"Did you miss me belle?" Asked Raphael, giving her a dazzling smile.

Ivy let out a squeal, leaning up to wrap her arms around his neck and giving him a tight hug. She hadn't seen Raphael in over a year ever since she got back from her summer internship in France. Raphael was the CEO of the place she had worked at and his father was also good friends with hers. The day they had met, they instantly clicked and were inseparable ever since.

Raphael let out a laugh, "I'll take that as a yes."

Pulling back, she looked up at his handsome face. Handsome would be an understatement when it came to Raphael, well over six feet, long dark blond hair that he pulled back in a "man bun", dark blue eyes and chiseled features, Raphael had lived up to his playboy reputation. Many women fell for his charms and she was one of them.

"Of course I missed you. Come in, I'm sorry this place is a mess." She said, cringing at the piles of clothes and books scattered across the floor and table.

"ce n'est pas un problème, I came here to see you not your dorm." He said, taking a seat on her couch and pulling her down next to him, "now tell me, what has my favorite girl been up to?"

Ivy sighed and laid her head on his shoulders, "where do I start?"

Laying a finger under her chin, he lifted her head up to look at him before laying a gentle kiss on her forehead. "You can start by telling me why you look so sad mon amour."

Ivy felt tears gather in her eyes before a sob tore free. She couldn't hold it in anymore, her heart still ached for Matteo, her body ached for him. She constantly thought about him, what was he doing? Was he sleeping alright? Did he still have nightmares? Was he still going to his therapy sessions? Was he with her?

The thought of him being with someone else, physically and emotionally broke her heart.

"Shshsh it's okay, it's okay. I'm right here." Said Raphael soothingly, while stroking her hair.

After a while, her sobbing died down. She ended up spilling everything that happened to Raphael, well not everything. She knew better than to mention Matteos name and how she knew him. By the time she finished telling him everything, she looked at Raphael to see his reaction but he kept a relatively neutral expression.

For a moment he was silent, as if digesting everything she was saying before he started shaking his head in disbelief. "quel putain d'idiot." He muttered under his breath, before looking straight in her eyes. "Any man who is ashamed of you is a fúcking idiot. If you were mine, I would want the whole world to know that." He said, then he gave her a small smile. "But I'm not that lucky am I?"

Ivy's eyes dropped, she knew what he was talking about. In the three months they spent together in France, they had went from friends to lovers. She had been 19 at the time while he was 32, he was her first older lover, and what an amazing lover he was. They would spend hours everyday in bed together, he had taught her the difference of making love and raw hard fúcking. Remembering the things they had together made her clench her thighs together.

But while they had amazing sexual chemistry, that was all it was, they had agreed from the beginning that it was a no strings attached relationship. Ivy knew she wasn't in love with him, but it was different for Raphael. He had starting touching and looking at her differently, and when it was time for her to leave he had confessed his feeling for her. A part of her had known this for a while, but she didn't want to lead him on so she had let him down gently. Thankfully Raphael had taken it well and they had stayed good friends.

"I'm sorry." She didn't know exactly what she was apologizing for. For not being in love with him? For falling in love with someone else?

Raphael just shrugged off her apology, "there's nothing to apologize for belle. I'm just happy I get to see you while I'm here."

Ivy's eyebrows furrowed in question, "why are you here?"

"I'm working with your father on a few business deals, so I'll be here for a while before I have to back. So you're going to be seeing a lot of me, hopefully in more ways than one." He explained, flashing her a wink.

Ivy laughed, "shut up."

Raphael just shrugged his shoulders, "a man can dream."
***
Matteo sat on his couch staring blankly at his phone while drinking a glass of whiskey. It was his third or fourth that night, he couldn't quite remember. Ivy hadn't replied to any of his calls or text messages, and the longer he waited the more hope he lost.

He fúcked up. He had lost the best thing that had ever happened to him all because of stupid, selfish reasons. But he wasn't going to give up. He knew Ivy deserved better, someone closer to her age, someone who wasn't scared to show her off to the world. But he was selfish, Ivy was his and he was going to do whatever it takes to prove himself to her.

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. Looking at the time, it was 8 o'clock at night and he wasn't expecting anyone. His heart raced at the thought of it being Ivy. Quickly rushing to his door, he swung it open, but his surprise turned into confusion and disappointment.

"Vanessa? What are you doing here?" He asked confused. He hadn't spoken or seen Vanessa in weeks.

Vanessa blushed, holding up a glass of champagne and a bag of Chinese food. "You haven't been answering your phone and when I asked Mary about you she said you've been down lately. She told me where you stayed and I thought I'd drop by and cheer you up with food. I hope you don't mind?"

I do fùcking mind, he thought but he didn't want to be rude so he just shook his head. "No, no at all. Come in." He said, gesturing her to come inside.

Fuck! He didn't want to deal with this right now, the last person he wanted to see was Vanessa. He was planning on officially breaking things off with her but never got around to it, and now he was stuck having to eat dinner with her.

"So do you have any good movies we can watch?" She asked.

Matteo nodded and gestured to the cd collection next to his tv. "Choose whatever you want while I get the plates and glasses in the kitchen."

As he made his way back from the kitchen he heard Vanessa let out a gasp, "oh no!" She exclaimed placing a hand on her forehead.

"What's wrong?" He asked, worried she had gotten hurt.

But Vanessa just shook hear head, "nothing, I think I might of left my hand bag in the parking lot while I was getting the stuff out the car."

Matteo held in an annoyed sigh, "it's ok I'll go get it, don't worry about it."

Vanessa gave him a grateful smile,"thank you." Matteo just nodded his head and made his way out.

Vanessa continued scrolling through the CDs until she came across one that had handwritten words written over it with the initials M&I. Curious as to what it was, she inserted the CD and pressed play.

As soon as the video started playing, her eyes widened in shock, "Oh my god." She gasped. It was pórn! At least that was what she thought as the very young, stunning blonde pleasured the man. But then she realized the voice belonged to someone she knew very well, and her suspicions were right when the camera was turned around and Matteo came into view.

Raging white- hot jealousy coursed through her. Apparently Matteo was into young, blonde bimbos with big boobs.

How the hell would she compare to that?

Suddenly remembering that Matteo was on his way up, she quickly pulled the CD out and she didn't know why but decided to hide the CD in the pocket of her jacket.

Moments later, Matteo came strolling in with her handbag in his hand. "Found it. Did you find anything good to watch?"

Vanessa stuttered, randomly picking up a movie, "y-yeah... this one."

Glancing at the CD in her hand, he nodded in approval. "Good choice."

Vanessa sighed in relief. That was close.