Pt. 13: He Kissed Me

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I slept surprisingly well considering nothing was settled between Chance and I. I meant it when I said I forgave him. Maybe I should have made him work harder for it, but the look in his eyes when he realized how rough he was being with me...I'll never forget. I didn't have to punish him for what he had done.

He was punishing himself.

I felt how sorry he was when he carried me to my room, too. His voice was cracking and if it hadn't been so dark, I would've sworn he was crying. And that would have been a first for Chance.

When I finally rolled out of bed, I checked my phone for messages, scrolling past the texts from Kyle to see what Chance had sent. I guess that said something.

I glanced at the texts from him and laughed, noticing they had come all throughout the night.

Chance: have your bag packed and ready to go before you leave for work.

Chance: bring a change of clothes. I don't think you wanna travel in one of your dresses...hmmm, on second thought...

Chance: don't forget your swimsuit. There's a pool in the hotel ๐Ÿ˜

Chance: and a hot tub ๐Ÿ’ฆ

I laughed out loud, never knowing Chance to use emojis before. I thought for a moment and then replied.

Cami: hmmm...I think you just want to see me in my swimsuit ๐Ÿ‘™

I scrolled back to Kyle's texts, deciding not to look at them right now. I had a pretty good idea what he wanted and I just wasn't sure what to tell him. I knew I needed to be honest with him. I should tell him that I'm using this weekend away with Chance to see where we stand.

But I didn't want to hurt Kyle.

I rushed to get ready, spending too much time in my head already. After my shower, I put on a short, black skirt with a flippy hem and paired it with a white, lacy tank. It was too hot to wear anything more than that.

I finished throwing the last of the things I needed for the trip into my bag. I had been packing it little by little for the past few days, never fully committed to finishing it because, well things have been so hot and cold with us, I wasn't sure if I would go or not.

I checked the texts one more time to make sure I had everything I needed when I saw one more had come through.

Chance: you'll need a sexy dress to wear. I'll be having you for dinner one night.

Chance: and...you're fucking right I wanna see you in your swimsuit!

I giggled at the wording, certain he didn't mean he would be having me for dinner. Or did he?

I rushed out with my work bag, stuffing in an outfit I could change into before we hit the road. Shayne had already left for her early bird yoga class and Chance wasn't home yet. I probably should have checked Kyle's messages to see if he was offering me a ride this morning, but it was too late for that.

I hurried out to the parking lot, set on walking to work when I saw Chance pull up in his Mustang. "Going my way?" he teased as he pulled up alongside me.

I tried to contain my grin as I scrambled to get in, still surprised he made it in time to get me to work. "How'd you sleep?" he inquired sweetly as we drove off.

"I slept well. Not as well as I do with you though..." I replied wistfully.

"Don't worry, Baby Doll. You've got me all to yourself for the next three days."

I glanced out the window and hid my smile from him. I was ready to start asking him the tough questions. But now was not the time.

I faced Chance once again when we pulled up to my work. "I'm looking forward to us spending some time together...alone."

Chance's eyes darted around my face and body for a moment. He slid a finger under the strap of my lacy tank top and gave me a lop-sided smile. "Are you sure you don't wanna blow off work and come home to take a nap with me?"

"Don't tempt me," I groaned, leaning forward to press my lips to his neck. "I will try to leave early so we can get on our way sooner. Does that help?"

Chance's gaze zeroed in on my mouth as he captured my chin between his forefinger and thumb. "The sooner, the better. I just wanna have some fun with you, Cami."

"We will," I sighed before I pressed my lips to his. He groaned when I cut the kiss short and begrudgingly pulled away from him. "I have to go!" I called out while he pouted, finally allowing me to exit his car.

"Text me!" he called back as he pulled away.

I strode into my office a little while later, only to find I already had a visitor. He was pacing nervously beside my desk, his head snapping up when he heard my heels clacking on the floor.

"So you are alive?" Kyle huffed as he ran a hand through his dark, curly locks. "You haven't responded to any of my texts."

