Good night! :) I'm really sorry for not updating earlier. I won't give any details, but the delay is for the same reasons I always explain. Anyway, here's the update. I hope you like it. ;) I don't have time to answer the reviews, but I'm grateful you took a little bit of time to make me happy. :D Have a nice week you all! ;)
PD: I stopped proofreading 'cause I don't have time for that, so you'll have to get used to my mistakes. ;)
Enjoy the chapter, guys!
IT'S NEVER TOO LATE
: Chapter 28 – Day Off:
"Where are you taking me?" I inquire, but she just grins at me and holds my hand, leading me to the unknown. It's not her first time in London, she actually knows the city really well, so I know she won't disappoint me.
"Why are you so impatient?" She teases me.
"'Cause I don't like not knowing what is going to happen with my life," I answer, making her grin even more.
"Do you trust me?" I nod at her and she smiles. "We're just going to hang out, don't expect anything spectacular." I frown at her and she laughs. "If you're thinking I have this romantic day set up for us, you can forget about it. It's just an average day." So she just wants to spend time together, that's fine with me. "Are you hungry?" I nod at her. "Ice-cream?" I nod at her eagerly.
She holds my hand and we enter a little ice-cream shop, with a few tables to enjoy the product they sell. Luckily, there's an empty table, so she points at it and I take a seat before somebody shows up. Paige approaches the counter and a few seconds later she's carrying two huge bowls overflowing with different color scoops. I am dying to taste them.
"This is for you." She leaves the bowl right in front of me and I don't know where to start. "I hope I didn't make a mistake. I wasn't so sure about your favorite, so I went for the tropical choice. I think it has mango, pineapple, coconut and papaya. Just the ones I wouldn't choose, but I had the feeling you'd enjoy that."
"This is just perfect. Thank you!" I caress her hand and she smiles at me. "Let me guess… Yoghurt, chocolate and vanilla." I crack into laughter. "You're so traditional."
"I just like what I like. There's nothing wrong about that."
I smile at her, she's too adorable. "That's perfect, Paige. It is odd you never try new flavors though." I wink at her.
"You won't try any of this, is that clear?" she jokes, embracing the bowl like a child. I laugh.
We start eating, silence surrounding us. I stare at her and she frowns at me.
"What?"
"Are you happy, Paige?"
Her sexy smile shapes her lips. "What is this? Are you my shrink now?" I keep staring at her. "Of course I'm happy. I'm with you, Em. I mean, everything is going according the plan. Why did ask that?" She raises her eyebrows.
"I'm just curious. You are not very talkative and I don't know what is going on inside your head. That's all."
"I know I'm a little bit discreet, but you can always ask, you know." She reaches her arm out and she interlaces her fingers with mine. "Stop worrying about me. I'm more than happy. It's time for us to enjoy our lives, don't you think?" I shyly nod at her. "Was this a plan to try my ice-cream?" I laugh at her.
My cellphone rings, but I decide not to take it when I see who's calling me.
"I don't want to spend one hour talking to her," I admit.
"Hanna?" Paige laughs at my comment. "You can take it if you want."
"No, I will call her later."
"It may be important."
"This is more important." I point at the two of us.
It looks like our friends and family decided to call at the same time, because Paige's phone starts to vibrate.
"This may be for you," she teases me, showing me the screen of the phone before taking the call.
"Hi, dad. I can't tonight. Yes, I'm with her." She raises her right eyebrow jokingly. I smile. "That's perfect. I'll see you tomorrow morning then. Bye."
"So?" I ask.
"Don't be paranoid, Em." She laughs. "He wants to have breakfast with me tomorrow."
"Okay."
"You need to trust me when I say he's happy for us." She seems convinced about it.
"I'm not worried about that," I nervously add.
"It's okay to be a little bit nervous because he's your boss too, but he's a good person. Now, can we talk about something different?"
"What do you want to talk about?"
"I don't know, you. Tell me about you."
"What do you want to know about me?" I laugh at her question, because that came out of nowhere.
"Everything."
"Can you be more precise?" I tease her.
"I mean, how were you as a child, and as a teenager. I barely know you." She smirks at me. I love that she's so funny. "I guess you were one of the populars."
"Why do you say that?"
"You're pretty, likable, you leaded the swim team. Based on the limited information I have, I'd say so."
"I wasn't, really. I just an average girl."
"I don't believe you." She smiles at me, but I avert my gaze instead.
"Did I say something bad? I'm sorry if I…" I put a finger on her lips, making her stop talking. She touched a tough subject, even though that wasn't her intention.
"It's okay, Paige. I just… I hadn't thought about that period of my life for a long time. I actually buried it deep enough to avoid the suffering.
She holds my hand. "I'm sorry, I didn't know that you… I mean, it's okay, you don't have to talk about it."
"I want to." She shyly smiles at me. Her smile calms me down. "I had a dark stage when I started high school. My dad was sent to Iraq and I was dealing with my whole sexuality discovery."
"I'm sorry. But you had friends to rely on?"
"That was the problem. I was so confused and terrified that I didn't open up to them until later. I was 15 and I felt that the world was crumbling down and I decided to withdraw into my myself and not seek for help and support. I was stupid, but I was practically a child. I felt so different that I thought there was something wrong with me."
