Chapter 8
1996 Words
I ran to the restroom the moment I was out of sight. My hands were shaking, my reflection looked foreign, and for a second, I hated how much his presence still got to me.
I gripped the sink, trying to steady my breath, but the air in my lungs felt heavier than before. My pulse was still racing from his words, his touch, his arrogance. How could one man make me feel so angry and so alive at the same time?
“Damn it,” I muttered, splashing cold water on my face. “You’re not going to break again, Ava. Not because of him.”
But the second I said that, the door opened.
“Ava.”
I froze.
“Ava, are you alright?” Matilda’s voice came from the other side of the door.
I let out a shaky sigh of relief. God, why was I even thinking Adrian would follow me here? It was the ladies’ restroom, for heaven’s sake. What was I hoping for, that he’d come after me? Was I really that much of a pushover?
I mentally slapped myself. Get it together, Ava.
“Ava!” Matilda’s voice came again, this time a little worried.
“I’m alright, Mal. Just wanted to fix my makeup,” I called back, stepping out of the stall.
She eyed me for a moment without saying a word.
“What? Is there something on my face?” I asked, suddenly self-conscious. The last thing I needed was Adrian seeing me looking like a wreck.
“Why? Scared Mr. Blackwell won’t notice you?” she teased, grinning.
“What? Matilda, what are you even talking about?” I tried to sound clueless, but my voice cracked just a little.
“Oh, come on, Ava. I’ve known you since we were kids. You can’t fool me.”
She leaned in, eyes gleaming. “Something’s going on between you two, isn’t there?”
I forced a straight face. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I brushed past her and started walking away.
“Really?” she called after me. “Then maybe I should ask Sarah. I’m sure she’d love to hear this update.”
I spun around instantly as she pulled out her phone. “Matilda, are you insane?” I hissed, snatching it from her hand. If Sarah found out Adrian was here with me, she’d be on the next flight over, and Adrian wouldn’t survive the encounter.
“If you don’t want that, then spill,” Matilda said smugly. She knew she had me cornered.
Why did everyone around me suddenly become so observant?
“Ava! Matilda! I want everyone present here!” my uncle’s voice boomed across the room, waving us over.
I could kiss my uncle right now. He’d just saved me from this gossip-hungry monster of a cousin.
“Well, looks like Uncle needs us,” I said quickly, laughing a little too nervously.
Matilda smirked. “You think he’s going to save you? This conversation isn’t over, Ava.”
I groaned inwardly. Knowing her, she wouldn’t drop it. I could only pray she’d forget, but with Matilda, God Himself might have to intervene.
I walked past everyone having fun on the dance floor. I could join them if I wanted, but the introvert in me would rather sit here, watching them dance and smiling from afar.
“Ava, on the dance floor now!” Mum called out, signaling to me as she spun with Lily.
“I don’t have a partner!” I mouthed, exaggerating my gestures so she’d get the point.
She just gave me that look, one that said she didn’t believe a word of it but she let it go. And honestly, I was more than grateful. Mum knew me too well; not dancing because of a missing partner wasn’t exactly a believable excuse.
I scanned the crowd, pretending to be interested in the music, but truthfully… I was looking for him. Adrian.
Even though I claimed to hate him, my eyes still searched for him like a habit I couldn’t break. It’s not a crime to look, right? Just a quick glance. Just to see that body again
God, what was I thinking? It’s Adrian, for crying out loud. The man who destroyed me.
I shook my head hard. “Nope. Not doing this,” I muttered under my breath.
Calling Sarah suddenly felt like the best distraction in the world. Besides, she needed an update about Dad anyway.
Five minutes later, I was outside with my phone pressed to my ear. No answer.
“Come on, Sarah,” I sighed. “You can’t be ghosting me now.”
I tried again. Still nothing. Typical. That crazy friend of mine must have dropped her phone somewhere again.
“And here I was thinking you ran away from me.”
His voice. Low. Familiar. Dangerous.
I froze before slowly turning around.
If I were being honest, a small part of me was excited to see him. Pathetic, I know. My brain screamed and ran, but my body… It betrayed me. My pulse quickened, my breath caught, and every part of me wanted to stay right there.
No. I couldn’t do this again. The best thing to do now was to walk away, before I did something stupid like grab him and kiss him, the same way I’d been imagining since he showed up.
Hold on. What the hell is wrong with me?
After everything he did, after how he humiliated me, I should confront him, not avoid him because I can’t handle a stupid attraction.
I let out a small, bitter laugh. “I swear, I’m the most messed-up person I know.”
And then, his voice, closer this time.
“I’m standing right in front of you, and you dare smile while thinking of someone else?”
