Book 2: Chapter 24

***Chapter 24***

It didn't take long before 10 at night came again. I was dressed and ready to go waiting for Cyrus to come to pick me up. Jay seemed to be taking this well and didn't bat an eye when it was brought up. It's not like before when he would get so upset when I did anything with Cyrus. It was refreshing, to say the least.

However, part of me wished he fought more about this. This sounded crazy, but it felt like Jay was practically handing me over. Maybe the guilt he felt was too much and this was his way of handling it. None of it made sense to me. If I were him, I would not be so willing to share. Given our situation, things would never operate normally.

Before I left, Jay came to sit with me outside on his porch because Cyrus was late. Of course, on our first night doing the unspeakable he's late. That should have been the sign we shouldn't be doing this, but we would never listen.

In the meantime, I occupied myself with Jay who seem to have a lot of questions about tonight.

"Where exactly is he taking you?" He queried.

I giggle to myself. "Jay, we've been over this, I don't know," I told him for the 10th time.

He leaned against the door frame with his hands in his pockets. "It's late at night and you have no idea where he's taking you? Sounds smart."

"It's Cyrus, it's not like I'm going with some stranger," I argued. "Besides, it's not the first time we were out late."

Maybe Jay was more concerned about this date than he let on. Why else would he be questioning where we were going? It would help if he would be honest about it with me. I didn't want him to feel like he had to let me go out with Cyrus just because. We had something real brewing here. Cyrus is still technically marrying Jenna. There is no reason for Jay to hide what he's truly feeling. I'd understand completely and we could figure things out from there.

My mind was open to every possibility until he opened his mouth about something I had no idea was happening. I mean, I knew because I was warned. However, I didn't think he'd say yes!

"No, but still it doesn't change the fact that it's late," he rebutted.

I cross my arms teasingly raising a brow at him. "Is there anything you'd like to tell me, Mr. Karim?" Karim is his last name.

He shakes his head. "Nope everything's fine," he says as headlights start to light up his driveway. "Oh, but I am going with Kameron for coffee tomorrow morning."

"What!?"

That little bitch! I can't believe she was still trying to get an edge over me somehow. After I told him how I felt he was still going to get coffee with her. It made my blood boil just thinking about it. Why would he agree to such things? Did he not see what she was up to? The more he agreed to her antics the more she felt like she was winning. What a way to stress me out when I'm supposed to be on a date with Cyrus. He knew exactly what he was doing.

Jay chuckled at my reaction. "Calm down it's just coffee." *Yeah, to you*. "Anyways we don't have time to talk about this right now your date is waiting." He points to the car.

I start to walk toward it, frowning at him. "Don't think you're getting out of this Jason," I say looking back at him.

He waves with the biggest smile on his face. "Enjoy your time, gorgeous!"

This was his way of getting me riled up and not focused on anything with Cyrus. Despite what he says, I can tell this bothered him as much as his going with Kameron bothered me. His game was dangerous, but I was up for the challenge. Two could play that game and one could do it better than the other. I'm sure Kameron would lie to me and say things that happened that didn't. But it wouldn't shock me if anything did. Now my head was filled with all sorts of thoughts.

Jay aside, Cyrus finally showed up and he looked excited to see me. I'm not surprised since he's been waiting for me to extend the offer to him. The way he's been tugging at me showed how much he wanted us to be close again. Probably sexually close as well. Though he had Jenna for that. Did they even do intimate things of that nature? I personally hope they didn’t, but it would be shocking if not.

Cyrus honked the horn at Jay before pulling out. "I still don't understand why you stay here."

Putting my seat belt on, I rolled my eyes. "Cyrus I'm not staying at your house."

"Yeah, but you've got the wrong idea," he says before switching topics. "Are you ready for tonight?"

I nod anticipation creeping up inside of me. "Very! Can you tell me where we're going now?"

He shakes his head. "You'll see, sweetie."

