A SECOND CHANCE AT FOREVER Chapter 58: CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT

ASHLEY

Some men were gentle; others were aggressive. Everyone had their own technique.

Kyle kissed the way he looked—skilled, dominant, and devastatingly thorough. He didn’t just kiss, he consumed. He unraveled me, piece by piece, until nothing else existed but the searing heat between us.

His tongue slid against mine in a slow, deliberate dance, teasing, coaxing, taking. His grip on my neck was firm but not forceful, his thumb tracing circles against my skin like he was memorizing the feel of me.

I melted into him, pressing closer, letting my hands roam over his back, up his shoulders, before tangling in his hair. The deep groan that rumbled in his throat sent a fresh wave of desire cascading through me, tightening my grip. I pulled, just enough to make him lose control for a second.

He responded instantly.

The pressure of his lips increased, the kiss turning from slow and thorough to desperate and demanding. He tilted my head back, angling himself to deepen it, to take more. To claim more.

I was falling apart, and Kyle was the only thing holding me together.

Time blurred. I had no idea how long we stood there, lost in each other. Seconds? Minutes? An eternity? But then, reality came crashing back.

A shadow shifted outside,then I remembered..

Where we were.

Who we were.

My breath stuttered as awareness slammed into me. The glass storefront. The open space. The people walking by. The people who would be all too eager to snap a picture, whisper to the tabloids, spread the news that the popular Kyle Blackwood and his ex-wife were locked in a heated embrace.

A hot flush of embarrassment and panic spread through me, replacing the lingering traces of desire.

Oh God.

What the hell had I just done?

This wasn’t part of the plan. I hadn’t left my house this morning with the intention of losing myself in Kyle. This wasn’t supposed to happen.

Shit.

I pulled back, my breath ragged, my heart slamming against my ribs. Kyle’s lips were slightly swollen from our kiss, a small cut on his bottom lip where I’d bitten him. Evidence of what I’d done. Of how easily I had lost control.

"Ashley—"

“I have to go.”

I spun on my heel, my pulse roaring in my ears as I hurried toward the entrance, head down, desperate to put space between us before I made another mistake.

But I had barely taken a step when a firm hand closed around my wrist.

Kyle caught up to me in seconds, his grip unyielding but not painful.

“No,” he said, his voice low, dangerous. “Not this time.”

There was no warning, no hesitation. One moment, I was trying to escape, and the next, he was leading me to his car—dragging me (technically I followed)

Before I knew it, the car door was swinging open, and I was being ushered inside. The door shut with a quiet thunk, sealing me in.

The second Kyle slid into the driver’s seat and started the engine, reality crashed into me like a freight train.

“Let me out,” I demanded.“Kyle, let me out of this damn car.”

I yanked at the door handle, but it wouldn’t budge. The automatic lock held firm, just like the man sitting beside me, hands gripping the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles were stark white.

“No.” His voice was rough, determined. “Not this time.”

The city blurred past us as he drove, his jaw clenched, his expression unreadable. I crossed my arms over my chest, rage bubbling beneath my skin.

“This is insane, Kyle. You can’t just drag me into your car whenever you feel like it.”

“You didn’t exactly fight me,” he shot back, voice low.

I snapped my head toward him. “Because I didn’t want to make a scene in front of everyone! But trust me, if you don’t stop this car in the next five seconds, I’ll make a scene right here.”

Kyle sighed, long and slow. “If you really wanted to leave, you would’ve fought harder.”

I scowled at him. “You seriously overestimate how much energy I’m willing to waste on you.”

His lips twitched, but he didn’t take the bait. Instead, he pressed his foot on the gas, weaving through traffic with the same ruthless precision he applied to everything in his life.

Minutes passed in thick, suffocating silence before he pulled into a secluded parking lot near the river. The city lights glittered in the distance, their reflection dancing on the dark water.

Kyle clicked the automatic lock.

I exhaled sharply, rolling my eyes. “Seriously?”

“Seriously.” He finally turned to look at me, his gray eyes unreadable in the dim glow of the dashboard lights. “Just sit for a second.”

I leaned my head against the seat, staring out at the water. “What is this, Kyle? Some dramatic, soul-searching moment where we stare at the river and have a deep conversation about life?”

Kyle smirked. “Would that work?”

“No.”

“Didn’t think so.”

Silence stretched between us, not heavy with tension this time, but something else. Something quieter.

Kyle tapped his fingers against the steering wheel. “You gonna try to run again?”

I didn’t answer.

He sighed. “Thought so.”

I turned to glare at him. “I don’t run—”

Kyle gave me a pointed look.

