Roses and Flames (ongoing)

8. Thea

"Go back and tell him goodbyes. We're going."

What!?

"Where?" I blurted.

"You don’t want to be in here and I'm taking you home." He said.

"That doesn’t seem like a question," I said.

"Because it's not. Go before I change my mind," he said.

I crossed my arms and asked, "Whether you change your mind or not, I'm going by myself. Thank you for your concern."

I opened the door and went back to my date and beamed with a plastered smile, "Hey, I gotta go. It was nice meeting you by the way." Bullshit. All he did was talk about his endless achievements, not even giving a space for me to give my opinion.

I didn’t wait for his reply and walked to the door when I saw Tyler talking something to his date. So she is his date. She could do much better. I shook my head and took a stride when a hand grabbed my wrist. I stood there frozen. An electric shiver ran up my arm. Slowly turning my head, I looked up at him. His shoulders stiffened and he let go of my hand. Crimson crept to my cheeks and I turned my face away when he said, "You don’t have your car with you."

"What?" I had forgotten about the fact that I went to my apartment and came for the date with Emma, who dropped me off here. "Yes. I'm sure I can find-"

"Get in the car, Thea." He spoke softly.

I hesitated for a bit got in his car, and told him my address. Well, I can think of it as a cost-free ride. Nothing else.

I asked him genuinely out of curiosity when he started driving, "Why did you offer me a ride and asked your girlfriend to go alone?"

He replied, his eyes still on the road, "She isn't my girlfriend. It was just a date."

"Yeah, sure."
He rolled his eyes when I realized we were moving slowly. I checked how much speed he was driving at. 40!? There were only a few vehicles on the road.

"Do you really drive at this speed every time?" I asked.

"Huh? No." He gazed at me for a second and then back to the road.

"There isn't much traffic, you could go a bit faster, don’t you think?" I quipped.

"I don’t think you'd be very pleasant with the speed I usually drive, love," he smirked and accelerated.

"Hmm, much bette-" he sped up when I checked the speedometer. It's still increasing from 120km/hr!

"Hey, slow down, slow down. There are still cars on the road!" I wailed, grabbing onto the armrest for my dear life. I can see it has increased up to 150.

He finally slowed down laughing. He was laughing, and it was my first time seeing that. I thought he only knew to smirk. I watched him, forgetting about the pace we went. How didn’t I notice that he was this handsome? I knew it as a matter of fact, but, those dark eyebrows, hazel round eyes, sculpted cheekbones, chiseled nose, defined jawline, and full lips now widened into a gorgeous smile, just like one of the Greek gods. I wonder if his body is as defined as his face. I felt warmth all over my face. I shook my head when he hit the break causing my trance to break. This was Tyler Anderson for god's sake. What is happening to me? I must go consult a doctor soon. Why do I start blushing every time I think of him, see him, and when he calls me love!? I guess I've been single for so long that I go crazy over random people.

 
He raised one of his brows and I asked, "What?" it came breathless. Is the universe against me today? Not a good time to find out.

"I asked you a question," he said.

"Question?"

"What were you thinking that you didn’t hear me and made you blush?" he asked, clearly amused.

"I heard the question. I was thinking about the answer." I replied, turning my face towards the window so that he couldn’t see the embarrassment.

"And you blushed thinking about the answer?" His smirk turned into a smile.

"I didn’t blush. Actually, it’s an allergic response in my body." I lied, hoping he was going to believe that.

He grinned, shaking his head, "An allergic response whenever you're near me?"

The car came to a halt when I said, "It doesn't have to be with a certain person." I glanced through the window to see that we'd reached my place. I opened the door, and said to him, "Thanks for the ride. I'll get going then."

I walked into the entrance and smacked my head with my hand muttering, "Why did I lie again!?"

I got in the elevator when my phone pinged with a message

Mr. Anderson:  We should test your theory on allergic responses soon.