†𝖜𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖉 ∞ ongoing

chapter 24 ∞ red flags

Jack

Something I don't understand keeps drawing me to her. It feels similar to a compelling force I can't escape — it continues to magnify her aura to my own like the pointer of a compass absentmindedly follows the North. And god, fuck me. The way I'm attracted to her can't ever be spoken in verbal words.

Nova

My hand is tingling under his grasp. And every time he touches me it leaves a warm imprint on my skin.

"You down for a drive?"

I redirect my attention to him as my thoughts scatter. He's smirking, a slight tilt to his mouth appearing when I feel my cheeks heat up.

"Yeah, uh for sure." I mutter, wiping the back of my hand to my cheeks again. The sun is almost down and I'm almost sure my cheekbones are the same color as the sun sitting on the horizon.

Once we get to his black Jeep, he keeps a hold of my left hand while opening the backseat to grab my towel I left in my bag. He doesn't really say anything and instead reads my body language like  it was second nature to him. And it shocks me. I've known him for less than a month and he's picking up on things I didn't know even mattered to him.

Finally letting go of my fingers, he wraps the towel around me making sure it covered what it could. Although it barely dried off half of my upper torso, it didn't matter in the slightest bit to me. I feel a sudden force pull me closer to him  the next second and it scares the shit out of me when I realize my face is merely inches away from his collarbone. Immediately looking down as if it would help, I'm only met with an absolutely glorious view of his chest and abs.

My god. The things I'd let this man do to me.

"You're still shaking an awful lot, Via." His hands grip onto the towel around me. I can feel his eyes gazing downwards. His body heat is literally rebounding warmth onto my own skin.

"I'm okay." I say only loud enough for him to barely hear and he chuckles. I know he's smirking from above me. And I stand correct when his hands lift my chin to face him directly.

"Yeah?" His voice is at a raspy whisper, "You sure?" I could swear my knees almost gave out from beneath. Again, I feel his thumb glide gently across the flesh of my cheekbone when my eyes grow wide at the feeling of a hand on my waist, drawing me in. I hold onto my towel at my sides to prevent it from slipping but mainly to keep myself together from this tension. One more move from him and I'm unraveled.

"Wanna get in the backseat?"

For some reason, those words wake me up more than anything. I can't tell if he really means it or if he's just trying to play sarcastic. He's always been a walking red flag but everything looks green lately. He's not exactly my type — he's so much more enticing it keeps the adrenaline running. And I love the feeling more than anything.

"Why, are you horny?" I ask in a soft tone that makes him wear a look of surprise as his eyebrows raise.

"Woah," his voice is abnormally surprised, "I didn't see that coming from you." His eyes skim over my face and waver at my eyes, a flicker of lust drifting past.

"Why's that?"

"You seem innocent. Almost vanilla in that way. At least that's the vibe I get from you." He removes his hands from my body as he steps away and leans his back to the side of his car, tilting his head in thought.