Gina laid on Knox's chest, trailing circles along the lean plane with her fingertips. Knox smiled, his hand wrapped around her while he placed a firm kiss on the top of her head. It was Gina's first time being at his place and they could not think of a better way to celebrate than making hot, passionate love after having a wonderful dinner. She was so captivated by the feel of him, the steady rise and fall of his muscular chest which slightly vibrated when he spoke. She never wanted to leave - she didn't want to leave the home that was him.

       "Do you know what I'd really like right now?" he questioned, his voice low.

     "What?" Gina asked, so engrossed in the task at hand that she didn't catch sight of the grin blooming on his face.

      "A swim," he said, watching as Gina eased up to raise her perfect brows at him.

      "What?" she asked for clarification, thinking she maybe heard wrong.

      "I'd like to go swimming with you right this moment," he exclaimed and regardless of the conversation, he couldn't help but admire her lush lips that parted to choke out a laugh.

      "Are you kidding. Knox, it's almost midnight and you don't even have a pool," she pointed out humorously, shaking her head.

      "My neighbor has a pool and they're out of town. It'd be perfect and absolutely thrilling," he raised a suggestive brow, one which made Gina laugh.

        "You're unbelievable."

         "I remember you saying that just moments ago," he reminded with a smirk.

Gina grinned, reaching for a pillow which she threw at him. "Come on, it'd be fun," Knox exclaimed convincingly, already getting up to pull on his pants.

     Gina gawked at him, propped up on her elbow. "You're actually serious," she concluded in amazement.

Knox paused to make a face. "As a judge."

       "Knox..."

        "Come on sugar, don't be a scardy cat," he challenged.

Gina's mouth fell. "Did you just call me a scardy cat?"

Knox shrugged. "I'm afraid I did," he clarified confidently.

      "Oh, it's on, Mr," she said, pulling on some clothes while Knox stood watching and grinning from cheek to cheek.

Gina's bravado, however, vanished when she snuck around the back of a stranger's house. She hugged her shoulders from the night's chill and the the feeling of fear that crept up on her.

        "Ok, I change my mind. We should go," she said, turning to leave when Knox pulled her to him.

     "Gina-"

      "Knox, they could have cameras or some alarm that's waiting on us to trigger it," she argued, looking around.

Knox suffocated his laugh. "Baby, I assure you, there are no cameras and I think you know I wouldn't let anything happen to you. You know that, right?"

Gina meekly nodded, smiling against Knox's lips when he kissed her. "I don't even have a swimsuit," she whispered.

      "You don't need it," with both palms planted on her cheeks, he looked deep within her eyes and was able to see the fear that was still evident. "Look, sweetheart, you don't have to do this... We could go back, but listen, you can't let the fear of what 'could' happen prevent you from doing what you have to in the moment."

       "Ok," she smiled, earning one from him aswell. He quickly kissed her before they both turned to face the glistening rectangular pool.

      Holding her hand, he looked to her with an abundance of admiration in his gaze. "Ready to take the plunge?"

She nodded. "With you,...any time."

And then they made the dive, a scream escaping Gina before she hit the water. They went under deep before they came up top, breathing heavily.

      "Shit, it's freaking freezing!" Gina announced shakily, her lips trembling.

Knox quickly gave an agreeable nod. "Yeah, they must have turned off the heat when they left," he shuddered. "We should probably go before we begin to suffer from hypothermia."

Gina managed a laugh. "Now who's the scardy cat?" she teased, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Come on, I can think of a few ways to take our minds off the cold," and with that, she lightly kissed him on the lips as a sign of invite.

     "Mmm, that so?" Knox was all too enthused to explore the action behind her words. She giggled when his fingers reached below her blouse to strip it off.

Gina stared at the tub filled with water in front of her as the last of her memory evaded her thoughts. Even now with a feeling of melancholy coursing through her, Gina couldn't help but smile briefly at the distant memory. That night was one of the best of her life and in retrospect, Gina thought it was quite ironic that her best days were with Knox and some of her worse was because of him.

     Slowly, she let the towel drop before she stepped inside. The water wasn't as cold as that night, but the feeling she had was. She sat and then she immersed herself beneath the tub of clear blue. Her breath stopped, but her thoughts didn't and they were all of Knox until they weren't.
      Fred's offer came to mind, a bittersweet blend of feelings making its way through Gina's mindset. In a few hours she'd meet him and they would go wherever she wanted because she had agreed to his offer. She wasn't sure it was her best choice but if anything, she needed the getaway.

Gina finally came up for some air, breathing heavily as she tried to wipe water from her face. It was all so calming, she wanted to do it again but a knock at the door put her idea to rest. Wrapping a towel around her, Gina used another to towel dry her hair while moving towards the door.
She wondered who it could be seeing that she hadn't ordered room service or any service for that matter.

