Chapter 5

AUTUMN POV

The drive was quiet. He was driving in silence, keeping his eyes on the road while I was riding shotgun. I didn’t expect a conversation either, considering we were both strangers. Even though what happened tonight seemed to be the longest three chapters of my life, I hardly knew him, maybe I only knew one or two things about him. One, he was an ass. Two, he was a charming but arrogant pain in the ass.

I saw the metro station in the front and pointed it with my forefinger. “You can drop me there....” He didn’t slow down. “Now it’s behind us,” I watched the station as we drove past it. I turned to face him, penetrating him with a stare that I hoped could make a hole in the side of his head. He stole a glance at me and our eyes locked for a brief second.

“I’m taking you home.” He returned his attention back to the road and stopped at the light that went red at the junction. “Tell me your address.”

“I don’t bring strangers home,” I tried to argue. It was bad enough that I was in his car, I didn’t need to make it worse by letting him know where I lived.

Frazier chuckled. “Well, temptress, you don’t bring me home. I bring you home.”

I wanted to tell him to stop being a smartass but paused. What did he call me again? Temptress?! “I’m not a temptress and excuse me, Mr. Jackass, but I don’t seduce you.”

“It’s a nickname, it doesn’t have to be true,” he answered with a mere shrug.

I rolled my eyes. “You get your nickname from the truth. Just like I nicknamed you ‘jackass’ because you’re such a jackass.” I looked at the road and realized we were actually heading back to his house and not towards the city. “Wait, where are we going?”

His answer was short. “Home.”

My eyes widened as I watched the building we passed through, there was no mistake that we were in the wrong direction. “This isn’t the way to my house, turn around!”

He sighed. “Well, this is the way to my house. Since you refused to tell me where you live, I decided to bring you to my house instead.”

“No, no, no, no. I have to get home. Tyler would be frantic if he knows I’m not home.”

“Who’s Tyler?” A small frown creased his eyebrows. “Your brother?”

“No. He’s my boyfriend.” I lunged forward and typed on the GPS. I entered the address of a building addressed two numbers away from mine. I wasn’t stupid to give him the exact location. “There.” I folded my arms across my T-shirt and leaned back against the leathered seat.

He slowed down the car as he leaned forward and glued his eyes to the GPS. He looked up and his eyes found mine. “You live in a hotel?”

Stupid! How did I not know that two numbers away from my building’s number was a hotel?

I remained cool as I stared back at him with confidence. “Why, I can’t live in a hotel?” It was stupid of me not to check but I figured I might just have to own it rather than be caught red-handed.

He watched me for several heartbeats before leaning back against his seat and speeding up the car.

I pulled out my phone and stifled a groan. If my phone hadn’t died, I could kill the time by continuing my daily stalking or sending a dozen of messages to Ty. I had no idea whether he replied or not, I could only hope he got my last message, telling him that he didn’t have to pick me up, and stayed home.

I heard movement on my left and seconds later, a song played on the stereo.

♫ Can we ever get rid of the whats and the ifs that doubts that exist in our minds? In the silence, I am tricked into thinking you’ll forget and I’ll be stranded like a man in a mine. ♫

I immediately recognized the song, I was a huge TVD fan after all. “TVD!” I turned and faced him. “Do you watch TVD too?” I wouldn’t expect someone like him to watch the teens genre. Although I would make an exception for Mean Girls, I bet he watched that movie several times to practice his bullying method.

He looked at me with one brow raised. “What’s TVD?”

I guessed not. “Never mind.”

“You mean the human who fell in love with two vampire brothers?” I couldn’t believe he really knew TVD. His face didn’t give away anything. The dark interior made it even harder to see his features. “Why, you’re surprised?”

“Very.” I tried to make Tyler watch TVD once, it didn’t end well. He fell asleep halfway through episode seven and woke up when season one was almost finished. Since then I haven’t tried to make him watch again. As I listened to the song, it brought back so many memories. I remembered this song being played in season three when Caroline woke up with Klaus’ gift on her nightstand.

The Vampire Diaries was one of my favorite series besides Teen Wolf and Riverdale. I shipped Stefan with Elena which made me wonder about him. “So you’re a Delena shipper, then?”

There were millions of fans who shipped Elena Gilbert with Damon Salvatore, I wasn’t one of them but I figured he was since he and I were so different, we might as well be on different sides.

“Yep.” He smirked and looked briefly at me. “Why? Don’t tell me you want her to be with Stefan?”

“Duh!” I rolled my eyes. “They’re soulmates, they were supposed to be together. No one understands her more than Stefan. It’s as clear as the sky is blue and the grass is green.”

I remembered sulking the whole day when Elena turned to Damon. Even cried when Stefan was locked up in the safe, dumped on the river by Silas, and none of them were looking for him.

“Not on the rainy days,” countered him. “And not when the plants are dying.”

I frowned. “Okay. Then tell me why do you ship Elena with Damon?”

“Cos Stefan is boring.” He made a turn on the left and I could see the street leading up to the building where I lived. “I really don’t get how she could stay with him the entire season. I would’ve dumped him on the first three episodes.” He slowed down the car until it was forty miles per hour. I wondered why on earth did he do that but kept my mouth shut. “Damon is more fun. He’s reckless and he drives her crazy. And don’t forget how they defy the soulmate rules and be together.”

