(Picture of Andrew Miller)
**read author's note at the end of the chapter please!
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"Jeez, my head is killing me." Cass stirs from next to me, groaning.
"Me too," Ally grumbles.
All of us had stayed over at the mansion after the party since it was late. And we were all practically either drunk or sleepy by the time anyway. Although there're plenty of guest rooms in the house, somehow Cass and Ally ended up sleeping in the same room, on the same Queen sized bed as me. God, you can imagine how my sleep went squeezing with two other person; one of them a blanket hogger.
I was already awake before them since I barely could catch a wink in that bed. "Need anything?" I ask, stretching my body as I finally sit myself up.
"Breakfast!" Cass squeals and I wince. It's way too early for that sort of high-pitched noise.
"Do you want something, Ally?" I am the least hungover of all, thankfully, and isn't having any headaches. "Medicine? Food?"
She nods restlessly and rolls to her side again without a word. Ally undoubtedly drank way more than any of us did, chugging cups after cups of Jack Daniels effortlessly. Despite finally getting to meet Wayne for real last night, it was short-lived as my brother quickly got himself a chick to hook up with; not sparing a second glance at our dear brunette.
I get down from the bed to the open closet, searching for a bathrobe to wear. The three of us had stripped down to our undergarments last night since sleeping in outside clothes was way too uncomfortable. Now wearing back the same clothes feels like a hassle and... a little dirty to me.
It's only 9:20 AM when I try to find my way down to the kitchen. Left hallway, first floor... nope, wrong. I groan. Why must a house be so goddamn big and not have signboards for directions?
I try the next hallway, fretting when I can't find the right route. Just as I turn around to leave, a door at the back creaks open. Zac emerges from what seemed like the garden, dressed in a casual t-shirt and checkered boxers.
"Hey, morning," he half-smiles.
"I'm lost." I furrow my brows.
"Where are you going to, dressed like that?"
"Kitchen. Those two are about to die and wants their last meal."
Last night, things went pretty okay since we were surrounded by the rest of them. I didn't have any moment alone with Zac again, so all the sexual tension was mostly forgotten. But now, with him walking right in front of me while I stare at his backview is beginning to jolt back embarrassing memories.
"What do you need?" He grins mischievously, I discreetly gulp. Hell, act normal, Kelsey.
"Uh, advil? Don't think you have breakfast here, do you?" I scope around the modern kitchen. Shockingly, it is a pretty regular sized one, resembling what normal households have other than the gold intricate carvings on the rims of all the counters and cabinets. But it seems... empty. The counters are clear of anything at all, other than a couple of appliances.
"This is just a spare kitchen," he chuckles. "The main kitchen is downstairs in the basement where our cooks work. But I've specifically requested all staffs to go on leave this weekend. I can make breakfast if you want, or we can go buy something back."
"Um," I hesitate. We already crashed at his home after a night, it doesn't seems right for him to still make breakfast for all of us. "It's alright. I'll just make them coffee first, then I'll settle breakfast for everyone." He nods, then opens up one of the top cabinets to retrieve a handful of coffee capsules.
On the counter is a red, compact coffee maker. I get the mugs next to it, rinsing them then return to it, observing Zac as he does the work for me since I'm clearly not familiar with operating the machine. As he works, I begin to realize I am standing shoulder-to-shoulder with him and it is frankly becoming harder to breathe in such a close distance. Suddenly, I look down at myself and feel weirdly naked and airy underneath the bathrobe I'm wearing.
"Hey," I poke his arm twice and look up at him. "Do you have something to lend me to wear? I kind of don't feel like wearing back the same clothes."
He smiles, and this time I can feel it's genuine as his eyes seems to dance a little. "Go pick something from my room. You remember where it is, right?" He adds on the last part while looking at me in the eye; his fingers lightly tapping a random beat on the counter top as he waits for the coffee to be ready.
"Uh—" I shake my head. "Right most hallway, third floor. The first door will be it." He directs me and I nod. Abruptly, he grips my wrist when I move behind him to leave, and pulls me back to his personal space. He looks down at me from his towering height and bends down to meet my face, his brown eyes casting not-so-subtle glances down my bathrobe. "Does that mean you're not wearing anything inside right now?" He whispers against my face and I smell a whiff of mint from his mouth.
God, how can anyone look and smell so good at nine in the morning? It should be illegal!
I feel my cheeks getting warmer and lift up my hands to poke his sides. This man is ticklish, and I wanted to get him back for deliberately trying to make me uncomfortable. As soon as I do it, I regret it. His face morphs into incredubility before his fingers come down to attack me mercilessly, making me squeak and giggle while I try to wriggle out of his grasp.
He has both of my wrists held against his chest while his free hand torture me. When I caught an opportunity, I shifted both my hands upwards and raised my index finger, giving him one hard poke at his armpits. He jerks back immediately, his hold on me loosening and I see that as my chance to escape. Oh! So his armpits are his weakness. That's a vital piece of information.
"Too bad!" I stick out my tongue at him and quickly scurry out of there.
