Book 2: Chapter 25

***Chapter 25***

The next morning, I woke up between Cyrus' comfy sheets and pillows feeling absolutely refreshed. We stayed true to our word and did not have any sexual intercourse. Instead, we cuddled for what felt like hours exchanging kisses here or there. It was so lovely that I don't even remember what time we fell asleep. It wasn't much of a date but more of us reconnecting with one another. My favorite thing was that I got to sleep directly in his arms. Everything about last night was beautiful.

Waking up now left me feeling empty as Cyrus wasn't in bed with me. It was classic for him to be up before me. There were barely any moments where I would wake up first. In this case, I was in the safety confines of his room not knowing what to do with myself. Is he going to come back, or do I just leave? We didn't communicate what would be happening the next morning, so I was at a loss.

However, that didn't stop me from immediately using his beautiful shower that I missed so much. I didn't hesitate to turn it on and let the steam from the hot water overtake me. Back then, I'd get on Cyrus if he ever used his shower without me, but I'll make an exception this time. It was hard not to jump in without him being here.

After doing the normal things I do, I got out putting back on my clothes from last night since that's all I had. When I walked out of the bathroom, Cyrus was there dressed for the day. Normally he'd be in a suit, but not today. He was dressed more down and casually. The casual look fit him so much better than the suits. Though, he was able to pull off anything he wore. Just like Jay.

He smiled at me happy to see I'm still there. "Good morning, A. How was your shower?"

"Would have been better if I had a change of clothes, but you know how much I love your shower," I say pulling my wet hair up in a bun.

He chuckled. "Yeah, I probably should have told you I wanted you to stay over. I was just excited."

I laughed walking over to embrace him. He smelled heavenly and I squeezed him tighter. Cyrus reciprocated my gesture squeezing as tight as he could. It's safe to say we've both missed being with each other more often than not. Whether it was right or wrong didn't matter to us in the slightest. All that did was that we had each other back and I couldn't wait to experience what else he had in store for us.

Looking down at me, he looked like he didn't want to kick me out but had to anyway. "You should get going before someone comes here," he says.

I pout. "That's fair but first things first, I need to know what you plan on doing at the end of all this." I wasn't dropping that topic.

There was no way I would continue on sneaking around this guy if he were just going to leave out to dry somewhere. We've been down this road before and I'm not doing it again. Especially when I have someone like Jay who is willing to sacrifice everything he has just to be with me. I wasn't going to settle for less regardless of whether he was supposed to marry Jenna. He should have thought about that before trying to start something with me.

He sighed, seemingly frustrated that I was asking this question again. Cyrus couldn't blame me for being weary. Last year he made it clear he was choosing me and then went back on his word. If this were going to be another one of those situations, then we needed to stop while we were ahead. It wouldn't make much sense if he was still going to marry her anyway. Aside from that, I wasn't going to be someone's second choice. I was first or nothing.

"Do you seriously need any answer right now? It's only been about two weeks." He was trying any way he could to get out of it.

I nod my head. "It's been almost three and I'm serious." My tone shifted. "Are you going to turn around and leave me again? I don't want to end up heartbroken."

He chuckled nervously. "Okay to be fair, we're only just seeing each other again right now," he said. "There are no labels so I don't think we need to worry about that at the moment."

Now he was beating around the bush. "In other words, you're just trying to cop a feel and continue your marriage with Jenna?"

"I didn't say that, Autumn."

"But it seems to be implied."

This was turning into an argument that I didn't want. We had a great night and ending it off like this wouldn't be fun for either of us. I merely wanted a simple answer to a simple question, but it seemed like he wanted to avoid it altogether. It also seemed like he was leaning toward still marrying Jenna without much concern about what was going on with us. Why would he continue to marry someone if he's trying to be with someone else? He just said he wanted to make things up to me last night. That didn't sound like the case this morning.

Not wanting to argue, he calmed down explaining himself a bit more. "No matter what I say you're either going to continue to see me and be angry or just leave and be angry."

"So, you've made up your mind?" I asked hearing what he was saying.

