Ecstasy of Love

Chapter 13: Lux

Hero's POV

Time freezes between us.

Any anger or frustration brewing inside me ceases to exist for a moment as I look at her.

Nothing taints her.

Nothing dwindles her fire.

She gulps and suddenly Jo is back on her feet. I try to hold onto the very last thread of my anger to deal with her, but I can't. It has already swept away.

She flicks her eyes to me, observing my face silently before she concludes, "They don't know you got into a fight, do they?"

I continue staring at her and shake my head in response.

"Why?"

"It's none of their business," I shrug.

She seems to mull over my answer, "I'd thought you were friends."

I raise a brow at her, "How would you know that? Do you always spy on our conversations?"

I expect her to flush like last time, yet this time she doesn't. "Oh please, don't play now as if you were so innocent. I notice every time you look at me."

I knew this already, I have been wholeheartedly clear. She knows I yearn for her. And I know she wants me too.

Yet, whatever the hell we have going on goes further than that. I don't know when there was this shift between us, maybe it existed since the beginning. But there's something so enticing in the tug of power between us. I have never been sure of who presumably holds the control between us. The only thing I am sure about is that every time she comes back for more, I only get more enthralled by her.

Hence why I don't acknowledge her point, instead I change the course. "So, today, did you spy on us on purpose?" My feet carry me closer to her.

"What did you do to cover your bruises?" She asks as if she hasn't heard me.

"Answer me first," I demand.

"It's impossible for your bruises to fade so quickly, the one in your cheekbone was pretty bad." She keeps on with her one-sided conversation.

I climb up the stairs towards her row of seats and drop on the chair located two seats away from her. I relax down into it and observe her. I don't know if she realizes it, but now her stubbornness only amuses me further.

"What would happen if your friends found out about Saturday?" Jo wonders when I don't reply.

"It would stir some shit." I drawl simply because telling the truth would mean I would have to reveal more and she knows too much already.

She doesn't look much like herself when her finger starts tracing on the wooden desk of her chair, seeming to think something over. And as I silently watch her, I realize she has something drawn in the back of her hand.

Curiosity pricks at me. "What's that in your hand?"

She flicks her eyes back to me, fidgeting with her hands while subtly trying to hide the one I was pointing at. "Oh, um it's nothing."

It's now that my mind dawns on how we've kissed but actually know very little about each other. I'm surprised she hasn't kicked my ass today and that she's still lingering here with me. She makes me feel so out of my game, so out of my mind.

I'm genuinely curious. With Jo, I've never experienced the pull of mind-eating boredom normal people provoke in me.

Taking me by surprise, she shyly extends her hand to me, displaying the drawing inside her palm.