Chapter 26

We stared at each other for what seemed like forever before Seth finally stood up and left the restaurant. I stood there for a moment, in shock, before I started to run after him. I thanked the waitress with a smile when I bumped into her and continue to pursue Seth. I pushed the big door on my way out and looked around, trying to find him. I was beyond pissed at him. What the fuck was he doing here? How the fuck did he even found us? I couldn't believe that he'd follow me when I was going on a date. What the fuck was his problem and most of all, what the fuck did he say to Ben? He was a great man and I was actually enjoying myself for once and he had to fuck it all up. I finally spotted Seth a little bit further away, leaning on the wall with his hands in his pockets.

"What the fuck is your problem?" I yelled as I walked toward him.

Seth didn't say a word and just looked at me with his big brown chocolate eyes.

"I was actually having a great time before you decided to show up."

"He's not right for you."

"And who the fuck are you to decide?" I snap back at him. "Ben is a great guy OK? For the first time in over a year, it didn't feel weird to be around another guy! And you had to screw everything up."

"I didn't screw up anything." he simply said, very calm.

"What did you say to him?"

"Nothing." he mumbled as he looked into my eyes.

"Oh so he just happened to think I had someone in my life?" I yelled.

I was beyond mad. I wanted to punch him so badly. People on the street where stopping to look at us, probably thinking that we were just another couple that were going through a hard time. The fact is that we were not together. We shouldn't be fighting like this. He had absolutely no right over me.

"You're an asshole you know that?"

"Yep… you've been saying that a lot since we met." he said with a smirk.

I wasn't in the mood for jokes. Not at all.

"So when you go on dates, I should just sit here and say nothing, but when I am the one seeing another man, you get to act like a jealous boyfriend? Well, guess what, we are not together Seth. I can do whatever I want and you can't say anything about it."

"I am n-." he started.

"This is so unfair." I shouted, interrupting him.

His face change from calm to angry within seconds.

"You want to know what's not fair?" he snapped. "You want me to tell, huh?"

People were asking us if everything was OK but both of us were ignoring them. It concerned us, they had nothing to do with it. Seth shouted to one of them that he could go on with his life and leave us alone. I've never seen him that mad before. I was the one that was supposed to be angry, not him.

"It's not fair that this guy gets to take you to a restaurant and not me. It's not fair that he can hold your hand in public while I can't."

"What the fuck are you talking about? You agreed to this. You're the one that proposed this whole thing to begin with."

"And why do you think I did, huh?" he replied. "For Christ's sake Ali, I saw your face that morning after the wedding. I knew how bad it made you feel, how you regretted it, how you were worried because you weren't ready for relationship. What was I supposed to do?"

Seth put his hand on my shoulder and forced me to look at him. I could see how hurt he was and I didn't know where that was coming from. I had no idea what was going on right now. What the hell was he talking about?

"I knew after what happened that night that we couldn't just go back to being just friends. I didn't want to lose you Ali." he said with a broken voice. "I wanted you in my life and that was the only option. I thought we could do that for a while, until you'd be ready for more. It's not fair that when you're finally ready to commit to someone, you seek for other guys, when I'm right here, fucking waiting for you."

I didn't know what to say. My heart was pumping a million miles an hour and I couldn't think straight. How could I have not seen it coming? I never realized until now that Seth and I were way more than simple fuck buddies.

"What about all those other girls?" I asked.

"I've never been on a single date since the day we got caught by that storm."

"Liar."

"You can call me an asshole Alison, but don't say I'm a liar because I'm not."

"You lied when you told me about those other girls." I said. "Why?"

"Because I didn't want you to think I was expecting anything else from you. I thought that if you thought I was seeing other people, you wouldn't think I was expecting something else from you. I didn't want to scare you away. I was willing to do whatever it take to keep you with me until the day you'd be ready to be more than my fuck buddy. I know it doesn't make any sense but…"

Seth stopped and looked at the ground. I wanted to tell him that it did made sense but I was speechless.

"I didn't say anything to that guy, by the way." he said after a moment of silence. "Felix is the one that called him. After you left, I tried to call him. I wanted to know more about Ben. The fact that you already knew him scared the shit out of me. I had to do something about it, I couldn't just let you go that easily. Felix didn't pick up so I went to his house. I wanted to know where you went but he wouldn't tell me. He said you deserved better than me, that you deserved someone who'd love you and not someone who'd fucked you." Seth said, letting out a sharp laugh. "When I told him I was in love with you, he tried to call Ben and he told me where you were."

"Wait, what?"

Did he just say he loved me?

"He wanted to be the one to tell Ben to back off, but I was there in case he couldn't join him." Seth continued. "I'm sorry. I know it's very selfish of me to act this way, but I can't lose you that easily. Not without trying."

Seth took a step closer and leaned his forehead against mine, in silence. He wrapped his arms around me and we stayed like that for a while before he started talking again.