I blinked quickly, regret suddenly twisting my stomach in knots. I approached him quickly, placing my bag on my desk and glancing up at him. "I didn't mean to worry you," I retorted honestly. "I was packing for my trip and...no excuses, I'm sorry, Kyle."

"Trip?" he echoed. He furrowed his brow, obviously trying to figure out what I had said. "You're going to Seattle...with Chance?"

I shrugged and forced a pitiful smile. Of course he knew about the trip. Chance would be gone from the gym until Monday and he works with Kyle. "He asked me when he first found out. It was before you and I started talking," I explained nervously. "I'm sorry I didn't say something sooner, but Chance and I...well, it's complicated."

Kyle stepped closer to me, peering down into my soul with those amazing mossy green eyes of his. His fingers ghosted up my arms and curled around my bare shoulders gently. "You...and Chance? That's a thing? I thought..."

Kyle glanced down at my work bag, now revealing a pair of jean shorts and a lacy pair of panties as it spilled out onto my desk. He released my shoulders and stepped back. "Of course, you and Chance are a thing. God, I guess I thought you meant it when you said you were done letting him mess with your head. And our date...that was just to make him jealous?" Kyle cringed.

I grabbed his arm when he tried to back away from me even more. "That's not what I did, Kyle. I was...just confused and I had so much fun being with you and I..."

"Just like me as a friend?" he supplied bitterly. "And now you're done with me?"

I hung my head in shame, letting go of his arm and fully preparing myself to never see Kyle after this talk with him. "I can't compete here, Cami. You live with him, for fuck's sake. I can't...I don't know how to make you see that I'm the better choice."

I glanced up at him, both hands in his hair, pulling on the ends in frustration. I gripped his wrists and pulled them around me, holding them against the small of my back. "There's no comparison, Kyle. You are amazing. I had so much fun on our date, but..."

Kyle lowered his gaze before pulling me closer. "But I wanted more, Cami," he sighed, pressing his forehead to mine. "I thought I had a shot."

"Kyle," I sighed, slipping my arms around his waist and peering up at him in confusion. "You'll find someone else, I know you will. And I'm not that great..."

"But you are!" he exclaimed quickly, his eyes going wide with embarrassment. Lowering his voice a bit and still holding me close to him, he murmured softly, "If you were with me, you'd never doubt it. I'd show you everyday how incredible you are."

"Chance...has his moments, you know." I felt compelled to defend him. "He's really sweet to me."

Kyle scoffed and released me. "Yeah. He's so sweet he decided to screw me over when I said I needed to come pick you up. What a sweetheart! Don't you see how he manipulates shit?"

"He's just threatened by you," I explained. "He's not like you. He has to work really hard to do the boyfriend thing and for you, it's so easy."

Kyle scoffed again and shook his head. "He's a dick, Cami. He walks around pissed off all day and you still can't resist him." Kyle paused to lean into me, his fingers delicately grazing my cheek. "Can you?"

"I...it's just that...it's..."I sputtered.

"It's complicated? Yeah, you said that. But Cami, why does it have to be?" He grinned as he pushed his fingers through my hair and tipped my head back so our gazes met. "But why do you need complications? It's easy with us. Fun even. Isn't that enough?"

I blinked up at him, knowing he was right. Certain that my life would be so much easier if Chance wasn't in it. But he was and I knew I could never resist him, especially when we would be alone the next few days. My heart ached for how much I wanted Kyle not to hurt.

But it was inevitable. I wasn't ready to give up on Chance.

I started to say something to Kyle when he lowered his face to mine. "I never even got the chance to kiss you."

I held my breath when he pressed his lips to mine, ever so softly. He pulled back to gauge my reaction and then leaned in for another. I sighed when he kissed me the second time, knowing that I didn't feel the same sparks, but it was good all the same. Kyle lifted his head, his beautiful eyes shining with a bit of hope behind him.

"I'm sorry," he groaned playfully. "I shouldn't have done that. But I just had to know."

