Chapter 73 His and Not Mine

Chapter 73 His and Not Mine
BLAKE
I was in a slightly upbeat mood when I woke up that morning. The incident last night with Asher had told me that it was long overdue to get Rylie back and I was prepared to do whatever it took just to have her back in my life.
At breakfast that morning, my family seemed to notice the change in my mood and they mentioned it.
"You're in a good mood," my little sister, Ava noted as we sat down to breakfast.
"Yeah, it's quite unlike the grump you've been for the last few weeks. It's a nice change though," my mom added. "Did anything notable happen, honey?"
"It's nothing at all, Mom. Can't I be happy again?" I arched an eyebrow.
"No, no. It's not that at all, Blake. It's just- you've been in kind of a slump for a while now. You know, since your breakup with–" she trailed off.
I took a moment before placing my hand on hers, "Mom, it's okay to say Rylie's name around me and you are right about me being in a slump. I guess I just decided it's a new day and it's time to move on."
"Well, I'm glad to hear that, son," those were my dad's first words. I looked up at him and smiled. "Thanks, Dad."
Breakfast commenced in an upbeat manner and afterwards, my parents left for work, leaving Ava and I. Since she had somewhere to be with her friends, I allowed her to leave and agreed to handle the chores.
"Really? Thanks Blake. You're surprisingly cool today– and I like it," she gave me a brief hug before leaving the house.
I handled all the chores and had just stepped outside to throw out the trash when I had the pleasure of running into her. Rylie Myers, the girl of my dreams.
Coincidentally, she was also throwing out trash and looked like she was on her way back in. On sighting her about the same time she saw me, time seemed to stand still as our eyes met. I had a lot of things I wanted to say to her and a lot of questions as well but I didn't even know how to start nor was it the time for that as well.
So I decided to start with the basics. "Morning," I raised a hand in acknowledgement. Afterall, though we may not be boyfriend or girlfriend anymore but we were still neighbors.
In response, she nodded, the look on her face showing that she was lost for words...
After dumping the trash in the trashcan in front of our house for the trash truck to pick up, I decided to take a chance and talk to Rylie. So instead of heading back inside, I walked towards her.
She looked surprised by my action and spoke up, "W\-What are you doing? Shouldn't you be heading inside?" she pointed at my house, being careful not to make eye contact with me.
"I just wanted to hear you speak first. Your voice still sounds as angelic as ever," I couldn't resist making a remark.
Slowly, she looked up and our eyes met. At first sight of her familiar warm brown eyes, for a moment, it was just like the old days. We were still together, Asher wasn't around and it was just us.
Standing there, I was suddenly overcome by an intense urge to kiss her. I knew I couldn't act on it but it didn't stop me from thinking it.
Why had I ever let her go? Why hadn't I held on to her? This was one mistake that I was going to regret for the rest of my life.
All too soon, our moment was over and the invisible wall she'd built around herself was back up, blocking me out entirely.
"Whatever you say, Blake. I should get going."
It was clear that she wanted to be away from me and the realization hurt. It hurt too much.
As she turned to leave, without thinking, my hand shot out to stop her. I didn't want her to go just yet. Immediately, her head swiveled back and she glanced between the hold I had on her hand and my face, looking quite shocked.
"I'm sorry," I quickly withdrew my hand so she didn't leave. "I just wanted to ask about your health. Are you feeling any better today?" I felt a bit awkward as I asked the question.
"Oh yeah. Yeah. I'm doing much better, thanks to you." I felt a little proud at having her acknowledge me the way she did.
"It was– it was nothing," I muttered, feeling my face redden a bit. I was blushing, all because of a compliment. Who would have thought? Then again, it wasn't any compliment. It was a compliment from Rylie.
Because of this, I decided to try my luck. "So... I know this might sound a bit sudden especially considering all that has happened but maybe\- probably, you'd like to get a milkshake with me? My treat, of course," I added quickly.
The expression on her face told me that she was not expecting my request but I had a lot of high hopes. I wanted to take things slow and then win her back and this was one of the ways I could do it; by rebuilding our friendship and doing things we used to do before.
While I was still awaiting her response and hoping that she said yes, the sudden rev of a motorcycle attracted my attention. I glanced behind me just as the figure riding it, climbed off. Realising who it was, I scowled.
Just my luck. Asher's here.
Making his way towards Rylie, our eyes met for a brief second before he looked towards Rylie with a "Hey you. How's your morning been?"
"Oh yeah. It's been good. It's been good," Rylie answered. "So why are you here? It's so early."
"I just wanted to see you is all. That's not a crime, is it?"
I fought the urge to snort. It was too a crime, especially since they were no longer dating. Then again, neither were we and I hated it.
"Oh no. Not at all," Rylie shook her head. "So uh, I haven't introduced you guys yet. Blake, this is Asher. Asher, Blake."
"We've met," I threw a glance at him, a stony expression on my face. My intention was clear; to tell him that he wasn't wanted. He stared back with a straight face, his eyes challenging me. I regretted my actions more even then.
If Rylie was still mine, I would have the right to take her away from him but because we weren't, I couldn't do anything about it.
"Okay? In that case, I should probably get going," Rylie announced all of a sudden, her tone indicating her desperation to leave.
But I didn't want her to leave just yet so I reached out to grab and unfortunately, I wasn't the only one who had the same idea. The same time I reached out to stop Rylie, Asher did same and we both ended up holding on to Rylie. Rylie looked back at both of us with wide eyes, her eyes flitting between both our hands.
Tired of it all, I let go first and looked down at the floor, clenching my fists by my side. Unable to take the silence that suddenly descended, I looked up and called Rylie but just like the last time, Asher had the same idea and we ended up calling out her name at the same time.
We glared at each other for a few seconds and now aware that I needed to leave before I did something drastic, I looked away from Asher and shrugged, "I guess I'll see you later then."
Then I turned and left, making my way into the house, unable to bring myself to look back for fear of what I would do.