“W-what’re you doing here?” I couldn’t even ask without stuttering.
Stormy gray eyes roamed my features, briefly glancing at my lips. They watched me as if they had waited too long…
I gave myself an inner shake. I was assuming things that weren’t possible.
“Well?” Voice firm this time. How did he even enter the ladies washroom? Oh yes, I forgot he owned this whole damn thing.
“Came to see if you’re okay,” he said, deep Greek accent was strong. Was he—mad?
“How many times do I have to tell you that you don’t need to be concerned about me? It’s not your job to care for me.”
“Someone has to if that so-called friend of yours can’t even take a stand for you like a loser he is,” he mocked, gaze hard.
Friend?
So, he knew what happened outside?
My eyes narrowed. “Excuse me? Don’t you think you’re crossing your limits here? You don’t have a right to talk about him in that way!”
A muscle of his jaw ticked. “I’m just stating the truth. Only a loser leaves their friend alone after she just got targeted by some drunkards.”
“He didn’t leave me. He-he just went to take a phone call,” I defended. “And I’m his girlfriend, not just a friend.”
His eyes flashed, nostrils flaring as he cocked his head. “Not for long.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, confused.
He stepped closer, making me stumble back. And then another until my back hit the wall, his towering figure blocking my escape.
“W-what are you doing? Step away.” The intense gaze of his had my heart skip. His intoxicating cologne filled my lungs. He needed to create some distance between us. It was too much.
Placing his hands on the wall, on both sides of my head, he leaned in; my heart thudded inside my chest. “I meant, you will not be his girlfriend for long.” Determination flashed across his eyes.
“How do you know that?” I whispered. His proximity was doing something to me.
When he brushed my cheek with his knuckles gently, a treacherous shaky breath left my lips. And then the bruise of his knuckles caught my eye. As I was about to ask him of his injury, my breath hitched at my throat when the pad of his thumb traced my bottom lip.
“You won’t be, because—” leaning in, he whispered in my ear, hot breath tickling my skin, “—you already belong to someone else.”
What?
My thoughts were everywhere, I couldn’t think straight.
To be able to comprehend his words, I pushed him away, building some distance.
“D-don’t come that near me ever again! And what do you mean by I already belong to someone else? Who are you talking about?”
He stayed quiet. The look in his gaze sent a shiver down my spine. I gulped.
No, no! It’s not what I was thinking. I must have misunderstood his eyes. After all, assuming wrong probabilities had ruined my entire childhood once. I wouldn’t make the same mistake again.
“You will know, soon.”
Again, incomplete answer.
I opened my mouth, but the pompous cheers and loud announcement cut me off. The race was finished, and the winner’s name could be heard from the gallery outside.
I looked at him. “Looks like the title ‘loser’ suits you more now.” My lips curved up at the winner’s name while he remained silent. “My condolences on your loss. Poor Jordan and the jockey, they tried hard, you know? Sometimes fate just doesn’t support you everywhere.”
“Em, you’re done?” Warner asked, appearing at the exit. Putting his phone in his pocket, when his eyes landed on Ace, confusion flashed over his face. But then he smiled. “Hello, Mr. Valencian.”
And Mr. Valencian stood still as a stone. His gaze on Warner was unreadable.
Jerk!
“Yeah, let’s go!” I linked my arm with Warner’s. Stormy eyes followed my moves. “Better luck next time.” I turned to go, pulling Warner along.
I didn’t know why I did that, but when I glanced back at him, something flipped in my stomach.
An almost non-visible smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. It whispered a secret I couldn’t unfold.
“What was he doing there?” Warner asked once we were outside.
I shrugged. “Nothing. You tell me, how do you know him? Even at that party, it seemed like you knew him even before anyone introduced you two.”
He laughed as if it was the silliest question someone has ever asked him. “Who doesn’t know Achilles Valencian?”
I rolled my eyes.
“Is there any problem between you guys?”
“Why do you ask?”
