That One Ride

Chapter 32: Dont you dare

Teresa's POV

Champ de Mars was stuffed, blinking with energetic bodies, plastering various emotions. Alex and I were walking for half an hour now... just walking in the sides with our hands tangled, unaware of the path we were choosing. Such solitude we enjoyed, made my heart jump. Neither of us uttered a word. It seemed like we didn't have to say anything and keep our minds to ourselves. He was brooding in silence, as from time to time he held my hand tight.

I was happy that the dinner went well. Better than expected, to be honest. His parents were genuinely interested in mending the broken bond with their son. I accept I was afraid of the way Alex reacted, not sure if he would even talk to me. But as the pages unfolded, his anger towards me dissipated and grew to other concerns.

Alex took a U-turn to take us back to the car.

"I am sorry, choco pie," I said.

As cringing as it sounded, his face showed his disgust with a wrinkled nose, at the nickname I had just given him.

"Never call me that again."

"Are you still angry with me, my chocolate cookie?"

"Umm... never mind, choco pie is fine. I am not angry with you, rather grateful that you tricked me for this dinner. You know, I guess it was my anger all those years that I didn't want to believe the other side of the situation." He smiled at me, making me sigh in relief. My tense shoulders released the weight of guilt.

"I know it is hard to accept sudden changes, let alone having this big of a change. I wanted you to have closure with them. Good or bad, I couldn't care. And I am happy that the dinner turned out well."

I felt his hand tightening around me. My lips curved upwards in a grin, flashing my teeth at him. I wrapped my hands around his bicep to hold his hand as we continued to walk. His face was a canvas of calmness with a neutral expression hovering over his eyes, and the honey brown shade shining with the light. He snapped his head towards me, catching my hand in action as he smirked. I shook my head, completely aware of the fact that he knew I was watching him. I loved doing it. Staring at him for as long as possible without blinking.

Like a gentleman he was, he opened the car gate for me as we reached parking. I kept my gaze on the road ahead, as Alex drove us back home, handling the steering wheel with one hand. His veins popped at the same time his biceps bulged out of his shirt when he took a sharp turn and my stomach made weird flips at the mere action. I bit my bottom lips hard enough to hold back my desire.

My eyes were fixed on the road ahead. Robert knew about me, and Alex knew about this. Nesta mentioned I was considered Alex's weakness now. I never wanted to examine the depths of my love for this man beside me, because I knew I was going to find a pool of fears at the bottom. To say that I was ignoring all of it would be correct. He had a different life from me, a dangerous one. Alex's power was hard to not notice. That day at the party where I encountered Adam, I saw people bowing their heads out of respect and fear.

As much as my chest puffed with pride, I knew I did not belong here. I knew how I lived was the complete opposite of his lifestyle. And then there was the truth that I was the one who he had been trying to protect at the stake of his everything. A ping of hurt flashed through my heart as my eyes shouted to spill tears from my eyes which was difficult when I was a mess of emotions. Was I that selfish to stay with him with the knowledge of it? Did that make me a terrible lover? I did not know. I couldn't identify the solution to it either.