by S. J. Sylvis
I snapped. “I got the flowers, but I didn’t read your note.”
Not a total lie. I didn’t really read the note—Mia did.
“Ivy, I think we should meet up and talk. I made a hasty decision and took my fear of losing you and turned it into anger. I was stupid.”
Dawson glared at my phone and I was pretty sure he cursed under his breath.
I turned my back to him, taking the time to figure out what to say to Eric. Meeting up with him wasn’t the worst idea he’d ever had. It would probably be nice to get some closure, but was it really worth it? Because I was pretty sure he didn’t want closure.
“I don’t know, Eric.”
All of a sudden, I heard something strange from behind me. I glanced back and saw Dawson standing only a few feet away, with a devilish smile forming on his mouth. My brows crinkled as I listened to Eric ramble on about why it was a good idea for us to get together.
Dawson’s smile grew bigger, his straight, white teeth shining brightly between his lips as he pressed a button on his phone. All of a sudden, pornographic noises started to play in the background. My mouth gaped and Dawson silently laughed.
Moans and screams from a woman were playing loudly, so loudly that Eric had stopped talking on the other end of the phone.
If I hadn’t been enjoying watching Dawson silently laugh, his face turning red with a smile reaching all the way to his ears, then I’m sure I would have felt embarrassed.
“What the hell is that?!” Eric bristled through the phone which only made a laugh bubble up out of my mouth.
Dawson’s eyes glittered. “Hurry back, Ivy! We miss you…” he said in a voice full of sex appeal.
“Ivy?! What the hell?” Eric yelled again and then I hit end on my phone.
Dawson’s and my laughter echoed throughout the kitchen. I had to bend forward, still clutching my phone in one hand, and place it over my stomach from the dull ache left behind from the ridiculous amount of amusement.
“You should have heard him!” I said, through my giggles.
Dawson’s face was red with watering eyes.
“I wasn’t sure if you’d be pissed or not, but I couldn’t resist. You looked leery when you were talking to him and once I heard that it was your dumb-as-fuck ex, I couldn’t stop myself.”
I laughed again. “Hilarious. He sounded so confused!”
“I can’t even imagine the amount of jealousy he was feeling…” Dawson’s voice trailed, which only perplexed me further.
Suddenly, my phone started to vibrate again.
Eric’s name flashed on the screen and I was torn: Should I answer it? Or should I let it go to voicemail and let him feel abandoned for a while? I wasn’t really a mean-natured person so I veered toward answering but then again, he shouldn’t have broken up with me in such a “hasty” way, so… I decided I’d let him wonder.
I hit ignore on the phone and peeked back up at Dawson. A barely-there smile crept onto his face.
“So… tacos and movies?” he asked, and my heart all but exploded.
“Just like old times,” I whispered, smiling from ear to ear.
“Lead the way, Ivy-cakes,” he said through a muffled laugh.
A gasp escaped my mouth. I reached up and smacked him in the arm. “Shut up!”
Walking out the door to his house, grabbing our shoes and still laughing, he said, “Seriously? How could you let him call you that! Ivy-cakes? I almost died when I heard Mia say that earlier. Fucking Ivy-cakes.”
“Says the guy who’s dating Breanna…” I rolled my eyes and he nudged me back.
A playfulness fell over the both of us as smiles almost engraved themselves onto our faces. I couldn’t help but notice just how much I relished this easy moment with him.
I also couldn’t help but notice just how happy I was. Even if every ounce of happiness I’d felt in the last six years were all smooshed together, it still wouldn’t even come close to how I felt right now. Like every single time I’d thought I was happy, I hadn’t really been.
But right now, I was truly happy…and I wasn’t sure if that was going to bite me in the ass or not.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Dawson
I should be given an award for last night.
A medal? A trophy? A marking of some sort.
I kept my hands off Ivy, all night long, with her sitting beside me on my couch. Her little feet, curled up underneath her body, a cotton blanket covering her lower half. She was so adorable and beautiful, even more so when she’d laugh at the movie we’d picked out.
She wanted Charlie’s Angels; I told her no.
I couldn’t believe that she was still obsessed with that movie, and she couldn’t believe that I hadn’t watched it once since she left.
I didn’t tell her the actual reason as to why I hadn’t watched it. It made me angry and a little envious for that last moment with her. The night her parents died was the last time I watched it (well, part of it…the other part I’d spent staring at her sleeping on my bed and then ended the night with a life-shattering kiss).
We spent most of last night talking and laughing at older movies, and it was honestly one of the best nights of my life. Which sounds so fucking lame, considering all we did was sit in my living room, not touching, staring at a TV screen, but that’s how it’d always been with her.
Back when we were teenagers, we’d drive around in my Camaro for hours, doing nothing but listening to music and slurping on milkshakes, and it was honestly more fun than anything else I could have been doing. Time spent with Ivy had always been fulfilling.
It didn’t matter what we were doing. I could sit on my couch with her, every single night, for the rest of my life and be happy with it.
I’d probably have the biggest case of blue balls in the world, but I would rather sit with her, not touching, than be with someone else, buried in between their legs.
Which brings me to my next rant: Breanna.
