally got my bearings and kissed her back. It had been months since I kissed someone, that someone being Lyla, so it felt a bit foreign at first, but as I allowed myself to relax and enjoy the moment. It was a great kiss. When she pulled away she smiled up at me shyly, seemingly a bit embarrassed by her forwardness. She had told me she had a great time and wished me goodnight before she quickly disappeared into her apartment.

I stood in the hallway for a few more seconds, stunned by what had just happened. When I made it out to my car I drove home thinking about the kiss. It was unexpected, but I couldn't deny that I had enjoyed it. There was something different about her, there didn't need to be any pressure on us, it was simple and felt natural. The next day when she showed up for physio I could tell she was a bit unsure about her actions from the night before. She was being very short with her comments and standoffish. By the time our hour session had passed I knew she was questioning and maybe even regretting what happened between us the night before. I felt like an idiot for not having messaged her at all between I left her place and when she showed up today.

She had hurriedly packed up her duffle bag and was rushing her way towards the door when I finally snapped into action and caught her at the door, my hand reaching out for her arm and stopping her. Her eyes had dropped to my hand on her arm before they lifted to meet my own. I didn't overthink it as I moved towards her and dipped my head down to meet her for a kiss. My arms wrapped around her as I felt her start to relax against me and fall into the kiss, her lips moving with mine as our tongues started to explore. Neither of us even noticed my front door open until Greg's voice sprung us apart like teenagers getting caught making out by their parents. Greg grinned at me and nodded his head amused as he glances between the both of us.

"Very nice," he had commented with a nod towards me and I shook my head as I stepped towards him, grabbing Rupert's leash from his hand and closing the door in his face, catching it switch to a look of confusion before it closed.