I huffed. “Fine. Maybe I walk away when I decide a conversation isn’t worth my time.”

He chuckled, low and rough. “You always did know how to make an exit.”

I glanced at him, narrowing my eyes. “What do you want, Kyle?”

His gray eyes burned into mine, dark and unyielding. “I want to know why you keep running.”

A sharp, humorless laugh escaped me. “You can’t be serious.”

“I am.” His fingers tightened around my wrist—not painfully, but just enough to make my pulse spike. To remind me that he still knew how to affect me. “You kissed me back, Ashley. You melted into me. And the second reality hits, you run.” His voice dropped, rich with frustration and something far more dangerous. “Why?”

I clenched my jaw, refusing to answer.

Kyle’s smirk was slow, knowing. “You didn’t just want me that night.” He leaned in slightly, his voice dipping lower, turning rougher. “You begged for it.”

Heat shot through me. “Shut up.”

His smirk deepened. “I don’t think I will.” He tilted his head, his eyes gleaming with wicked amusement. “You wanted me so badly, Freckles. You took me. And I gave you everything. Every touch. Every kiss”

My breath hitched.

His fingers slid over the inside of my wrist, tracing the frantic pulse there. “But at the end? You ran. You pretended like none of it mattered.” His gaze burned into me. “So tell me, Ashley, was it just sex?”

I forced my face into a mask of indifference. “Yes.”

His smirk vanished.

Something darker slid into his expression, something raw and sharp and laced with the kind of emotion Kyle never let show. He studied me, his fingers still wrapped around my wrist, his thumb idly stroking my skin, as if testing my resolve.

“Liar,” he murmured.

I forced myself to hold his gaze. “You’re arrogant as hell, you know that?”

Kyle exhaled through his nose, shaking his head like he couldn’t believe me. “I know what we are, Ashley. What we’ve always been.” He leaned in, his lips a breath away from my ear. “And it was never just sex.”

I stiffened.

His voice lowered to a whisper, rough with something I couldn’t name. “Say it. Say you felt nothing that night. That you don’t think about it every damn second, the way I do.”

I swallowed. Hard.

This was dangerous. He was dangerous.

Because he wasn’t wrong. I did think about it. About him. About us.

And that was the problem.

I took a shaky breath and jerked my wrist free. “You’re insufferable.”

Kyle smirked again, slow and predatory. “And you’re avoiding the question.”

I turned away, gripping the door handle. “I’m done with this conversation.”

Kyle clicked the lock again.

I whipped my head around. “Kyle—”

“Truce,” he interrupted, his voice suddenly calm.

I blinked. “What?”

He leaned back in his seat, watching me. “No more running. No more pretending we don’t exist. We don’t have to figure this out right now, but we do have to stop lying to ourselves.”

A truce.

It should’ve been the easiest thing in the world to refuse. To tell him no, unlock the door, and walk away.

But I didn’t.

Because the truth was, I was tired.

Tired of pretending. Tired of running. Tired of fighting something that had already swallowed me whole.

I let out a slow breath. “Fine.”

And just like that,I knew I was in trouble

Kyle’s gaze flickered with something unreadable. “Fine?”

I crossed my arms. “Truce.”

His jaw tensed like he was waiting for the catch.

“No avoiding. No fighting,” I clarified. “But that’s it. No intimacy. No late-night confessions. No… whatever the hell happened the last time.”

Kyle arched a brow, his smirk returning. “No intimacy?”

“You know exactly what I mean,” I snapped.

He chuckled, shaking his head. “Alright, Freckles. No avoiding, no fighting.” His voice turned mockingly innocent. “And no touching.”

I shot him a glare.

He grinned, then exhaled, like he was actually considering my terms. Then, after a beat, he leaned back, his fingers drumming against the steering wheel.

“Okay,” he said casually. “What about a date?”

I stared at him. “What?”

Kyle turned his head, and damn it, that cocky smirk was still in place. “A date.” He shrugged like it was the simplest thing in the world. “No avoiding, no fighting. So, logically, we should go on a date.”

I narrowed my eyes. “That is not what we just agreed on.”

“Technically, it is.” He tilted his head, feigning deep thought. “You said no fighting, and rejecting a date could technically be classified as fighting. And avoiding it? Well, that’d just be breaking our truce.”

I exhaled sharply. “Okay"

Kyle’s smirk deepened, his voice dropping to that low, confident drawl that always got under my skin. "Damn right you are, Freckles. Because this? This is already a date."

He drummed his fingers against the steering wheel, eyes locking onto mine with a heat that sent a slow, unwelcome shiver down my spine. "And lucky for you, I planned one hell of a day"