Cropped out - an Oscar Piastri x OC fic

Chapter 30- Trust me

Eliana:
I can feel the mist hit my skin as we get closer to the waterfall. I'm glad that I wore my bikini because the sun is so hot it's taking all my effort not to jump in any body of water that we've passed. And it doesn't help that Oscar removed his shirt a while ago, his body shining with a thin layer of sweat and mist. So, yes, I may need to cool off because he's made me hotter than I need to be.

He keeps running his hands through his hair, and my eyes keep lingering on the movement, desire driving me to do the action for him. It's making me feel like I'm on the brink of combusting.
There had been plenty of men in University back in England that would walk around with no tops on, especially around the gyms after a workout. But i've never experienced this ... burning pull in the company of anyone else. My eyes keep flicking to Oscar, mapping him out. Every nerve ending sparked at his nearness, the warmth of his skin as he brushed past me.

In truth, it's the same set of reactions I'd had to him when we met, but amplified, fulled less by hatred and more of the painful reality of what he does to me. As though in the peeling off of his layers, some of mine had been removed as well. I mean...physically and emotionally, considering that I'm just in my orange bikini and some linen shorts, but that's beside the point.

This trip, being alone with him, in such a new environment has given me time to think. But I don't want to think. It scares me, this epiphany that he isn't unattractive. That maybe hatred is a form of passion. And that maybe I don't hate him as much as I thought.

We walked down a dirt path until the sound of crashing water met my ears. Oscar led the way and looked back when he stopped, a smile on his face.

"Oh." I breathed as I walked next to him. "Oscar, it's breathtaking."

The pool of water at the bottom frothed and spat up more water as the fall hit it, sending out a wave of light mist, rainbows forming where the sun shone through. There's a crowd of people, probably tourists like us, swimming and taking pictures in the water below.

"It's truly beautiful, Oscar. Thank you for suggesting this."

"No problem." He shrugs. "Actually..." he grabs my hand, fingers brushing against my bare thigh where my arm was, and I feel my face heating. I'm pulled away from the busy waterfall by Oscar without explanation.

"Where are we going, Oscar!?" I shout at him, but it comes out less loud because I laugh at the weirdness of it all. "The waterfall is back there, we literally stared at it. Or are you blind and forgot to tell anyone?" I'm trying to watch my feet, to make sure I don't trip because the last thing I need is to fall straight into the back of Oscar as he hauls me along by the hand.

"Trust me."

I swallow. Do I trust him? I want to. Before my brain processes it, I feel the light breath come out as I whisper, "okay." I don't know if I imagined it, but Oscars hand might have squeezed mine harder, almost as if he appreciated me trusting him.

—
After a few minutes of being dragged by Oscar he stops and I nearly crash into his back.

"Fucking idiot, you can't just stop in the mid-" but the hand still clasping mine pulls me to his side.

In front of me lies a large expanse of mini platforms, all full of water and acting like mini waterfalls. It's like multiple infinity pools stacked like stairs. Behind it is a giant waterfall that splashes into the pool at its foot. It's all surrounded by a copse of trees, a forest dense with natural beauty. It's somewhere I imagine a fairy to live.

My breath catches in my throat, "How did you-"

"Lando's been here before. He recommended it."

I look at him, genuine happiness on my face. I squeeze his hand and whisper "Thank you. It's beautiful."