C27 Twenty Seven

Selena's POV

The moment the door shut behind me, my lungs totally forgot how to work.

I walked fast, a little bit too fast down the corridor, despite wearing Crocs they made an echoing sound as I walked away, and my heart made uneven beats that echoed louder than my thoughts.

I didn't look back.

I couldn't.

Not when my skin was still humming from where he had touched.

Not when my mouth still remembered how his lips tasted.

"Pull yourself together," I muttered under my breath as I finally got to the main door.

The cold slapped me hard the second I stepped outside,the wind blew all over me as I sucked in a breath that burned all the way down.

I fumbled for my keys and my hands kept shaking like I'd just survived something catastrophic.

Or committed it.

"Nothing happened," I whispered to myself as I unlocked my car. "Nothing happened... Nothing happened between us."

I slid into the driver's seat and slammed the door shut, sealing myself into the quiet car.

My reflection stared back at me from the windshield.. with her eyes too bright, her cheeks and lips flushed in the color red or is it pink, and her pulse still racing.

I pressed my forehead against the steering wheel.

"Goddess what.. what just happened?," I breathed. "That was too close."

The engine roared to life, too loud in the empty lot, and I pulled out, tires crunching against ice as the arena lights faded behind me.

The road stretched ahead and as I drove past the houses they all blurred like accusations.

I gripped the steering wheel tighter.

"I'm grateful," I told myself. "I should be grateful.. it didn't go further."

Nothing had happened.

No lines were crossed.

No irreversible damage done.

And yet..

My chest ached.

I swallowed hard, blinking back the sting behind my eyes.

"Why does it hurt then?" I whispered again even though I very well knew why.. I wanted him.

The car filled with silence, broken only by the hum of the engine and my uneven breathing.

I could still hear his voice.

Say stop.

Say it and I will.

I scoffed softly. "Liar."

Even though he had stopped.

It didn't really matter cause we both knew why he had.. because someone stopped us, because someone could have seen us.. if not.

The memory ambushed me.. his hands gripping my waist, the way his breath had stuttered when I'd said his name, the look in his eyes when the door handle rattled.

Raw.

Uncontrolled.

Terrified.

"That wasn't just the pull," I murmured.

Was it?

My foot eased off the accelerator as doubt crept in, cold and invasive.

He'd said things before he kissed me..

Things that had lodged themselves deep beneath my ribs.

I can't get you out of my head.

You undo me.

If this is the only way..

I shook my head sharply. "urggh.. Stop."

The bond made people say and do foolish things.

Dangerous things.

I'd known that long before Adrian.

The pull always twisted instinct, blurred reason, amplified desire until it masqueraded as truth.

And thanks to that bloody pond everything was now heightened to it's peak.

Indeed Adrian is strong, I mean for him to have been able to resist the pull.. he only acted on instint I'm sure, I mean I was just too close to him.

"That's all it was," I insisted. "Instinct."

But my body betrayed me with a quiet ache, a hollow space where his warmth had been and I clenched my thighs in response as I felt my juices slowly seep through my panties.

I laughed bitterly. "I know he didn't want to take it that far but God's why do I wish that he hadn't stopped?"

The question echoed in the car unanswered.

A red light forced me to brake, the car coming to a halt beneath a flickering streetlamp.

I stared at the red glow that had reflected on the hood, my mind spiraling.

I should go home. Lock the door.

And... Sleep.

Pretend today never happened.

Instead, my fingers tightened on the wheel.

"No," I whispered. "If I go home like this, I'll lose my mind."

I reached for my phone, screen lighting up the dark interior.

Raymond's name hovered in my recent messages.

'Party tonight. Don't forget.. You could use the distraction.'

I exhaled slowly.

Another party with me in attendance meant questions.

Eyes. Whispers.

And Adrian.

My chest tightened.

"Bad idea," I muttered.

I scrolled past, opening my contacts instead.

A quiet bar near the edge of the city flashed into my thoughts.. the kind with dim lights, low music, and strangers who didn't care who you were or what you were running from.

"That might work," I said softly. "Just one drink is all I need."

To unwind.

To forget.

To breathe.

The light turned green, and I drove on, my heart still pounding and my mind still at war.

"I'm relieved," I told myself. "I am."

Relieved that he'd stopped.

Relieved that we hadn't gone further.

Relieved that fate, or luck, or sheer terror had intervened.

But beneath the relief lived something uglier.

Disappointment.

The realization made my throat close.

"You're unbelievable," I whispered. "You should be ashamed."

I pictured his face when I'd stepped out from behind the locker-the tension in his shoulders, the way he'd looked at me like letting me walk away was the hardest thing he'd ever done.

"Did you mean it?" I asked the empty car. "Or was it just the bond talking?"

The road curved ahead, lights thinning as I neared the quieter side of town.

I could still feel his heat, his throbbing dick and his...

Could still hear the way he'd said my name.

Not cold.

Not angry.

Ruined...

My fingers trembled as I pulled into the bar's parking lot, the neon sign buzzing softly overhead.

I didn't get out right away.

Instead, I sat there, engine idling, staring at the door like it might give me answers.

"If it was just the pull," I murmured, "then why did it feel like something I'd been missing?"

The question scared me.

Because the answer wasn't simple.

Adrian wasn't just reacting.

Neither was I.

And that truth lingered, heavy and unresolved, as I finally turned off the engine and stepped out into the cold air again.

I paused, wrapping my coat tighter around myself.

"Get a grip," I told my reflection in the car window. "One drink. That's all."

But even as I walked toward the entrance, one thought refused to let go..

If that boy hadn't been interrupted...

Would he have stopped?

Or worse.. would I have prevented him from making me moan out his name as I chased another heavy climax.

"Fuck.. I need to get high"