I Hate You, but I Love You!

Chapter Six: Chloe's Tiger Punch

I breathing heavy. I fixed my dress and moved my hair out of my face. I looked at Brian, who was staring at me.

"What?" I said, letting out a needed breath.

"You...did you just..." He seemed at a loss for words. Brian seemed like the type of guy to always have something to say.

"I don't do the whole damsel in distress thing." I said matter-of-fact, looking down at the knocked out Alex. I was acting tough, but my heart was hammering so fast I thought I might get a heart attack and my knees felt like rubber. I was still high on adrenaline and I still had a decent amount of alcohol in my system, although somehow I was able to think clearly.

"You knocked the guy out with a single punch."

"I think a big factor to that is the alcohol." I shook my head in disgust, even though a big part of me was focusing on not throwing up.

Brian seemed to compose himself. "Are you okay?" I was surprised to hear the concern in Brian's voice.

I took a deep breath and told myself to get it together. I looked at him and in a shaky voice said, "Yeah. I'm fine."

Despite my disguise he didn't look like he believed me. His eyes looked down to my hands. I was embarrassed that they were shaking. My right hand's knuckles were red and I had a cut that was bleeding.

"Your hand - do you want some ice? I know where to get it."

I regarded him with hesitation. After a moment of thought I looked at him and said, "Yes. Please."

He took my left hand and led me through a bunch of people, most of them moving out of his way and he approached. My heart sped up and my arm was tingling again. I wondered if this was going to happen every time Brian touched me.

As we walked I thought about what just happened. I was still shaken and I felt extremely violated. Strangely enough, I knew that I was going to be okay. I've seen and had worse.

Despite the situation that just happened, Brian was the thought that took over my mind. What was he even doing there? Was he looking for me? A million questions ran through my mind. Maybe he's not the asshole I thought him to be. In a way he did save me.

We walked through a hallway and ended up in the kitchen. We were alone and I fought to keep my emotions and reactions under control.

Brian walked over to the freezer and took out an icepack. In the meantime I ran my hand under cold water, washing away the blood. I took some paper towel to dry my hands and he handed me the icepack. I placed it gingerly on my swollen knuckles, savouring the coldness of the ice on my sore skin.

"Do you want some water?" Brian asked.

"Um, sure." I said awkwardly. I was too aware of the awkward tension between the two of us alone in this big space. He walked over to a cabinet and took out a glass then took out a water bottle from the fridge and poured the water in.

When he handed it to me our fingers brushed and once again electricity sparked. God dammit, I thought. I kind of maybe really wanted to touch him again.

I looked at him and realized I had never thanked him. "I..um, never said thank you. For kind of saving me back there." I did my best not to make it sound like a drunken statement.

He chuckled and met my eyes. "I didn't really save you. I just distracted him while you saved yourself."

My words turned to slop. Why was he so hot? Could he stop looking at me like that?