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Coffee
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Chapter 26: Coffee (Rhys' POV)
"Good night!" Ava and I called out after dinner that night as we headed up to our rooms.
"Since your parents are going out tomorrow, does that mean we can too?" she asked as I opened the door to our room, holding it for her.
"We can if you would like to. Would you?"
She shrugged. "They're going for a meeting. We should just stay, we can have fun here, right?"
"Right," I nodded, chuckling. We changed, got ready for bed, I turned the lights off, and then we both lay down, letting out soft sighs.
We were just lying there in silence when she spoke up. "Rhys."
I turned my head to look at her. "Yeah?"
She was still staring at the ceiling. "I know where Brooke is."
I watched her for a minute, confused. "What?"
She faced me. "I talked to her."
I blinked in surprise. "Oh."
"I didn't know she was going to run like that and I had no idea where she was at the beginning. But Ashton did."
"Oh, he did?"
She nodded. "He caught her sneaking out of the house but he didn't stop her. She calls once in a while to check in with us, but my parents still don't know. I'm telling you because I don't want to hide it from you, and I don't want you to think that I knew she was running, I really didn't."
I nodded. "That's okay. I believe you. You wouldn't let her run if you knew. You hated me then. And I gave you every reason to, so it's fair." She seemed to relax a bit as I said that. "Is she all right?" I lifted a brow.
"She's so happy," she chuckled softly. "Living with Griffin is perfect for her. She's so in love with him, he's so in love with her, his parents love her too. They're going to get married."
"Wow," I laughed, shocked to hear that. "Brooke is getting married? I thought they weren't ready to get married."
"Griffin feels bad that she has to choose between him and her own family. Mom and Dad told Brooke that they would only accept him if they got married. So they're getting married. She won't move back. But she'll visit once in a while. I'm also telling you this because only Ashton and I can go to the wedding. She doesn't want our parents there, she's scared they won't let it happen. Do you want to come with me?"
I tucked her hair behind her ear. "Of course I want to come with you."
Her eyes narrowed just a bit. "Do you want to come with me or do you not want me to go alone?"
"Either or."
She rolled her eyes, chuckling dryly.
"Ava, I just don't want you to go alone to a kingdom that isn't ours, around people we don't know, that's all."
"I know Griffin and his family really well, Rhys."
"But I don't."
She watched me for a minute.
"I'm coming with you, Ava."
"Fine," she agreed. "But you're there as my husband, don't be possessive."
"I'm never possessive, I'm protective. There's a difference," I said pointedly.
"Sure thing."
"There is. And you know it."
She paused. "Yeah, I guess I do."
I put one arm around her waist and pulled her closer as she instinctively put one hand on my chest. I threw one leg over hers, locking her in and she smiled softly.
"What?"
"Nothing," I mumbled, my eyes falling to her lips. "I love you."
"I love you too," she grinned, holding one side of my face, her thumb stroking my cheek.
I leaned down, kissing her. I felt her smiling into the kiss before her hand trailed down, resting against my bare chest again, her touch sending sparks and chills throughout my entire body. At some point, I rolled onto my back and she moved to straddle me, both of us pausing when she did and pulling back, staring at each other in surprise.
Her eyes came from my lips to my eyes and moved to climb off but I kept my hands on her hips, holding her down. She froze, blinking once, then twice, stunned.
"Stay," I mumbled. "Right there, just like that."
"But... we—"
"Don't have to do anything more than this, don't worry."
She relaxed, a small smile tugging at her lips but she didn't let it show. "Okay," she whispered.
"Okay," I repeated before she leaned back down, her lips meeting mine again.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
The next morning while Ava was still sleeping, I went downstairs after checking the time. Both of us slept in until eleven, and my parents were already gone by then. So, I took making breakfast upon myself. I was downstairs and was working on making hash browns when I heard her walking down the stairs. I didn't bother putting a shirt on since we were by ourselves at home, which is why when I felt her cold hands on my stomach as she wrapped her arms around my waist from behind, I jumped a little at the touch.
She chuckled, resting her chin on my shoulder as she went on her toes. "What are you doing down here?" she asked, kissing my cheek and then my shoulder.
"Making us breakfast."
"Did your parents leave already?"
"Hmm." I turned down the heat before spinning around to face her.
She grinned. "Morning."
"Morning." I grabbed her waist, walking her backward until we reached the kitchen island.
Her hair was pulled up in a high ponytail and her skin glowed since she washed her face before coming down here. I put my hands around her waist, pulling her up and placing her on the counter. She reached up, pinching my cheeks then my nose. I blinked in confusion, staring at her. "I like seeing you blush," she teased.
I laughed, leaning forward and kissing her. She kissed me back, one hand resting at the base of my neck, her fingers ever so lightly tugging at my hair that sent chills down to the bone of my spine. I tightened my grip on her, deepening the kiss.
