Three Years Later | ✓

26 | Closer

"I'M HONESTLY...shocked that she would do this to me, especially with him. Of all people, why did it have to be James?" He straightened up and drew in a deep breath, trying to steady his chaotic mind. "I mean, I get that we were going through a rough patch, and quite frankly we still are, but I thought she'd stay loyal, you know?"

He shook his head, letting out a small chuckle.

"What?" I confusedly asked him. What could make him laugh at a time like this?

"This whole situation is ironic. Here I am talking about Nicole's loyalty to me when I wasn't even loyal to her either during that time. Maybe this was just karma for that kiss in New York."

Ouch. Does that mean he regrets kissing me? I know I told him that I regretted kissing him when he asked me about it, but we all know that what I said was far from the truth.

Trying to ignore the sting of his words, I replied seriously yet softly, "But that doesn't justify her actions, and besides, this started happening before New York. You shouldn't feel like you deserved this because we kissed. No one deserves to go through what you're going through."

I also wanted to say that we only kissed, whereas Nicole and James were more intimate. But given the circumstances right now, I think it was best that I didn't verbally express those additional thoughts.

"You should become a life coach with all of your wise knowledge," Milo teased, his lips slightly curved up as he stared at me deeply. Without saying anything, I softly chuckled along with him. If only I could take my own advice sometimes. "But in all seriousness, thanks for coming with me. It felt good to get out those thoughts."

"Yeah, well, it was a nice distraction for a while from my problems," I sighed, knowing that although being here with Milo gave me serenity, we'd eventually have to go back to reality and face our problems head-on.

"If you need to get anything off your chest, I'm here too, okay?" He said with sincerity. I nodded in response, but if only he knew what was going on in my chaotic mind behind my seemingly placid expression. How even though I tried to push away the thoughts that linked to him, they kept popping back up without my permission, refusing to let me forget about him.

"You know, I'm glad you came along with me," Milo smiled, his eyes burning wildly through me.

"You just said that," I giggled like a school girl. Oh my god, could I be any more obvious?

"Did I?" Milo's smile grew wider as he stared at me with that same gleam in his eyes that always causes a shiver to run down my spine.

A calm breeze picked up, disrupting the smooth surface of the pond while leaves rustled gently around us. As some of my hair fell in front of my face, Milo tucked it behind my ear. I only realized then how close we were to each other, like some magnetic force was pulling us closer.

Goosebumps formed on his arm as he shifted closer, his arm resting next to mine. Even though it shouldn't have, it made me ecstatic knowing that he felt it too, that crazy electric current that passed through whenever we came into contact with each other.

His hand slowly trailed from my ear to my cheek at a painstakingly slow rate, the tip of his thumb brushing lightly against the apple of my cheek. Our eyes were glued to each other and I could see all of the little brown flecks in his eyes, luring me in even more.