A Penny For The Girl

Chapter 13

I woke up the next morning to the sound of soft snores coming from beside me, momentarily forgetting where I was I sat up turning towards the noise. Remembering I had the devil beside me I sighed taking this opportuninty to study him properly without his permanent scowl marring his features. He was truly a beautiful man, his smooth skin slightly tanned from no doubt the endless holidays he enjoys, his full pink lips were slightly parted in sleep, his face relaxed looking younger and a little innocent. I was so busy studying him I hadn't noticed that the soft snores had stopped until I heard him speak. "You know it's creepy to stare at people when they are sleeping right?" He smirks as he opens his eyes looking straight at me.

I turn away blushing mumbling something about having a shower and hear him chuckle as I leave the room. After I've finished in the shower I realise in my haste to get away from Tate I didn't bring any clothes with me, I didn't particularly want to put my dirty PJs back on so I listened at the bathroom door to see if I could hear anyone moving around in the bedroom but I couldn't hear anything, presuming he'd left for breakfast already I opened the bathroom door slightly peeking out to check he definitely wasn't there. Satisfied I had the room to myself I made sure my towell was tight and quickly ran to the wardrobe in case he came back for any reason. In my rush to cross the room I wasn't looking where I was going and ran straighy into Tate as he was coming out of the wardrobe. He instinctively grabbed me to steady me and stop me falling whilst I grabbed my towel making sure it didn't fall down. Shocked I looked into his eyes noticing them darken slightly as he realised what I was wearing, "Sorry" I spluttered "I... I thought you'd already left" he didn't say anything, just walked round me and left the room. Flustered, confused and incredibly embarressed I threw on some black yoga pants and a bright green vest top over some matching green underewear. His mum really had gone all out with my wardrobe, I had several sets of  underwear that matched my clothes. I roughly towel dried my wet hear leaving it damp and after running a brush through it I quickly braided it to one side. I hurried out the room trying to remember the way to the kitchen but stopped in my tracks when I realised Tate was waiting for me.

"I'm guessing you still don't know your way to the kitchen?" He asked "No" I said awkwardly still blushing furiously from the fact he almost saw me naked. "Listen, Brooke" he began "I just wanted to say I'm really sorry" the shock clearly evident on my face making him take a deep breath in "I judged you before I knew a thing about you and I never thought about what this situation would be doing to you, I was angry at the world, my parents, everything and I took it out on you and I'm sorry" I just stared at him, this guy that had been so nasty when we had first met was apologising to me, not once but twice he said the word. I must've just stood there staring at him with my mouth hanging open in shock for ages because he coughed and I noticed him rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. "Sooo.. Um.. Could we maybe start again??" He asked awkwardly. I shook myself out of my shock and decided a fresh start would be good for the both of us. "Ok" I said and saw relief seep into his features. "But lay a hand on me again and I'll break it!" I threatened and started walking the way I presumed was to the kitchen.

Tate caught up with my effortlessly his long strides no match for my little legs. From the corner of my eye I saw him open his mouth to speak but stop abruptly when he noticed the ugly purple bruise on my arm, in my haste to get dressed this morning I forgot about it. He frowned and gently touched my upper arm "Did I do that too?" He asked barely above a whisper "Yes, when you yanked me out the wardrobe and threw me on the bed" I answered honestly, no venom in my tone. His face dropped and the guilt was obvious on his face. He gently took both my wrists in his hands looking at the bruising there also, although all three bruises were beginning to fade they were still obvious. He looked at me with eyes weighed down with such regret I sucked in a breath "I'm so, so sorry, I honestly didn't mean to hurt you, I wasn't going to do anything to you that night I just wanted to make you stay away from me." He said. Looking in his eyes I saw no lie just guilt and I decided to move on from it, I was determined to make the best of a bad situation and if we could be civil to one another maybe one day we could figure a way out of this together. "What's done is done" I said "We agreed a fresh start, I accept your apology and you are forgiven, it was a weird situation for all of us, but it is not ok and I will not forgive you a second time. Now lets go eat I'm starving" Tate smiled at that and led the way to the kitchen promising to give me a tour of the house after breakfast.

I made pancakes for us for breakfast whilst Tate chopped up some fruit and got the yoghurt out of the fridge. "These are amazing" he complimented me "mum was right you can cook!" "They're just pancakes" I laughed finishing the fruit I had left on my plate. After we finished cleaning up we took a tour of the house.

Authors Note

So what do you think?? Can they be friends? Has she forgiven him too easily? Or do you think she's done the right thing in moving on??
Any other thoughts?? I really appreciate any comments as I would like to be a better writer!
Thanks again for reading 😁