An Angel's kiss.

Chapter eight

I lost track of how many matches Blade and I had played—or how much time had passed. One game turned into another, and before I knew it, I was completely locked in, my focus fixed on the screen.

Then I felt it.

Gentle fingers brushing lightly through my hair.

My grip tightened around the controller.

When one side of my headphones slipped off, a warm breath brushed against my ear.

"I'm sorry..." she whispered.

"But I have to do this."

The warmth of her breath grazed my skin, catching me completely off guard.

I couldn't explain it.

Her voice was soft.

Almost hesitant.

Yet somehow, it settled beneath my skin in a way I wasn't used to.

I brushed the feeling aside.

It was probably nothing.

But when I turned toward the source of the voice, our eyes met.

For some reason, I didn't look away.

She had slightly droopy eyes framed by long, thick lashes. Despite the uncertainty written all over her face, there was something about the way she looked at me that held my attention.

Her gaze drifted to my lips.

A faint smirk tugged at the corner of my mouth.

“So that was it.”

Just another moth drawn to the flame. I'd seen that look more times than I cared to count.

My eyes dropped to her lips, as though some invisible force were pulling my gaze there.

They were naturally rosy, slightly glossy beneath the lights, and somehow more distracting than they had any right to be.

I caught myself staring and lifted my gaze back to hers.

“No. I wasn't about to give another girl the wrong idea.”

The faint scent of alcohol lingered on her breath. So that's why she looked nervous.

“Drunk.” That explained it.

Still...

It didn't make her any less beautiful.

If anything, it softened her features, making her look almost... innocent.

But looks could be deceiving. I'd learned that lesson a long time ago. I wasn't about to let a pretty face convince me otherwise. I'd already had enough of women imagining they belonged somewhere in my future.

“What the hell—”

Before I could react, she grabbed the front of my collar and pulled me toward her.

Our lips met.

Warm.

Soft.

Far softer than I'd expected.

My mind went completely blank.

Somewhere in the kiss, the corner of my mouth lifted into the faintest smirk against her lips.

I wasn't even trying to kiss her back.

Yet somehow...

My body betrayed me.

Before I realized it, I was already leaning into the kiss.

Wait...

"Why was she pulling away?"

Something inside me protested. Harder than I cared to admit.

“You started this. I'll decide when it ends.”

My hand found the back of her neck. I tilted my head, closing the small distance she'd created, and caught her lips once more before my mind could catch up with what I was doing.

What the hell was wrong with me?

I felt her body go rigid.

Her eyes flew open in disbelief, and her fingers tightened around the front of my shirt. For a split second, I thought she was going to shove me away.

Instead… She froze.

My lips refused to leave hers. It was as though they had a mind of their own, lingering against hers as if they couldn't bear the thought of letting her go.

Without realizing it, I found myself tracing the soft curve of her lower lip with slow, unhurried kisses before gently drawing it between my lips. A faint, almost hesitant bite followed—not enough to hurt, only enough to feel her. Instinctively, I soothed it with another lingering kiss.

I wasn't even sure whether the soft sound that escaped her was real or only something my mind had imagined.

But when her lips parted ever so slightly, I didn't hesitate.

A faint sweetness lingered on them, touched by the subtle taste of alcohol.

I didn't mind it. If anything, it only made me crave her more.

Before I realized it, I had deepened the kiss, losing myself in the moment as time seemed to fade away, savoring every second of it.

Her body trembled beneath my touch. Yet instead of pulling away, her grip on my shirt slowly eased, and the hesitation between us gradually disappeared. She began responding, cautiously at first, then with growing certainty, matching my rhythm without a word.

Something about that unraveled me.

Neither of us seemed to be leading anymore. It no longer felt like a choice, but something that had simply happened—as though we'd both forgotten where one of us ended and the other began.

The music faded into the background.

The voices around us dissolved into meaningless noise.

I couldn't hear the crowd anymore.

All I could think about was the girl in front of me.

****

Angel's POV…

It was supposed to be nothing more than a dare.

A five-second kiss.

Pero hindi ko alam kung paano kami nauwi sa ganito.

Never—not once since I started studying at Kingsford University—had I imagined that Haarland Colt Rockefeller, the guy who had never so much as looked my way, would be kissing me like this.

I was completely frozen.

The moment his hand gently cupped the back of my neck and he leaned in to kiss me again, my mind went completely blank.

My heart pounded so violently against my chest that I was certain he could hear it. Nanlambot ang buong katawan ko habang pilit kong pinoproseso ang nangyayari.

“This... This was my first kiss.”

And the one stealing it was none other than Kingsford University's most famous football MVP.

Hindi ko namalayang unti-unti na pala akong tumutugon sa bawat halik niya. Every gentle brush of his lips pulled me deeper, making it harder and harder to remember why this had started in the first place.

Hindi ko na marinig ang ingay ng party.

Hindi ko na maalala kung ilang segundo na ang lumipas.

Ang alam ko lang...

Hindi ko na siya maitulak palayo.

All I could think about was the warmth of his lips, the faint taste of alcohol mixed with mint, and the frantic rhythm of my heart that refused to slow down.

He kissed me as though tomorrow didn't exist.

By the time he finally pulled away, I was left quietly gasping for air, my chest rising and falling as I tried to catch my breath.