Chapter X -Thomas
1124 Words
«Enough, Ada. You're pissing me off.» I snap, already right at the edge.
«Oh, sweetheart…» She tilts her head and lets her damn hair fall onto my bare arm on purpose. «You're just being proud.»
Her slender fingers trail up my chest, nails grazing lightly, fully aware of the effect she’s always had on me.
«You know you'll come back to me. You always do.»
Except this time I feel nothing. No thrill, no tension. Not even irritation. Just the exasperation of wasting my time with her when I know exactly where I want to be. Or rather, with whom.
And considering she was pissed, I need to hurry.
Especially since that f*****g Tristan wasted no time putting his slimy hands on her.
Stupid bastard.
I sigh, dangerously close to my limit. «You know what I suggest?» I grab her wrists, pulling her hands off me without hesitation. «Don’t count on it too much.»
A flicker of defiance flashes in her eyes.
«Oh, right. The doll has bewitched you.»
«Don’t ever call her that again.» I step forward, my eyes darkening.
«What is she, then?» she shoots back, moving her hair to one side and baring her neck—my weak spot.
«She hasn’t said a word in front of me.»
«Oh, really?» I shake my head, amused. «Guess you missed the moment she shut you up in front of the whole room.»
She waves a hand in the air, mocking. «I allowed her to speak, Tom.»
She closes the distance again, her lithe body pressing against mine as she rises on tiptoe to reach my ear. «I would’ve destroyed her if I’d let myself go.»
This time I burst out laughing, and her face stiffens.
«Sure, Ada. Right.»
«She’s useless, Tom!» she explodes. «A showgirl. Pretty, but she can’t dance.»
I take a long breath. «At least you admitted she’s pretty this time. Strange, considering the first time you dismissed her as a blonde mountain goat.»
«Oh, a very pretty mountain goat, I admit.»
She leans against the wall again, tilting her head the way that used to drive me insane. Ada knows all my weak spots and she’s using them like an arsenal. «But you need more than that. You want excitement, challenge—not some stupid little girl drooling over you.»
«Ada…» The growl slips out easily as my hands slam against the wall beside her. «I’m really close to losing my patience. I’m at my limit.»
«At your limit, Tom?»
She pushes her chest forward, placing both hands on my neck. «That’s when we have the most fun.»
Shit.
Only then I realize how easily this position could be misinterpreted. I yank myself away so fast she almost loses her balance.
«Maybe I wasn’t clear enough. I’ll say it one last time: we’re done.» I enunciate every word, slow and sharp.
«You prefer redheads,» she shoots back immediately—weak, for her. She’s always been better with words.
«I preferred a redhead,» I correct, a smug twist tugging at my lips. «But she broke up with me months ago. Did you forget? Or have you rewritten that version of the story too?»
Christ, I really did prefer her.
Ada has always been my enigma, my puzzle. A ruby that shone so bright it blinded everything else.
I was like Abu from Aladdin: surrounded by every sort of treasure, yet hypnotized by that one seductive red gem.
Except now… I’ve seen the lamp.
And everything else honestly isn’t worth a damn.
Ada wrinkles her nose in a grimace I know too well.
«We’ve been doing this for years. And you’ve never complained before.»
Incredible how easily she bends reality to her advantage. Christ—how did I not see it? I complained every single time. Because it broke me every. single. time.
«Ada…» I shake my head, serious. I’m done with the games. «Enough. You and I are incompatible, and we both know it.»
«Incompatible, huh?»
She steps away from the wall and approaches with that practiced calm—the slow walk, the magnetic gaze designed to make anyone lose their mind.
She leans in, closing the distance the way she always does. Our noses brush, her lips hovering a breath away from mine.
A perfect performance.
A display of power.
Knowing I’ve never escaped her. Knowing I’ve always been the i***t who gave in.
I tilt my head slightly, shrinking the space between us even further.
«In her eyes, punctual as ever, that spark lights up — the certainty I’ll fall back into place, back at her feet, like always.»
But that’s where I stop. Straight, unmoving.
I hold her stare without the slightest effort.
And the longer the silence stretches, the more I watch her confidence crumble.
Her green eyes widen. The perfect mask cracks. Wounded pride twists her mouth.
«It’s over, Ada,» I murmur against her lips before stepping away.
«Wait.» Her voice trembles. She grips my wrist hard and yanks me toward her.
Her arms slip around my shoulders, her mouth crashes onto mine, desperate for deeper contact.
Ridiculous, really — how long I wanted this.
How many years I waited for a single sign that she felt something real for me.
And it never came.
She opens her mouth, her tongue pushing against my lips, searching for mine.
And I… stay impassive.
«Tom!»
She jerks back, her green eyes flicking from my eyes to my mouth, stunned.
«I care about you, you know that. But it’s over.»
I press a light kiss to her forehead — affection stripped of desire — then take her hands and place them back on her hips.
A flicker of panic sparks in her gaze.
«Do you really think you can walk away from me like this? That you can leave me for some slut?»
Her hands clench into fists. Her arms go rigid.
«You and I are meant to be!»
My eyes close as anger slides through my veins, a slow, burning chokehold.
«Do you really think that f*****g cheap deal means anything to me?»
My hands tremble from the effort of keeping my voice steady.
«It does, Tom! This is how it will end — I’ll talk to our fathers, I’ll tell them that you…»
«You can tell them whatever the f**k you want!»
My shout ricochets off the empty walls, frustration detonating in my chest.
She takes a step back, fear flaring in her eyes.
I stare straight into her. «I’m not their property. And I’m not yours either. I decide.»
A sneer twists her lips.
«We’ll see about that,» she hisses, and I already know this whole conversation will come back to bite me.
She shoves me and storms off, as if she’s the one ending things.
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