APARTMENT 143

12

Riven suddenly bursts out in laughter letting go of my hands and turning his face as he continues to laugh.

"I'm sorry," he says, taking a step back. "I really wanted to see your reaction but I didn't expect that face!"

I look at him with a baffled look on my face as I watch him continue to laugh hysterically.

"You asshole," I say shoving him away and storming into the living room. "What hell is your problem?"

I plop down on Riven's couch as he walks and stands directly in front of me. He sits on the couch and lays his head in my lap smiling at me and playing with my hair. I avoid looking at him or even giving any attention for that matter, turning my head I look out the window seeing the same view from my apartment.

"Are you really that mad at me?"

I ignore Riven's whiny voice, he sits himself up leaning over to me with my head still turned away from him.

I feel him getting closer and closer to me, but instead of letting him catch me off guard again, I turn my head to tell him off when suddenly my lips lock on to his.

I didn't expect Riven to be so close and clearly he didn't expect me to even turn, we stare at each other surprised, and pull away almost immediately. Covering my mouth, I begin to feel my face turn red and look away.

"Well, I wasn't expecting that," Riven chuckles wiping my lipstick off his lips with a devilish smirk. "I was just going to kiss you on the cheek and apologize, but clearly you had something else in mind."

I stand up and back away from the couch.

"Don't you dare try blaming this on me," I shout at him angrily. "You shouldn't be trying to kiss me anyway!"

"Oh, why not?"

"W- What?"

Riven sits properly on the couch, crossing his legs and throwing one of his arms over the couch while the other in his lap. He screamed absolute dominance in that position, it terrifies me but also made my heart race.

I was well aware of how good-looking Riven was but that playful, fun side of him had nothing over his straight-up dominance. He was smart and knew exactly how to use it, this wouldn't have been the first time but he had already figured out how to corner me.

"You heard me," he says with a smirk. "Why shouldn't I kiss you?"

"Because you're my boss," I continue shouting at him. "It's inappropriate and unprofessional, we made it clear we're strictly co-workers!"

I turned around crossing my arms in anger, not looking at Riven gave me a much better chance at winning this battle but he definitely wouldn't make it easy.

Before I know it Riven wraps his arms around my waist hugging me from behind, he places his head on my shoulder and nuzzles his face beside my hair.

"And what about your kiss then?" he says calmly. "Remember when I offered you this job, you thought you could just kiss him and get away with it?"

"T- That was almost a month ago," I stutter nervously. "It was just for fun, besides you know it meant nothing."

"Are you sure about that Violet," Riven whispers in my ear. "Or are you just denying your feelings?"

His breath touching my sink sends chills down my spine, but I react quickly by throwing Riven's arms off of me and stepping away. When I turn around I see a big smirk on his face.

"This was your idea of a joke again," I roll my eyes. "Isn't it?"

"Bingo!"

Riven walks up to me and fixes my hair, tucking it behind my ear like I usually did.

"There is a reason to all of this though," he continues. "But I'm not sure how you'll react, given your previous reactions just now."

"Well don't just leave me in the dark here," I say. "What's your big reason for being a complete moron?"

Riven chuckles, he steps back running his hand through his hair, and sits back on the couch.

I proceeded to sit down beside him, noticing that his mood had shifted and he was no longer playing around. However, I sit quietly waiting for Riven to speak, and didn't want to force him.

"I want to tell you not to come to that party," he says softly. "But would it be selfish if I said I needed you there?"

My eyes widen as Riven looks down at the floor trying to force a smile on his face.

"This is about your stepmom," I say hesitantly. "You are nervous about her coming back?"

"I haven't seen that woman in years and when I did she definitely had a few choice words for me..." Riven sighs. "She might not come off as hostile, but the moment I'm in her range that changes."

He looks at me with guilt.

"I don't want to force you there," he continues. "But if you do then... well then I have a request to ask you."

"Riven we haven't known each other for very long," I say looking away from him for a second then looking back. "But if you want me to be there, I wouldn't disappoint you and whatever this request is I'll be more than happy to help."

"You don't even know what it is yet, how can you be so willing to help me?"

"Because," I place my hand on his leg with a smile. "We're neighbors Riven if we aren't there for each other then we might as well be strangers. Besides I don't just see you as my neighbor or my boss, I see you as my friend too and right now you genuinely need me... how could I let you down?"

Riven swiftly pushes me down on the couch with him hovering over me, startled by his force I have no idea what's suddenly came over him. He gazes down at me quietly for what seemed like forever, but probably only a few seconds before speaking.

"If you really mean that, then I want you to see me as something else," he says, bringing himself closer. "Something more."

"L- Like what?"

Riven closes the space between our bodies with his face hovering just inches away from mine.

"Violet I didn't just want to mess with you," he whispers softly. "I wanted to see if we had a believable connection, I wanted to see if we could be a couple."

"A couple," I say shocked. "Riven, this isn't funny we're being serious here!"

"I'm being very serious," Riven says as his lips brush against mine. "Will you be my girlfriend?"

Before I'm able to answer Riven plants his lips on mine and we both share our first kiss together.

Millions of thoughts were running through my head but the question remained...

What did this mean for both of us?

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