Chapter 30 What Changed?
April
Corran and I are on our way back home. My arm is linked through his. It has been a good night. We fooled them for sure. I didn’t like lying to them, but there was a good reason behind it. They are both lovely. It will be good for Corran to reconnect with his friends now that he is back home for good.
“I would say that was a success, wouldn’t you?” I ask.
“It was. Thank you so much, April. I will be forever grateful.” He says and kisses my cheek. My skin heats under his lips, even though it is only there for a second.
I smile up at him. “You are welcome.”
He stares down at me, our eyes lock as we walk, lost in a little moment under the cold, night sky of the city. I tug my lower lip between my teeth. Corran lets out a loud sigh and quickly pulls away. I sigh too and focus my eyes in front of me. Silence comes between us for the rest of the way until we enter our building and arrive at my front door.
I rest against it, turning to him, but it seems like he is doing everything he can to avoid eye contact with me. I pull myself off the door and take my place before him, only inches between us.
“Corran, please look at me?” I ask softly.
He draws in his breath, hesitant, but lifts his head to finally look at me. “Sorry.”
“Do you want to come in for a bit? We can share the rest of the cake I have?”
I am not one for taking food home from the restaurant, but the butter scotch sponge cake they have with caramel drizzle is the best dessert I have ever tasted in my life. I couldn’t help but bring some home with me. It’s so tasty, soft, sweet and fluffy. It was like heaven in my mouth.
Corran rubs the back of his neck, his eyes diverting to the ground. “I don’t think that is such a good idea.” His words are shaky. He seems nervous.
I am confused. What has changed since we left the restaurant until now?
“Okay, well, thanks for dinner. Goodnight, Corran.”
“Goodnight, April.” With that, he walks away.
I watch after him, confused. He is being weird. Sighing, I shake my head, unlock my door and head inside, lock up behind me and rest against the door, kicking my heels off. We had such a great night until now. Perhaps he is overwhelmed after we acted like a couple. There was a lot of touching, flirting and laughing. Whatever the reason, he doesn’t need to be so off with me now.
I put the cake in the kitchen, shake my head and stroll towards my bedroom. I strip out of my dress and into my PJs before I take my make-up off and sit on the edge of the bed.
“How was your night?” Corbin asks, appearing at the spot next to me on the bed.
I turn to him and smile. “Hello, my love. It was good up until we came back here. Corran is back to being weird towards me.”
“And you really don’t see why he was eager to rush off?”
He must have been watching us to know that. “No, we were doing just fine.”
Corbin chuckles. “He needed to get away because you were becoming too tempting for him.”
I roll my eyes. “No, it wasn’t that. Were you spying on us?”
“Yes, I wanted to make sure he was respectful. It was that. Why else would he have rushed off?”
I shake my head. “You are delusional again.”
I laugh it off, but part of me thinks he may be right, but it doesn’t matter. I slip into bed, and Corbin lies next to me. I roll on my side to face him.
Corbin strokes the hair from my face. “You should rest. You seem tired.”
I nod, not disagreeing because I am. I close my eyes, feeling content because Corbin is here with me. I start to drift off easily, but before I can fall into a deep sleep, a loud knock comes at my front door. It can only be one person.
I drag myself out of bed to answer. Maybe he has come to give me an explanation of what the hell happened. I check through the peephole just to make sure it is Corran. It is. He is not in joggers and a hoodie, tapping his fingers against his thigh, anxious.
I unlock and open the door. “Hi.”
He stares at me. He opens his mouth to speak, but then changes his mind.
“Really? Did you come here just to continue to be strange with me or what?” I ask, trying not to sound too annoyed, but I am a little.
“I-I-I am sorry.”
“For what? What happened? Why did your behaviour change so much?”
Again, silence follows. What the hell? I am getting tired of this awkward silence.
“You know what, you clearly don’t want to be here. It is okay, you can leave and return to your place. Maybe when you are ready, you can come back and tell me the reason for such a quick change in you. Until then, I am exhausted and need to sleep.” I sigh and run my fingers through my hair.
I go to close the door, but Corran puts his foot out to stop me from doing so. “Please don’t close the door, April.”
I take a deep breath, trying my best to be calm and patient. “Then say something, Corran! Anything because it is late and I don’t need this tonight.” I groan and toss my hands in the air.
Corran suddenly grabs me and pulls me closer to him, right against his hard chest. Before I can say another word, he dips his head down, and his lips cover mine in a kiss.