"How could you think that? You're perfect." I give her a kiss sweet and a big smile appears on her face.
"Besides, my mom was not feeling really well after my dad's departure, so that didn't help either. Anyway, everything started to feel right when I finally had the courage to come out to Spencer. I still remember her reaction." I laugh loudly, making Paige look impressed.
"I guess there's a funny story behind it or you're suddenly losing your mind," she jokes.
"I'm not going insane." She pants and I laugh. "It happened one morning just before a chem exam. I just had the worst week and I couldn't bear with it anymore."
"And?"
"I was sitting next to Spencer and I decided to tell her. She was reading her notes and I called her name. She didn't answer at first. She was too focused. I called her name again and she finally asked me what I needed. I remember taking a deep breath and saying the words 'I like girls'. She looked me in the eye and she asked me if I thought the definition of covalent bonds was going to be a question on the exam."
"He completely ignored you." Paige bursts into laughter.
"No, she didn't. She just thought the exam was the important thing at the moment. I asked her if she wasn't going to say anything about me liking girls and her answer was 'I like boys and you like girls, no big deal.' She continued focused on the book that was on her desk."
"I know it's not the best reaction, but knowing Spencer, it's the best that could happen. She just didn't care about that. Now that I think about it I think it's the best thing someone could say at that moment, don't you think?"
"She's adorable, even though she's a weirdo. Then I told the other girls. Hanna tried to hook me up with every girl on Rosewood." I laugh when I remember her reaction. "Although I wasn't thinking about dating at that time, she wanted to support me by finding a girlfriend for me."
"She hasn't changed a bit." I nod at her while I laugh.
"And Aria, the only one you still don't know, she just hugged me and told me that I deserved to be happy." A tear rolls down my cheek. I'm so lucky to have them in my life.
"Are you really going to cry right now? Come on, Em." She stands up, sits next to me and hugs me.
"No, I'm not. It's just that I am emotional today." She gives me a kiss on my cheek.
"I'm curious about something."
"What?"
"Was the covalent bonds stuff one of the questions on the exam?" I punch her and she kisses me, making me feel better than ever. "I like this covalent bond so much," she geekily adds, making me laugh. I kiss her passionately but we stop when we realize a few people are staring at us. However, the stare is not bat at all, they smile at us. It feels good to have this feeling. Is this what happiness is supposed to feel like?
We spend the rest of the afternoon walking all around the city. I love it. I know we didn't have enough time to enjoy this city, so that means I will have to come back. After a few hours exploring the city, I'm a little bit tired and it's almost dinner time, so I ask Paige if she's hungry. She nods at me, but keeps walking.
"Maybe this one?" I point at a restaurant but she holds my hand and drags me through the street. "Hey, you could have said you didn't like that. It's fine." She stops, turns around and looks me in the eye.
"I made a reservation on another place, if that's okay with you."
"Of course it is. You love keeping secrets." She's adorable. "Where are we going?" She doesn't answer my question. However, she stops after walking till the end of the block.
"This is it," she adds, pointing at a restaurant with a white façade that looks fancy.
"I didn't expect this. Wow!"
"That was the whole point of it." She smirks at me and I blush. The interior decoration doesn't disappoint me. And when we taste our plates, it's like being in heaven. Everything is just perfect, the place, the company, the food… I couldn't ask for anything more perfect. After having a fantastic dinner, we leave the restaurant and take a cab to the hotel.
"Thank you so much. I love you," I say, once inside the elevator. She grins at me and blushes. Then she kisses me.
When the elevator opens we walk down the corridor. We stop right in front of her room. "I had a great time. Thank you." I kiss her and she kisses me back.
"It doesn't have to end like this, you know." I didn't expect she'd say something like that, but today seems like she's full of surprises. She's looking at the floor, she can't even look me in the eye.
"What are you implying?" I tease her. I'm having a good time because I know how shy she is and that this is a huge step for her.
"Are you going to force me say it?" She finally look me in the eye, but I can feel the nervousness.
"Paige McCullers wants to spend the night with me. Am I right?" Her shy smile turns me on even more.
She opens the door and waits for me to enter the room. "Just get inside and shut up," she jokingly adds.
She closes the door and just stares at me. She doesn't say or do anything. I approach her and look her in the eye.
"Do you really want to do this?" I start kissing her neck and she starts to breath heavily.
"What makes you think I don't want to?" she whispers in my ear. I smile. The moment she starts caressing my abs, my heart starts pounding faster than ever. "You're the sexiest person on Earth." She passionately kisses me, and I can't help but moan when our tongues touch and she takes my shirt off and keeps caressing me everywhere.
"Take that off right now," I order her. She laughs. I get rid of my blouse and she starts kissing my neck again, her hands all over me. When her hand starts unbuttoning my trouser, I moan and she shuts me up with another kiss. We keep undressing each other, leaving a trail of clothes and underwear that leads to the big bed of her room. I know I've been in love for a while now, but after tonight, I have the feeling she's the one and only. I want to spend the rest of my life with her.
To be continued…
Stay tuned! ;)