The realization came over me quick and hard after the whole crushing-a-crying-Ivy-to-my-chest moment. I had to break up with Breanna and it wasn’t fully because of Ivy. I mean, there was definitely something going on with us (I hoped, or else I was reading all her signals wrong) but I wasn’t necessarily on the end game with Breanna because I wanted to replace her as quick as possible with Ivy.
Ivy had just made things a little clearer to me.
Breanna and I weren’t in love. Breanna’s and my relationship was based around sex and a poor attempt at being in a committed relationship.
We didn’t go on dates, we didn’t laugh for endless hours on my couch while watching a movie. We barely even cuddled.
I didn’t love her and I wouldn’t love her, not in the way that I should, and how could I stay with her if I didn’t love her?
I was using Breanna to protect myself from ever getting hurt because I knew, very well, that Breanna could never hurt me.
She could break up with me, right now, and I’d say, “Okay.”
I just wasn’t in love with her, and she knew that. She’d have to be blind not to know that. Did she love me? I doubted it. I think she just liked the fact that she’d scored me, finally, after years of trying.
I tried to end it with her last night, while on the phone. I told her what had happened with Ivy and although I’d assumed she’d blow a fucking gasket, she didn’t. She stayed eerily calm on the other line and shut me up when I was close to saying, “I think we should part ways.”
She said I owed it to her to talk to her, face to face, if I wanted to “discuss our relationship,” and she was right. I did owe it to her. I just needed to learn how to keep a cap on my attraction to Ivy until then.
Like right now, sitting on the end of the couch, with Ivy’s toes brushing along my thigh, while I stuffed my face with a gigantic bowl of cereal. She was mind-blowingly sexy even while asleep. Her touch was innocent, but it sent some interesting signals to my dick.
I offered her my bed last night and she ver
y abruptly shot up on the couch and yelled, “Absolutely not!”
I was taken aback, and asked her why the hell not.
Her voice was slightly wobbly. “I’m not sleeping in a bed that you fuck Breanna on... no, thank you.”
I could sense the jealousy on Ivy, even if she didn’t openly say anything. Her nose turned up, scrunching just a little, and her entire body tensed.
It caused something so exciting to go through me that I had to adjust myself before getting up off the couch to refill our popcorn bowl. The thought of Ivy being envious of me having sex with someone else just fueled my fantasies of getting her underneath me.
Sex with Ivy would be different.
Sex with Ivy wouldn’t just be sex; I knew that just by staring at her calm, sleeping face this morning.
Yeah, I needed to end it with Breanna. As soon as fucking possible…before I did something I regretted.
I chomped down on my Cap’n Crunch louder than before, no doubt trying my hardest to wake up the angel curled up with a grey blanket tossed all around her body.
Her legs were peeking out from below the blanket, her leggings ridden up further than I’m sure she’d like. Tanned calves stuck out underneath the black, spandex-like fabric and although I tried, really, really, really fucking hard not to look, her ass looked like the most perfect, round peach.
I chomped even harder on my cereal then, turning my gaze away from her and clicking on the TV.
I sensed her stirring before I glanced over, silver spoon still sticking in my mouth.
Ivy shot up quickly, brown hair spilling out from her ponytail, and grabbed the blanket to wrap around her body. She’d thrown her jacket off sometime in the night, I assumed, so the only thing she had on were her black leggings and a skimpy tank top.
A skimpy tank top without a bra.
Small buds were poking through the almost see-through, white fabric and I all but grunted aloud to keep myself from bursting.
I could literally feel my dick straining against my tight boxer briefs.
Focus on the Cap’n Crunch. Focus on the Cap’n Crunch.
My ears flamed and I clenched my eyes shut when I felt the shift of the couch and heard her moan, while stretching her arms above her head.
“Holy crap!” she shouted, turning her gaze to my lap.
At first, I thought she might have seen my salute to the devil, but I instantly relaxed when I saw that she was staring at the giant bowl in my hand, full of cereal.
I don’t care what type of man you are, cereal is the best meal.
“What?” I asked, perplexed. “Do you want some?”
“That’s huge!!” she said, pulling the blanket tighter around her body.
A sliver of a smile formed on my face as I tipped my eyes down to her. “That’s what she said.”
Ivy rolled her eyes as a grin stretched along her cheeks.
“Seriously, though. How can you eat all of that?!”
I smiled again. “That’s what—”
Ivy’s cheeks turned an adorable shade of pink. “Stop it, Dawson!” Then she laughed.
I laughed, too, shoving more cereal in my mouth.
“How long have you been sitting there staring at me while munching on cereal?”
I shrugged. Not long enough.
“Long enough for me to attest that you don’t snore.”
Ivy snorted. “You do.”
I pulled back, angling my torso towards her.
She rolled her eyes again. “Well, you used to.”
Chuckling, I put my (mixing) bowl up to my mouth and gulped the leftover milk from my cereal. I slowly lowered it, wiping my mouth on the back of my hand, and flashed her a smile.
“I don’t snore anymore.”
She snickered. “That you know of.”
Changing the subject, I got up from the couch (now thankful that my Viagra lookalike erection had finally cowed) and jumped up and down on the balls of my feet a few times. “So, what’s the plan for today?”
