I moaned and grabbed a fistful of his hair, yearning for his closeness, but he pushed me away smiling.
“Now come on we need to get out. I like this gym, and I don’t want to get kicked out.”
He put his shirt back on and stepped out of the locker room. As the door closed behind us, almost half of the gym’s clientele were watching us. My eyes wandered off and narrowed at the pink haired girl observing me.
“Who is she?” I asked Oliver.
His eyes followed to where I was looking and he smirked. “Apparently she’s the girl I should be thanking.”
I raised an eyebrow at him.
“Her name is Emma.”
“Emma as in the girl you went out with on the night you found out I was pregnant with Lyvia?”
“Yes,” he gritted through his teeth. “And be nice. She’s an interior designer and offered to decorate Lyvia’s room next week.”
“Who says I need an interior designer?”
“No one. She offered. If you don’t want her help, we can decline.”
I chewed on my tongue wondering what Oliver’s true expectations were, and decided I needed to trust him.
Baby steps…
“I also think she might have a thing for Ty.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and looked at her talking with Stephan, Laney, and Tyler. Oliver was right, she was standing very close to him and kept looking at him with lovey-dovey eyes. But the weirdest part was that as I looked at my ex’s physical reaction to her, he seemed to like her too. Now all I had to do was figure out why it bothered me.
“Abbygail,” he grumbled to get my attention.
“What?”
“I said be nice.” He grabbed my hand.
“I am always nice.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Shut up,” I retorted. “Why are you insisting I’m not?”
“Because you can be very over-protective when you want to be.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment, thank you very much. Are you almost done here?”
“We’ve just started. The guys wanted to look around before they registered for their test trial. Come back in an hour.”
“Another hour?” I whined.
Oliver just raised his eyebrow, mocking my childish complaints.
“Fine. Laney?” I called. “Your best friend is being a party pooper. Apparently I can’t have sex in a locker room, so are you still up for spoiling dinner?”
“Of course,” she laughed.
“Good.”
Oliver slapped my ass as I started walking towards the exit.
“Hey Strawberry-Shortcake,” I called before leaving the gym.
“Abby,” Oliver growled making me laugh.
“Fiiiiine. Hey Emma?”
She frowned at me inquisitively.
“Want to have dinner with us at The King’s Pub, later?”
She looked at Oliver, who simply raised his shoulders in response. “I guess so, yeah.”
“Cool. See you all in an hour.”
Oliver
“Did she just call me Strawberry-Shortcake?” Emma asked after Abby stepped out from the gym.
“Um, I think she did. Em, I’m so sorry.”
“Bah, don’t be,” she replied dismissively. “Unless you know a dozen more Emma’s, I figured something like this would eventually happen. She’s beautiful, Oliver.”
I smiled. “Thank you.”
“And her eyes…”
“I know. Perfect sapphire blue. Exactly like I love them.”
Chapter 29
Abbygail
The fun thing about the restaurant Oliver chose for us was that once you stepped in, you didn’t need to leave to go party somewhere else. Their kitchen served food until 9:30pm and then the pub transformed into a bar. Servers and regular patrons would help push the tables aside, and then they either had a live local band come in and entertain for the night, or have a DJ take over, transforming the place into a club.
The King’s Pub was exactly like I remembered it. The ambiance, the customers, the entire feeling as I walked inside reminded me of the person I used to be. Acting stupid and making rash decisions was part of my past, and being there again brought back many memories…especially the ones I shared with Tyler.
“Are you good?” Stephan asked me while we sat alone together at the bar waiting for our drinks. It felt like it had been forever since he and I had some alone time. Ever since we’d talked about Kylie’s pregnancy at the restaurant, he’d been avoiding me.
“I’m fine. Why?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know you seem out of it, that’s all.”
“Says the guy I haven’t seen or talked to in days. What gives, Steph?”
“I’m sorry.” He glanced down; I could tell he felt bad. “I’ve just been busy.”
“Too busy to answer my calls?”
“I just have things to figure out, okay?”
“Yeah, and I’m supposed to be there for you, but you’re not letting me in, Stephan. I don’t like it. All I know is that you’re leaving––”
“Babe, trust me, I’ll be fine. I’m going to go see Kylie for a few days in New York, like you told me to do. We’ll figure things out and then I’ll be back. Whatever decision we make, I’m keeping you in the loop. I promise, I’m not keeping anything from you.”
I pulled my hand up and grabbed his chin so that he’d look at me. When I narrowed my eyes at him, he chortled; we were good.
“So, are you going to tell me what’s on your mind now?”
I let go of him and snuck a peek behind me. Oliver had left the table to meet up with Emma at the door, like he told us he would, which left Tyler and Laney sitting together deep in conversation. Just as if he could sense my gaze on him, Tyler turned around and smiled at us.
“Reminiscing.” I responded without looking away.
“Do you miss her?” Stephan asked me curiously.
