Transcending Regrets (No Regrets book 3)

by Noalane, Aimee

  Chapter 19

  Abbygail

  “Hey.” Oliver said as I opened the door to let him in. He gave me a once over and grinned. “You weren’t kidding about the sweatpants were you?”

  “Nope. I don’t kid about sweatpants. I need them, they’re my second favorite piece of clothing. Oh, and we aren’t going at my mom’s either.” I walked back to the kitchen. “Apparently she had other plans.”

  “That’s fine, we can order in. I feel like pizza, how about you?”

  My stomach churned. “Pizza is a no go. I don’t know what this child’s issue is with it, but it’s the smell that grosses me out.”

  Oliver looked at me bizarrely. “So, no pizza.”

  “No pizza.”

  “Like ever?”

  “Unless you feel like holding my hair up while I puke, I suggest never.”

  He made a disgusted face that made me chuckle. “No pizza. What do you feel like eating then?”

  “I don’t know, what’s your suggestion?”

  “Would you consider a box of Froot Loops a suitable dinner?”

  “Are you kidding me? Best dinner plan ever.”

  I smiled and started to put the mess I had on the kitchen table, away.

  “What’s this?” he asked curiously, taking one of my books in his hand.

  “A book.” I was starting to regret not putting my books away earlier, but I really needed to study and to be honest I wasn’t expecting him to be so early. The problem with Oliver seeing my textbooks was that being back in school and officially changing my major was a secret I’d kept from everyone.

  “Yes, I can see that.” He went through the pages quickly and turned to me. “Did you switch majors?”

  I nodded shyly.

  “So, no more child psychology?”

  “No,” I answered surprised to see that he remembered.

  “Then what?”

  “Okay, I’ll tell you. But you have to promise you won’t tell anyone, and by anyone, I mean no one. Like, not my mom, or Stephan, or whoever comes into mind that I can’t think about.”

  “Scouts honor.”

  “You can’t do the scouts honor thing. You’ve never been a scout.”

  “Fine,” he smirked. “I promise I won’t tell anyone.”

  “Okay, so last semester I decided to vary my classes in university and thought I might dab into teaching classes. I was curious to see if I might like social studies. It’s also why I volunteered for the project at the school. I guess I wanted to see if I liked standing in front of a class filled with kids.”

  He looked at me surprised, but not the bad kind of surprised. In fact, he was smiling as if it wasn’t news to him, which was weird because the only two people that knew were Dylan and Mr. Fontaine, who I had no choice to inform because I had to explain why I insisted on taking over his project.

  “Anyway, I have an exam next week, it’s why my stuff is all over the place.”

  “Where do you take your classes?”

  “Ottawa U.” I replied. “Why aren’t you stunned, or questioning my decision, or asking if I think this is a good idea?”

  “Because you rocked that class, Abby. Seriously. I was completely in awe when I watched you last week. Plus the kids love you. And to be honest, this is your life, and if you think that this is what you want to do, then go for it. Life is too short to start second guessing yourself. You’re going to do great.”

  “Yeah, I just have a minor setback now,” I replied, pointing at my huge belly.

  “She isn’t a setback. She’s your push to move forward. Now come on and grab that cereal box, I’m starving.”

  Oliver

  “When did you go to the cemetery?” Abby asked, in the middle of our binge watching the third episode of Game of Thrones.

  I couldn’t believe she actually managed to talk me into watching it, but she was right, it was good, and I couldn’t stop. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that my head was resting on her lap while I was cuddled against my daughter. Or maybe it was because Abby’s gifted fingers were running though my hair and massaging my scalp and neck. Either way, I loved every second of it.

  “Tyler brought me last Friday,” I answered shamelessly. “But don’t tell him I told you.”

  “Why?”

  “Because he didn’t want me to tell you.”

  “Why?

  “I don’t know,” I chortled. “Just don’t, okay? Besides you owe me for not telling anyone about your school projects.”

  “Fine.” She stuck her tongue out at me and continued to play with my hair thoughtfully. “Why do you think Riley is a girl?”

