Page 38 of We Never Kissed

Ava slipped her arms around my waist and gazed up at me. “Nothing’s ever ruined when I’m with you. I just want to be with you, Alex.”

Guilt suffused me. “Not like this… I had plans to—”

“Plans can be changed. We can order in…”

She was making this too easy, which made me feel worse. “We went from a romantic night, an exclusive restaurant, and now you’re perfectly happy with sitting in a hotel room with me, eating an overcooked burger?”

“Yep.”

I laughed. “That’s why I love you,” I blurted.

“I love you too,” she said as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“No, that’s not what I mean.” Emotion tightened my chest, and I took her face in my hands. “Dammit, Ava. Yes, I’ve loved you half my life, but this is different. I amin lovewith you! And I have been for as long as I can remember. I just never allowed myself to think about it. And when all these feelings came flooding out tonight… It was right there, front and center.”

She smiled, widely this time, and her eyes glistened. “Do you know how long I’ve waited for you to say that?”

I pressed my lips to hers in a soft kiss. “About as long as I’ve been dying to say it. That’s why I wanted tonight to be special, not some…reaction to an emotional situation.”

She let out a sweet little chuckle. “Every time we’ve ever gotten close, it’s been when emotions are high. Don’t you know why that is?”

I shook my head, uncaring if I came off as the clueless male.

“Because, we’re not just attracted to each other. We need each other. We’re emotionally invested, and when one of us hurts, the other will do whatever we can to make that go away. So, if there ever was a time for us to be together for the first time, this is it.”

“You really believe that?”

“I do. We waited a long time to be together, and if youwant to wait another day for you, I’m okay with that. But if you want to be with me, Alex, that’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

I pulled her close, buried my face in the crook of her neck and inhaled the fresh scent of her hair. “I don’t know how I got so damn lucky…”

We held each other for long moments, the only sound our deep breathing. And when we finally pulled apart, she said, “Why don’t we stay in, order room service…maybe watch a movie”—she grinned—“under a blanket…”

My mind shot back to that night on her couch, how she’d come apart from my touch alone, and I couldn’t help but smile. “So, that’s all you need, huh?”

“Um…no, that’s just the appetizer this time.”

Chapter 21

Ava

Looking in the mirror, I dabbed at my tears and then tried to salvage what makeup I had left. My heart was still reeling from the story Alex had told me only moments ago. Of course, my whole family knew bits and pieces of his early childhood history, and we all knew how controlling his father was despite the fact that he was also an absent parent. Thinking of my own parents gave me a wave of guilt. Why were Sammy and I so lucky and blessed to have the most wonderful parents, and Alex had two that probably never should have had a child? It wasn’t the same, but my parents loved Alex like a son, and I was going to make sure I reminded him of that.

As I brushed my teeth and stared at myself in the mirror, aburst of anger settled in my stomach as I thought of the times I had talked to Maggie, and she’d conveniently left that story out. My heart raced at her deception, and I wondered if or when I’d reach out and confront her about it. I supposed she didn’t owe me anything, and her goal was merely to learn more about her son, but I still felt a bit… I wasn’t sure. Maybe she’d had hopes for a reunion and didn’t want me to discourage it.

I shook my head at myself.You’ve meddled enough, haven’t you? At some point I would have to tell Alex everything that went down with his mom… But not tonight. Not after he’d just seen her, not after she had gotten him so upset, not after he just poured his heart out to me, and certainly not before the first time we made love together.

I sighed and turned from the mirror, unable to look at myself any longer. Who was I kidding? I knew there was a good chance that Alex would hate me, wouldn’t want me anymore after he found out I’d gone behind his back and never told him. And I didn’t want to risk at least having this one special night with him. Maybe it was selfish, or maybe I could look at it as me being there for him in any way I could, and telling him wouldn’t accomplish that.

My mind made up, I slipped off my dress and out of my heels, planning to change into something more comfortable since we were going to eat and watch a movie,something I insisted on to give us both time to clear our minds. But when I saw the dress shirt Alex had worn on the trip here hanging on the back of the door, I couldn’t resist.

I opened the bathroom door and stepped into the room, waiting for him to turn around. He was seated on the couch, watching some sports news on the TV. I grinned, thoughts of us sharing a space together sometime in the future flashing through my mind.

When he didn’t turn, I cleared my throat.

He did a double take when he saw me, then stood. “Are you fucking kidding me right now?” He blew out a breath. “You’re really going to make this hard on me, aren’t you?”

I moved toward him slowly. “I thought I was doing the opposite.”

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