The Artist's Amour (BWWM) ✓

Chapter 13: Awkward Sunday Brunch pt. 1

Aria's Outfit!

"You should come."

"No."

"Please?"

"No." I replied, giving Chris a firm head shake as if I wasn't on the phone and he could see this.

"You owe me." He fired back.

"I don't owe you jack shit." I chuckled, as I applied some deodorant to my underarms.

"I came over yesterday and helped you finish the signs though." He whined.

"Yes, and I volunteered to have you partner with me so you wouldn't be stuck doing floats all on your own you little ungrateful twat." I hissed as the razor I was using to shave my legs, cut into my skin.

"Please Aria, It's just brunch. Nick wants you to go too."

"I'm not going to brunch with you and your ex wife. Like how did you even think that that would sound appealing?" I asked, flailing my hands around as the blood started to trickle down my leg. Shit shit shit shit shit.

"It's only for an hour and a half or so. Please, I rather not show up alone while she's with her boyfriend."

"Let me get this straight. You're going to use my presence to make your ex wife jealous?" I asked, as my hand froze in place.

"No! It's just that you're a fairly attractive-"

"Fairly attractive?" I hissed back at him.

"You're insanely beautiful." He spoke as his voice dropped to a serious tone. The phone slipped out of my hand.

"Damn it." I whispered, trying to bend over to grab it off the floor while keeping my leg that was still dripping with blood, on the bathroom sink. "Sorry." I spoke as I brought the hand held to my ear.

"It's fine. So will you?" He asked, his voice had returned to its whiny self. It sounded funny with his deep gruffness.

"Fine." I sighed, running water over my leg to wash the beady red liquid off.

"Thank you! I swear, I'll make it up to you."

"I want 5 separate, 15 minute back rubs." I replied seriously, as I pulled my wet leg off the sink.

"Is that all, m'lady?" Chris asked.

"And gelato. I want my first massage tonight with a tub of Tiramisu Gelato. And Big Hero 6." I nodded, proud of myself for my quick, on the spot, thinking.

"Haha okay. I'll come pick you up in about an hour." He replied, before quickly hanging up. Probably so I wouldn't protest to the fact that I only had one fucking hour to look presentable! I glanced down at the nasty cut on my leg and sighed. At least it was cold enough to wear leggings and cover that up.

I then made my way out of the bathroom and into the bedroom where I kept my opened suitcase. I still needed to unpack that, and it's been a couple weeks now. I grabbed another chunky knitted sweater, and tied the front of my hair to the back before grabbing all my make up necessities and going to work on my face. Chris never told me where we were going so I didn't apply anything too fancy like lipstick, but I did wing my eyeliner out just to be safe.

~

Chris's car pulled in about 45 minutes later. I made sure to lock the house before jogging out to his car. The air was getting colder by the days as the autumn chills settled in. "Hey." I greeted, as I slid into his car.

"You look... Amazing." He said seriously, blatantly checking me out before sliding the car into first gear.

"Thanks." I replied, trying to peel my eyes away from his crisp dress shirt and jeans he had on today. His cologne was intoxicating in a good way, it smelt much more mellowed down and suited him well. "So where are we heading? Or are you kidnapping me. Is this a kidnapping? Because I left my naked pallet at home and I don't know how I feel about that."

"Your naked what? Anyways," Chris dismissed, "we're heading out to a nice steak house about 30 minutes out from Portland. Lacey and her boyfriend will meet us there. Nick is right now with my dad for this weekend so I'm not even sure why she wanted to have brunch with me but there's no way I could go through this brunch without strangling either her or her boyfriend." He replied honestly. I felt my heart drop as my stomach turned with this uncomfortable jealousy and pain I knew I shouldn't of had.

"Do you- uh, do you still love her?" I asked a bit quieter, trying to sound nonchalant about the topic when in actuality, I really really cared. And I really really shouldn't have. He turned to me for a moment before his eyes went back onto the road.

"No." He spoke honestly. "Here, it's different. She was a "friends with benefits" type deal. I didn't necessarily fancy her company, but we mutually chose to use each other and soon she unexpectedly got pregnant. It was a nonemotional relationship, but we got married anyways because we thought, at that time, that it was the right thing to do. The only good thing that came out of the marriage would be Nick. We tried not to argue in front of him, or talk about our disagreements on our own personal lives but pretty soon, it wasn't working out anymore and we got a divorce." He turned back to me again and caught my eyes, silently telling me he was being completely honest, before his eyes went back into the road. I nodded, my mood being lifted by that news as his words settled in. The fact that they had obviously been intimate bothered me, but I knew they had because they had a son.

I constantly reminded myself that I wasn't here to find love, especially considering the circumstances of my last relationship, but I was falling hard for Chris.

And it was terrifying.

Because I wasn't sure if he was falling just as hard for me.

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Guess who's back, bitches ;)