My back hit the wall before I even realized what was happening. He was close. Too close.
“When the hell did you…” I started, my voice catching.
This was bad. The heat from his body, the scent of his cologne, it was all too familiar, too intoxicating.
This was a dangerous position to be in.
His words were low, almost a growl. “I’m standing right in front of you, and you dare smile while thinking of someone else?”
My heart slammed against my chest. “What...what are you talking about?”
“You think I haven’t seen it, Ava? The way you smile like you belong to someone else?” he growled again.
I have been asking the same question since i met this guy, but seriously, was this guy crazy? How could he just assume that i was thinking of someone else simply because i was smiling?
“Why do you care?” I asked. “It’s my life, i get to think of whom i want and smile.”
He took a deliberate step closer, crowding my space until I couldn't distinguish the wall from the heat radiating off him. His hand shot out, palm flat, to brace against the wall just above my shoulder, effectively caging me.
“You’re right, Ava,” he said, his voice dropping to a low, rough murmur that vibrated deep in my chest. “It’s your life. But when you’re standing outside a ballroom where I’m present, wearing that dress I saw you in, and smiling at a thought that has nothing to do with me, I get furious.”
I scoffed, a shaky, desperate sound. “You got furious?" Adrian, you are the most…”
“Somehow, I can't seem to let go.”
My breath hitched. His declaration, so raw and electrifying. No matter how I think about this, something doesn't seem right.
“How dare you come into my life and act like you own me when you barely even know who I am”
A dark, dangerous smile played on his lips. He leaned in, his head tilting, his lips just a whisper from my ear. “Oh, I know the taste of your secrets, Ava. I know the sound of your gasp. And I know the way your soul looks when it’s completely unraveled. That’s more than enough to become… fixated.”
My entire body was a live wire. The anger I’d been holding onto, the self-loathing for my own weakness, was melting away under the force of his presence. His scent, smoke and expensive cologne, was intoxicating.
“Your body tells me it wants me right now, what do you think?”
Before I could process his words, his other hand cupped the back of my neck, his thumb brushing over the sensitive skin beneath my ear. The contact was a lightning strike, shattering my resolve completely. The next second, his mouth descended on mine, fierce and demanding.
There was no gentleness, only a desperate, consuming hunger that mirrored the turmoil inside me. I was lost the instant his lips met mine. Years of buried longing erupted, turning my 'no' into a desperate, needy moan that was swallowed by his kiss.
My shaking hands, which had been pressing against his chest to push him away, now clutched his silk lapels, pulling him closer, begging for more. His kiss was a masterclass in possession, deep, urgent, and overwhelmingly familiar. It was a claim, a promise, and a threat all rolled into one. He tasted like sin and retribution, and I drank it all in.
He moved his mouth across mine, shifting the angle, deepening the connection until my knees felt ready to give out. My head was spinning. The cold exterior I’d maintained for years was finally cracked open, and Adrian was pouring in like a tidal wave.
He broke the kiss for a split second, both of us gasping for air, our foreheads touching. His eyes were dark with passion, his breathing ragged. “See?” he muttered against my mouth. “It couldn't deny me.”
The word was a thunderclap, and I was about to answer with another desperate kiss when a noise from inside the venue cut through the haze.
Ava? Where did you run off to this time? The cake is being cut!” my uncle’s voice called out, closer than I expected, the sound of his heavy footsteps crunching on the gravel just around the corner.
We sprang apart as if electrocuted. Adrian pulled back instantly, his expression shifting from burning intensity to cool, effortless control in a blink. He straightened his jacket with a casual ease that belied the chaos he’d just caused in my soul.
I, however, felt like I’d just survived an explosion. My lips were tingling, my hair was a mess, and my breath was coming in short, shallow gasps.
could become
I felt like I’d survived an explosion, lips tingling, hair a mess, lungs on fire.
“I…I’m coming, Uncle!” I called back, trying to sound normal. I smoothed my dress, fighting the urge to wipe Adrian's kiss from my lips.
I hated that part of me still ached for him. The part that couldn’t decide if I wanted to run or be caught.
Adrian stepped back, a final, infuriating smirk crossing his face. “Looks like your uncle saved you,” he said, his voice now back to that low, dangerous purr. “But remember, Ava We have all night. And that conversation with Matilda? I think you owe her an update.”
He turned and walked away toward the side entrance of the ballroom, melting into the shadows with the confidence of a predator.
My eyes widened, fear clawing up my spine. He’d been there, watching, waiting. The night of the messages, the car that followed me… it had been him all along.
My pulse roared in my ears.
Who even is this man?
And what exactly does he want from me?
- Writer
