Cherish Every Moment Book 1: A Chance Encounter

Epilog

Avi was never even five minutes late, so for him to be over an hour late and coming out of a hotel room that wasn't his was very significant. It was even more significant for him to be in such a disheveled state of undress. No shirt, no shoes, it was a problem.

~~~

Kevin looked at Avi, watched him as he moved quickly across the hall. His dark hair was a messy mass of tangled curls about his head, his shirt and shoes missing from his person. He looked distressed, worried and very angry. Kevin knew that anger, had seen it many times in the years he and Avi had been roommates. Avi's eyes were dark with frustration. He was angry at himself as he should be. He was not only late, he was extremely late and he wasn't dead, dying or maimed. That would be the only acceptable excuses that Avi could offer for making them more than an hour late. Instead he was half dressed, his pants not quite zipped properly, his belt twisted, a hickie on his bare chest, his shoes magically absent, leaving someone else's hotel room. Kevin began to wonder if this was a normal thing, if all the time Avi spent 'on his own' was really time spent on his own. One look in Avi's eyes as he moved past him answered that errant thought. His eyes were not only dark with annoyance at himself, they were filled with fear and pain and something else. Something he had never seen in his brother's eyes, and quite frankly he never wanted to see again. Avi held his key card in one hand his shirt in the other. He was muttering to himself, as he was prone to do when he was in a state of distress, while he approached the door. When Avi put the key to the door he turned his narrow back to him. Kevin's eyes widened in shock and surprise. There on Avi's back was all the evidence he needed to know exactly what Avi had been up to and why he was so damn late. Small angry red scratches crisscrossed his pale white back. They were fresh, thin red lines where someone's fingernails had run over his back while he was doing God knows what to them. There was of course, a chance that someone was just scratching his back for him and got a little carried away, but these scratches didn't look like the person that put them there was sitting behind him helping him with an itch and there was the matter of that small purple mark on his chest. Kevin was grateful that marks like that didn't show on his dark skin, neither did scratches from fingernails. But, Avi was pale as a vampire, marks like that would always show up on his skin, fingernails would always leave red marks. Kevin had little time to take a good solid look at the scratches on Avi's back, but from what he did see, whomever she was, and she was a she, Kevin did not doubt that, she didn't draw blood or raise welts.

***

Avi worked the door open and rushed into his room. His mind was moving at a thousand miles a second, between having to leave Rayne, naked and unfulfilled in the bed across the hall, to being later than he had ever been in his entire life, he was a massive ball of anger, frustration, confusion, shame and guilt. He wanted nothing more than to run back to her, finish what they had started and lounge naked and unafraid in her arms. He would not be able to do that and it hurt him more than a little. He also wondered what exactly he had almost done. Well he knew what he had almost done, was literally inches from it. What he needed to know was why. Why hadn't he been able to keep himself under control? Why, after wanting to meet Rayne for more than a year and finally meeting her, finally being able to give his words to her did he insist on giving her his body? It was him who had done the insisting. He had to face that reality. She seemed so content to just be with him and laugh, to listen to the music he made and enjoy his company and the warmth of it. What was it about her that had disarmed him so completely, slipped past all his wards and made him want to have sex so desperately that he almost did, would have without a care in the world? Did he just want her body, he had to admit she had a great body and it felt so good under him. But, why? He had never wanted sex so much in his life, never not been able to say no. He wasn't going to tell her no. He was going to give her everything she asked for. She hadn't asked him for a thing. It was all him. She was patient and kind, willing to wait for him, but it was all him. He hadn't lied to her. She would have been his first. He wanted her to be his only, his last. But why was that so important? Why did he push it? Avi's level of guilt and shame spiked and emotionally he hit an all-time low. He fought to keep the tears from his eyes, by focusing on his frustration with himself.

He was late. Very fucking late and he really didn't have any excuse. It would have been different if he had fallen ill, or just fallen. But, No! He was getting it on with a very lovely lady in the room across the hall. He was so distracted that he didn't notice that his phone was dead, that he hadn't woken when he was supposed to. He didn't have time to shower now and he really needed to clean himself up. His hair was a train wreck, curling and sticking up everywhere. He needed to brush his hair and teeth and wash himself. Avi only grew more agitated as he thought of all the things he would not be able to do before he got on the bus for a three-day ride. 'Fuck! I am an IDIOT' He thought to himself as he looked around his room briefly. He started apologizing to Kevin immediately and begged him for help. His behavior must have been really shocking because Kevin just stood in the doorway watching him with a look of pure shock on his face. This was not the look Avi wanted to see on his brother's face when he told him that he finally fallen in love. It was not the look he wanted to see at all.

"Please?" He pleaded and whined. "I'm so sorry." He looked at Kevin's expression a little closer and saw not only shock, but a burning curiosity. Kevin wanted to know why he was such a hot mess and boy was he a mess. Avi didn't know what else to do. Kevin wasn't budging and there was still so much to be done.

He was supposed to come back to his room to relax, to shower and get ready for bed, to drift off to sleep with his book in his hands. Then he saw Rayne and his heart started skipping beats in his chest and he had to talk to her so he made that happen. He made a complete fool of himself and then an even bigger fool showed up and scared the crap out of them both. Rayne had handled the situation well, let him walk her back to her room where he wound up staying the whole night and part of the morning, pushing his own agenda on the only woman that he was certain he could love forever. What would Kevin have to say about that? He wondered. Kevin was more than just his band mate and roommate. He was his brother of heart. The level of love and respect that they had for each other was phenomenal. He honestly loved Kevin and valued his opinion more than most anyone's so, it was very important to him to know what Kevin was thinking, but it was not the time to get into that kind of discussion. Ester would be back with a key soon and then he'd be in serious trouble. Keven was not angry with him, disappointed and surprised but not disappointed. It took a long moment but Kevin finally came around.

***

"Avi. Man. What the hell? I thought..." Kevin let the thought drop when Avi's wounded eyes turned to him. "Okay. Okay. I know..." Kevin paused and looked Avi over shaking his head, his hand on his lips his eyes open and bright. "You didn't get your pants zipped and your belt is twisted." Kevin couldn't help but smile at the thought of his brother finally getting it. He hoped he was careful and that he would be seeing the woman again. It wouldn't do for Avi to become something he was not. He looked at Avi again. Confused was what he was. Confused and guilty. Kevin really didn't like to see that in his brother's eyes. He had to help him. There was no way that Ester could see Avi this way, half-naked, scratched up and marked up. Kevin needed to get Avi taken care of first then he could help him get his shit so they could get on the road.

"Dude," Kevin said stepping into the room to help. "Put your shirt on."