He was stalling, and he knew it. He sat in his car not wanting to get out and face the problem he'd created. They'd been friends for a long time, they'd been casually fucking even longer, but he never expected her to fall in love with him. He hadn't wanted to hurt her, but he'd had to tell her he didn't feel the same. He never should have promised her that he'd still come to this stupid party, that they'd still be able to be friends. They hadn't spoken much in the two weeks since it happened and he felt uncomfortable with the situation. He stared up at her apartment there were people out on the balcony, and he could smell the charcoal from the grill. With a deep breath, he stepped out of his car and into the street.
When he opened the door to her place there was a crowd of people talking and laughing, everyone was having a good time. He hoped nobody knew how he'd hurt her. People smiled and were generally friendly, so he assumed nobody knew, he was starting to feel a little more comfortable, after all, these were his friends too. When he approached her best friend to ask where she was, he was finally confident enough to say hello to her, the girl rolled her eyes at him nastily and muttered "In the kitchen" before stalking away. Well, he couldn't blame her; he'd seen the pain he'd caused in the huge hazel eyes he cared about most when he said he wasn't in love with her. It was natural that she'd tell her closest friend, he just hoped that Ava wasn't as mad as her friend was.
He made his way to the kitchen. He could hear her lilting laugh and a male voice speaking in soft tones. For a second he stopped not knowing if he was jealous or nervous, but something didn't feel right. He stepped through the door of the kitchen to find her talking to her ex, a guy she knew he couldn't stand. They both stopped and looked up when Matt came in.
"Hey Ace." Matt said gingerly, using his nickname for her, hoping she'd notice.
"Matt." Ava smiled. There was no trace of the heartbreak from the weeks before in her eyes. The ex said something about another beer and left the kitchen. Matt handed Ava the bottle of wine he'd been carrying. She turned away from him and he caught sight for the first time of what she was wearing. Her jeans rode low on her hips and the white tank top she was wearing was cut low in the back as well as the front. When she bent to place the wine on the lowest shelf of the fridge, he could see the well-toned muscles in her back, enhanced by the golden glow of her end of summer tan. When she turned to face him, again he found himself a little speechless.
"So..." she trailed off.
"So what?" he said defensively.
"Calm down. How are you?" Her voice was warm and smooth.
"Fine." he stated cleanly, he could feel his pulse slowing at the sound of the warmth in her voice.
"Great, well I've got a ton to do right now Matt; I'll catch up with you later."
He was surprised. There was no hint at all that she'd even been hurt by him. She slid past him in the narrow kitchen then paused briefly right in front of him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and her honeyed voice spoke in his ear; "I'm glad you decided to come." The moment seemed to last a long time. Her dark hair smelled clean and her breasts were pressed against his chest. When he hugged her back he touched her warm skin, he could feel the heat rising in his body, and then she was gone. Matt was left staggering in the kitchen, not sure what to think.
