WITH YOU- I Never Had A Choice ✔️

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

DYLAN

Avery stands in front of me in blue skinny jeans and a white top, with a surprised expression of her face. Her hair is tied at the top of her head into a ponytail and the lower curled part is now resting on one of her shoulders. Her lips part slightly immediately bringing my attention to them.

Since that night I haven't stopped thinking about her plump lips and the way they moved in synchronization with mine. Her body fitted in my hand exactly like the right piece of the puzzle sticks at the right place.

I pull my hands out of my pocket and step closer to her. As though she is fixed to her position, looking directly into my eyes. When Madelyn, my assistant, told me that a woman named 'Olivia' came to meet me, I knew right then and there who it was. I am not saying that no one other than her with the same name could come to meet me but I was having a feeling that it is her. Now here she is, my beloved wife.

She clears her throat softly and looks down. Her fingers interlock with each other as she mutters quietly, "I am sorry but I needed to talk to you." She looks up and tilts her head to her right, "are you free right now?"

"Yeah. I am. Go ahead, " I say and walk around her towards my desk. I already know what she probably wants to talk to me about. I am just not sure if Saturday night is in it too. She didn't try to talk to me about it since then. Maybe I didn't give her a chance.

I place my palms on the edge of the table and lean against it. I lift my chin, silently encouraging her to continue. She looks down at her hands again. I can say that she is anxious about the whole thing. "I am sorry." Her voice is soft and shaky, almost inaudible.

"For?" I know I am pushing her but I am really confused now. I don't want to conclude without knowing what's going on in her head.

"Both. Saturday morning and night." Still looking down she says, "I am sorry I ran off. It was really stupid. I never thought I would...share those things with anyone." I purse my lips and remain silent. She looks up and on seeing my expression quickly adds, "but it felt good." She looks back down at her hand, "I never wanted someone to be by my side or help me... I always blamed myself for what happened to Marcus." I frown but before I can ask any questions, she says, "so today I was talking to Melissa, my friend, and she said I should not close off like that...and start living." She completes saying everything and looks up. I decide it's better not to ask any questions right now. Maybe she has decided to open up a bit more to me but I don't want to push her too far with it. I choose to remain silent and just give her a nod.

When she said the word 'living', it made something inside of me hurt. Knowing that she hasn't been 'living' since the day her best friend died, I can't help but realise that my feelings for her are getting more intensified. Looking at her face I could tell that she has more to say so I wait patiently. I want to know what she has to say about Saturday night, or if she even remembers what happened.

She looks up at me and continues, "I thought I would apologize to you that night but I started drinking and it didn't go as planned..." She crunches her face and looks down. I can see her cheeks getting a bit red implying that she is embarrassed. That means she remembers. "It won't happen again, I promise, " she quickly adds. 

"Why not?" I let a little chuckle and her face grows a bit redder. I am still debating if I should just let it go or tell her how I felt about that kiss. I don't want things to get awkward between us and I surely don't want it to seem like I took advantage of her intoxicated state but I could just tell her that I liked it, right?

"I never do things like that. I don't know what happened. I just wasn't thinking so...I went on and on."

"I liked it though, " I say with a nonchalant shrug so that it seems casual. So that the fact that I have been craving to touch her, hold her kiss her ever since that night, is not that obvious. I even dreamt about her that night and on Sunday night...doing stuff and woke up with a boner. And right now, my body is extremely aware of her presence and I don't like the way it is reacting right now.

"Dylan, please don't. Don't tease me, " she groans and closes her, shaking her head. "I am way too embarrassed already. You don't have to make it worse."

"Why are you embarrassed? Stuff like that happens all the time, " I say to comfort her. Truly, I've never really been a guy who liked to kiss different girls all the time, casually. I could never call myself a 'good boy' in that sense 'cause I've had my fair share of girls in college but I was surely better than my friends.

"No! I am not a kid anymore. I shouldn't have acted like one."

"Did you like it?" The words leave my mouth before I can stop them and now that they are out, I so don't want her to answer that. I am not saying I am a bad kisser, I've had quite a good reputation in that context but there is always a 'was I good enough for her?' when it comes to Avery.

She looks at me confused, giving me an expression as if I've lost my mind. "No, of course not!" She scoffs as if disgusted. Ouch!

"Woah! No one has ever told me that I was a bad kisser, " I let out a little chuckle. Although I am trying to be nonchalant about it, the feeling inside me is the same as getting rejected by someone.

"What did you just say?" I look at her to find her looking at me with a blank expression. "What kiss?"

"You do remember Saturday night, right?" I ask, frowning. I am not sure which answer will make me feel better. If she doesn't remember then that would mean she doesn't remember our first kiss and if she does remember, then I don't even want to think about it.

"No! I was drunk!" Shaking her head vigorously, she hurries to stand in front of me. Her expression makes it clear that she doesn't remember anything from that night. I shouldn't have jumped into conclusions! Fuck!!!