♡
fifth
chapter
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: perfect gentleman my ass
a/n:
thanks for reading!
x
The night doesn't last very long. We go back in eventually, after polishing off the alcohol, and Kai leaves with her parents. Mine, however, aren't done networking, so I hang around the back of the hall, a carpeted area, where refreshments line a long table draped in red silk. I fill up a porcelain plate with tiny little macarons and tarts.
"Try the eclairs." Comes a male voice, out of completely nowhere.
I start, dropping the tart I'm picking up. I look on sadly as it bounces off the table and rolls onto the floor only to be smushed into the carpet by a fat, balding dude in a suit.
What a shame.
"I hate eclairs." I sigh, looking up to shoot the boy a look of annoyance. "And you made me drop my tart. It was the last one."
The sides of his mouth quirk up in a semi grin and he tilts his head to one side, staring at me. I stare right back.
With his looks, who wouldn't?
He's tall, lean, but filled out, dressed in a crisp white button down and black tapered dress-pants. His hair is dark and styled effortlessly in an upward sweep. He stands lazily, cradling a champagne flute in one hand, while the other's jammed into a pocket.
He's got an air of boyish insouciance, which, for some reason, I'm wildly attracted to.
Pull yourself together, Cassia.
"It's really not my fault you're a klutz." He shrugs, taking a step closer to me. He plucks a macaron off my plate and pops it into his mouth. His espresso eyes seem to laugh at me.
I stare at him for a second in what I think is a mixture of annoyance and silent wonderment.
"Is this your idea of picking up girls?" I raise an eyebrow, secretly delighting in the way his grin gets wider. "Calling them clumsy and then stealing their food?"
"Usually works." He swallows and fixes me with a grin. "Better I steal your food than something else, though, right?"
"Depends on what something else you're talking about." I shoot back, allowing myself a small grin.
"Would you believe me if I said your heart?" He smiles, and I quickly decide that his smile is the one of the most adorable things I've ever seen, coming up a close second to baby animals, maybe.
"No." I scoff, taking a step towards him so that he's inches away from me. I catch a whiff of Bleu de Chanel and it's all I can do not to sniff the air like a bitch. "You're obviously not the romance kind."
"Damn." He mumbles, raising his hands in surrender for a brief moment, before putting his lips to his glass, tilting his head back, and taking a sip of champagne. His jaw could cut diamond. "Am I that predictable?"
"Let's just say I know one when I see one." I reach out to fiddle with his collar and something in the air sizzles.
"A hot guy?"
A scoff is my only response and his free hand comes to rest on my hip.
I point a brownie at him. "I meant, I know an f-boy when I see one."
"F-boy?" His eyes twinkle in amusement and I look up at him darkly.
"I'm making an effort not to swear."
He laughs softly, shaking his head. I just stand there admiring his hair. "What's your name?"
"Where's the fun in telling you?" I give him a mischievous smile and the edges of his lips quirk up.
"Well, I was gonna go outside for a walk, if you'd care to join me." He arcs an eyebrow, and I smack myself internally for finding it so sexy. This boy has clearly never heard a no before in his life.
I almost want to decline this invitation just to show him not every girl would jump at the chance to hang with him, but really now. An invitation to go outside with a really hot boy, with a possibility of fooling around some... who could resist?
Not me, anyway.
"How do I know you're not some psychopath who preys on innocent young girls?" I tease.
"Do I look like a serial killer to you?" He demands, grinning fully now, and showing off his perfectly straight pearly whites. "And, innocent young girls?" He continues, "I doubt you're either young or innocent."
"Looks can be deceiving." I shoot back, letting go of his shirt and pushing him lightly. "I want some more champagne."
He scoffs, and I notice how dark his eyes are. They're like pools of ink. "Your looks are anything but deceiving." He waits for me to get my champagne, and then takes my plate from me and setting it down on the table. "No need for that."
"So bossy." I chirp, following him out one of the side exits, third champagne flute in hand, into the crisp autumn night and onto a white stone path. We follow it into the garden, silence settling between us.
"How do I know you're not going to murder me?" I pipe up. The crackly leaves rustle in the breeze and I look up at the sky – a pitch black abyss, dotted with stars. It's a beautiful night out.
"I assure you," He snakes an arm around my waist and draws me closer. His warmth and his smell drives me nuts. "I'm a perfect gentleman."
"Gentleman?" I cock my head to look at him. "You look like the kind that would spend his summer partying, drinking and hooking up with girls."
"What if I actually volunteered at a retirement home?" He challenges, and his thumb traces circles along my side and I shiver.
"Then I'd say your looks are freaking deceiving." We go down another path, and end up at a pavilion, lit dimly with a string of fairy lights. A blast of wind hits us square in the faces and he pulls me really close, his warmth seeping into me.
"I'm not sure if that's a compliment or an insult..." He looks down at me. Our faces are inches apart, our bodies even closer.
"It's what you think it is." I shrug, giving him a cheeky smile. "At least you're cute, though."
"Cute?" He looks slightly put off, dark brows raised, challenge in his eyes.
"I mean. These eyes?" I cup his face with my hand and let my thumb run down the side of his eye. "These dimples?" I brush his cheek, before finally reaching his mouth. "These lips?"
His lids lower slowly and the hands on my waist drop to my hips. "These lips can do very un-cute things."
"What things?" I have the cheek to challenge, hooking my arms around his neck. The autumn wind rustles through the dying trees, brushing against my cheeks, and I feel light and carefree, like the red and yellow leaves flitting down around us.
"Lots of things." He murmurs
"I asked what." I look him dead in the eye, and he holds my stare.
"Ever heard of show, not tell?" He chuckles.
"Then shut up and show me."
And shut up and show me he does.
My champagne flute drops to the ground, abandoned by my hands that have better things to occupy themselves with, and I realise, right then, a whole bunch of things.
1. I've been kissed by amateurs all along
2. Anyone could stumble upon us and rat me out to either one of my parents
3. Even worse, one of them could actually stumble upon us and I'd be a sitting duck
4. It's actually quite cold out, but I feel pretty hot
5. THIS is how you kiss a girl
He's got this whole slow yet fast, gentle yet firm way of kissing, where he kisses me so freaking well, to the point I would actually believe him if he told me we were soulmates and that he was deeply in love with me. He pushes my sleeves down a little way, leaving my shoulders exposed to the breeze.
Now before you call me a slutty-ass ho, I don't usually do the whole kiss-a-stranger-I-just-met thing, unless I'm really pretty stoned, which I'm not. I don't even think I'll regret this later on, because it's so freaking nice.
His hands go everywhere but nowhere at all, if that makes any sense. They grip my waist, slowly running up my sides, and I can feel the warmth of his hands through the very fabric of my dress. His thumbs skim over my ribs, but the moment they so much as approach their designated destination, his hands slip back down and land on my hips, leaving me slightly relieved, but also burning for the touch that never comes.
It's when his hands are just about to travel all the way north when my blasted phone rings, shocking us out of our daze and effectively putting an end to our little make out session.
He pulls away, a glint in his eyes and a secretive smile across his lips. His lips, oh my gosh. He wasn't exaggerating one bit.
I cut the call and smile up at him, pressing a kiss to his jaw while pulling my sleeves back up over my shoulders. "Perfect gentleman my ass."
And then I duck under his arm and leg it before he can respond, leaving him standing in the dark.
x
heyy! ok i hope you enjoyed this chapter, i spent so long on it just trying to get the dialogue and mood right :') do give this a vote or comment if you feel like it! actually, do it even if u dont feel like it LMAO ok bye