I finally manage to take a good look of his bedroom. Unlike the guest rooms which are decorated with textured plain stripe wallpapers, his is entirely painted in light grey with a stone wall mural behind his king sized bed. On the left is his ensuite bathroom, while on the right is a glass sliding door that opens up to his walk-in closet. Right across the wall of his bed is a 45" wall-mount TV, a dark grey cozy loveseat taking up the space in the middle. At the right corner of the room is his desk and a business-like swivel chair where his PC, a couple of photoframes and some laminated certificates are placed.
I didn't want to snoop around his room without his permission, so I head straight to his walk-in closet. For fuck's sake this man has almost twice the amount of clothes I own. And shit, I already own a lot to begin with!
It is so huge and overwhelming that I don't even know what and where should I be looking for. At the side of the room is a matching ottoman to his loveseat, and I strut to it, picking up a strewn piece of clothing. It's his white dress shirt from the party yesterday, together with the rest of the suit. I pick it up and measures it against my body. It's pretty oversized for me and touches my mid-thigh considering our height difference, so I decide to go with it. He was going to wash this anyway, and I didn't think it'll be polite of me to take one of his new and ironed ones.
Besides, I've always liked the look of a woman dressing in a man's shirt but never had a chance of wearing one. I've even ever considered just going to the men's department and buy myself a couple of those, so I can pretend to be in that sexy, after-sex kind of look.
When I head back to the kitchen, Zac is already done with four cups of coffee. He eyes me amusedly when my outfit comes into view.
"Damn, are you trying to seduce me with my shirt, Kelsey?" He pushes one cup of coffee towards me while sipping his own.
I smile sheepishly. I didn't exactly have a reason why, but maybe a part of me actually wanted him. No, no. That's not what you're doing here! My head is beginning to have a debate with itself. "I just took whatever was convenient, sorry." I half-lie. I did in fact chose this with my own personal intentions. "I'll bring up their coffees for them. Thank you Zac."
I make my way back to the guest room having already spent fifteen minutes away. They're both spreaded out on the bed, still in their undergarments. Cass has her phone with her while Ally's just lying there with her eyes closed.
"Room service," I enter and place the coffees and pills on a bedside table.
Cass sits up excitedly but quickly frowns when she realizes there isn't any food. She pops the pill regardless and nudges Ally to take hers. "Hold up," she commands. "Is there something I should know about your outfit?" She arches a perfect brow.
As if on cue, Ally gets up on her elbows and scans me head to toe, smirking. "Did you just received another orgasm?"
Before we knocked out last night, they'd both hounded me for answers as to who the mysterious person was. Weirdly, neither of them were surprised to hear his name. Cass actually laughed and claimed she'd expected it while Ally merely gave me lots of suggestive expressions.
I turn my back against them, walking to the dresser to grab my car keys and phone. "I borrowed a shirt, that's what."
"You know what this look is called?" I spin around and raise an eyebrow at Cass. "It's called the boyfriend shirt!"
"Shut up," I roll my eyes. "I like the look. Not exactly about whose shirt it belongs to. And I'm informing you that I am the one on duty to get breakfasts for your lazy asses. You better not make me change my mind!"
Cass makes the zipping mouth action, staying silent for the sake of food.
Ally, on the other hand, clearly doesn't mind her food because she goes on to say, "I'm smelling denial in the cooking." Cass giggles.
"Okay then, Edison. I'm keeping that in mind later when I order your food."
———
"Ready to go?" Zac appears at the entrance of the spare kitchen, having already put on a pair of black sweatpants over his boxers, as I finish up my coffee. "Just leave it in the sink, we'll wash it later."
"You're coming with me?"
"Yeah. Do you not want me to?"
Well, yes, because things aren't really the same anymore. But you were the one who said to act as if nothing happened!
"Um, no. I just—"
"It's settled then!" He sweeps the mug away from my hand, running it under the faucet. "Let's go," his arm wraps around my shoulder as he urges me to move.
Dammit. This is going to be harder than I thought.
We ended up getting into his car instead of mine. We have the radio switched on, letting pop music fill up the silence so we barely have to talk. About halfway through the drive to a local breakfast shop, he begins to make his moves.
At a red light stop, he abruptly leans towards me, reaching his arm into the glove compartment. His head positioned right in front of my boobs while his arm constantly brushes my knees. I don't know why, but for some reason, I clench my thighs against each other; and as if he senses it, he goes back to his seat and chuckles silently.
Is...is he teasing me on purpose? Trying to get a reaction out of me?
Stupid body! Just a little sniff of his scent and you go melting! It was just once, one time! One vulnerable moment on bed and you let yourself give into weakness!
"You're acting really weird." I state, narrowing my eyes at an amused Zac.
"How?"
"L-like this! Flirting with me." I cross my arms. "You never used to be like that."
He smiles. The kind of smile that makes girls fall on their knees and just wanting to worship him. How dare he smiles!
