The Ultimate Chance-Chapter 103

"Don’t get me started." Chloe sighed and rubbed Avery’s head in consolation. "Maybe he is taking some time to himself to think about what you said. What if he thinks he was hallucinating?"

Avery rolled her eyes. "We were right in the swimming pool, sober."

"And you were wearing something more provocative than being naked. Do you think anyone could take their hearing seriously with those sexy melons in their face?" She looked down at Avery’s chest, making the latter blush and cover herself.

"Can you not make it sound like I was seducing him? Jeez. And how long is this ’sobering up’ going to take?" She asked.

"Long enough for you to miss him, I’m sure—since you already do. Go after him." Chloe nudged.

She would have brushed her words off but she wanted to know what was on his mind, so she decided to find him. She changed into the longest dress she could find, which also had a high neckline and long sleeves. How did such a dress end up in her closet anyway? She didn’t remember but it was convenient. Checking to make sure not much skin was showing, she made her way to the cellar.

"Were you looking for me?" He looked up when he saw her and almost choked on the vodka he was drinking. "What the hell are you wearing?"

"A dress." She pulled a high chair and sat next to him. "Is this what you do when a woman confesses her feelings? Run away to avoid her? I thought you only do that with women you dislike."

"I couldn’t believe you said that. What if I was dreaming?" He asked no one in particular.

"How does Chloe know you so well?" She was puzzled that her guess had been exact. If the latter was straight, she would have been jealous. She grabbed his hand that was holding a glass. "So you came here to sober yourself up...by drinking?"

He smiled and looked at her. Something told her he was undressing her with his eyes and she was proved right when he opened his mouth. "You look beautiful."

"I’m wearing a gunny sack."

"And you look beautiful in it. Where did you find such a ridiculous dress anyway?"

She scoffed. He couldn’t keep up the act for a minute, could he?

"I didn’t explicitly say I..."

"Don’t." He cut her off with his forefinger on her lips. "Don’t get me wrong. I’d like to hear that more than anything else. It’s just that my heart can’t take it. I’m still sobering up from you opening up earlier."

She was more confused. "Okay. You can go ahead and sober up. I’ll be in Angel’s room."

He chuckled when she bolted out. Did she think he was a predator?

_____

After trying not to talk about it and potentially ruin his fantasy for the rest of the afternoon, he had to face it in the evening. She was cooking dinner in the kitchen when he snuck up behind her and spanked her backside. She yelped in shock and glared at him. "You can’t do that when we have a five year old at home."

He rested his elbow against the granite counter to face her mischievously. "So I should wait until he’s in school before I do that. Understood."

"That’s not what I meant." She knew he already knew that but was having too much fun messing with her to stop it. She would be wasting her breath if she asked him to, so she didn’t. She pushed him aside and grabbed the jar of rice. Opening it, she pointed her chin at the bell peppers she had ditched on the chopping board when he came in. "You may as well make yourself useful since you are here and obviously planning to stay."

He was relieved to be given a task to help out with, since this meant she was not going to kick him out. He took her former spot and placed the bellpepper the way she usually did, only to cut his finger at his first attempt to dice it.

She turned sharply at his wince of pain and shook her head at the bloody sight before instantly grabbing ice cubes from the freezer.

"Are you an idiot? How many times have you chopped vegetables before? If you cut your finger every time you cook, how do you even still have hands?" She went on and on but the man whose cut she was tending to was only grinning and listening to her. She asked a nanny for a first-aid kit and put a band aid on his cut, only to squeeze it.

"Ow! Are you trying to kill me?" He pretended it hurt when it was barely a sting.

"You are going to get yourself killed if you are this careless with knives. What’s so funny about it anyway?" She reprimanded him.

"Do you know what they say about women who scold their men for this kind of reason? They love their men so much that they get worried at the slightest accident and end up taking it out as frustrated lectures." He smiled.

"You are out of your mind, I’m certain of it now. Why would I worry about you when I have more important people to worry about?"

He glanced down at his band aid then at her provocatively. If she didn’t care, why did she treat it like an emergency?

For making fun of her, he was banned from the kitchen for a week—but she had not said anything restricting him from being there exclusively for her so he stayed and wrapped his arms around her from behind.

She paused halfway through getting a measuring cup and hugged his arms. "You don’t want me to cook, do you?"

"You are more delicious than food." He nibbled her ear. Footsteps interrupted them and he instantly let go of her. They knew who it was from how soft the footsteps were, and they were relieved they were not doing anything too explicit.

"Angel, are you hungry?" She earnestly asked to get away from Damon. Angel shook his head but cocked his head curiously, making her fear come true. He may not have seen everything but he had seen something he found strange.

She crouched to his level. "Baby, your dad and I have something to tell you." She cleared her throat and glanced at Damon at nearly the same time as he did. She needed his help explaining their current relationship to Angel while he was curious to know what his parents needed to discuss with him.

Getting her hint, Damon was stunned. "There is no getting back from this once we have told Angel. We cannot keep confusing him with our matters so are you sure?"

She nodded, so he broke the news. "Your mother and I are now dating, which means she is my girlfriend."

He smiled joyously at first, then realized that while whatever his dad was saying did sound like a good thing to happen between them, he didn’t know what a girlfriend was. He shifted his gaze between them and cocked his head at his father who had been the one to say the word.

Damon ran a hand through his hair uncertainly. How could he explain that? "Your mother being my girlfriend means we love each other so much that we can’t hide it anymore. So we have decided to drop the pretenses and be together forever."

Avery’s jaw dropped. "That’s not what dating means."

"Yes it is." He smiled when Angel nodded at the explanation. He hugged both of them to express his joy and although Damon wanted to tell him it wouldn’t be long before he no longer had to switch homes since they would all live together, he refrained from making a promise he didn’t know whether he could fulfill. Besides, Avery might just change her mind if he pushed too hard.

"Baby, dinner will be ready soon. Could you wait in the living room?" She instructed Angel and as soon as he left, used the chance to attack Damon for what he had done. "Since when was I your girlfriend?"

"Since tomorrow. I was going to pop the question but Angel came and there was no way to explain our relationship without sending his world into chaos." He defended himself. "Speaking of which, do you have plans tomorrow evening?"

She shook her head to accept the date he was so obviously trying to ask her out on.

His explanation was acceptable but she couldn’t help thinking there was something wrong with it. It wasn’t until she picked Angel up from school the following day that she figured out what was wrong.

Angel had taken longer than usual to come racing to her car and when he finally did, he did so while holding Aubrey’s hand. This was not strange considering they were friends, but he pushed Aubrey before her.

She tried to figure it out in vain. "Aubrey, did something happen?" She asked, curious as she noticed her son’s smile getting happier by the second. Did they have good news to share?

Angel stepped in before Aubrey could speak. "My girlfriend."

Setting aside the fact that Angel had spoken again, Avery was thunderstruck. What did he just say Aubrey was? Trying to maintain her calm despite the giggles from a couple who had overheard them, she explained to Angel, "Aubrey is your friend but you don’t know what a girlfriend is yet. So you..."

"But we love each other." He challenged. Aubrey’s mother, who had just arrived to say hi and take her daughter, was on the verge of rolling in laughter. Avery was speechless.

"Damn you, Damon D’Aboville."