Falling For The Playboy

EVA

Standing a few feet away from Laura, was Axel. It all seemed to happen in slow motion as he frowned, dipped his hand into his front pocket, and pulled out a phone with a black pouch. My black pouch. He frowned at the screen, probably after seeing the caller ID, and his head swiveled in my and Laura’s direction.

Of all the boys in Ivacy High, it just had to be him. Axel freaking Arthur.

He stared at us blankly for a bit, seeming to see only Laura, then his head moved infinitesimally and he was looking at me. His frown deepened and his eyes darted back to the phone in his hand. Instantly, his eyes flew back to mine, finally putting two and two together.

I expected him to scowl at me or look away, basically anything that portrayed anger. I had been ignoring him for the past two weeks, after all. I sure as hell wasn’t expecting-or prepared for the breathtaking smile that spread across his face.

Butterflies rioted violently in my stomach, almost making me dizzy with the force. It had been so long since the last time I saw his smile and it felt like I had been starved for it. Unable to look away, I whispered to Laura, “It’s Axel. ”

“Huh? ”

With a great deal of effort, I turned to her. “Axel. He’s the one that took my phone. ”

Her eyes widened and she located him in the crowd instantly, boring holes into his head with the force of her glare. “I guess you know what to do then. ”

“Me?! ” I gaped at her. “You’re not going? ”

“Why would I? ” she looked genuinely appalled.

“Weren’t you the one that lost the phone? ”

“I didn’t ‘lost’ it. It’s with Axel. ”

“And whose fault is it that it got into his hands in the first place? ”Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.

“Mine. ” She admitted easily. “But I helped you find it. Isn’t that enough? ”

No. No, it wasn’t.

Narrowed eyes faced me. “Why don’t you want to go to him? What are you not telling me? ”

I sucked in a breath. How quickly she turned the tables on me.

“What do you mean? ”

“You like him, don’t you? ”

My eyes darted away. “No, I do not. You were the same person that warned me to stay away from him. I’m only doing what you asked. ”

A brow lifted. “Right. Okay, I’m telling you to go get your phone from him now. ”

Was that how she wanted to play it?

Why had I even listened to her in the first place?

Because, despite everything, you know she’s right.

Still.

“You’re a hypocrite. ”

Her jaw dropped, surprise stealing into her features. “Um, ” she blinked. “Is it 2030? When did you get this bold? ”

I shook my head, turning away to stare at Axel who was watching us with rapt attention. When he looked at me, there was too much satisfaction on his face. It annoyed me that I was going to have to go to him.

“Go get your phone, Eva. ” Laura whispered in my ear like a little witch.

“I will. ” I bit out.

“Of course you will. ” she said, a cunning smile playing on her lips.

I couldn’t focus on anything for the remainder of the excursion. My eyes kept drifting to Axel. I kept asking myself how I was going to get my phone back.

Opportunity presented itself, however, when we went back to the hotel and everyone relocated to their rooms after a brief stern talking-to from Mrs Philomena. She wasn’t exactly happy with us.

Laura did some work and got his room number for me and I made the walk to his room like a prisoner headed for death row. I stopped several times and almost turned around. But there was no running away forever. I was going to have to talk to him one way or the other.

Steeling my spine, I lifted my hand to the door and knocked twice. There was some shuffling on the other side and then voices like they were arguing on who was going to get the door. After a beat, said door flew open.

I blinked once, then twice, color rising to my cheeks instantly, my skin tone be damned. There was no hiding the blush on my face.

Vaughn’s cold grey eyes assessed me -there was no other word to describe the way with which his eyes bored into my soul- as though I were a tiny bug that had ventured onto his path and he wasn’t quite happy about that.

He didn’t speak; I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t find my voice.

Was I in the wrong room?

I took an involuntary step back, stopping short when I collided into a hard body.

What the-

“The fuck are y’all doing staring at each other in the hallway like fucking creeps? ”

I swiveled on my heel at the sound of the new voice, coming face-to-face with Alexander. He stood so close to me that my nose was mere inches from his chest and when I looked up at him, it felt like I was staring at a mountain.

Okay, I was definitely in the wrong room.

The amount of testosterone I got from them standing in my personal space like that, one in front and the other behind me, was too much for me to bear. It felt like they were caging me in. I felt suffocated and overheated. It was an overload to my senses that made proper thinking impossible.

“I-I think I’m in the wrong room. ”

I made to side-step Alexander but he must have seen the move coming. He easily caught me, flipping me around with his hands on my shoulders, and gave me a light shove into the room -and right into Vaughn.

“You’re not. ”

The door slammed shut behind me.