LAW OF ATTRACTION

CHAPTER 27 : THE AFTERMATH

A white blinding light comes to my eyes as soon as I open them, bringing a loud bang resonating through my skull. I wince in pain, and after a few moments, I try to open my eyes again. Slowly my sight gets used to the bright light as I try to ignore the stabbing pain in my head. Taking in my surroundings, I realize that the blinding light is just a ray of daylight passing through my closed shutters, and half awake, I look absent-mindedly around my room until my eyes stop and widen at an unusual piece of furniture standing by the door: Alex in all his shirtless glory.

It's the first time I see his bare chest, and this is quite a sight. His six-pack that I've felt so often under his shirt is even better than I could have imagined, and the play of shadows and light in the room is highlighting it perfectly. I can't believe he is mine...

On this thought, my brain comes back to the place and time, and I look down abruptly at my clothes, flinching with another pounding in my head. Pushing a little away the covers, I recognize my gray nightshirt.

"Sleep well, Miss Badass Cutie Cookie?" Alex sits down on the edge of my bed, his tenebrous eyes looking at me gently.

My heart wakes up in a restless pace with the closeness of Alex's shirtless presence, his soft gaze, and the blur of it all. I close my eyes, my brain trying to connect the dots and my neurons to remember what has happened last night. I get flashes of the party: the sea of people dancing, the loud beat, the neon lights, the... many drinks... Alex all over me, carrying me in his muscular arms... But after that, it's all blank.

I reopen my eyes and sigh, the inspection of my memory only worsening the throbbing in my head.

"Don't worry, nothing happened." Alex brushes my lips with the pad of his thumb, making me release my bottom lip from the grasp of my teeth.

I don't know if I'm relieved or not by this. I don't remember anything, so I think it's best nothing has happened and he hasn't taken advantage of me, which makes me melt even more for his chivalry and perfection. Yet even though I haven't told him what I'd planned, it has been supposed to be our perfect night, the perfect opportunity, and I've ruined it. It leaves me a bitter-sweet taste in my throat, unless it is the alcohol? Anyway, I recognize exactly the shadow of insecurity and doubt clouding my thoughts because, unlike the hangover, I've already had it before: the sickening idea that maybe he doesn't want me because of my lack of experience.

"You really don't remember last night, do you?" Alex asks, one of his famous smirks playing on his lips.

I shake my head no, wincing with the stabbing, resonating pain in my head.

"Here, take this. It'll help." He hands me a glass of water sparkling with the fizz of paracetamol.

As I drink my life-saving potion, I watch Alex. He is perfection, while I must look like a sewer rat after having been pounded by a cat. He is devilishly handsome, like an angel of darkness in the faint morning light of the room, his chiseled abs, his bed hair with a few unruly curls, his fresh face, his arrogantly hot smirk...

This playful smirk displayed on his perfect face makes my numb brain sound the alarm.

"Oh no! Please! What did I do or say last night?! Don't tell me I made a fool of myself?!"

A devious sparkle lights up his dark eyes and shades my hopes. "No, you just spilled the truth... You praised the 'sexy beast' I am." His cocky smirk widens. "And you were very keen, which I'm not complaining!"

The blood rushes to my cheeks, worsening the hammering in my head, though I'm more preoccupied with hiding my tomato-red cheeks behind the sheets, feeling beyond foolish and ashamed.