  I shrugged. “Gut feeling. Why do you think she’s a girl?”

  “You’re going to laugh at me if I tell you.”

  I shook my head. “When have I ever laughed when you tell me stuff?”

  “Christmas break, ninth grade, and FYI, I don’t think I need to explain to you what happened eight months later.”

  ***

  “Hey, is your Aunt Hailey coming over for New Year’s?” Abby asked.

  I shrugged. “Nope, I don’t think so, why?” I never really paid attention to what our holiday plans were. In my head, as long as I was with Abby, it suited me fine. We always celebrated together, it was our tradition.

  She seemed thoughtful. “I kind of overheard our parent’s talking. I thought I heard them wrong, but I think you guys are celebrating at her place this year.”

  “Doesn’t really matter to me, it’s just another day.”

  Her brows furrowed together.

  “What?”

  “I don’t want to spend my evening without you, Ol.”

  “We won’t. When’s the last time we celebrated a holiday apart?” I asked. “I’ll answer for you, we haven’t. Our families are always together.”

  “I guess.”

  “Freckle face, what’s with you?” I mocked, but I could tell that there was really something on her mind.

  “Nothing.”

  “You have this weird look on your face.”

  “I do not,” she retorted. “And to answer your question, I read this thing last week about New Year’s Eve. The column said that you should always spend that specific evening with the people you love because the person you’re with on the stroke of midnight will be the person that’ll be by your side for the entire year.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Really? And what happens if you don’t? You’re so gullible sometimes. Where did you even get that crap anyway?”

  “It isn’t crap, it’s Seventeen Magazine.”

  I exploded into laughter. “Seriously, Abs? Beautiful, you need to stop reading that shit. You can’t possibly believe that something is going to happen between us just because we’re apart for one night.”

  “I do.”

  “Why? It’s a day just like any other day. There’s nothing magical about December thirty-first, Abs.”

  “Maybe there is,” she argued. “What if it’s true. What if we aren’t together tonight?”

  “Abs, listen to yourself. You’re relying our friendship on a holiday. It’s ridiculous. Mom?” I yelled frowning at my clueless best friend. I was going to put an end to this ridiculous argument one way or another.

  “Yes?”

  “Aunt Hailey’s coming over for New Years, right?”

  “Um no, sweetheart. The plans have changed a little because your Uncle Neil just came out from his surgery. We’re going to their house tonight.”

  I bit the inside of my cheek. “Okay, well…the Evens are coming right?”

  “No. Not tonight, sweetie. My sister wants to keep it a quiet evening. Jenna agreed to have us over for dinner tomorrow night instead.”

  “So?” Abby questioned me, trying to prove her point.

  “It’s one day, dude,” I retorted. She stared at me with her arms crossed and a raised eyebrow. I had no clue how she could possibly be feeding me her bullshit, and even less why I believed her. “Stop being paranoid.”
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  ***

  “Come on Abs, you and I both know that it was purely coincidental.”

  “You can think whatever you want, Monkey Butt, I’m still holding my ground on this.”

  “You’re so superstitious.”

  She puckered her lips. “Say whatever you want, I don’t care because I know I’m right about this. And to prove my point, where were you last New Year’s Eve?”

  “At Reds, with you.”

  “And where were you on the stroke of midnight?” she was having way too much fun with this.

  How the hell did we go from talking about Riley to this?

  I let out an exasperated breath, and rolled my eyes. “I was with you.”

  “Right. And where are you right now?”

  “But this has nothing to do with one stupid day, Abs.”

  She shrugged. “You’re entitled to your opinion.”

  “Fine.” I huffed. “We’re way out of context anyway. Tell me about Riley.”

  She pressed pause and I sat up to face her.

  “I think I dreamed about Riley when I was in the hospital. Actually I don’t think, I’m pretty sure I did.” She closed her eyes as if she was trying to remember. “She was swinging under the willow tree, and I was sitting on the ground facing her. She was beautiful. She had dark hair, with cute little freckled…at first I thought I was looking at myself when I was––I don’t know, maybe three or four years old? But then when I looked at her eyes, they were dark.” She looked at me and cocked her head to the side and grinned. “Like yours. At first I thought her eyes were dark because she was angry, but she kept smiling and chatting, and the way she smiled…she looked so happy.”