"I don't want to be your dirty little secret anymore. I want to go out, take you to the movie and to the restaurant. I want to hold your hand in public. I want everybody to know you're mine. Especially all these people that keep looking at us like we are freaks from another planet."

I laughed and buried my face in his chest. My heart was about to burst out of my chest. There was a part of me that was scared as fuck and wanted to cry but the other part of me just felt amazing and confident. Seth said he loved me and as much as I hated to admit it, Felix was right. I did have feelings for that man.

"I want to kiss you right now." he said as he placed a stray of my hair behind my ear.

"Then what are you waiting for, asshole?" I asked with a smile. "Just kiss me already."

I didn't have to repeat it twice. Seth lips immediately found mine. The world stopped and it was just us.

After our fight and reconciliation, Seth and I went back to his house. He wanted to take me out but I told him we'd had a lot of other nights to do so. I just wanted to go back home with him and spend the night in his arm. I still couldn't believe what'd just happened. He really did say that he loved me and he said he did for a very long time. I was so stupid. I should've known. I was so scared of commitment that I decided to shut my eyes on this one and pretended we were simple fuck buddies. I wish he'd said something sooner, but again, I knew I would've freaked out. I wasn't ready back then but I sure was now. I wanted more. I wanted him to hold my hand in public, to go out with him and to kiss him whenever I wanted. I was smiling like an idiot as Seth parked his car in the driveway. Like a perfect gentleman, he opened my door and offered me his hand that I gladly took. As soon as he closed the door, I jumped into his arms.

"Whoa!" he yelped, surprised.

"I didn't welcome you back earlier." I said with a flirtatious voice.

Seth moaned as I crashed my lips onto his. He grabbed my ass with both his hand earning a groan from me. I wanted him and I wanted him now. I've never been so sure of something in my whole life.

"Does that mean I get to call you boyfriend from now on?" I asked with a wicked smile as I attacked his neck with my tongue and my teeth.

"Only if I get to call you my girlfriend."

"Ugh, I like the sound of that."

"If only I've known, I would've called you that a lot sooner." he said with a smirk.

Seth carried me to his bed and slowly lied me down on my back before he covered me with his body. I slipped my hand under his shirt and gently rubbed on his back, making him shiver under my touch. I could feel the goosebumps on his skin and knowing that I was the one responsible for it made me squirm.

"I missed you so much, Ali."

"I missed you too."

I slowly brushed my lips on his. He parted them just enough for my tongue to find his. It was a tender and soft kiss, like we never had before. Between Seth and me, it was always, passionate and intense but tonight, neither of us wanted to rush things. The night was ours and we both planned to make the most of it. Seth lied down on his side and brought me closer to his chest without breaking the kiss. We were holding on to each other like we never did before. I didn't want to let him go, too scared that it might have been a dream.

"Did you really say that you loved me?" I let out in a sigh.

"I said that I told Felix I was in love with you." he said with a smirk. "I didn't really say I love you."

I laughed as I ran my hand into his long dark hair. I missed his touch, I missed his hair, I missed his beard even though my face was hurting every time we kissed, I missed his lips, I missed his smile. I missed everything that he was.

"I do love you." he said, with a more serious face. "From the moment I saw your little bitchy face when we first met, I knew there was something about you."

"I wish I could say the same about you."

"Aah, come on, don't lie to me. You thought I was adorable as fuck."

"No offense, but you were being an asshole."

"Shut up." he said as he crashed his lips onto mine.

I smiled, thinking that this could definitely be my life now. I could totally imagine myself, waking up to this handsome man and calling him my boyfriend. It just sounded so right.

"I love you too." I let out in a sigh as I made my way on top of him.

He helped me take my shirt off and did the same with his. I groaned when my eyes laid on his chiseled chest. All I wanted was to run my tongue on it. I gently pushed him back on the bed and lie on top of him. Seth wrapped his arms around me as he was kissing the sweet spot in my neck. He slowly rolled us and was now the one on top. He tangled his fingers with mine and pinned my arms above my head.

"You have no idea how many times I've dreamed of that moment while I was all alone in Europe."

"Oh really?" I asked, acting surprised. "And what happened next in that dream of yours?"

"My girlfriend was asking me to fuck her."

My breath hitched and my heart skipped a beat as I heard those words coming out of his mouth. I had a knot in my stomach that needed to be released.

"And what did you say to her when she asked you that?"

Seth unbuttoned my jeans before he slowly unzip them to take them off. He left a trail of kisses from my knee to my jaw without saying anything. He kissed me sensually, as he brushed my breast with his fingers.

"You want to know what I told her?" he whispered in my ear as he pinched on of my nipples, making me moan loudly.

"Yes…" I mewled. "Tell me."

"I told her I wouldn't fuck her."

I heavily sighed in frustration. That was not what I wanted to hear. I was so aroused and ready for him that I wanted him to tell me that he'd fuck me like he never did before.

"I told her I'd make love to her." he finally let out.