Midnight Rain

14.

POV Ava

"Sorry Team. We had some unexpected room issues that we had to shout out." I apologized to the team and tried to explain why I was late. But unexpected dose sums it up pretty well, to be honest.
Welcoming everyone to the team weekend, I explained the process we wanted to create with the team and what was planned for the following days. Everyone was listening, everyone but one person. Chiara kept looking at her phone and didn't even try to look interested. But I'll let her be. After what just happened, things will, again, be complicated enough.
Besides our evening BBQ, we only had a tiny team activity left, in which everyone was split into groups of two and had to accomplish some workout exercises that could only be completed with the help of the other. We shorted out the groups, and everyone gathered together with their partner. I was still waiting for mine to come to me so we could start, but I was left alone. Looking around, I was searching for the other person who wouldn't have a teammate, but the only one I found was Chiara, still looking at her phone and an unfolded card in her other hand. Well, what a coincidence. I walk up to her without getting her attention. I say, "So, who are you pairing up with?" Already knowing with whom, I took the cad and looked at it.
"Like I care," okay, someone is in a mood.
"You don't wanna know?" I questioned her.
"No, because whoever it is can go to hell, I don't want any of those morons touching me" Chiara made her point clear.
I looked around to check if someone we know is near us. Luckily, there wasn't, so I came closer and whispered into her ear, "Not even me?"
I could hear Chiara gasp and stepped back in case someone would see us. She looked at me with desire in her eyes. I snapped the card and turned it around, showing her my name on it.
"Well, in that case, I won't complain." Chiara snapped the card out of my hands.
"Good, so let's go. We already lost enough time." I grabbed her wrists and guided her to the first station to start our exercise.

"Chiara, concentrate! It's not that hard." I was holding Chiara by her hips, supporting her during the task.
"It's not that easy, you know."
"You just have to grab it." I didn't understand what was taking her so long.
"I know, but that's not what I mean," she hissed.
"Ow.. yeah, sorry, but that's how this whole thing works," I answered.
"Well, bad for us, I guess, because I'm done with this shit."
She turned around and walked away. Great, that's exactly what I need now.
"Chiara, wait." I tried to stop her from leaving but was once again ignored.
Coming after her, I found her sitting at the pool, arms crossed in front of her.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Not important" was all I got.
"Chiara, if you won't talk ..." she interrupted me.
"I don't wanna talk about it. Is that so hard to understand?" She started to walk away again, but I stopped her by twisting her around so she was now facing me. Looking directly into her eyes, flashes of what happened earlier appeared. I drifted off, looking at her lips and back up. She did the same, and the next thing I felt was her hand on my hips, moving to my ... wait ... I felt her hand sliding into my back pocket. She slid her hand back out and stepped back, holding our keycard.
"If you wanted the key, all you had to do was ask," I joked.
"But that way, I got you blushing, way more fun." Chiara turned around and made her way to, I guess, our room. Why else would she have gotten our keycard out of my back pocket?

There was still one hour until the whole team met again after finishing their exercises, so I decided to give Chiara time alone. Maybe she'll return by herself. If not, I'll have to get her. In the meantime, I was checking on how everyone else was doing.

When the time was up, everyone returned to the pool. They all did great, and I told them if they kept working together like this, this weekend would be a success.
We were done for the day besides dinner, which was in two hours, and we would all meet at the fireplace for our BBQ. Till then, everyone was free to do whatever they liked. I decided to go for a run, but I wanted to ask Chiara if she wanted to join me since she skipped our exercises. Arriving at our room, I remembered that I didn't have a keycard, noted to myself to get a second one, and knocked at the door. But I didn't get a response.
I knocked again, and just as I was about to call her, the door opened, and a tired-looking Chiara stood before me.
"You okay?" I asked.
"Can you stop asking me if I'm okay? I'm obviously not, and no, I don't want to talk about it. So what do you want?" she growled.
"Okay, I will stop. Secondly, this is my room too, so .."
She made her way and let me into our room.
"I wanted to ask if you want to join me in a little run. Since you skipped our activity, you could at least do some cardio running with me." I didn't know what her response would be since her mood was shifting faster than lighting hits.
"You know what? Why not. This might be great to clear my mind." she grabbed a water bottle and put on her running shoes. "You coming?"
I turned around and followed her, surprised by her reaction.

After about 30 minutes, we made a stop on top of the hills we jogged through to drink something.
"And? Is it helping?" I hoped Chiara could free her mind a bit.
"I'm not sure, actually, let's see." she turned around to face me.
"What's there to see?" I was confused by her standing now in front of me.
"You" was all I got.
"Me?" No, I was even more ... oh .. i understand.
She came a little closer. She was looking me in my eyes and fixing a loose strand of hair behind my ear. Her touch made my stomach flip.
"Nah, not helping." she turned around and started running again. It took me a few minutes to realize, so I just stood there.
"You're coming?" I snapped back and made my way to Chiara so we could continue our run.

After an hour, we returned to the hotel and walked to our room. We had about one hour left till dinner, enough time to shower and get dressed.
Opening the door, I held it open for Chiara to enter first and close it behind us. The moment I turned around, Chiara stood before me, which made me jump a little, but looking at her, I could see what she was up to.
"Chiara, we've been there. We can't," but I was sure she would not care.
"Didn't seem like it earlier, seemed the exact opposite if I can be honest, almost like you .." she came closer and whispered in my ear, ".. enjoyed it."
I tried to take a step back but hit the door instead.
"I know, I did, but it was wrong. We have to stay professional. We can't. I should have stopped you earlier." I knew it would hurt Chiara, and honestly, it hurt me, too, but it was the right thing to do.
"I don't believe you." She came even closer and trapped me between her and the door.
"But it's the truth. It was a mistake. It can't happen again." I made my point clear.
Chiara looked at my lips and then back into my eyes.
"Your loss ..." With that, she turned around and walked towards the bathroom, but she was not giving up easily.
On her way, she slowly undressed herself. Losing one piece of clothing after another, creating a track behind her to follow. Pulled forward by an unknown force, I followed her track and found myself in our bathroom, where Chiara had just lost her last piece of clothing and gave me a perfect view of her beautiful back. She wrapped herself into a towel and turned on the shower.
"You know, if you wanna join me, you've got to get rid of those first." She stood before me and pulled my shirt up. Her eyes never left my well-formed stomach, her hand sliding over my muscles, and I could feel my skin burn underneath. She grabbed the top of my shorts and pulled them slowly down, leaving me in just my underwear.
I tried everything to resist her, but it was impossible. I was drawn into her touch, her sense clouding my mind and my body in need of her.
I couldn't wait any longer, grabbed her hair, and pulled her into a lingering kiss.
Getting lost in this feeling, we slowly made our way into the shower while getting rid of every unnecessary clothing.

Keeping my distance definitely did not work.