OFF-LIMITS

29.

Chapter twenty nine | Layla
I have a bad feeling today.
No idea why, so far nothing has happened, I startle when I feel a hand on my back, as I turn around and my eyes clash with an unexpected pair, Adrian's mother, what the fuck is she doing here?

Anger boils its way through my veins and the urge to slap her overwhelms me, "what are you doing here?" I ask, my tone carrying a sharp edge, annoyance flashes across her face but she masks it easily, "watch your tone." She says rolling her eyes.

After what Adrian told me two days ago, the amount of anger I felt towards her was unmatchable, I've never hated someone more, and I've never wanted to hurt anyone in my life, well that was before Adrian told me what happened, and what he had to go through.

"Anyways, I took a flight today's morning when Damien told me that he's not enjoying his time with you, poor thing." She says making an innocent face at me, I grit my teeth, "well Damien can take a flight and go back for all I care, no one wants him here either." I say, and my eyes widen for a moment, surprised by what I just said.

"Maybe Adrian should knock some sense into you after all." She mutters and walks away, my lips twist in a disgusted pout as I walk in the other direction, maybe my feeling wouldn't turn out wrong after all, and today would be a bad day.

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I tighten my hold around Adrian's hand and his eyes snap to mine, carrying an emotion I can't quite figure, "so? When are we leaving anyway?" Anastasia complains as she shoves a piece of meat down her throat, "I hope she chokes on it," I whisper, and Adrian chuckles,

A smile spreads on my face for absolutely no reason, "we're leaving later tonight, you didn't have to exhaust yourself and come here." Damien says kissing her knuckles, she smiles sweetly at him and then flashes the three of us a glare, and by the three of us I mean me, Adrian, and Melissa, she's sweet with Octavia and Nash.

"Is she always like that?" Melissa leans in and I nod, she seems frightened, almost stressed, "she has mood swings." I blurt out and she grins, "I can tell." She mutters and I smile back, "Layla, darling." Adrian says and I turn my attention to him.

"Let's go, shall we?" He asks and I nod, he decided that we'd go around and hang out together all day, "why the hell are you two going alone?" Nash mutters and raises a questioning brow in my direction, "probably to fuck." Damien interrupts and Nash glares at him, "he's right." Adrian smiles humorlessly at my brother and he narrows his eyes.

"Where the fuck are you going? I need to get that image out of my mind." Nash says as Octavia whispers something in his ears and he visibly relaxes, "we're just going to take a tour around the country, not that you owe us anything." He says and I smile at nash, desperately wanting to reduce the tension but failing.

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"I have an idea!" I squeal as we step into the supermarket, and yes I've been persuading Adrian to get inside for a while now, he smiles and raises a brow, "since you always cook for me, the least I owe you is to return the favor." I say and wink at him, he seems surprised but motions for me to go inside, I grin and take his hand in mine.

"I swear it'll be good." I mutter as I walk towards the ingredients section, I'm making him cookies, whether he likes it or not, "wait no." I stop suddenly and he turns in my direction, his brows furrowed "what?" He asks and I narrow my eyes, "do you still hate chocolate?" I ask and he smiles  "not anymore." He says and I raise a brow.

"What are you going to make me?" He asks and I shrug my shoulder off as I stalk away from him, excitement rising in my body, "it's a surprise!" I yell from the other side, and he smiles at me.

Adrian
"Come on!" Layla said grinning as she led me inside the hotel room, I couldn't help but smile at her sudden excitement, we walked towards the kitchen and set the things down.

"Alright, we have the chocolate, brown sugar, flour...." She said and let the sentence drift off, her brows furrowing as she tried so hard to concentrate, it was adorable, "ahh yes! I remember." She squealed and led me towards the table, "sit." She ordered as I grinned and obeyed.

"Talk about anything, I don't like this silence." She muttered as she started organizing the ingredients in front of her, "you know what, tell me about yourself." She said and raised her brows.

I had no idea what to say, I think Layla knew everything about me, "uh, this feels like an awkward first date." I say and she narrows her eyes at me, "oh come on, I'll talk then." She says and I nod,

"I used to have a fear of planes." She mumbles and I raise a brow, surprised by what she just said, "that's why you were a bit tense." I say, my brows furrowing, how could I not notice "Uh yeah but I don't think so, it was just because of what Damien told me." She says and turns away from me.

"Layla." I say not liking how she's drowning in her own thoughts again, "just give me a second." She says and I stand up, walking towards her, "what's wrong?" I ask and place two fingers on her chin lifting her head up, Her eyes brimmed with tears when she peered up at me but they didn't fall.

"Hey." I say softly brushing a strand of her hair out of her face, "you know nothing of what he said is true right?" I say again, we already discussed that, but I won't let that fucker get in her mind and ruin everything between us.

"I know, I'm sorry." She says and wipes away her tears angrily, "never apologize for crying Layla, it's beautiful, don't let people get in your head and convince you that crying is a weakness." I say kissing her temple.

Knowing how her mother treated her before proves how right my words are, she smiles a little and pushes a hand on my chest lightly, "you're ruining the surprise, sit down." She says and I grin, walking back to the chair.

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"I hope this tastes good!" She groans and places the cookies in the plate, I'd be lying if I said they looked bad, "I don't know how you enjoy cooking, it's so exhausting." She says dramatically and drops down beside me, "I love cooking for you." I say raising a brow.

"Yes but it's exhausting." She says raising her hands in the air, "it's worth seeing the smile on your face though—yes like this one." I say, letting the words slip and her lips part then the smile spreads on her face again, lightening up the whole room, lightening up my whole world.

I grab the cookie and bite down onto it, I mask my expression and smile at her, "it's delicious." I say grinning, and she narrows her eyes, "is that Sarcasm?" She asks and grabs a cookie herself.

She takes a bite then immediately then spit it back in her hands, her face twisting in disgust, "this is disgusting!" She yells, and throws it in the trash, i grimace and motion at them, "they're not that bad." I say rubbing her back, "oh stop lying." She mutters and I shake my head as I take another bite,

"I don't understand what I did wrong." She mutters and I smile at her, brushing away a strand of her hair, she looks genuinely mad, "Layla, it's okay I like it." I say reassuring her, "you don't have to eat it Adrian, it's bad." She says letting out a laugh.

I smile a little, liking the shift in her mood, "alright, no cooking for me, maybe Nash was right after all, you're the only one who'll cook from now on." She says and rolls her eyes before standing up.

"Do you want to order pizza?" I ask as I walk towards her, she shrugs off her shoulders, "okay, I want a pepperoni pizza." She says and smiles, "okay I'll order it." I say and she tilts her head, "you won't get you something? You don't like pepperoni." She says shrugging,

"I'm not hungry for pizza right now." I say and her brows furrow, "wha-" she starts but her words are shut when I crash my mouth down on hers, she grabs the back of my neck and pushes me closer, a groan rises up in my throat but I swallow it back.

"I'm hungry for this."

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