"Know?" I echoed, brushing my fingers over my lips as I leaned away.

"What it would feel like...to kiss an angel," he replied with that adorable smile of his. He held up his hands and laughed. "That was cheesy. I don't know why I said that. I guess I'm just glad you didn't smack me."

I reached for him, pulling him into a hug that he returned enthusiastically. When he released me, I peered up at him and smiled. "You're really great. I just have to explore this thing with Chance. And I know you don't get it..."

"I really don't. And I think you deserve more." Kyle paused and shook his head, his fingers still lightly touching my hips. "I wish I was the type of asshole who could say I won't be here when he breaks your heart, but...you know I will be. I'll always be here for you, Cami."

"I'll be okay," I promised. "And know it's such a shitty thing to ask, but I still want you to be my friend."

Kyle twisted his lips and stepped back to look me up and down. "Damn, I don't know, Cami. You just may be too hot to be friends with."

"Oh my God," I laughed, covering my face. "You really are cheesy!"

Kyle pulled my hands away from my face and pressed his forehead to mine. "That was not a line. But for you...I will try."

I walked Kyle to the elevators, convincing him I would be okay with Chance for the weekend. "I'll be back Sunday night," I told him.

"Travel safe," he whispered, leaning in close with his eyes drifting down to my mouth. He blew out a deep breath through his nose and shook his head. The elevator opened and he stepped inside. Before the door could close, he held his hand up to stop it from closing.

He forced a smile and reached out to tousle my hair. "I should've never kissed you."

I pulled his hand down and held it in mine. "I'm not mad."

Kyle lowered his gaze to the floor and then met mine again. "It's not that. I just...know what I'm missing now."

He stepped back and leaned against the back wall, nodding slowly as the doors closed before I could reply.

....

My day was productive, Meg loved my latest article and I only needed to make a few revisions before it would be ready to publish in the next issue. She loved it so much, she didn't mind when I asked if I could leave early to get a head start on our travels.

After changing into some jeans shorts and a fitted tee, I ran my hands through my hair to fluff it up a bit and touched up my make-up before heading down to look for Chance's car. He was parked on the curb, scrolling through his phone when I jumped in and tossed my bag onto the backseat.

"Good day?" he smiled, leaning forward to kiss the top of my head.

I shrugged and frowned. "It was okay."

We started off on our journey, silence filling the car as I finally read my texts from Kyle. I sighed deeply when I thought about him, wishing I didn't have to hurt him. I put my phone away and rolled my shoulders, trying to relieve some of the stress. Chance reached over and began massaging my neck and tense shoulders.

"Tell me what's wrong," he urged gently. He always seemed to know when I was trying to hide things. Damn him for that.

So in the spirit of the full disclosure I had hoped to get from him this weekend, I opened up about what happened. "Kyle came to see me at work today."

His hand froze so I glanced over to check his reaction. Total stone face. He pressed his lips together tightly, his jaw ticking a little. "How'd that go?" Chance whispered, his hand resuming the stress-relieving squeezing to my nape.

I scooted a little closer, already anticipating him not taking this well. "I just told him I had been packing for this trip and that I wanted this time with you...you know to see what was between us."

He nodded and smoothed his hand down my arm, pulling me tighter against him. "What else? I know that's not everything," he insisted.

I let my head drop for a moment before raising it to meet his momentary glance. "He kissed me."

Chance huffed loudly, pulling his arm back to grip the steering wheel with both hands again. I hated that he wasn't touching me anymore. His shoulders tensed as his furrowed brow glanced at me suddenly. "So what? What does this mean? You kissed him back? You want him?"

I studied his face, seeing the fear in his eyes really threw me off. Sometimes I forgot how much he actually cared. "It wasn't like that. I told him it's over. But...he said...he said he never got the chance to kiss me, so he did."

His vision returned to the road and I saw how his jaw clenched and unclenched. "I don't know why you're telling me this. Or better yet, why you even came. It's probably not too late to fix it with him if that's what you really want," Chance stated calmly.

