Ghosts (A Christian Yelich Story)

Chapter Twenty-Three: A Leg to Stand On

I instantly knew I had made a huge mistake, but I wasn't sure if I should run after Annie or give her some space. Opting to give her a little space, even though I wanted to sprint, I buried my head in my hands. My heart felt like it was in the pit of my stomach, as I got up to pace the room while mouthing obscenities at myself.

I gave her ten miserable minutes before leaving the room to find her. Our bathroom was connected to our room, so the only logical place I thought she could be was the bar area where we had just had our meeting.

I made my way down two flights of steps and booked it to the pub.

As expected, she was sitting at the bar. What I was not expecting was for Asher to be sitting right next to her with his hand on the back of her chair. Sprinting would have been the smarter option.

I took a deep breath before approaching the pair. "Hey," I said softly.

She looked up at me while taking a sip of water. Her eyes looked more sad than angry. "Hi," she replied quietly. This was at least a start.

"I'm sorry. I was a huge, jealous piece of shit. There's no excuse for my behavior. I just really like you . . ."

She cut me off, "I was sort of hoping there wasn't a secret asshole in there."

That hurt. "I know. I'm sorry. Let me try to make it up to you."

I had almost forgotten Asher was standing next to me when he decided to join the conversation. "You should probably go."

"Oh, fuck off, Asher. You have no leg to stand on," Annie chirped up. "I don't need you to do this knight-in-shining-armor bullshit. You're definitely the biggest asshole in this room. Christian stays, and you go. Now."

I was surprised at her response; I was fully expecting to be the one told off, and I deserved it. Asher shot me death glares before walking away. "You're making a mistake, Annie. This guy's a tool."

"Nah, you were the mistake," Annie shouted at him. Asher just flipped her off before exiting through the doorway.

"This doesn't mean I'm not pissed at you," she said, a bit more calmly, while looking directly at me.

"I know," I practically whispered. "Can I sit next to you?"

"Yes, I would prefer that to the weird hovering thing Asher was just doing."

I nodded and sat on the stool next to her. "I really am sorry, Annie. I was aggressive and mean. I don't have any excuses for it."

She sighed. "I like you, Christian. I don't want to be disappointed. I get that you were potentially feeling a bit threatened, but don't take those feelings out on me. I didn't do anything wrong."

I just nodded again – afraid of saying something that could potentially make the situation worse.

"Let's go back to our room. I'm really tired."

"Okay." We stood up together. "Does this mean I get another chance?" I asked with a bit of hopefulness in my voice.

"Just one more," she said softly. "I can't always be a pushover."

"You don't strike me as a pushover. I mean, you just gave Asher Michels the boot." I reached my hand out to her in order to give her the option to take it.

She grasped my hand, and a sense of relief flooded over me. "I wouldn't have been able to do that a year ago."

When we got back to the room, she changed into her pajamas right in front of me. She didn't go into the bathroom or hide in a stall. For whatever reason, this made me feel like we were together on some level. Maybe we weren't a couple, but she was starting to trust me, at least – even after I tried my hardest to mess everything up.

She stepped into bed and pulled the covers up, so just her face was peeking out over the blankets. "Are you joining me?" she asked. "I'm cold."

I laughed. "You're always cold." I took my shirt off but kept my sweats on before crawling into bed and wrapping Annie in my arms. She nuzzled her head into my chest as she placed one arm around my stomach. "This is nice," I muttered before pulling her closer to me.

"Yeah . . ." she sighed, already drifting to sleep.

I kissed her forehead and her lips before shutting my eyes, too.

I wouldn't make another mistake.