Enchanted (Billionaire Boys Club #2) | ongoing

Chapter 13

Donatella:

Over the next couple of weeks, I get comfortable with the new routine.

Evening sessions with Darius, which are basically no longer about the project. Around a third of them we actually do work. Spending my lunch periods at his table or with him and his friends.

It feels like a new normal. Though, that little voice in the back of my head keeps coming up and telling me not to get my hopes up. To just wait and see. Perhaps this adjustment is just temporary. Maybe it will end when the project is over. Or maybe he even pities me because I told him I didn't have any friends.

I've always been one to look more on the positive side of things, however.

I'm beginning to feel like I know him a little better. The new him, that is. Because one thing is for sure.

He is not the same boy that I remember.

Well, of course not, but you know what I mean.

There are some similarities. But other things are different. Very different.

Take his... promiscuity, for example.

Whenever I'm with him, he's either being approached by girls who want his number, which he gives without protest. Or, if he's with some of his friends, they tease him for such actions.

I'm not oblivious. I've known that he was a player as soon as rumours started years ago. He'd be seen with a different girl almost every week.

But it's just different to watch it up close. To realise how much he's changed.

Not that what he's doing is a bad thing.

Just, a curious thing.

I can't imagine giving myself to so many people without the possibility of something real.

I can't fathom giving my body and soul to someone who doesn't truly want it. Who won't take care of them.

Personally, I want to be loved.

I want someone to care for me. To enjoy my company. To like me for who I am and be sure that I'm enough for them.

God, do I just want to be enough for someone. To mean something.

To be worth remembering.

Ugh, I'm going back there again.

Optimistic thoughts, Donatella.

I blow out a breath and glance in Darius's direction to see him with the tip of his pen pressed to his lips and his eyes focused on his phone. It's a Wednesday and we're at The Jade Palace for another session. Surprisingly, this is one of the nights where we're actually focusing on the project.

I certainly understand why he gets so much female attention.

Looking at him now, and in general, really, I can't help but be aware of how beautiful he is.

His hair is thick and dark and a few strands fall onto his forehead, no doubt causing girls to want to brush them back. His obsidian eyes are endless and framed by long lashes most girls must be jealous of. His lips are full and pink and behind them are a set of straight, white teeth, which paired together create a killer smile. His skin is clear, unblemished. And he has sharp cheekbones that sit high on his perfectly sculpted face.

And if his looks weren't enough, he's also a hockey player. A great one, at that. Already having college and literal NHL scouts fighting for him, which I've learned from not only his friends but also from his not so subtle yet infrequent gloating.