A shoulder of his lifted. “I don’t know, but… whenever you’re with him or hear about him, you always get tense.”
I tried my best not to get tense right now. “Nothing. It’s just… we never got along,” I lied. My tone told him not to query more. And he didn’t.
When we passed the place where those drunk guys were, I didn’t spot them anymore. But I did spot some drops of blood scattered on the ground. Frowning when I looked up, I found some guards dragging those guys away down the stairs to the exit. One of them was holding his bloody nose. He was the one who asked me if I was interested in his money.
Then the bruise on Achilles’s knuckles flashed in my mind. A silent gasp left my lips. Did he… did he do that to them?
But why?
When we got back down to our folks, I was still lost in my thoughts. But my sister’s gloomy face caught my attention. Of course. The horse she was cheering on lost. Tobias, on the other side, was grinning ear to ear as he poked Tess.
“See, I told you Jordan will lose. Now you owe me a thousand dollars!”
“But you weren’t supporting Cage either! So how come I lost the bet?” Tess glared.
“Doesn’t matter. The bet was about Jordan’s winning or losing. And he lost. So, the money is mine!”
Huffing, Tess slumped beside Caleb, who shook his head in amusement. “It’s all Ace’s fault! Why didn’t he tell me that this time he was betting on Cage instead of Jordan? It’s not fair!”
My eyes widened. He betted on Cage? Not Jordan? But I thought…
My gaze met Caleb. He flashed me a sheepish grin. “Even I didn’t know. But what I said turned out true, right?”
That he never loses.
Now I understood the meaning of his smirk back there. And here I was thinking he lost, calling him a loser to his face. God! He must’ve laughed at me in his head for my lack of knowledge.
I glanced at the VIP section. He was in his previous place, the dark sunglasses were back. People were surrounding him, must be congratulating, but his form was angled to us, telling me his gaze’s direction.
My eyes were set on his as I pulled Warner closer, hugging his arm. The tightness of his sharp shadowed jaw made my doubt clear. He was indeed looking at me.
But my sudden act, and his reaction… I shut down my brain before some realization set in my mind I couldn’t handle.
“The race is over now. So why don’t we go eat somewhere? I’m hungry,” I said, not wanting to stay there anymore.
Nodding, Caleb stood and pulled a grumbling Tess along with him. “Em is right, even I’m famished. Let’s go, honey, let’s get you a cold drink so you can cool down a little.”
When we exited through the gate, this time I didn’t dare to look back. Though I did feel the burning gaze lingering on me all the way until we were finally out of his sight.
After a whole day of roaming around the city, the day was finally over. Though I did enjoy with Tobias, Caleb, and Warner, the awkwardness of my sister’s presence always hindered my pleasantry.
Because whenever I see her face, I can’t help but remember that night…
I closed my eyes, shutting the door of those memories.
“You okay?” Warner asked. We just stopped outside my house after a long walk. I decided to take a walk instead of Tobias’s lift, thinking it might help me clear my mind. But it didn’t. The heady scent of his still lingered at the back of my mind, that deep yet husky voice still murmured in my ear.
My free hand balled into a fist.
“I’m fine, just a little tired.”
Smiling, he cupped my face. “I can understand, you had a long day today.” Brown orbs shone with adoration and love as they flickered to my lips. “You know, I’m happy I came here with you. I’d miss this amazing day if I hadn’t.”
I stopped breathing when his lips met mine. Closing my eyes, I waited for something, anything. But I felt nothing. Just a mingling of fleshes, that’s all. A burn felt behind my closed eyelids.
Even a kiss from a guy who I called my boyfriend couldn’t spark even a little of the sensation I feel with just his eyes on me.
Something built up in my chest. Frustration, guilt, and an overwhelming emotion I didn’t want to give a name to.
As his tongue parted my lips, I pulled away.
Hurt flashed across his eyes.
“I’m so sorry, Warner. I’m really tired right now. Can we go inside?”
