Chapter 24- Let go

Wren Austin has never regretted any decision as much as she regretted having invited Giovanni O’Connell back to her apartment. Back then, when the alcohol was still settling in her system, she has acted in the heat of the moment and asked him back to her apartment.
Usually, she considered her two flat apartment too huge for her, but with the gorgeous standing in the center, it felt small, almost like the walls were closing in on her and subsequently bringing her closer to Giovanni.
The young man had not offered a word since he first stepped in. He was too busy taking in what he assumes to be her safe space.
The interior had a touch of bohemian and Scandinavian designs, few cheap paintings on the wall, a tattered couch and a two thousand and seven generation of TV sets.
Giovanni O’Connell wasn't in the least bit surprised. It was everything he hoped it will be.
"Your place is lovely" Giovanni uttered, finally landing his gaze on the Wren and it was so intense it almost knocked her off her feet.
"Uh, thanks" she replied, her voice filled with anxiousness and it was worse when the young man smirked at her, because he knew the effect his presence in the room had on her.
She desperately needed to distract herself from his piercing gaze.
"Can I get you something? Perhaps water or juice?" the blonde asked as she moved away from him and towards her fridge.
"Wren" Giovanni called out, stopping the blonde in her tracks.
"Come here" he ordered in a soft, yet delicate voice that didn't help the way she felt, if anything, it trippled and Wren didn't think it was humanly possible to feel the way she felt when he took her hand in his.
"I... uh..are you sure you don't want anything to drink" she pressed, because she had suddenly forgotten how to use her speech.
"I'm sorry Wren" his words silenced her.
The blonde hadn't realised how much she longed to heat those words from him. But despite that, 'I'm sorry' wasn't enough. She wanted to know why, perhaps that will help her move past what happened.
"Why?" she asked, and when she saw a frown on Giovanni's face, she thought he didn't understand her question.
"I needed you that day. I longed for a hug from you. Why didn't you tell me? Or leave a message or maybe a voice note? Why did you let me find out from you father?" she explained.
"I couldn't" he said plainly.
Wren wasn't expecting that. She wasn't asking for a two thousand word essay on why he left without informing her. She just wanted answers and right now, he wasn't giving her any.
"I was your girlfriend. Did I not deserve that respect?" the blonde asked.
"I couldn't" he replied and this time, his reply vexed her.
"You couldn't what?" her voice was starting to get slightly above peach.
"I couldn't Wren. I didn't have the courage to look you in the eyes, knowing what you were going through" Giovanni defended.
"I went to your house that day, Giovanni. Your father informed me you left for having earlier that morning" she retorted
"I know, I just... I couldn't tell you Wren. How was I supposed to look you in the eyes and tell you something like that" Giovanni argued.
"So leaving without a word was a quicker and easier thing to do?" Wren Austin asked.
She had cornered him. Of course he did not intend to leave without informing her. That day, after he went back home from the hospital, his dad had informed him about a mail he had received, a mail which the young man wasn't expecting. It came as to him as a surprise, still, he made up his mind the very instant he finished reading the mail.
It was much later when the news of her mother reached him. The young man felt guilty for she had not crossed his mind when he made up his mind. Then, he kept postponing telling her until the day came for him to leave.
"I know nothing I say will justify me leaving you. I chose the easy way out even if it meant hurting you and I am sincerely sorry. But I'm here now, give me a chance to make it up to you. I'm six years late, but I promise I will make it up to you" this time, he scooted closer and took both her hand in his.
The blonde hadn't realised that her tears had welled up before her eyes until she blinked, and then it came pouring down like loud thunderstorm.
Her brought their conjoined hands to his lips, kissing it repeatedly before pulling the blonde into his arms.
"I'm sorry" he whispered in her nap, basking and savouring in the smell of her delicate skin.
Slowly, he released his hold on her so now he rested his forehead against hers. Next, he brushed away a strand of hair from her face and begin to lean in, but her hands on his chest stopped him.
"Gio" it came out as a plea. She was too emotional now to think of anything, and as odd as it sounded, she needed him to be her voice of reasoning. But his actions proved otherwise.
"Just for tonight, Wren. Don't hold back" Giovanni whispered against the blonde's lips.
She could do that. She could let go for the night. She could forget about everything she's had to endure and be free. She hadn't realised how much she needed it until he suggested it.
This time when Giovanni leaned, she didn't stop him. Instead, she pulled him closer to her and deepened the kiss and feasted on his plump luscious lips like they were her ticket out of damnation.
The kiss had a mixture of familiarity and newness to it all of which worked in cohorts to set her skin ablaze with a scourging desire that only her could quench.
Reluctantly, she pulled away from the kiss to catch her breath, where she made a grave mistake of looking into his forest green eyes and getting lost in them. His dark bedroom eyes allured her, exciting her in ways she never thought possible and as a result, made her whisper words she dare not say in her full thinking capacity.
"Make love to me, Gio"

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