  Abby looked at me with the most piercing blue eyes I had ever seen.

  “When you pushed the green branches of the willow tree to come and see me, her face it illuminated…it was your smile. And then––” she frowned. “You took me in your arms, kissed my temple, and she faded away watching us both.”

  I caught the tear that was rolling down her cheek, with my thumb.

  “Do you think I’m crazy?”

  I sat with my back against the couch and pulled on her arm so that she would lean on me.

  “No.” I replied, holding her tightly in my arms. “I think you’re lucky.”

  Abbygail

  “Oliver?” I’d just woken up and looked at the time. It was four o’clock in the morning and we were still on my living room couch. My head was on his lap, while one of his hands rested on my stomach and the other one on my collarbone. I was surprisingly comfortable, but Lyvia had to go kicking my bladder again and she woke me up.

  “Oliver?” I repeated. The only response I got was his light snore. “Okay…there’s something I want to say. Oliver, I missed you. I miss us. I miss who we are together, and if it makes any sense, I miss me. I know what happened with Sam was just a huge misunderstanding, and I also know I can’t blame you for what happened. Well…kind of…you know you’re an idiot right? I mean how could you even possibly believe I was with Tyler after I went traveling all the way across the country to be with you on New Year’s Eve? And what about that scene at Red’s…I mean really? I swear to you I’d never felt the need for an orgasm more than that exact moment. Okay, I’m sorry, I just went way off topic, but I kind of do blame you a little…but whatever, you know what I mean. God…I wish I could be mad at you forever, you know? Well no. That’s a lie. Does this even make sense to you? How can it be so easy between us? Anyway, what I really want to say is, I’m sorry I left. I’m sorry I kept this thing inside of me a secret for six months––”

  “That thing has a name,” he mumbled, surprizing me.

  I froze and I felt his chest rumble. “Did you hear everything I just said?”

  “Ummm, depends. How long did you start talking before you said the word orgasm?”

  “You could have answered me,” I replied.

  “I could have, but you were talking pretty fast…and it sounded more like you were talking to yourself. Besides, I like apologetic Abby, she’s great and comes around only once every five or six years, so you know…”

  “Shut up!” I exclaimed. “Now let me go, I need to go to the bathroom.”

  He smiled lazily and took his hands off my body. As he helped me off the couch, I instantly felt cold and couldn’t wait to be back in his arms.

  “Abby,” Oliver said, grabbing my hand before I left his side. I turned and saw his regretful eyes as he seemed to search for his next words. “I don’t know why it’s so easy, but I’m glad it is.”

  I nodded.

  “And for the record, I’m sorry too.”

  Chapter 20

  Oliver

  “Hey, beautiful.”

  I felt the relief of the air conditioner as soon as I came in. I had no idea how it was even possible but June was even hotter than a summer day in the middle of July. While Abbygail and I hadn’t spent as much time as I wanted together in the weeks following our night cuddled up on the couch, things were going good. We texted back and forth, and spoke regularly on the phone. I had a busy schedule with work and she was busy studying for her upcoming exam, so if we excluded one family dinner at Aunt Jen’s, we hadn’t seen each other much. I missed her and wished to be with her every minute of every day. I wanted to look at her, to touch her, to kiss her…the desperate need to be with her was driving me insane, but if I wanted this to be right, I knew I needed to gain her trust, and that would take time.

  “You’re here early,” she answered after I shut the door to her house.

  I followed the sound of her voice to the living room. Abby was sitting comfortably on the couch watching Game of Thrones. Her feet were up and she was wearing a short sundress that rested high up on her thighs. My eyes roamed her perfect body and stopped on her cleavage which I couldn’t help noticing were getting fuller. When I looked back up to her face, her perfect blue eyes were on me and she unconsciously licked her lips. It took me everything not to groan. I wanted nothing more than to walk over to her and cover her mouth with mine.