I tore my eyes away from Tyler and met Stephan’s. I knew he was talking about me. Well, the young and stupid me. The problem was that the question wasn’t an easy one to answer. I didn’t miss the life or the consequences of my stupid decisions. What I missed was my ability to pretend that everything was fine. I missed being careless, and most of all I missed not being afraid.
I tossed my head from side to side.
“What do you miss the most?” he asked.
“Not caring about being in pain.”
“Abby, every single decision you made back then was because you were suffering.”
“Maybe, but I was also lost. So I didn’t care.”
“What about Tyler?” he questioned, frowning at me.
“What about him?”
“Well, at some point he was more than a numbing mistake. Wasn’t he?”
“I might have been drowning in my sorrows, Stephan, but let me assure you that Ty was never a mistake”
“Do you ever wonder what you would do if you could go back in time?” he asked, rolling the bottom of his beer mug against the wooden bar.
“All the time,” I admitted. “Why?”
“Would you change anything?”
“Wouldn’t you?”
He shrugged. “Maybe––probably.”
I grabbed the pitcher to top off his mug, and waited hoping he’d be honest about what really was on his mind.
“What if turning time and changing your mistakes meant having a different life? What if altering your past meant not having Oliver back in your life today?”
I never thought of it the way he did, nor did I want to. He immediately extended his hand and smoothed over my sudden frown.
“Whatever happened to you before, whatever relationship you and Tyler had, it was meant to be exactly what it was, Abbygail.”
“But what if I would have been able to give him more? What if I could have loved him just as much as he loved me?”
“That’s the thing, Abs. You did. And your friendship is what it is today because of who you were to
one another. He knew what he was in for when he decided to be with you. He chose to be that person before, and he’s choosing to be this person for you now because he cares about your happiness.”
I laughed soundly.
“Stop regretting your past and embrace your present.”
“I don’t regret my past, Steph, I just wish I could have been more. And most of all, I wish I could have thanked him. God––” I grumbled. “Why am I such an emotional mess today? I feel like I’m all over the place at the same time…what the hell is wrong with me?”
“Hormones,” Stephan teased. He handed me my root beer, and his cell phone started ringing. “Do you mind taking the pitcher to the table? I need to take the call.”
“Is it Ky?”
He nodded. “I won’t be long”
“Okay, tell her I said hi.”
“Hey, babe?” he called out smiling before answering his phone. “Just remember that it’s never too late to say thank you.”
I watched him walk towards the men’s room and then made my way back to take my seat in front of Laney and Tyler.
“So,” I asked Laney when I saw Emma walk in with Oliver, “what’s she like?”
“What’s who like?”
“Her.” I responded nudging my head in Oliver’s direction. Both were laughing as they made their way to our table.
“How should I know? I just met her.”
I frowned. “He never brought her home?”
“What? Who, Oliver?”
“Yes, Oliver. Who else would I be talking about, Laney?”
“Um no. Listen Abby, I don’t know what you think has been going on with him, but trust me, you’re entirely wrong. Oliver hasn’t been with anyone since you left Vancouver.”
“He invited her out the night he found out about Lyvia and Riley.”
“Abs, Oliver may have been a drunken mess the week after he learned that you were pregnant, but trust me, he hasn’t been with anyone. I already told you; you’re it for him.”
“Do you at least know how they met?”
She shrugged. “Something to do with work, I assume. I’m telling you, this is the first I’ve ever heard of her.”
“She used to work at the coffee shop next to his office,” Tyler explained. “And Laney is right, nothing happened between the two of them.”
“Really?” I rolled my eyes, “And how would you know?”
“You’re hilarious when you’re jealous,” he mocked.
“I am not jealous, I’m curious.”
“Whatever you say, Angel. It’s not like I don’t know about all your little quirks or anything.”
“Shut up, Ty.”
He roared at my reaction. “For your information, she told me while you were in the gym’s locker room with Oliver. And if anything, you should be thanking her.”
“Thank her?” I held back a sarcastic laugh. “Why’s that?”
“Because she called him out on his bullshit when he called her from your mother’s house that night.”
She did?
“So…” Stephan asked taking a seat beside Laney. He seemed in a better mood all of a sudden, and that alone made me happy. “What are we all talking about?”
“About Abby’s jealous spat at the gym.”
“It wasn’t a jealous spat,” I defended.
“That’s what it look liked from where I was sitting,” my best friend retorted. “Just give her a chance, babe. I’m sure you’ll like her.”
“I will. Just––” I frowned and looked up to see both guys raising their eyebrows and mocking me. “Fine. I’ll give her a chance.”
“That’s my girl,” Stephan answered.
Oliver finally got to the table with Emma by his side. He watched the guys and me with an inquisitive look in his eye, clearly wondering what was going on. I smiled at him and stood up from my chair to extend my hand and introduce myself properly to our new friend.
“Hi, my name is Abby.”
“Emma,” she replied giving me a firm shake. Her friendly smile appeased me. “I’m so happy I get to finally meet you.”
Oliver leaned in and kissed my cheek. “Thank you.”
