Sweet Surrender (Book 2)

This Kiss, This Kiss

"But the you who you are tonight is the same you I was in love with yesterday, the you I'll be in love with tomorrow." -Adam, If I Stay

Tyler

"You kissed me." Stacey whispers as I break the kiss. Her eyes closed.

"I think I did." I answer with a smile on my face. I hold her face between my hands.

"Why did you kiss me?" She tries to pull away but I keep her close. Holding her hands with mine.

"Uhmm... Maybe because I wanted to kiss you."

"You wanted to kiss me." Her eyes shows confusion.

"Yes." I nod keeping my eyes on her.

"Why? Why did you want to kiss me?" She shakes her head but I keep her head still with my hands on her cheeks.

"Because I wanted to." She still looks shocked. I can almost her the clogs on her brain working overtime. She's thinking.

"That shouldn't have happened. You shouldn't have done that. This is all wrong Tyler." She covers her mouth with her hand.

"What? How can it be wrong when it feels so right, Stace?"

"No. No. This is wrong." She talks back to her desk and I follow her.

"Wrong? Why did you kiss me back then?" I stand in front of her leaning my arms on her desk.

"Don't make it sound like this is my fault Tyler." She said through gritted teeth. Why us she suddenly so mad at me?

"No. I'm not blaming you. Its not like that. I just want you to realize how much I want this to happen as much as you want to." I sit in a chair and face her.

"Just go Tyler. Stop messing with my head." She stands and walks to the door. I grab her hand and stop her. She can't walk away from me again.

"Stace... Can we talk about this?"

"You should've asked me that before you actually kissed me, cause that surely spoiled the moment." She hissed at me and walks out the door.

Okay. Maybe kissing her was not the best move to make today. I was a bit too sure of myself. Now I made her mad. I can feel it by the way she walks out of that door. I can't blow this off again. I just can't.

"Look, I'm sorry if I kissed you!" I shouted after her as I open that door where she left. She stops before she can reach for the front door and looks around. Her eyes widen in horror.

Oh no.

The cafe is fully packed with customers. And I surely got their attention. Not only Stacey's attention but at least ten people sitting on their tables, supposedly enjoying their coffee. And here I am, shouting like a crazy lover. All eyes on me and Stacey.

She shakes her head and walks out of the front door.

"What was that for!" She yells at me when I finally caught up with her. She's walking briskly with her arms hugging her body.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to embarrass you."

"That's what you just did. Thank you very much. You'll get an A+ for being an as*hole sometimes Tyler." She said sarcastically.

"Okay. I apologize for embarrassing you, not for kissing you. I will never apologize for kissing you. Because that's what I feel for you. I missed you Stace. I never thought I did, but the moment I laid my eyes on you, I knew something is missing. And that's you." I close the distance between us. She's fidgeting a little, I know she's confused with what's happening between us, but I felt it. I felt the connection between us. And I'm not letting that go.

"This is just crazy talk." She turns her back on me. She lifts her head up and exhales, her hands resting on her hips.

"Call me crazy but I'm not giving up Stace on us. Maybe I am crazy. I don't care." I put my arms around her and whisper in her ear.

"We can't do this. This is wrong. I am not a home wrecker. I don't steal anyone's boyfriend. I can't do this. I'm sorry." She shakes her head and moves out of my embrace.

"What? I don't have a girlfriend Stace. I told you already. Why won't you believe me?"

"Yeah right Tyler. Keep denying her. She would really be happy with that. I don't need a guy like you Tyler. You will just crush me. Destroy my hope to love and be loved. Like you always did. You reached your quota with that by the way. And guess what, I'm through with all that hurt. I can't and won't let you hurt me again. Ever." Her eyes fill with sadness. I did this to her. I hurt her and I can;t stand seeing those tears brought by me again.

"Being hurt is part of loving a person Stacey. You were not the only one who got hurt in the past. I did too. Everybody experiences that at a point their lives. But did you hear anything from me? Did I curse the hell out of you for leaving me? For hurting me? No. I didn't do any f that. Cause I know... I know everything happens for a reason. But I am sorry If I hurt you. It was not my intention to..." I reach for her but she flinches at my touch so I move my hand away.

"Not your intention to hurt me? It's always about you Tyler. You never think of what others would feel. You are one selfish son of a b*tch Tyler. I have moved on Tyler. God knows what I've been through. But I did. The moment you decided to disappear from me, from all of us, years ago, I knew you were one of those mistakes that I've made in my life. You were one of those choices that I made that I'm not really proud of."

"We make mistakes Stace. But we learn from them. And that was a mistake to leave you. That's why I'm here, to make up for all of it and make things right. I want to make this right with you Stace. Please let me make this up for you. I don't care if you push me away, I would understand. But I am not gonna let this go again. I have given up a couple of times, but this time? Not gonna happen. No one can stop me. Not even you."

"Just go Tyler... Go back to her." She shakes her head and I let her hands go.

"Just so you know, I have also made mistakes in my life. Bad choices that I am also not proud of. But you are not one of those bad choices. Definitely not a mistake Stacey. You are the best thing that ever happened to me. You complete me. When I left, I was broken. I thought I am not gonna be able to put my life back together again. But when I saw you, I knew you were the missing piece of my puzzle. And I am not stopping until I complete it again."

She looks up at me. I turn and walk away. I keep my head down, not wanting to fight back the tears from my eyes. It feels bad to open up not-so-good memories. But I know we needed that. We need to put the past behind us.