My cheeks turned hot when he called me sweetie. It was a small gesture, but it meant so much to me. It's been a year since hearing anything from him like this. The fact that we were starting this back up again made me feel like a schoolgirl all over. Whatever thing he had planned was sure to be romantic. Cyrus is amazing when it comes to planning romantic things for us to do. The energy and thought process he put into impressing me will always be unmatched.

What I wasn't expecting was Cyrus to pull up back to his house. This is a bit risky, and we probably shouldn't be here. What're the chances we get caught doing something stupid? Why would he think of having a date here in the first place? This has bad idea written all over it, but I wouldn't question him. Instead, I'll follow him out of the car and as we walked around to the back of the house my heart leaped.

It was then that I realized he was taking me to the first place our sneaky meetings took place. That place is their beautiful fountain. The spot we got caught by none other than Jeremy. This time he had tiny lights set up and the running water sound in the background made it even better. The only thing missing was us playing around like a bunch of kids. My heart truly melted at this moment.

I looked back at Cyrus with a soft expression on my face. "You remembered," I say speechless.

He scratched the back of his neck with a nervous smile. "Well, yeah I remembered. It meant a lot to me." He walked closer to me. "That was the night I knew you'd be something special in my life. Also, check this out."

Cyrus pulled out a remote pressing a button. Soon the lights were changing colors as the sprinklers spouted out water like it was dancing. I looked in awe at how beautiful it was. They upgraded their fountain because I don't remember it being like this. This was spectacular and Cyrus impressed me.

That being said, I got this sad feeling in my chest. Thinking back, we had such a great relationship then. Before things started to get complicated, his mom never liked me, and I didn't help by also falling for Jay. We've made so many mistakes and still couldn't get them right. Mine was the biggest mistake of them all. Cyrus will never forgive me when he finds out, but for now, I would make the most of our time.

Sighing, I fiddled with my locket staring into the depths of the water. "Where did we go wrong Cyrus?" I asked.

Cyrus stood close to me watching the water as well. "You mean where did I go wrong? By making the wrong decision." He admitted.

"It's not all your fault," I say feeling guilty.

He turned to me with sorrow in his eyes. "It is Autumn. I was such a coward and a fool. If I could go back, I'd choose you every time." He grabbed my hand looking me in the eyes. "That's why I want to make it up to you."

My heart raced in my chest as I looked at how serious he was being. I've been selfishly thinking I'm the only one this affected when Cyrus was hurting too. That choice had to have been hard to make. With a mother like Farah, I'm sure he felt stuck between a rock and a hard place. I wish I understood his side more back then. Maybe we'd be in a different position if I had.

Kissing my hand, Cyrus looked back at me with excitement washing over him. "There's something else I want to show you." He smirked.

"What is it this time?" I follow behind him inside the house.

"You'll see but close your eyes!" He warned me.

I did as he said, letting him lead me wherever he wanted me to go. We had to be extra quiet since we were in his house with everyone else around. This guy didn't seem to care about anyone catching us and it was a thrill if I must say. It felt like old times, and we fell right into it without any awkwardness. Like this was natural for us because it was.

After walking for a bit, I heard a door open and close behind me. He dragged me a little further before we came to a complete stop. My body waited in anticipation to see what he had up his sleeve. I thought we were going to stop at the fountain, but I guess that wasn't the case. Cyrus took forever to tell me to open my eyes, but when he did, I couldn't help but giggle.

Opening my lids, there stood Cyrus with roses in his hands and roses all over his beautiful bed. It didn't stop there as a trail of them led into the bathroom, into his tub that had bubbles and champagne sitting on the ledge. Leave it to Cyrus to get ultra-romantic on a first date. Sure, it wasn't really our first date but first in a while. This is perfect!

"Cyrus, you've got to be kidding." I was thrilled.

He shook his head smiling. "I told you I'm making things up to you. Starting with my bathroom that you love so much." He remembers everything.

I giggle but still feel nervous. "But what about Jenna? Is this a good idea?"

He scoffed. "Jenna is in her own room it's fine. I locked the doors and everything." He reassured me. "I was kind of hoping you'd want to stay the night...with me." He trailed off.

I bit my lip stepping closer to him. "That can possibly be arranged though I hope you know we're only sleeping in that bed." I raised a brow.

