“You spoke to me,” I blurted, instantly flushing all over in embarrassment.
He took in my flushed state thoughtfully, before speaking up. “I always speak to you?” he said, although it sounded more like a question.
“No… you haven’t really, uh, um… forget it,” I mumbled, going redder in the face as I looked down at my black skirt.
I didn’t hear him get out of his seat, but suddenly, he was standing directly in front of me, his towering form looking down at me as he hooked his index finger around my chin and pulled my head up to meet his gaze.
“Tell me,” he demanded, staring into my eyes. My mind blanked temporarily as the intensity of his gaze distracted me from my thoughts.
“Uh…” I tried to recall the events that occurred a few minutes ago. “It’s just… Well, I feel as if you’ve been avoiding me for the past week,” I admitted. I broke away from his gaze.
“I have,” he responded flatly, making my eyes snap back to his face in surprise. No one with a sane mind admits something like that so casually! I thought to myself as my frown reappeared on my face.
“Why?” I found myself asking before my brain could respond to the moving muscles of my lips.
He shrugged, suddenly pulling away from me. “You annoyed me last Friday.”
My eyebrows shot up in disbelief. “I annoyed you?!” I exclaimed, “Who was the one who was constantly nagging me to stay at their place overnight, even after the countless times I clearly said no?!”
“That’s why you annoyed me. If you didn’t say no in the first place, I wouldn’t have ‘nagged’ you to come over.” He shrugged.
“What-” I shook my head and closed my eyes as I tried to calm down. “Now you’re making it out like it’s my fault that you didn’t talk to me.”
“It is your fault,” he simply stated.
I started to smile, thinking he admitted I was right, before his words fully registered in my brain. “You’re impossible!” I declared, huffing in defeat.
He chuckled and placed a peck on my forehead before I had time to pull away, and I glared at his smirk. “You know, a synonym for impossible is incredible. So you’re saying I’m incredible. Thank you, but I already know that.” He boasted, pulling me into his torso by wrapping his arms around my waist with an iron grip.
I rolled my eyes at his arrogance. “Whatever you say, Adrian,” I said, mocking. “You’re the boss.”
The charity fundraiser suddenly appeared in my mind, making a small frown replace my mocking expression. “Adrian… I don’t want to go home with a stranger tomorrow…” I trailed off, biting my bottom lip at the thought of David Walter’s sickly smug smile violating me with his eyes as he put money on me.
Adrian’s amused expression suddenly darkened, and his iron grip – if possible, became tighter around my waist. “I’ll take care of it,” he reassured me, mirroring my frown.
I studied his expression briefly before my mind decided it was safe to trust him, and my stiff body relaxed slightly in his hold, making his frown also disappear and his all too famous smirk return to his lips.
“Who knows, maybe you’ll get to go home with me.”
My relaxed expression instantly transformed into a glare as my head snapped up to meet his amused gaze.
“I’m kidding,” he said. “I can’t participate – I’m the one hosting the event.”
Surprisingly, a rush of disappoint flowed through my body as the words left his mouth, and I slumped slightly in his hold. His eyebrows shot up in surprise and I began to blush furiously.
“Unless… you want it to happen?”
“No!” I exclaimed too quickly, my cheeks heating up even further. “No… I just…” I trailed off, frowning as I quickly racked my brain for a valid excuse. The reality of the situation was I didn’t even know myself. “I just prefer to go with you than with anyone else,” I finally said, both to him and myself.
“I’ll take care of it, Emily,” he reassured me, looking down at me with an expression I hadn’t seen come across his handsome features before, “I promise.”
I nodded before smiling slightly at him. “I know you will. Thank you.” I wrapped my own arms around his waist as I pulled him into a hug. Adrian instantly pressed himself against me and rubbed my back comfortingly, making the small smile stay glued onto my lips from the comforting gesture.