The Sweet Escape

Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-One

Chicago was really cold, but it was normal weather for the end of November. Snow storms were about to roll in, and Skylar wasn't all that excited for them. But she was excited about being back in the city that raised her. Being with her best friend. Things were changing for her, and that was great. It was bittersweet, but sometimes bittersweet was the only way to have it.

Kyle had found an amazing apartment for the two of them in the city. It was situated in a high-rise in the downtown area. And, yes, it was quite expensive. But Kyle's parents had insisted that they pay for the apartment, and all they had to worry about was school. His parents loved Skylar, proof that not all of Ian's family despised her. But things seemed to be getting easier. Kyle may just be a privileged male, but he sure wasn't cocky about it.

Their apartment was great. It had two bedrooms, a nice living and dining area, kitchen, bathroom (of course), and a little office area which they'd decided on turning into their little study/library. There was even a gym in the building open to all tenants.

"So, how do you feel about this?" Kyle asked, brushing his fingers through his messy dirty blonde hair that had grown a few inches since she first left to California.

"I feel excited," she said honestly. "We talked about moving in together while we were in high school, and now it happened."

Kyle grinned. "This will be good for you." By that, he was referring to her breakup with Ian. But he was right. This would be good for her.

She nodded. "Yes. A fresh new start."

"What do we do now?" he asked, pointing towards their suitcases and everything else that littered the living room floor.

"Hmm. I guess we go shopping now?"

"Dude, f.uck yeah."

This wasn't working out for Ian. Not one bit. In fact, he was pretty sure he'd aged ten years in the short time that he had been away from Skylar. She was in Chicago starting over, and he understood that. There was no reason for her to stay, or so he wanted to make himself understand. But, damn it, he missed her. He really did! Worst of all, he was starting to realize that whatever he had going on with Christina wasn't working out.

"You can't force love," he muttered to himself.

Ian was right. He couldn't force himself to love a woman that wasn't Skylar. With her, things had been easy. He'd probably loved her since he first laid eyes on her. Maybe he'd never meet anyone like her ever again. Not that he wanted to. The only reason they weren't together was because he wanted to give his daughter the real family she deserved. Things were turning out to be more complicated than he had thought.

The door to his study creaked open, then Christina walked in cautiously.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

She seemed hesitant. "Um, yeah, can we talk about our dinner plans?"

They had both agreed the night before that they would go out alone for dinner. It was an attempt to get something started, to possibly figure out what they were going to do. They just needed to figure things out.

"Yes," he said. "What about that?"

"I don't think it's a great idea," she said, her eyes narrowing. "Look, I can tell you're super bummed about Skylar. I get that. I do, trust me. So, I think we just shouldn't try anything just yet, you know. I think you should take some time to think things over. Clear your head."

Ian nodded as he took her words in. He, just as Christina, wasn't too excited about their dinner plans. "Okay. It's fine."

"You sure?" she asked.