Chapter 20

I woke up with a pounding headache. I rolled over to look at the clock expecting it to be just before dawn based on how dark it was inside the room. I groaned when I saw that it read 9:30 pm. The day came back to me and I cursed myself for downing almost a full bottle of wine by myself in 20 minutes. I pulled myself out of the bed in Brianna’s guest room and made my way out to the living room. She looked up at me with a smile.

“How are you feeling?” she asked.

“I can’t say I’ve ever had a hangover at 9:30 at night before,” I told her. She laughed and I narrowed my eyes at her.

“There’s water in the fridge if you want,” she suggested. I made my way into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle. I chugged half of it in one gulp. The other half quickly followed. I grabbed another one and made my way back into the living room.

“Sorry I took down that bottle earlier,” I apologized. She shrugged.

“It wasn’t one of my better ones, thankfully,” she replied. We watched TV together for a bit before I decided to head home and sleep off the hangover.

The next day I woke up to my alarm and another interview. Thankfully I felt much better as I got out of bed and didn’t need to take any Tylenol like I was worried I might. We did the interview over lunch and I cringed every time the journalist took a sip of her glass of wine. I was going to be avoiding alcohol, and especially wine, for a while now.

When the interview was over I made my way across town for some promotional stuff. I somehow managed to make it through the day without thinking about Corey or what I was going to do about him. All I knew was that we needed to talk and figure something out. I went home when I was done, grabbing a salad with grilled chicken on the way.

When I was done eating I jumped onto the treadmill and began to run. As I ran I thought about how to approach Corey and what to say to him. Should I just come out and tell him that I still love him, or should I wait to see what he says? Did I want to end things with Jordan to give it another try with Corey? Would Corey even take me back?

I got off the treadmill nowhere near closer to a solution. I hopped in the shower and let the hot water rinse away any and all thoughts from my brain. Feeling much more relaxed after a workout and a shower I put on a pair of yoga pants and a t-shirt. I thought about vegging out in front of the TV but decided on something else.

I pulled up in front of Corey’s, not even sure if he was there. I took a deep breath before gathering up the courage to get out of the car. I figured it was best to get this talk over with. I wondered how Corey would respond to what I had to say. Just as I was about to knock on his door it flew open and he nearly ran into me as he started to walk out.










Corey went home after lunch with Getzy and thought about what he should do. No matter what the outcome was, he knew that he and Amelia needed to talk. He waited until after practice the next day to do anything about it. He picked up his phone to call her, but remembered that she had said that she had interviews and promos all week. She probably wouldn’t even be able to answer right now.

Instead he popped in a video game and focused on that for a few hours. It was nice to do something brainless for a while and not have to think about how complicated things were right now. When he tired of the game he turned it off and grabbed his car keys. He got into his car and started to drive towards Amelia’s.

He decided just showing up probably wasn’t the best idea and drove back home. About 20 minutes later he was back in his car on the way to her house again. This is how most of his evening went. He kept getting into the car only to turn around and go back home. On the last time he actually stopped and picked up some food for dinner.

He sat at his island eating the take out order and debating what to do. As he finished the meal he decided to just get in his car and go to Amelia’s. The worst case scenario would be that she was home and she’d tell him to get lost. At least then he’d know, right? He grabbed his car keys and walked out his front door. He nearly ran into someone standing in front of it.

“Jesus Christ!” he heard a voice yell. He jumped back as well. When he looked he saw Amelia standing there with a hand over her heart. “You scared the shit out of me!’

“Ditto,” he responded catching his breath. He stepped back through the door and held it open for Amelia. She followed him in. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh boy. Cor, we need to talk. Seriously this time,” she said. He nodded and sat down on his couch. She chose the chair as far away from him as possible.

“I was actually on my way to go see you for the same reason,” he told her.

“What did you want to talk about?” she asked. He paused and tried to think of how to start.

“You drove here. You start,” he said. He was pussying out and he knew it. She sighed.

“That’s not fair. I asked you first.” Fuck, were they going to argue over who should talk first?

“I told Ryan about what’s been happening,” he said. Amelia’s head jerked up. There was a momentary flash of anger in her eyes, but it faded quickly.

“I told Brianna,” she told him. They both sat there in silence for a few minutes. He finally decided to just get it going.

“I’m not over you. I never was.” There, it was out. Sort of, anyway. He stopped short of telling her he’d fallen in love with her all over again in case she didn’t feel the same way.

“I’m still in love with you too,” she replied. He let out a breath he hadn’t even known he was holding.

“So what do we do?” he asked her. She shrugged.

“Well, whatever we decide, I’m ending things with Jordan.” She lifted her feet off the floor and curled them underneath her in the chair. He could never figure out how she was comfortable when she was contorted like that.

“Meels, there are really only two options in my mind right now. Either we give this another shot or we can’t be around each other. I know we’ve said that before, but seriously this time,” he said. She nodded.

“I agree. So which is it, Cor? Who do you love more?” she asked. The answer to that was a no brainer.

“I’ve never loved Ileana,” he responded. He saw tears fill Amelia’s eyes and her mouth twitch. He’d seen that before. She wanted to smile, but was holding it back.

“Does that mean?” She didn’t dare finish the question. She wanted him to say it.

“I love you, Amelia. I don’t ever want to be away from you again,” he told her. She sprung out of the chair and ran into his arms, pressing her mouth on his.










A million and a half thoughts ran through my mind as I kissed Corey. He still loved me. He wanted to try this again. I knew this time it would be different. There wasn’t the possibility of achieving a dream hanging over us anymore. We were both where we’d always wanted to be, and now we could just focus on each other.

“We probably shouldn’t be doing this right now,” I whispered as I pulled away from Corey.

“Why not?” he asked, resting his forehead against mine.

“We’re technically still with other people,” I replied. He groaned and pulled back, but kept his arms wrapped around me, holding me on his lap.

“You’re right. We need to end things with them before we do anything else.”

“It’s the right thing to do,” I said. He nodded and released me. I got up off of his lap and settled into the couch next to him. “Jordan comes home in a couple of days. I don’t want to do this over the phone. I feel I should at least do it in person.”

“It’s the same with Ileana,” Corey responded. I nodded.

“Well, I’m going to go home. I don’t think I can stay here and keep my hands off of you,” I told him. He smiled up at me as I stood up.

“And I wouldn’t be able to keep mine off of you.” He stood up and walked me to the door. I turned and gave him one last kiss, because I couldn’t resist.

“I’m really busy until Jordan gets home. I’ll try to call, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to.”

“It’s okay. Do your best. Otherwise let me know when it’s done.” I smiled, turned and walked out the door and got into my car. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d ever been so happy.