Maybe Something More

04 | web of heartbreak

JULIETTE
____________________

I WAS DANCING with Ayden. I couldn't believe it. And the DJ just happened to put on a slow song at the exact moment our hands touched and our feet moved across the dance floor.

"How convenient," I uttered as Ayden smirked at me. "You didn't, say, happen to have anything to do with this, did you?"

Ayden gasped with mock incredulity. "You're accusing me of suggesting this genre of song specifically for this purpose?" he said, his voice sounding all too much like an overdramatic freshman wannabe. But his tone implied that he did have something to do with the choice of music.

I rolled my eyes at him.

"But seriously," he said with a sheepish grin. "I had nothing to do with this. What a coincidence, huh?"

"Keep dreaming, Lancaster," I replied with a laugh. When the song began, I put my arms up to rest on his broad shoulders, pausing for just a nanosecond to feel the lean contour of his muscles under his shirt. The mere thought of it—even for a short second—made me flustered.

As if noticing my momentary distraction, Ayden smiled a brilliant white smile that I've only seen him wear in rare times – in fact, I don't think I've seen him smile like that at any girl before. His hands slipped down to my waist, and at once, I felt thankful for the reddish orange lights that flashed during the time so I could easily hide the heat of my blush.

I hated the fact that he had this affect on me, even while I was supposed to be mad at him. But, I had to admit, that I felt glad for this little break. I missed being with Ayden.

For a couple minutes, we swayed to the slow melodic beat of the song, wearing barely discernible smiles of pleasure. I had almost forgotten that I was angry at him. Almost.

"So you can dance, Jules!" Ayden said smugly. "Or is that only because you have an amazing partner?" Despite the smugness of his voice, I could see a barely noticeable guise of nervousness. As if Ayden Lancaster could even be nervous around a girl like me.

"Yeah, right," I retorted, half out of annoyance and the other half out of mere impulsive sarcasm. "You're one to talk. You have two left feet, Lancaster."

Ayden only laughed in response. "I can live with that," he said, smiling an uncharacteristic grin that was affectionate and almost kind.

But the smile faded off his face seconds later as his eyes found mine. I always found his eyes a beautiful shade of emerald green, but the sparkle I usually found in them was gone and replaced by a not-so descry look of sadness.

"You know what I can't live with, though, Jules?" he asked in a low voice that was meant for only me to hear. "You being mad at me."

Before I could even open my mouth to answer, he had cut me off and continued, "I'll admit though; I totally deserve that. I was being a selfish idiot, but will you ever forgive me for it? Please?" He said it without the puppy-dog eyes that he usually threw my way when he wanted something from me, so it was harder to tell what he actually wanted, behind that apology and behind the forgiveness that he asked of me.

I heaved out a heavy sigh, wondering how my heart would be taking all this. "I don't even know, Ayden," I admitted. "But I'll try. I'm still pretty upset about it, you know."

It broke my heart, I wanted to say. It's like you didn't care for me at all.

He nodded sadly. "I know," he said with downcast eyes. "And I'm really sorry, Juliette. I really am."