Page 25 of Infected By Virus

Rae looked at him with a new perspective, one that should’ve been standard, and the full force of her foolishness hit her like a sledge to the face. She was an idiot. Not only had he not cheated, she’d actually driven him to her sister’s bed.

“Darrin, I’m so sorry. I should’ve given you the benefit of the doubt. You deserved it. Earned it. Instead, I let?—”

“No. Stop, Rae. You apologized for that so many times in the last hour, I lost count. It wasn’t your fault. I made the choices I made, regardless of what you said and did.”

“But—”

“No buts, Sunny. No regrets, right? Just a past that is what it is. We can’t go back and change it. As much as both of us wish we could, we can’t. All we can do is move forward.”

Virus cupped her cheek, stroking it rhythmically with his thumb.

“But how can we? There’s so much there, so much you don’t know and should. Just so much … everything.”

Virus gently turned her face toward the ball pit. “That’s how. It’s not about you or even me, it’s about Adam. I don’t want him for one second to think I regret him. You may not have known about him for long, but longer than me. He clearly adores you. I’m scared shitless and would really appreciate it if we could make this as smooth for him as possible. He’s already lost a lot.”

He let his words hang on the air. She filled in the blanks and she recoiled.

At some point, she had to tell him about Celeste’s wishes. Even if they weren’t made official, she’d do what she could to honor them, although she was afraid she’d lose herself in the process. That’s what happened before. Darrin was such a dominant presence that she became his girlfriend, then his fiancée, and people barely called her by her name. That was why she let Celeste into her head. She had been feeling like she was losing herself, and it left her vulnerable.

Hell, she was already slipping back toward Darrin with less resistance than she expected. In theory, she’d had a backbone and prepped herself up not to fall back into his arms, but five minutes in his presence and her heart was home. It had never really left.

Fuck, she was so screwed.

All her well-laid plans to avoid any emotional attachments flew out the window with the first sight of him.

Now he was being … just perfect. Was it even possible for them to pick back up where they started? No.

“Darrin, we can’t just pick back up where we left off. It would be an exercise in futility. And like you said, it’s about Adam. He doesn’t need the toxicity that was us near the end.”

“I know.” Again, he sounded so defeated.

“But then again, I wouldn’t want to go backward. I wasn’t a great person back then.”

“Ditto.”

“Then why don’t we start over instead? Not as Darrin and Sunny, because that’s not who we are anymore.”

He stood, took two steps back, then turned her way, striding back right where he came from.

“Hey, pretty lady. Is this seat taken?” He indicated the place on the bench seat next to her.

Rae giggled. An air of lightness encompassed her for the first time in years. “Nope, it’s all yours.”

“I’m Virus.”

She studied his movements as he tossed a denim clad leg over the bench. They were tight and she could see the play of his muscles. Yum.

Rein it in, you hornball.

“I’m Ailene, but my friends call me Rae.” She extended her hand.

“It’s nice to meet you, Rae.” He took her hand in his, but instead of shaking it, or even kissing the back of it, he lifted it to his mouth and licked her palm, snaking his tongue between her fingers before she snatched it back.

“Really.” She laughed. “Is that how you greet someone you’ve never met?”

He gave her that schoolboy smile, the same one that dropped her panties for him years ago. “No.” He admitted. “I just went with it. Sorry, let’s try again.”

Virus tugged his cut, cleared his throat, and sat up straighter. “So, Rae, tell me a little about yourself?”

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