Ivy scanned her eyes down my naked torso, all the way down to my bare feet poking out from under my Nike sweats. She gulped and, on the inside, I smiled naughtily...until that little voice in the back of my mind whispered, Breanna.
Right. Behave, if only for a few more days, Dawson. You can do it.
I made a mental note to take an ice cold shower before spending anymore alone time with Ivy – that would surely take the edge off, right?
When was the last time I’d had sex?
Oh, that’s right. The night Ivy blew into town and rocked me from the inside out.
Her voice shook me straight. “I’m not sure. I don’t work on Saturdays and Becca hasn’t tried to drag me out, yet, so I guess I’m free.”
The wheels in my head only spun for about three seconds before I knew what we were going to be doing today.
“Wanna take a drive?...”
Ivy’s face brightened. “Like old times?”
I nodded slowly, clasping my hands together to steeple them. “And do I have a surprise for you…”
Ivy hopped up off the couch, adjusting her black leggings so they were straight on her body. My eyes drove into her chest, only for a second and out of simple reaction, but she noticed.
I heard a small breath before I snapped my eyes back up to her face. Desire filled her green irises and I knew instantly that I hadn’t imagined all the signals pouring off her body.
She was definitely into me, too.
Ivy quickly went into action, bending down and grabbing her light grey, cotton jacket off the floor, slipping her arms inside the sleeves gingerly. Once she had her jacket zipped up, she cleared her throat, bringing her attention back up to mine.
Reality must have hit her because the desire I had seen in her dilated pupils and wild, feral stare, was no longer there.
“What surprise?” she asked, sucking in her cheeks slightly.
I smiled, ignoring the lust swimming around us. “Follow me…”
Ivy’s footsteps were light against my wooden floors as she trailed behind me, all the way to the door right off the kitchen, leading into the garage.
Once I opened the door and flipped the switch, Ivy squealed!
She quickly ran past me and into the garage. Her hand trailed over the top of my old Camaro, the one that I still had.
“Oh my GOD!!! Red Rocket?! You still have her?!” she shouted, flipping around to stare at me.
I grinned, leaning against the door jam.
“Like I could get rid of my first love? Are you kidding me?”
She smiled again, flipping her tiny body around to stare at the red Camaro again. The one she had spent so many days inside, riding in the passenger seat until dusk overcame the town.
“We’re TOTALLY going cruising today!” Ivy turned around and smiled so cheerfully that I almost fainted.
I hadn’t seen her smile like that for so long that it almost didn’t seem real.
And I was the one who put it there.
That was all on me.
“Well, go get ready, sleepyhead.” I said, inching my brow up.
She squealed again and started to run past me, right through the threshold, and typical Ivy, her jacket pocket got caught on the doorknob, causing her body to swing around and hit the back of the door in a loud whoosh.
She grunted as I moved my hands around and grabbed onto her body. She was all tangled up in the door, breathless and wide-eyed. I stared down at her, my hands covering her small biceps.
“You are the clumsiest person I have never known, Ivy.” And it’s damn cute.
She let out a held breath, staring up into my eyes. “I know.”
Then it was like another realization hit her because she quickly diverted her eyes to my kitchen floor. I slowly released her arms as I felt the sudden impact of awkwardness floating around us.
Ivy got herself untangled from the door, also noticing the sudden shift in the air. Then she peeked up and looked at me through her long lashes. “When doe
s Breanna come back from her trip?”
“Tomorrow sometime.”
Ivy locked her eyes onto my face and then slowly nodded her head, relief passing across her features.
Was she also counting down the days until I officially ended it with Breanna? So that way we didn’t have to deny the attraction and happiness we both felt when we were around one another?
I could only hope.
“I’ll be ready in a few,” she whispered, backing away from me.
I stood at the door, watching her walk through the archway and to the bottom of the stairs.
I was almost angry that I wanted to be a good person and break up with Breanna face to face, because I felt like I was missing out on something in this moment. As if I was missing out on feeling something more with Ivy. Something that I’d been chasing all my life. Breanna was like this giant roadblock, standing in my way.
My head whipped upwards when Ivy yelled from the stairs, “We’re making a pitstop at Ronnie’s! It’s not a real cruise if we don’t have our milkshakes!”
And just like that, I was back to chuckling, and all thoughts of Breanna disappeared.
Which was so fucking dangerous.
Because the bottom line was that I was still in a relationship. Even if only for another day.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Ivy
He has a girlfriend. He has a girlfriend. He has a girlfriend.
I’d told myself that so many times today, I’d lost count.
I’d say it had to be somewhere in the hundreds, but I lost count after fifty-seven.
I even had Becca text me occasionally throughout the day to remind me that Dawson had a girlfriend, she was NO help at all.
These were her texts:
Dawson has been in love with you for so long, go for it.
Breanna is evil, and even though I don’t think anyone should be cheated on, she is E V I L.
Then, moments later:
Should I remind you about the time she took all your clothes freshman year during gym? You had to wear a size XL smelly old gym shirt that Mr. Williams gave you. NOT OKAY. EVIL.
