Magnetic Collision

Chapter 12

Candice pushed her way through the crowd with a reckless abandon, barely even noticing when someone swore at her pushing them, or stepping on their foot. Her heart was drumming against her ribcage at an almost alarming speed, and perhaps she would have cared about that if she wasn't entirely preoccupied with a much different set of worries. She knew it was dumb, and illogical. She had done much worse to Daniel, and yet, the only guilt she could feel for that was merely fueled by a fear of being caught. But there she was, running after a guy who wasn't anything more than a fuck buddy, because she decided to finally exploit the perfectly open nature of the relationship. She had no reason to feel bad. And she had no reason to care.

Then why did she?

She busted the door open with a force that slammed it straight into the wall with a loud boom. Her eyes darted across the parking lot, scanning the rows of cars for that certain familiar shape... And to her shock, she did find him. Stood by a tree, a cigarette in his hand, and a bewildered expression on his face, prompted by her sudden entrance.

"... Did something happen?" he asked after a few seconds of silence, confused at the unexpected hurry of the girl.

"... I thought you were leaving..." she confessed, just as puzzled as he was.

"I would've at least texted you if I was. Even I'm not enough of an asshole to ditch you without a word." he told her as he lifted the cigarette to his mouth.

"Oh..." she mumbled, opting to walk up to him.

"You left Hart hanging for this?" he wondered with an amused grin.

"You know her?"

"It's hard not to. We tend to frequent the same places. After a while, you get to know the person that keeps snatching the hottest chicks from right under your nose."

"You say that like she's out to get you."

"She might be, who knows."

"I think you're just too similar. Maybe even in your taste in women." Candice suggested, finally by his side.

"... That I can see." he agreed his gaze fixed on the girl's face. He reached a hand out to cup her cheek, his thumb swiping over her lower lip, but before she could have started to hope for any semblance of romance, she noticed the vibrant red painting the pad of his finger. "Quite a bold color. Not one you would wear. Unless it came from someone else's mouth I'm guessing." he noted jokingly. She immediately got her phone out to check her face in the front camera, only to discover her lips smudged with red lipstick mixed with her own lipgloss.

"... She really could've told me..." the girl muttered, quickly wiping the make up off with a look of shame.

"She probably didn't on purpose. To let me know just how close she was to stealing you." he explained, pulling the girl in by her waist with his free hand. "Not that it matters, since you clearly like me better after all."

"Don't get too cocky. I was just worried you'd do something stupid." she countered, determined to play it cool. He didn't care nearly as much as she had thought, after all. His departure from the building was nothing more than an unfortunate coincidence, without anything too deep to it.

"In a fit of jealousy?" he asked teasingly.

"I didn't think you were jealous. Maybe a little petty." she argued, lying through her teeth. There was no way she would actually confess her honest feelings, not after how things had turned out.

"What if I was jealous?" he asked, pulling her even closer till their chests were almost touching. "Would you like that? Was that your goal the whole time? How cruel of you to play with me like that..." he lowered his voice, the sultriness of it awakening the butterflies within the pit of Candice's stomach. But she knew better than letting such an obvious ploy visibly affect her.