"Is that what you want?" I gasped, completely shocked at the way he was handling this.

Chance pulled off the interstate, veering his car toward the nearest gas station. He parked and turned to face me. He blinked at me a few times before saying, "I want you to be happy. This is a good guy and I'm shit at everything when it comes to you. You deserve better. He can give you that, Cami." His head dropped and he shook it slowly. "I don't know how to do this."

I leaned into him, pulling his arm around me and resting my head on his shoulder. "Then let me help you. We can learn from each other. And I told you all this in hopes that maybe you'd share things with me too."

Chance sighed, finally tightening his arm around my shoulders. "You want me to tell you about the girls I've kissed?" he teased.

"No!" I giggled, pushing on his stomach and then lifting his shirt to tickle him. That quickly turned into him grabbing my wrists and pushing me back so he could hover over me. When he gazed down at me, I forgot to breathe.

"Then what?" he panted. "What do you want to know?"

"About you. More specifically about what happened with us last night."

His face fell as he looked away. He leaned back, but I pulled him down by his neck. "I thought you forgave me for that."

"Yes, I did. But I still wanna know why. I'm trying to understand you, Chance."

I didn't fight him when he pulled me up with him, once again sitting up, but now we were impossibly closer. He glanced out the windshield, his eyes following all the activity around the gas station.

"I'll be honest with you," he huffed. "Honestly...if you really want to hear my story then..." he paused to push both hands into my hair, cradling the back of my head in his hands. His baby blues were laser focused on me, making my stomach flutter in nervousness. "I'm really gonna need some snacks. I'm talking about something salty, maybe something sweet, too."

"Chance," I sighed when he peered at my mouth, licking his own lips before bringing his gaze back to mine. "I know you're just trying to distract me."

"What?" he scoffed, raising his eyebrows in shock. "You think I don't wanna talk about my past?" he replied, laughing.

Chance pulled on my hand as we exited the vehicle through the driver's door and made our way toward the busy convenience store. He hooked his arm around my neck when the cashier smiled at me. "This is a good distraction, I guess," I shrugged when Chance filled his arms with snacks and I moved toward the cooler for a cold drink.

"I really do need these things, Cami. I'm not bullshitting you," he insisted, trying to balance everything he wanted to eat.

"Not very many healthy choices," I observed, sifting through his choices. "Muddy Buddies are nothing but sugar! Gummi worms too."

"I'll share," he offered as he dumped his choices on the counter and pulled out his wallet to pay.

"I'm not eating that," I scoffed, producing a bottle of water, cup of yogurt, and some almonds. "I refuse to go on vacation and gain ten pounds just because you have incredible metabolism!"

Chance slid over to a nearby soda display and grabbed two bottles of caffeinated drinks for the drive. "You're crazy. You know you look great, don't you?"

I rolled my eyes, noticing that the cashier was nodding in agreement. "I just can't eat whatever I want, you know?"

We continued to banter about it as we carried our haul to the car and continued down the highway. "You know I don't like talking about this shit, right?" Chance finally said after a half hour of silence.

"I know it's not easy, but I appreciate you sharing things with me. I think...it'll help you...both of us really. And I just wanna know everything about you."

Chance forced a small smile. "I guess this would be a good time to tell you these things, since you won't be able to run from me."

"Baby, come on. Why would I run?" I blurted, surprising myself at the use of the endearment. "I mean Chance," I backpedalled.

Chance smirked and lifted his hand to cup my face, his thumb smoothing over my now flushed cheek. "Nope. You called me baby. I heard it. You can't take it back," he grinned like an idiot.

I laughed loudly. "Fine," I sighed. I lifted my fingers and sifted through his dirty blonde hair, pulling a little and noticing how he groaned when I did. He cast his gaze my way and I whispered, "Tell me everything, Baby."

....

A/N: sorry this was kind of a filler on our way to the truth about Chance. And poor Kyle is probably downing a pint of ice cream right about now.

Thanks for showing me love with this story and the new readers who have reached out to me on IG to say they're enjoying the story. I

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