  “I thought you said you were going to wait for me,” I coughed out, trying to defuse my attention. I extended the glass of root beer slushy I had grabbed for her on my way home and grinned at her delighted face.

  “I was. But then Jon Snow started calling my name. He talked to me with his sexy British accent, and I just couldn’t resist.”

  “Really?” I mocked.

  “Mmmmhumm. It said: Oh Abbygail, oh Abbygail. Winter is coming. Winter is coming. Please come with me to Castle Black, and I promise I will keep you warm.”

  “A blanket could have done the same job.”

  “I disagree,” she replied mocking my ridiculous jealousy spurt.

  “Aren’t the men at Castle Black sworn to chastity or whatever?”

  “Jon Snow would never take a vow of chastity. If he did, it would be a total waste of mankind,” she teased. “So, how was your day at work?”

  “Um…” My hand ran through my hair and I puffed out a huge amount of air. I’d cursed Abby and her lesson plan all day. When I looked at her she was already grinning. She knew exactly what I was going to say.

  “That bad, huh?”

  “Bad?” I probed. “What the hell you were thinking when you decided to tackle sexual trends as a learning subject with teenagers?”

  She exploded into laughter.

  “I’m serious, this isn’t funny. I had the most awkward conversation on earth today, and it’s all your fault. Do you know how hormonal these kids are?”

  “Yup.”

  “They know more about sex toys than I do. And don’t get me started on their theory on BDSM.”

  An evil smile spread across her angelic face and I grabbed the cushion beside her to playfully throw it at her face.

  “I hate you.”

  She never responded because she just couldn’t stop laughing.

  “So anyway,” I said taking a seat beside her on the couch. The whole sex talk a
nd her playful mood wasn’t helping my case to resist her, so I needed to change the subject. “I wanted to tell you over the phone last night but I forgot. We have dinner plans tonight.”

  “Dinner plans, as in a date?” she asked curiously.

  “Double date, actually. Stephan and Laney asked us out to dinner.”

  “Oh,” she frowned, “Okay.”

  “You don’t look so sure about the idea.”

  “No, no. It’s fine, I guess. Where are we going?”

  “The steakhouse on Main Street. We don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”

  “No, of course it’s fine, Oliver. I miss Stephan. I haven’t seen him all week, which is more than weird. And I know it’ll be fun, I’m just a little surprised that’s all. I guess I never pictured them as a couple.”

  “I doubt we can consider them a couple, Abs. Besides it’s just a date.”

  She seemed skeptical and I got curious, wondering what was on her mind. It was weird to see her bothered by the thought of them being together, but the more I thought about it the more I figured that it must have something to do with Kylie.

  “What time do we have to be at the restaurant?” she asked.

  “Around six-thirty. Do you mind if I go out for a jog?” I had to find a way to distract myself, being so close to her and not being able to touch her was driving me crazy, and the thought that I had to spend the next couple of hours just looking at her was going to kill me.

  “Depends, can I come with?”

  “No.”

  “What? Why?” she whined.

  “Oh I don’t know, maybe it has something to do with the fact that you’re over seven months pregnant with my baby.”

  She narrowed her eyes at me and I smirked. How I could even resist her pouty face was beyond me. She was adorable.

  “Be angry with me all you want, beautiful. Your spiteful glare doesn’t scare me.”

  “It should.”

  Resisting my urges, I stood and kissed the top of her frustrated head. “See you in an hour.”

  Abbygail

  The shower was running when I woke up, it was five-thirty, which meant that I only had about half an hour to get ready if we wanted to make it on time for dinner. I groaned. Clearly Oliver had no idea how long it could take me to get ready for a night out. At least I already knew what I was going to wear: the gorgeous black boat neck dress that my mother bought me but could never wear because I never had an occasion to dress up. I couldn’t wait to try it on. It was going to drive Oliver nuts. I smiled. I had no idea what was going on with me or my body, but all I had been thinking about for days was having Oliver’s hands on me. I wanted, no, needed to feel him, and that dress was going to get me exactly what I was craving.