A minute later, she pulled away and looked over my shoulder. "Your hash browns are burning."
"I guess that means you don't like burnt hash browns, huh?"
She laughed, pushing me softly.
I turned around and turned off the gas, pulling the hash browns onto plates before grabbing two mugs and pouring out some coffee in them. Simultaneously, she opened the fridge and grabbed some milk and then sugar from the cabinet. She made the coffee while I set the plates on the counter.
"Please tell me you take sugar in your coffee now." She glanced at me over her shoulder.
"I still don't take sugar in my coffee, sorry," I mumbled, kissing the side of her head.
"I hate bitter coffee," she groaned.
"Well then, it's a good thing you don't need to have any," I laughed, both of us sitting across from each other.
"Do we have the place to ourselves today?"
I nodded. "Why? What do you want to do?" I smirked.
Her eyes narrowed. "Definitely not what you're hoping for, Rhys."
"Well, that's just unfortunate," I frowned, taking another bite.
She giggled, tossing her ponytail over her shoulder. We both ate slowly, having our own conversation.
By the time I was done, I looked up at her and found her sitting there with her chin in the palm of her hand while she stared at me. I cleared our plates, leaving them in the sink with our empty mugs, and then turning to her. She had spun in her barstool and was still watching me. "What?" I asked, putting my hands on the counter.
"Nothing," she mumbled, brushing my hair back. "I'm just happy. With the way, things are going. But I want to ask you something."
"Go ahead, my love."
She chuckled softly, her cheek turning pink at the nickname. She cleared her throat. "Do you think things could ever go back to the way they were? Between us?"
I thought for a moment, her eyes searching mine for the answer. "I don't know," I answered honestly, "but I hope so."
"Yeah?"
"Hmm, yeah."
"Me too," she said softly. She sighed, grabbing onto my shoulders and pulling me down. "I love you," she whispered.
"I love you too," I replied, closing the distance between us and bringing my lips to hers. My mind flashed back to the time we spent here on Ava's eighteenth birthday and I pulled away to look at her.
"What?" She blinked in confusion.
She was sitting right here on the counter, her legs rocking back forth while she grinned at me. "Aren't you going to wish me?" She lifted a brow. "We spent two hours on the drive and you haven't wished me once since you saw me this morning. Where's my present?" She lifted a brow, her grin turning into a frown.
"How about you..." I leaned forward, resting my hands on the counter. "Give me a kiss and then I'll give you your present, hmm?"
She scoffed, "It's my birthday. Present first."
"Kiss first."
"Present first."
"Kiss first."
"Present."
"Kiss."
"Present."
"Kiss."
She rolled her eyes, biting back a smile. I raised my brows and she rested her arms around my neck, pulling me in slowly. Her lips brushed against mine before she smiled and then laughed, pushing me away and hopping off the counter. "No present, no kiss."
I let out a low breath, my tongue poking the inside of my cheek.
"No kisses for you," she sang, backing away from me.
"Come here," I ordered.
"No," she laughed, shaking her head and moving to the other side of the counter.
"Come here, Ava."
"Make me," she teased.
I moved around the counter and she started running to the living room. I ran after her, catching her in the corner of the room, trapping her against the wall so she couldn't run away.
She leaned her head back, watching me with a lazy smile. "What are you going to do me, your highness?"
I stared at her, my eyes traveling across her face, getting caught on her lips before I forced them to meet her eyes again. She cocked a brow at me. "I'm going to love you."
"More than you already do?" She looped her arms around my neck, pulling me closer.
"In a way I couldn't until now."
Her smile faded and she straightened up. "Are you serious? We can do that now?"
I nodded.
"But you always said no whenever I asked," she pouted.
"Because you weren't eighteen. You are now." I could see that she suddenly felt nervous. "We don't have to. It's your birthday, you call the shots, darling," I chuckled, tucking her hair behind her ear. "You don't want to?"
"I'm scared," she admitted. "I don't... know anything. It's so forbidden to talk about, even Brooke shied away from it."
"You asked Brooke about what having sex is like?" I asked, amused.
"Don't make fun of me." She smacked my chest.
"I'm not making fun of you," I smiled.
She seems so worried about it, how could it possibly be enjoyable if she's so horrified of it?
"Let's not do it tonight. Let's wait a while."
She nodded but still seemed hesitant. "I won't know what to do, Rhys," she mumbled.
"So? I'll teach you."
"Rhys?"
"Yeah?"
"What are you thinking about?" She chuckled softly.
"I'm thinking about... the time we came here on your birthday."
Realization swirled in her eyes. "Oh."
.
.
.
.
.
Chapter 26
hey, hey, you, you, I don't like your girlfriend!
sorry, it's just stuck in my head
next chapter: redo