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Andries looks shocked. “That’s such a scumbag move, trying to buy the place your family has spent their whole life working at.”
“Tell me about it. Karl obviously didn’t succeed and when I cut him off from my agency altogether he came back a lot more subdued. He approached me at a mutual acquaintance’s party and apologized, telling me that a casual friendship and business relationship was better than nothing and that he wanted to reconcile,” I explain. I’m not sure why, but it just feels so liberating telling Andries the whole story about Karl. “After hiring a few of my girls for successful, unproblematic events, he asked me about hiring a virgin escort. I had let my guard down,and it was fucking idiotic, but here we are.” I roll my eyes to the ceiling, feeling sad about the false friendship I had lost and how I had been taken advantage of, which allowed someone else to also be victimized. “So, yeah, I’ll never trust him again.”
When Andries comes forward to take me into his arms in a comforting embrace, I don’t stop him. Having him hold me makes something that had been pulled so tight that it was close to breaking finally relax, and I sigh.
“Thank you for being honest with me,” he says in a whisper. “I’ve always wanted it to be like that between us. Open. Honest. No matter where we stand with each other.” I nod against his shoulder. “If it’d have been like that in the beginning––”
“I know,” I interject. “I fucked up.” I pause, a gush of air rolling off my lips, before facing his cerulean eyes again. “By the time I realized how much I cared about you it was too late to tell you the truth without there being some sort of fallout. I couldn’t stomach the thought of losing you, but that was such a short-sighted thought. You were always going to find out.”
Andries sighs, his eyes locked with mine as he says, “I just wish I had heard it from you instead of some girl I barely knew.”
“I’m sorry,” I tell him, my voice thin. “Lying to keep you close is what ended up pushing you away from me. I–” I have to swallow past the lump in my throat before I can continue. “I wish I could’ve been braver when it came to you and me. Andries… I’d never had anything so precious as our relationship. It made me rash. I’m sorry.”
To my surprise, he puts his hands on my shoulders and moves me away from him just the slightest bit, so there is enough room between us for him to lay a gentle kiss on my forehead. My eyes flutter closed, his breath mingling with mine. I savor it.
We don’t separate. It’s almost as if the moment we do, the magic will be broken, and we’ll be back to being worlds apart.Looping my arms around his waist, I ask, “I can’t believe you’re even in town. I thought you were staying back at your family estate and commuting.”
He tenses slightly. “I was, but mostly to… well… to detox.” I frown at his words, and he unwillingly explains further. “I’d been drinking a lot.” I move to pull away, ready to lecture him, but he tightens his hold on me. “No need to tear me apart, Roxie, everyone else already has. I’m fine now. It just depends on the day where I stay. I’m sure you can gather that my father and I are at odds with Karl getting arrested and me helping Patricia.”
“I didn’t even consider that,” I admit, my mind already picturing the yelling and fights between him and his dad. “I’m sure he’ll come around, Andries. You’re his son.”
He chuckles sadly. “You don’t know my father very well, then.”
I switch gears, wanting an answer to a question that had been plaguing me for a while. “It seems crazy to ask this right now, considering there isn’t an inch of space to be found between us, but… are you seeing Tatiana? As more than a friend? I’ve heard rumors.”
He groans. “I won’t even ask how you heard rumors aboutthat, but no. We are just friends,” Andries hesitates. “I enjoy her company as such. She’s a good person and respects my boundaries.”
Despite our embrace, Andries and I are technically nothing to one another, so I have no right to feel jealous. But I do anyway. Tatiana is everything I’m not. Young, from a wealthy family, and an appropriate match for him. It’ll be hard for me to ever see her as anything but competition.
“Okay,” I say vaguely, but apparently there is enough annoyance in my voice that Andries picks up on it. He puts a finger under my chin and lifts my face up to look into his.
“She’s myfriend, Roxie, but you’re something more. You two exist on completely different planes to me. Tatiana could never be you.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Andries looks like he’s going to answer, but with the quietest moan, he ducks his head down and captures my mouth with his instead. I’m shocked at first, but my body catches up quicker than my brain, and before I know it we’re kissing passionately, like two lovers that have been separated for years.
His lips are just as soft as I remember, and his tongue sliding against mine suffuses me in shivers. Despite everything, despite all of the things between us, I still want him.
“Fuck,” he growls, pulling away before I can stop him. Andries touches his lips with his fingers, and looking slightly embarrassed, he turns his body toward the exit.
“I’m sorry, that was—I’ve got to go,” he stutters, but before he can make it outside, I grab him by the sleeve at the very last second. He freezes but doesn’t turn to face me.
“What was that?” I demand. “Why did you kiss me?” In my heart, I know the answer, but I want to hear him say it out loud.
He huffs. “You know why.”
“Tell me.”
“Because despite everything that you’ve done to me, I still…” he sucks in a shuddering breath. “I still love you.”
I release him then, my hand feeling numb. I can’t believe this is really happening. I can’t believe he said those words. It all feels like a dream.
Andries looks at me finally, “Thanks again for what you’ve done for Patricia. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Andries, wait—” I try to keep him here, maybe just for one more kiss, but he’s gone before I can even finish the thought.
I’m alone again, but when I press my fingers to my mouth, I can still feel him there. A slow smile creeps over my lips, victory bells ringing in my head.
