Avery Camden thinks she can walk out of her boyfriend, James Grant's, life after cheating on him with his best friend. For her, the conditions that led to their breakup aren't a beautiful memory.
When barely a year later, her family's business is ha...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Son of a nut!
James had just stepped on me. Again.
We were both a mess actually. The Uber driver had quickly thrown us out of his car once we got to James' apartment because somehow, someone had puked all over his back seat. And it wasn't me.
It was a battle to drag James all the way to the base of the stairs and a harder war to get him up the stairs. Thankfully, the house had only one storey.
James had said I didn't change. Funny how he didn't change either. He was still a lightweight and his house was still exactly how it'd been before I'd left. Nothing had changed.
He grumbled for the umpteenth time while my tired form tried to pull him in the direction of his bedroom. And once we got there, I took his keys and unlocked the door, practically shoving james inside.
He fell to the floor in an almost alarming way. I would have been alarmed had he not say up seconds later with a moan of pain.
"What the heck, Avery?"
"You're heavier than you think." I put a hand on my hip and tried to catch my breath. Eyeing him as he wobbled upto his feet-if that was possible-I said, "come on. You need to get changed and into bed."
"Whatever, you can go now. I don't need your help anymore." He tried to shoo me away but ended up swaying on his feet. My arms were around his torso in nanoseconds.
"You were saying?"
"You're not helping me change."
And as tempting as it was, I didn't want to make my condition any harder. I shook my head. "I'll help you get fresh clothes and some water for your head."
James tugged himself free from my hold and sauntered into the bathroom, holding his head. Without even sparing a "thank you".
"Try not to slip, fall and die in there, would you!" I called after him, right before he slammed the door in my face.
Once I was alone in his room,the gravity of what I was doing sank in. I was helping James. I was at his house. Doing the one thing I said I wouldn't do; coming close to him again. Every rationality in me screamed that this was a bad idea but I couldn't help but wonder if one night would hurt. Just one.
My hands still tingled from just touching him and I wondered if his skin had the same reaction. Or if it was just me and my bloody craziness.
Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I wandered over to his wardrobe and pulled it open revealing a rack of neatly arranged clothes. Suits and dressings shirts on one side and casual outfits on the other. I pulled out a grey tee shirt and shut the wardrobe.
James liked sleeping in his boxers and a tee shirt, from what I knew about him. If he wasn't a completely different person yet.
I held up the shirt and contemplated my next action. It was stupid and weird and would make me look crazy. I sniffed his shirt.
When I smelled how much of him was on the shirt, I sniffed it some more. And that action alone almost brought me to tears. I missed him so much.
The sound of his bathroom door opening and James stepping out startled me. Enough for me to toss the shirt across the king-sized bed.
"What are you doing?" His eyes weren't wide, but they sure had an amp of shock in them. I felt m cheeks grow hot in embarrassment.
"I was just... I-er...your shirt's ready," I blubbered, plastering on a freaky smile. James eyed me before walking around the bed, and grabbing the shirt. I watched in awe as the muscles on his back rippled while he slipped it on and then my brain went crazy. Memories of all the times my hands had run across that flashing everywhere until-
"Are you okay?"
I blinked out of my reverie, mentally smacking myself. "Peachy." I needed to leave, before I'd do something I'd regret later. "I should probably get your water." I pointed towards the door with my thumb.
"There are four bottles right here," James said, pointing towards his night stand. At the four bottles of water that stood on it.
Of course, how could I forget how much water he consumed at night.
I stood in awkward silence for another moment while James emptied two of the bottles and plopped down onto the bed with an exhale.
"I.... guess I'd better get going then." Even after saying the words, my feet didn't move. And neither did James'gaze move from mine. "Okay bye."
"Wait." I halted halfway to the door at the sound of his voice. Then I turned around to stare at him. His brown hair was pressed to his forehead by water, some of it already dripping down to his shirt. All I wanted to do was crawl in to the bed and sleep by his side. No words spoken or questions asked. Just bask in him for the last time.
He stared me dead in the eye and said, "stay."
I blinked. And James realising how non-composed he'd sounded, cleared his throat. "It's late. Too late. You should probably just sleep here."
What froze me up wasn't his offer for me to stay over, but the fact that he was tapping the empty space on the bed right next to him. I couldn't tell if it was a trap or not but I knew that a large part of me really wanted to succumb. No matter how wrong it was to do so.
At my hesitation, James corked a brow. "You scared of sharing a bed with me now?"
Oh, fuck me. I was going to regret this. But man did I want nothing else right then.
So I slowly walked over to the bed and eased myself in lying stiffly on my back and facing the ceiling. For the next five minutes neither of us made a move to sleep. I fiddled with my fingers while James. . . Well I just bring myself to look over and see what he was doing.
"You didn't change, did you?" James suddenly asked in a quiet tone.
I swallowed and prepared my lie. "No, James. I did change."
In the darkness of the dimly lit room, I heard james sigh and move closer to me. The next thing I knew, his fingers were under my chin and my gaze was forced to meet his. My breaths quickened.
"I didn't want you to," he whispered.
Me neither. But I couldn't tell him that. My hands were tied and all I could do was get on with my lying. I couldn't be what he wanted. We both had to move on. I wasn't supposed to be here. Too many thoughts at once.
A stray tear left my eye and fell into the sheets. "I'm sorry."
And then, James Grant, my ex boyfriend who was supposed to hate me, kissed me. It was wrong and I was sure it would get me nowhere good, but I wanted to kiss him back.
So for once, I followed my heart and did just that.
