Asi has hated Alaz Soysalan since their first day at university. He is everything she despises in this world: brash, arrogant, and entitled. Unfortunately for her, he's also highly intelligent. They quickly became bitter rivals, with both competing...
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this idea came to me randomly and i've been unable to stop thinking of it since. so here we are. i hope you enjoy this sneak preview of the tension that's to come! the first official chapter will be posted within the week :)
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"But you won, Asi. How are you still this angry when you won?"
She whirled around to face Alaz and watched as he immediately stopped in his tracks. There must have been something in her eyes that shocked him and, if it were any other time, she would've reigned in her expression and presented the serene yet antagonistic mask she always put on in front of him. But now, after the humiliation she'd just suffered at his hands, she was beyond the point of caring. She was sick of acting like nothing he said or did ever touched her. She wasn't some impenetrable fortress. She was a woman. So, for once, Asi let the truth fly out of her mouth.
"Because you didn't even try! You just let me win and it's not the same, okay? You didn't give me the respect—the fucking decency—of seeing me as an actual opponent, someone worthy of your best. And that hurts. It hurts more than any other failure I've experienced."
"Can't you see I did it for you? I'm giving you an out. You're so disgusted by the idea of being anywhere near me. You couldn't even look me in the eyes today, Asi. So I'm giving you a fucking out. Take it."
"Well, maybe I don't want an out."
Alaz's mouth was already open, poised for his turn in their typical verbal sparring match, but he closed it quickly. It was then that Asi noticed a bead of sweat making its way down his neck and then disappearing beneath the collar of his dress shirt. She shifted her weight from one leg to the other. She thought back to her dream from the night before. She remembered the way the dream version of Alaz had shoved her into the book stack while sucking lovingly on her neck, the perfect mix of pain and pleasure. She wondered now if it would feel just as good if the actual man standing in front of her did the same thing. The thought that it could be even better was as thrilling as it was terrifying.
Alaz took a step forward and Asi instinctively moved back.
"Why is it that you wanted me to win the debate tonight, Asi?"
"I didn't want you to win. I just wanted you to try."
"Okay. Well then, why was it so important to you that I try? Why did you want me at my best tonight?"
"I already told you. I wanted to best you when you were at the top of your game. It would have made my victory that much sweeter."
"And there's no other reason?"
"What other reason could there be?"
Alaz had kept moving toward her as they had spoken and Asi had kept moving back. She finally hit a cool surface and Alaz quickly caged her in by resting each of his hands on the wall near her head. She was right not to have let him close to her. His smell was so intoxicating; Asi was sure she was getting drunk off of it.
"I think there's a part of you that wants me to win," he said and she wanted to wipe the smirk off his face with a slap. "Perhaps that's why you're angry, huh? You're not mad at me. You're mad at yourself. Because you want me, don't you, Asi?"