"I mean, I did tasted something I really like last night. And I can't help myself for wanting it some more." He says, looking straight ahead at the road.
"Can you not!"
"Can't." He smiles at me. "It's not really just because of that, either. For the past two months I've been trying to put on the distant act thinking it'll work on you. You know, mysterious vibe and all. But clearly, you didn't catch up on that. And yesterday made me realize that, you can't resist me when I come close to you. So why will I stop? I want you to want me."
I keep quiet as he pulls up into the breakfast shop, not knowing what to say. He wants me to want him. But I'm not supposed to want him! Feelings will ruin things! Heck, I think it's already working since every single touch of his now makes me feel butterflies in my stomach.
"What do you want to eat?" He asks as we enter the shop and wait in line at the cashier.
"No idea." I glance up at the menu on the wall. There's the usual pancakes, waffles, eggs benedict... All of a sudden, I feel an arm wrapping itself around my shoulder from behind, pulling me close to a hard chest. Zac bends down to my ear and whispers, "you're drawing a lot of attention wearing my shirt, Kelsey."
I whip my head around, noticing a group of teenage boys at the next queue eyeing my direction. Zac tightens his grip, snaking his other arm around my stomach from the back. "Stop it," he growls into my ear and I giggle. Is he jealous?
"Hi, can we have the family feast please? And perhaps an extra set of hashbrowns." Zac orders at the counter. His left still refuses to leave my waist as I stand next to him.
"Having here or take away, sir?" The male cashier asks, his gaze flickering to me and the slightly translucent shirt on my body.
"Take. Away." Zac glares at the cashier, making him hurriedly look away. He reluctantly removes his arm to take out his wallet and I move towards the collection counter, leaning against it. Sensing eyes on me still, I proceed to unbutton the top button of the shirt and roll up the sleeves to my elbows. Since he likes teasing me to get a reaction, then I shall tease him back to get a rise out of him.
The group of teenage boys begin to chatter softly between themselves, taking turns to oogle at me. Seeing Zac walking towards me, I let my hands playfully trail down to the hem of the shirt; my fingers rubbing the material, revealing a little skin on my inner thighs. As expected, one tiny action is enough to entice hormonal boys— one of them wolf-whistles at me when they move up the line.
Zac strides towards me, his hands returning to my waist as if it's natural and standing in front of me; blocking the boys' view of me. "Jesus Christ. I regret letting you wear this shirt."
Being at his shoulder height, I crane up my neck to look at him, grinning. "Not my fault. I planned to go to a drive-thru initially. You're the one that wanted to come here."
"Next time, I'll handcuff you to me if you're not wearing any pants." He bends down to peck a gentle kiss on my forehead before going to collect our bags of food. I freeze, again. What...what is he doing to me?
We take a silent walk back to the car, neither of us saying a word to break the awkward tension. While he drives, I put my knees up against the dashboard— a weird habit of mine whenever I take the passenger seat. Zac lets out a loud sigh.
"What?" I turn to look at him.
"You're being distracting."
"I'm not doing anything?"
"Your legs," he shifts uncomfortably in his seat. "Put them down."
I glance down at my own legs, noticing that the shirt has ridden up my upper thighs. I look at him again, his brown eyes still carefully watching the roads. I sit back, deliberately wanting to rile him up with my exposed thighs and he curses under his breath.
As he pulls up the street where his house is, I begin to unclick my seatbelt. I may have begun to find it fun teasing Zac, because the next thing I did is completely in the spur of the moment. I shift to face him, leaning over the middle console and heading straight for the side of his neck.
"Wh-what are you doing?" Zac straightens up abruptly when my mouth touches his skin, lightly pecking a few open-mouthed kisses.
"K-kelsey, I—" my hand move to rest on his chest, my mouth still latching on him. "I'm trying to park."
His head slowly tilts a little, feeling himself giving in to my touch. As I feel the car going in reverse in his driveway, I rapidly suck hard on his neck; earning a low groan from him. With a pop, I release his skin and jump back into my seat, unlocking the door as soon as the car comes to a still. Before I can step out, Zac has his seatbelt undone and swings over to my side, his arms caging me in to my seat.
"A-are you mad?" I gaze at the red mark on his skin and stifle a laugh. Damn, it's been so long and I still have the skills.
"Did you just give me a hickey?" He mutters in a deep voice, making me cower back in fear. I remain silent. He takes a quick look in the rearview mirror before turning back to me, a smirk planted on his lips.
Before I can react, he sits back into his seat, his arms gripping my waist to lift me onto his lap; one hand holding the back of my head while he lowers his mouth onto my neck, the same way I just did to him.
• • •
A/n: I started a new book! A prologue and chapter 1 has been published. You can find it at my profile. Please give it a chance and remember to vote if you like it!
For him, he was desperate to find out the reason. He wanted to know why she left without a word. He wanted to hear it from her to believe it.
For her, she was bent on hiding the truth from him. She was afraid he'd find out, she was afraid to lose all that she had if he knew. She wanted him to stay away.
Six years later; This is their story.