Her thoughts ran wild, but not wild enough to meet her expectations when she opened the door and saw who was there. For a brief moment, her shock left her speechless but quickly Gina recovered to confront him.

       "What are you doing here?" she asked, noticing the way he had dressed down, no longer in a suit, instead, denim jeans and t-shirt that added a certain flare that only a man like Knox could achieve.

       "I want to talk to you," he said, his gaze devouring her flushed features.

       "You have nothing to say to me that I'd want to hear," she exclaimed dryly.

     "I um- I've had some time to think-"

Gina scoffed. "I'm not interested in your meaningless apologies and your repetitive speeches Knox, because nothing will ever change what you did or said.. so leave,"

      "Gina-"

       "Now, or I swear I'll call hotel security," she hissed.

Knox stepped closer towards her. "Look me in the eye and tell me you don't love me," he said, eyes on hers.

Gina was speechless.

"I screwed up and I know that I am a bit... impulsive sometimes, I know that what I did was unforgiving. I made a lot of mistakes Gina, I made a lot of bad choices but you, you were never one. I - I don't have the right words.. I never do," he sighed his grey eyes like the sky before a stormy summer. "But I have love and that's all I feel when I'm with you, when I'm around you. I love you so much and yet it baffles me to see how stupid I acted then and now."

He released a brief sigh, moistened his lips with the tip of his tongue and continued to look in her beautiful eyes. "I know I hurt you, I know I've behaved selfishly but all I'm asking is another chance to right my wrongs and prove to you that I could be a better man than the one you've seen over the past days..." he stopped, his eyes pleading while he awaited words than would end it all or give them a chance to begin again.

Gina's lips parted and Knox held his breath, awaiting his fate while he stared at her lips to mutter words. He was nervous, more nervous than he'd been in a long time and it was quite alarming. He rarely got nervous, but here he was feeling like he was going to explode with anticipation.

  "I..." was the beginning of her sentence and also the ending when the piercing shrill of Gina's cellphone put it to a stop.

Quickly clearing her throat, she retrieved it and realised the caller ID was Fred's. She glanced to Knox, saw the defeated look on his face and then she glanced at the phone screen. Conflicted, wondering if she should take the call or respond to Knox, Gina stood there with the ringtone tearing through the silent tension in the room.

     "Excuse me," She said, turning to give herself some privacy.

      "Hey, so I've thought of a place and wanted to confirm with you first before I pick you up. I know I said you should do the choosing but I um... I have a suggestion," his bright voice came, sounding deafening in the silence.

Gina wondered if Knox was able to hear. She swallowed and massaged the nape of her neck. "Yeah, what do you have in mind?"

         "Las Vegas!" he announced and instantly Gina's breath caught in her throat.

Surprised, her parted lips produced unspoken words. She turned to Knox, saw that he pretended to be minding his own business. She was glad his eyes weren't on her, because it would make her decision seem harder.

      "Yeah sure, Las Vegas it is!" she exclaimed, immediately regretting the words as they sputtered from her mouth. Knox's head snapped up, eyes wide, gaze questioning.

     "Great, I'll be by to pick you up in twenty."

      "Ok, see you then." The line went dead and so did the noise in the room. She had Knox to confront now and that was the hardest part, but in the midst of silence, her mind doing all the talking, Gina gathered the words she'd say.

      "I've had some time to think about things and no matter how hard I try to deny it, I'll always love you Knox but sometimes love isn't enough," she softly said, briefly settling her gaze to the ground. "And I also realise I can't completely blame you for the person I chose to be and the things I did when you left - I could have found better ways to deal with my hurt but I'm still not over it... I'm not over the way you made me feel when you returned - as if I was a cheap puppet. I...I want to forgive you, I want to put it all behind me and move on with my life with or without you but I can't... Not yet..."

Stepping closer to him, she kissed him on his lips, her newly formed tears mixing with the sweet taste on his lips. Her heart shattered when she looked in his eyes and saw that any second he would be crying along with her.

Gina's lips trembled as she planted a firm kiss to his cheeks and muttered a barely audible, "I'm sorry..." with that said she fled for the bathroom, leaving Knox standing there, feeling like he has felt for five years of his life...

...Defeated.

Author's note:

Hey guys, I hope you all are doing fine. How's everyone?😊

What did you think of this chapter?! Please leave your thoughts 😉

Ok, Who's team GINA+ FRED? 😀

Who's team GINA + KNOX?

Who's all for that SINGLE life? 😀😂

Pick your team people! Your decision may or may not influence the final results 😂😜😀❤

And hey, um it was brought to my attention that the fiction awards is now on. I saw that some of you guys nominated me for some categories and I would like to say Thank you for that...so much. 😊❤😘  And as always I thank all of you for the tremendous support so far. Love y'all ❤❤

Live good, Love...
Until next time,
Laters baby
Xoxo
JUJU 😀😜