Meeting You Again

Chapter 36

Ayla's POV

I stood in front of the bathroom sink holding the first-aid kit in my hands, with Tariq standing in between the sink and me. I thought for a moment on how to phrase my words. How was I supposed to put the antiseptic if his shirt was still on? But we can't just ask him to take his shirt off...

I felt heat creeping up my face and running towards my ears as I thought about Tariq shirtless, in front of me.

Taking a discreet deep breath, I focused my gaze on him. Get a grip Ayla. He's in pain and here you are imagining him shirtless.

"Lift your shirt up. How did you get cut here of all places?"

I turned my attention towards taking care of the cut, when I noticed two things. 1. His shirt kept on getting in the way. 2. He wasn't telling me how he got hurt.

"Tariq, lift it higher!" I got slightly (fine, a lot) frustrated looking at the shirt that wasn't allowing me to properly take care of the cut. However, I wasn't prepared for what he did next.

He simply just...took it off! I felt my brain go dead silent at seeing Tariq in front of me. Where do I look? Everywhere I looked it was just Tariq, and I couldn't get away from his naked top half.

"You..I..I didn't tell you to take it off?" My voice tapered to a soft whisper towards the end of my sentence.

I didn't think he would look this nice without a shirt on (total lie Ayla.) I got completely distracted, and before I knew it, I subconsciously quickly put the disinfectant, antibiotic cream, and band-aid, and slowly traced my hand downward.

So firm...

"Ayla?"

"Mm?"

"Ayla."

"Y-yes?"

Snapping out of whatever that was, I quickly averted my eyes and hands. I clenched my hands into a fist at sheer embarrassment on how I was acting. Have you never seen a man topless before Ayla? You're making a big deal out of nothing!

But this isn't any man! This is my Tariq!

As I kept on looking down, trying to look at anything but him, I felt something grip my waist tightly.

Bewildered, I looked down, only to see his hands were gripping me with seemingly lots of force, although I didn't feel any pain.

I looked up at him, only to take a step back in shock at how his eyes looked.

Normally, when I looked at these eyes, they were a dark brown, almost black color. But right now, his eyes were almost entirely pitch black, and his gaze held a profound message of a predator looking at prey, but also something else that I couldn't decipher.

All in all, I never saw this darkened gaze of his before. I felt a shiver run down my back, followed by the sensation of goosebumps on my arms. As I took another step back, his hands tightened their grip and pushed my waist forward until I almost knocked my forehead with his.

"Tariq?"

"Mmm?"

We were staring right at each other, his forehead leaning down on mine. I felt his deep voice vibrate and rumble from his chest, until his 'Mmm' surrounded all around me, making me confused with my surroundings. His grip on my waist did nothing to bring me back to earth, heck, it even made me more lost that I already was.

My hands rested on his shoulders, shocked at how suddenly he brought us this close. I could feel his warm breath grace my face, and I had no doubt mine was the same on his face. If I tilted my lips upward, just a little bit, or him downard, our lips would meet.