Even if he was hurt, he covered it with a smile. And I couldn’t feel more terrible. “It’s all right, Em. I understand. Let’s go in and freshen up.” With that, he turned around. And I watched him walk away in silence.
Soft breeze touched my skin as I watched the dark clouds cover the light of the full moon. The stars weren’t awake tonight. The bare night offered nothing but the sounds of crickets.
They used to soothe my mind other times, but not tonight. They couldn’t tame the storm raging in my chest.
A stab of guilt hit me as I remembered Warner’s face this evening when I rejected him again. This wasn’t the first time I turned him down on being intimate with him. Not only him, in those past years, whoever I’d dated, I’d not gone anywhere past the kiss.
I just couldn’t.
And no guy would want to do anything with a girl who couldn’t even let them kiss her properly, let alone getting physical. But Warner wasn’t one of them. He respected my wishes and kept his distance. The most he touched me intimately was kissing me. Other than that, I couldn’t give him anything. And he never complained, even though I felt his desire to take our relationship to a next level.
But tonight, I couldn’t even give him a kiss.
A tear slipped down my cheek.
I swear, I tried. I tried my best to get out of my barrier, but I failed. The more I tried, the more I felt disgusted with myself. The more I felt my insides dying. Even if I closed a chapter of my life in my mind, those strings never left me.
The feeling of doing something wrong never left me alone. And I did wrong to myself by forcing myself to feel something for those men I dated. But I couldn’t make my heart beat for someone else like it did for him.
So, I stopped trying.
When Warner asked me to be his girlfriend, he knew of my condition. Though he didn’t know what happened in my past. But he knew of my broken heart. I told him I might never be able to love him back, but he said he wanted to give it a try. I didn’t want to hurt him in the process, but his persistence gave me hope. That maybe, I could feel love again.
But I didn’t.
Though he wanted a relationship between us, I agreed for my own selfishness. And I hurt the man who was always there for me when no one was.
And all of this because of my stupid heart. It just doesn’t know how to react to anyone other than only one person.
I gritted my teeth at the clench of my heart. Another tear fell free.
I wished I knew how to stop…
I wiped my eyes, sensing a movement behind me on the rooftop. Her sandalwood perfume reached me before she sat beside me.
We stayed silent for some moments before she finally spoke. “You’re still mad at me for that night, aren’t you?” Her gaze remained high in the sky, as the clouds slowly freed the moon.
“I can’t be mad at anyone when I was the foolish one,” I said, still not turning to her.
I saw her looking at me from the corner of my eye. “You weren’t foolish, Em. You were just a young girl in love with someone at a wrong place and time.”
I let out a dry laugh, my nails dug into my palms. “Funny, you were the one who made me realize my foolishness.”
I still remember that day when I confronted her about it, and how she laughed it off in my face, making me remember how naïve I was to even think a boy like Ace would want me instead of someone like her.
A soft sigh left her. “I’m sorry, Em. I know I behaved like a bitch that night, instead of like a sister. But, trust me, I never wished anything bad for you.”
After a moment of silence, she spoke again.
“Because of misunderstandings and childishness, we’ve lost a lot of years, Em. I-I missed my sister in these years. Even if you visited sometimes, you were so distant that I couldn’t reach out to you. And honestly, I never found that much courage.” The tremble of her voice made me glance at her. Blue orbs glistened under the moon. “I want the relationship we’d had before, Em. I want my sister back. Especially when the most important day of my life is approaching. Can’t we just forget the past and start over? A new beginning?”
“Why did you do it?” I knew it wasn’t the right time to ask her this when she was talking about a fresh start. But I had to know. It might be just a teenage girl’s heartbreak over her crush for her, but it was much, much more than that for me.
Looking away, she heaved another sigh. “I know you hate me for that. But trust me, Em, I never wanted anything bad for you. I’d always wished for your well-being.”
“Can you answer my one question?” I wanted to know why she did it. Why did she break my heart after knowing everything?
She seemed hesitant, but then nodded.
“Did you love him?”