He shakes his head. "No, but it's not easy to just say I'm going to do something without taking the proper measures to do so." He sighs. "Just give me time to figure some stuff out, please?"

I didn't like the sound of that. "I don't want to be hurt at the end of all of this, Cyrus. Last time was too much let alone embarrassing."

"I know and I'm telling you just give me time. You'll like the results in the end." He smiled sweetly at me.

I guess I was going to give him time to sort his shit out. If it took too long then I would just have to end it right then and there. Regardless of his choice, there were still other consequences that might come into play. His decision could sway based on several possibilities. One of those is if he finds out about Jason and me. That's probably why I was willing to give him time to figure it out. It's not like I was innocent in the matter either.

Agreeing to continue, we shared a small kiss before I rushed out of there. I wasn't completely satisfied with how that conversation went down, but I couldn't be upset. There was a lot more to this than meets the eye. If anyone found out about us seeing each this time who knows what'll go down? Luckily, we were good at being a couple of sneaks. Though my heart hoped that it won't be broken this time around.

After I left his room, I made my way downstairs to the kitchen where the girls and everyone else were sitting. They had no idea that I was here, so it was a shock for them to see me. My friends embraced me excited to see that it was me. I tried to make it a point not to come here unless Farah needed to say something or it was Friday. It was hard to avoid being here since everyone else was. It just made more sense for me to come than for them to go to Jays but that might have to be arranged.

"Autumn, what are you doing here?" Bradyn asked excited to see me.

"I came to see my mom, but she's a little busy," I lied but didn't have much of a choice with the others here including Jenna.

They didn't question me though and kept the conversation normal. "This is perfect! We should go do something since you're already here," Kira suggested.

Before I could answer, Kameron decided to speak up. "Before you run off and do that, do you mind if I talk to you, Autumn?"

"I do mind actually," I was in no mood for her crap.

"It won't take long, let's go!" She wasn't taking no for an answer.

Kameron walked out to the hallway not listening to a single word I said. It was clear she wanted to boast to me about something I had no interest in hearing. Everything she said was either a lie or something to get me worked up. Kameron did a better job at getting to me than Jenna ever could. In fact, Jenna hasn't said much to me since I've been here. The one she should have been watching out for was Kameron. The girl was sneaky, and I didn't know how Jenna didn't see what she was doing.

Nevertheless, I stepped into the hall with her making sure we talked quietly. Whatever she was going to say it had better be good. What she did say was what I should have assumed she would bring up the moment she saw me. It completely slipped my mind after being with Cyrus last night. Trying to keep up with both of them is such a hard task. Especially with Kameron being in the way of that.

Kameron smirked at me excited to tell me her news. "So, I'm sure you've heard Jay and I went out for *coffee*." She teased making my blood boil.

I frowned, not excited about that. "It was just coffee, it's not a big deal," I say not trying to sound too pissed.

She laughed like I was missing the mark. "Oh, I can promise you we didn't just have coffee," she remarked. "Why don't you ask Jay yourself?"

"Jay already forewarned me and I trust him." I sounded confident.

Stepping up to me, she looked me directly in the eyes sticking to her story. "Do you really trust him? Do you trust him to be able to contain himself around me? You've got to be fucking kidding yourself if you think Jay could keep his hands off me."

I wasn't kidding myself and I knew Jay better than she thought. It didn't matter what she said it wouldn't get under my skin. I should have known better than to believe her about anything. I also wouldn't listen to her without talking to Jay first. Deep down though if he did do anything with her could I be mad? It's not like I wasn't doing anything with Cyrus as well. Wouldn't that make us even if he were to see other people as well?

Still, it didn't make me feel great about any of it. No matter how much I didn't believe it bothered me to hear her say it. She was good at manipulating people and way better than Jenna at all of this. Her threats were more believable and made me want to get ultra-protective of Jay. My biggest weakness was that I couldn't always keep Jay’s attention. It made me worry about this Friday with us all being drunk. The ball was once again in Kameron's park.

"I'd question him some more if I were you. You never know what he could possibly be hiding." She smiled before walking back into the kitchen.

Why did I suddenly have a headache?