"Fully noted, so long as I get to cuddle you." He negotiated.

Nodding in agreement, I didn't waste any time stripping down to get in the bath he made. Before I got in though, I turned around toward Cyrus. He scanned my body up and down lust filling his eyes. The look on his face drove me mad with desire. So much so that I walked over to him with my naked body unbuttoning his shirt. Once I was done, I exposed his beautiful chest admiring his body.

It's been so long since I've seen him like this. Taking off his pants was a no-brainer either as they slipped off easily. Now we were standing in front of one another with nothing but bare skin. I kept my composure though not falling too quickly into him.

Cyrus smirked brushing his fingers against my collarbone. "I thought you said we were only sleeping in that bed?"

"We are, but a quick bath together won't hurt. Would it?" I wanted to judge his reaction.

That look never left his face though. "No, it wouldn't hurt at all." He said before leading me into the bath with him.

At first, we sat on opposite ends of the tub not looking at one another. Things were fine all night until this point where the tension between us grew. Neither one of us wanted to be the one to make the first move. With how things were going it didn't look like we'd even make it out of the tub. We both know what we wanted to happen so who would jump first?

It should have been expected, but it was I who would initiate the first move. Technically, my body moved of its own accord. My mind screamed at me to back away, but I didn't listen. Inching closer and closer to him, Cyrus looked at me confused but intrigued. My body didn't stop moving until I was on his lap feeling his skin against mine. Cyrus didn't hesitate to grab at my waist pulling me closer to him.

"What are you doing, A?" He questioned not letting me slip away at the same time.

I shrug running my now wet fingers through his hair. "Honestly, I don't know. I thought maybe we could test if the spark was still there."

"And if it's not?"

"We won't know until we test it," I say staring at him just waiting.

It's like he didn't know what to say or do. The way he was staring at me told me he was thinking. Thinking really hard about what the right call would be. We were already here and already naked. My body was on top of his feeling every inch of him. What other clues could I give him that I wanted this to happen? No, I needed this to happen. We both needed to see where we stood with one another. It was the only way.

Luckily, Cyrus surprised me without using his words. His hands moved slowly up my back pulling me even close. My fingers run through his hair, we slowly make our lips connect. Almost instantly, I felt the butterflies rush through me. I haven't felt Cyrus kiss me in a year’s time. This moment was just how I remembered it even better. We were still connected and that was something that would never change.

Neither one of us wanted us to stop but we eventually found a common ground. I smiled to myself as he held me closely and tightly. Cyrus made tiny circles on my back chuckling softly. It was safe to assume he enjoyed it just as much as I did. Though our whole situation was a mess.

Sighing, Cyrus nudged my nose. "I didn't realize how much I've missed that until now," he admitted.

I laugh wrapping my arms around his neck. "Is this going to be our life from now until the wedding?"

"Can we stop speaking about the wedding, please? It makes me nauseous." He looked down.

Rolling my eyes, I continue with the topic. "Point is, I'm not gonna keep doing this if it amounts to nothing like last time."

I was going to be very adamant about that. The last time I left it up in the air things went to shit. My heart was broken, and I couldn't shake that sad feeling. This time none of that
was going to happen. If we were doing this, it better have meant something in the end. Otherwise, what am I even doing here?

He got this serious expression on his face with pain splashed in between there. "Autumn..." he trailed off.

"Let me guess, you don't want to worry about it right now?" I anticipate what he’ll say.

He smiled nervously back to squeezing my waist. "Only for now. I promise I'll have an answer for you later, but it's been forever since I've had you like this. Can we enjoy it?"

I wanted an answer now because I'll leave if it were bullshit. I didn't want to enjoy something if it was taken away in an instant. Though, I've never been the best at making wise decisions. Instead, I rested my head on his chest as Cyrus wrapped me in his arms. The pressure that my mind wanted to put on him vanished because my heart wanted this moment more. It's silly but having Cyrus this close to me again wasn't something easy to pass up. He had me wrapped around his finger more than he knew. I'm not sure that's a good thing.