The Millionaire's Bet [BOOK ONE][#Wattys2015][#SYTYCW15][#CarinaPress]

part twenty four

ANDREW

There are no words which describe the way I felt this morning when I woke up with Alyssa in my arms. It was a moment which I had dreamed about, and I had never thought it would happen, not after the way I had treated her and the way I had spoken to her like she was nothing other than a piece of shit on the bottom of my shoe, but she gave me a chance and I have shown her just how much she really did mean to me.

I didn't sleep with her because of some stupid bet I made with my brother, a bet which I will come to regret for the rest of my life, especially when Alyssa discovers the truth, but I slept with her because that's what I wanted and it was something I had wanted for some time now—in the beginning, it was just about the bet and proving that I could get any girl in bed, but then it turned into something more and I wanted her for myself because she was the woman who had changed.

Alyssa Lopez was the reason for so much right in my life right now. She was the reason I no longer drank in the morning, and I only drank in the evening if I was in a casual meeting with a client, and she was also the reason that I had cut down on my smoking because she was the reason I wanted to keep living for just a little bit longer. She was the reason I got out of bed in the mornings and she was the reason that I was a better person that I ever had been with Rebecca.

I was, strangely, nervous about tonight because I still didn't know whether she was actually going to come or whether she was just going to let me down because she had second thoughts about what happened last night. I had hoped that she would come, because I would love for her to meet my sister and my niece, she would love the both of them immediately.

But the choice remained with her and I could only hope that she gave me another chance to prove I wasn't the same jerk I had been five months' ago. I wanted to be the man that she wanted, I didn't want to be the man she grew to despise and I didn't want to be the man who ruined everything for her again, I just wanted her to be there for me and I wanted her to fall for me in the same way I had fallen for her.

"Come here, Andrew. You are an absolute mess," my mother's voice brought me out of my panicked state of mind.

"It's fine, mother," I pulled her hands away from my tie, even though I knew it wasn't fine, not when it was loosely hung and disappearing somewhere to the side, but it was pointless allowing her to sort it out for me because my nerves would only get the better of me again and I would ruin it when I didn't know what to do with my hands.

I really didn't understand the feelings which I had for Alyssa, the way I felt about Rebecca was nothing compared to this, but I did know that I wanted her and I wanted her to be my girlfriend. I didn't want her to be some bit on the side that I would fuck every so often, I actually wanted her to be a part of my life, and I knew I was going to lose that the moment she discovered the truth about the bet and assumed that's the only reason I had slept with her last night—she would even go as far as assuming the bet was my sole reason for pursuing her all this time as well.

"This, Andrew, is not fine. Now, let me sort it out for you," I knew that my mother wasn't going to give up in a hurry and so I allowed her the satisfaction of sorting my tie out for me, before she walked over to where Darren was now sitting with his sister, and engaged in conversation with the pair of them about something which would probably hold no interest to me whatsoever.

I actually found myself staring at the door, as well constantly checking the time, wondering when she was going to walk through it and what she was going to be wearing. Though, honestly, she could turn up in a bin liner and still look stunning, and I would still take her back to my place with the intention of making love to her all night long.

Last night was truly amazing. Darren may have been reluctant to help me out in the first place, because he was still under the illusion that he was going to get back with Alyssa, but I managed to convince him in the end. I may have emotionally blackmailed him into helping me, asking if he wanted to make Alyssa happy, and that did the trick because he was only too happy to help me after that conversation.