Bad Habits

Chapter Twenty

𝐸𝑛𝑧𝑜 ☽

I walked down with my fingers entwined with Aurora's. She was squeezing my hand so tightly, so I tried my best to reciprocate the tightness, but failed to do so.

"Rory, okay?"

She nodded. "I'm okay."

"We can eat fast and head straight to bed."

She nodded and let out a choked yes. She then cleared her throat and stood up straighter. "I shouldn't be nervous. I should not be nervous."

I let go of her hand and stepped in front of her. She looked up at me before I pushed her up against a wall and caged her in between my arms. She didn't move, she just stood there, staring up at me.

"You are allowed to be nervous, Rory. You haven't seen your family in four fucking years. You are allowed to feel nervous, you allowed to be terrified, you are allowed to feel things like normal people do. It's what makes you human, so please never ever tell yourself you aren't allowed to feel shit, okay? We've talked about this, my love."

I don't know why I called her 'My love' but it just felt... So. Fucking. Right.

She nodded eagerly. Then, she calmly wrapped her arms around my neck and stuffed her face into my chest. It wasn't like we hadn't hugged before, but this one was like none of the others we had had.

She was cold to the touch. I wanted her to steal my warmth, I wanted her to stay attached to me until she was burning hot.

I just wanted her. I needed her.

She slowly pulled back and as much as I wanted to grab her by the waist and hold her against me for the rest of my life, I knew I couldn't.

We barely knew each other. I'm her fake boyfriend, we can't be anything else.

But I knew I had to have hope, because I was slowly falling in love with Aurora Rae.

My fucking assistant.

"Enzo?"

I shook my head to clear the thoughts. "Sorry, spaced out. Let's go."

I pivoted on my foot and latched my hand onto hers once again. She twisted our arms and leaned into me more, sighing softly.

We walked down the stairs and into the dining room. I took my time to admire the house. It was beautiful, but it looked worn out.

We eventually made it into the dining room to find everyone already sitting there and staring at us. I immediately felt a bit awkward, but just straightened and steered us into the direction of the two empty seats left for us.

"Hey," Aurora said in a harsh whisper as she sat down and put the cloth on her lap.

"Evening." Her father said with a smile.

Her mother put a handout and gestured to the food in the middle of the table. "Please, help yourself."

Aurora smiled, but I instantly knew that it was her fake one. So, I put some food on my plate, and then let my free hand slide under the table. My hand found her knee and gently squeezed it.

She tensed, so I removed my hand.

But she quickly grabbed it and put it back on her knee. Her hand fell on top of mine, and she laced our fingers together.

I fought to hide my grin.

"So, Enzo. I don't think we have formally met each other. I'm Andrew." Aurora's father said as he put a handout. I reached out and shook it, earning a smile from him.