(Sierra's POV)
Another morning in the Blackwood mansion starts quieter than the previous ones. Maybe it's because I barely slept. My mind kept looping back to Stefano —his voice, his eyes, the simmering irritation he directs at me like it's wired into him. The way he stares in my eyes, my lips and then my body as if he is asking permission for something. Even my own body and mi d betrays me when he is near me. Storm starts in my heart. He attracts me like magnet.
I tell myself I don't care. I tell myself I shouldn't. But the truth? It bothers me. It bothers me more than it should. It bothers me when he ignores me. It bothers me when he doesn't pay attention to me.
I'm sitting at the marble kitchen island, half- awake, stirring a bowl of cereal. My mother and Nicolas left for an early morning meeting. Sebastian already ran off with a protein bar muttering something about morning labs.
Which leaves me alone — until footsteps appear behind me. Slow. Heavy. Familiar.
My stomach tightens even before I turn.
Stefano.....
Black hoodie, black jeans, hair slightly messy like he didn't bother to check the mirror. He looks...unfair, honesty. Unfair that a guy can look like trouble and perfection wrapped together. He walks straight past to me open the fridge.
No greeting. No glance. But the tension?
It hits instantly, sliding under my skin. I try to act casual.
"Morning "
He freezes just briefly, then grabs a bottle of water.
"Don't try to be hard," he mutters, unscrewing the cap. "It's creepy."
My jaw clenches. "Saying 'morning' is creepy to you?"
"Coming from? Yeah."
There he goes. Asshole.
The beauty is the more he tries to push me away the more something sharp and reckless inside me wants to step closer, not back.
I lean on my elbow, watching him. "Did I run over your dog in a past life?"
"No," he takes a long drink. "I just don't like fake people."
Huh? I look fake? Seriously? I loose my mind. "I'm not fake."
He finally turns to look at me. Dark eyes. Cold. Except....not really. There's something restless hiding underneath.
"So you're real?"he challenges. "Real as in....what? A golden ticket you mom cashed for?"
The insult lands hard. I feel it behind my ribs. But I refuge to show it. "Funny." I say with a dri smile. "You're scared of me but pretending you're superior. It's cute."
I say with taking one step closer. His eyes flicker— subtle, but something hits him.
"I'm not scared of you," he says slowly taking one step closer to me."I just don't want you here."
"You don't even know me."
"I don't want to."
The tension spikes. And I hate that my pulse reacts to it. To him. But I won't show either. Stefano Blackwood doesn't deserve to know he affects me. I stand there so as he. I don't even touch him, neither he, but something electric moves through the space between us. I pretend not to notice. "Don't be late, " he finally says suddenly, voice without breaking our eye contact.
"We're leaving in ten"
I stop. Wait. "We?"
"Dad said to take you. Sebastian's busy."
I swallow. So we're driving together. Alone. Great.
No! I'm not going anywhere with this fucking hot arrogant judgmental sexy bastard. Gosh! The morning is already a disaster. "No, I'm not going anywhere with you," I said with a frown.
He comes more closer to me "As if u have a choice?"
"I will walk or crawl but I won't go with u."
"Don't be stubborn Sierra, just come with me. Dad has ordered me." I froze there not because what he said but how for the first time he call my name. Something strange felt. Something different. My name on his lips, his beautiful red lips.
(Stefano's POV)
I shouldn't offer her a ride. I didn't even offer— it was an obligation. But still, I should've made an excuse, shoved her into a cab, anything.
Anything except letting her sit in my car, smelling like some soft, floral perfume that already clung to my hoodie passing her in a hallway. I'm gripping the steering wheel too tight as she climbs into the passenger seat. Her hair brushes her shoulder, her chest —long hair, wavy, few strands infront of her face, stupidly pretty. The kind of pretty you don't want to notice but your eyes betray you anyway. She is wearing a white short sleeve top and a denim jeans. Even in her simple look she looks so fucking beautiful and attractive. She throw her head back at the seat, eyes closed, her chest rise and fall for breathing. Her top moving slightly Because of wind, her bosoms shape is becoming a little clear for me outside her cloth, it's attracting me a lot. How i will drive if my mind and my eyes remains on her her. Some kind of strange feeling, strange attraction, strange hunger, strange lust.
No Stefano focus on your drive. She opens her eyes and look outside the window lazily as if I'm not existing in this car. I frown at this thought that she isn't giving me any attention.
She removes her bag from her chest and keep it in her lap. Her little stomach view came infront of my eyes as her top it little short. Her chest view again came infront of me. And now I am wet and tensed around her. "Wet tension" is eating me. This girl always makes me wet. ' Why I feel more attracted to her and her body. I felt never for any girl before. ' I thought in my mind.
My jaw flexes. My my father Nicolas have to marry someone with a daughter who looks like that?
And that's when her phone buzzes.
She picks it up. I catch a glimpse of a notification. Some guy from campus. A heart emoji. She didn't pay any attention. But I did. I don't know him.And I don't like that I noticed.
"Someone already trying?" I say before I can stop myself. She looks sideways. "Trying what?"
"To get your attention." She raises a brow. "Is that a problem?"
Yes.
No.
I don't know. "It's predictable," I mutter. She laughs-soft but sharp. "I think you just want everything about me to annoy you."
I don't deny it. I can't. Because if I don't keep disliking her, I'll start doing something far worse.
Wanting her. Hold her. Feel her. Smell her. Touch her....
The light turns green, and I drive a little faster than needed.
(To be continued...)