Chapter 30
Abbygail
“Are you okay?” Tyler asked stepping out of the pub.
I’d managed to enjoy an entire five-and-a-half minutes of alone-time before one of them showed up by my side, which was pretty much a record. To be honest I was surprised to see that Tyler would be the first one to join me.
“I’m fine,” I answered, appreciating the coolness of the evening. It was close to ten and the loud music was making me dizzy. “I just needed some air.”
The sound of the base pounding inside the bar behind us filled the silence, and I knew that we were both thinking the same thing.
“So…” he said breaking the awkwardness.
“So.”
“Tonight was––”
“Different?” I interrupted.
A small grin appeared on his handsome face. “Yeah. Let’s go with different.”
“I’m sorry.” I whispered, staring at my hands. “We should have just told him that we wanted to go somewhere else.”
He stood in front of me with his hands in his pockets, and I lifted my head up to look at him. Tears prickled my eyes and I couldn’t even explain why.
“Is it weird that this hurts as much as it does?”
“What still hurts?” he questioned.
“I don’t know. You. Me. This place. The memories.”
“I don’t think it’s weird,” he replied. “If it is then we’re both screwed.”
I chuckled and he smiled back.
“Maybe it’s not being here that hurts,” he offered. “Maybe it’s realizing that this time we’re both really ready to say goodbye.” He took a step forward and wrapped his strong arms around me.
“Thank you for loving me Tyler,” I sighed.
“Do you want me to ask Oliver to take you home?” he whispered protectively.
My heart welled and I smiled against his shoulder. “You do know that at some point you’re going to need to let me take care of myself, right?”
He shrugged and pulled back, rewarding me with a crooked grin. “I could say the same about you.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I lied.
“Of course you don’t.” He took a seat on the table beside me and breathed out loudly. “I already told you years ago; I will never stop looking after you.”
***
The loud thump in front of me made me jump and scribble inside my study book. I looked up to see a grey back-pack inches from my face, and then a little higher to Tyler glaring angrily at me. I pinched my lips and raised my eyebrow waiting on an explanation for his sudden intrusion. It felt like the entire library’s community had their eyes on us.
“Stephan’s worried about you.”
Ignoring his attempts to discipline me, I grabbed my eraser from my pencil case and tried to clean up the mess he’d caused.
“He says you haven’t called him in weeks, Abbygail. What gives?”
“I’m busy.”
“Then make time.”
“I have exams.” I looked back up to him. “We’ve been here for eight months, Tyler. If Stephan is so worried about me, he knows where my dorm room is, and can make the hour trip to come and see me.”
He sniggered. “You’re so full of shit.”
“No you’re the one that’s full of shit. If Stephan is worried, it’s because you keep reporting what I’m doing to him. Save yourself some trouble, Tyler. I don’t need a babysitter.” I pushed myself off my chair and crossed my arms over my chest.
“Excuse me?” a girl to our left muttered. “Some of us are trying to study. Do you mind moving whatever this is outside?”
“Don’t worry,” I responded with a tight smile, “we’re done here.”
“Abbygail,” he growled.
“Do you know what I think? I don’t think that th
is is about the fact that I haven’t called Stephan in weeks at all.”
While Tyler’s intent glare was on me, I slowly put my study book back inside my own bag.
“Don’t you think I saw you watching me last night, Ty? That longing face you had when I left the club with Bryan; it spoke a thousand words.”
His jaw tensed and I saw the lump of words he swallowed back down. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
So fucking predictable.
“Like I said,” I smirked. “We’re done here.”
I walked away from him and made my way to the psychology section of the library to grab a copy of the book I needed to complete my paper on the different stages of psychosocial development.
“I’m worried about you,” he muttered standing behind me. I hadn’t even realized that he’d followed me.
“Don’t,” I replied without looking back. “I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”
“I disagree.”
“You can disagree all you want. It’s not going to change what I choose to do with my life, or my body.” I turned around to face him with an evil smile. “Unless of course you finally decided that you want to give into what you’ve been craving for the past two years.”
When I looked up to him I noticed his deep green orbs watching me with a mixture of anger and lust. I could tell he was debating real hard with himself, but he didn’t react. Tyler wouldn’t change. He’d spent months longing for me, but he never told me. I found out by myself a few months into our eleventh grade year, when he got angry every time I went out on a date with my flavor of the week. Unfortunately for him, he felt bound to his loyalty towards Oliver, and because of it, I knew very well he would never make a move on me. If you asked me, it was his own ridiculous problem.
“Stop looking after me.” I snapped.
As I started to walk away Tyler grabbed my arm, and made me spin on my heels. Within a single second I found myself pinned against a bookshelf with his strong hands holding my arms high above my head. I met his stare, mocking whatever point he was trying to make. He just smiled at me while his other hand caressed my face and trailed down my neck and body. My skin burned under his touch as he roughly caressed my clothed skin.
Desire burned through his lecherous glare.
Transcending Regrets (No Regrets book 3) Page 18