♫ Like a city besieged, it was the loneliest thing. Your silence held in cold delay. And I felt faint of the heart cause I was caught between the weight of everything I couldn’t say. ♫

I frowned and shook my head. Every damn time I asked Delena shippers why they shipped Damon and Elena, this was the answer I always got. “I don’t understand you people, Stefan was sweeter and the whole soulmate idea was romantic.”

“Yeah, but boring romance.” I couldn’t believe he just rolled his eyes at me. “Why would you like sappy cliché romance when you can get rule-bending heart-gripping romance? Even Caroline isn’t that dumb, why else would she be attracted to Klaus.”

I smiled. Although we both had a different opinion about Stefan and Damon, we both were Klaroline shippers. “That’s our common ground right there. I shipped Klaroline too.”

He pulled up on the side of the street in front of the huge hotel and killed the engine. “Good. Tyler is just as boring as Stefan in my opinion.”

Frazier ran his gaze across my face and pressed the button to unlock my door. I swung the door opened and swung my legs as I stepped outside. I looked at him as I stood there on the sidewalk. “Thanks for the ride home.”

His dark grey eyes looked at me through the deeper shadow of the car. “Don’t mention it.”

I pushed the door close and walked up the stairs to the front door of the hotel. I went inside, turned left, and hid behind the huge tree as I watched his car enter the traffic and drove away. I let out a huge sigh and walked out of the hotel, ignoring the weird look the doorman had on his face. He probably thought I was a disturbed teenager.

I started to walk towards my building. The night air was chilly so I hugged myself and walked faster. I couldn’t wait to snuggle up in my bed under the duvet and get some sleep. I had no idea what was the time now but I figured it must be somewhere around four in the morning.

Ty must be worried. I hoped he didn’t call my dad or Steven, I’d be in trouble if he did. I pushed the button and the empty elevator opened. I stepped inside and pressed twelve. The back wall was mirrored, I turned and looked at my reflection. I pulled the band out of my ponytail and scratched my scalp as the elevator moved upwards. It had been a long exhausting day, and I was damn tired. I couldn’t tell if the slight headache I was having now came from the alcohol or the ponytail or both.

I watched the door was closing behind me but then it was opened once again. What the hell?! I turned around and almost plowed headfirst into a broad chest covered in a dark blue shirt and black coat. I lifted my gaze up until my eyes met his. A playful smirk was on his lips. “I knew you didn’t live in the hotel.”

“So you decided to pull up your creepy front and stalk me?” I put both hands on my waists and watched him press the button to close the elevator door.

He leaned against the wall next to the panel and smiled. “I wasn’t stalking. I just want to prove my theory.”

I rolled my eyes. He was nice during the drive here, we even managed to have a discussion about TVD and all the sink and sailed ships but now he turned into his earlier self. “You could stop once you saw me enter the building. You didn’t have to get all the way in.”

“My father always said that if I send a girl home, I shouldn’t leave until I make sure she’s inside and safe.” He rested his head against the wall and looked up at the ceiling.

That was actually a good lesson, his dad seemed to be a gentleman. But the fact that I just knew him today and now he followed me into my building was still creepy. The elevator dinged and the door slid open. “I don’t need you to walk me to my unit.” I stepped outside, expecting him to head downstairs and leave.

“I’m a nice guy,” answered him as he walked beside me.

I laughed without humor and glanced up at him out of the corners of my eyes. “If you believe that, you’re delusional. Maybe that huge head of yours really has nothing inside.” I stopped at my door and reached into my pocket. I pulled out my keys and returned my gaze back to him. “You’re not nice.”

His lips turned into an arrogant smirk. “Some girls think I’m really nice.”

I rolled my eyes at his continual display of asshattery. “Some girls don’t know what they’re talking about. From having to bear your presence for,” I paused and counted using my fingers. “Five hours, there are lots of words I’d use to describe you.” I shook my head and tapped his chest with one of the keys. “Nice isn’t one of them.”

He raised his hand and flattened my palm against his chest. “What is?”

The warmth of his touch curled my fingers against the hard muscles of his chest. He stood so close that I caught the scent of cologne on his heated skin. “What is what?”

“How would you describe me, temptress?” He stared down at me through his hooded eyes. It was hard for me to break the eye contact and look the other way.

“I’m not a temptress. Stop calling me that.” I tried to pull my hand back but his grasp tightened. “The first word that came to mind was probably ass.”

“Oh, really?” He raised one brow as if to challenge me.

I cleared my throat to cover my nerves. “We can put ‘hole’ next if you want.”

He smirked. “Why?”

“Well, you put your hands where they don’t belong, kinda like what you’re doing right now.” Although why he would make me nervous, I had no clue. Maybe it was his height. Yet tall guys had never made me nervous in the past.

“What if they were meant to be there?” He looked at me with that intense stare, his dark grey eyes sparkled and I swore I saw a mischievous glint and something hot flashed in those fiery steel. The air was getting thicker and it was getting harder for me to breathe.

Tyler. Just before I lost my mind, his face popped into my head. Tyler was probably behind this door, waiting for me to come home. He was probably pacing and about, worrying about where I was.

I ripped my hand from his grasp. “You’re wasting your time with me. I’m taken. You’d be wise to remember that.” I unlocked the door, stepped inside, and locked it behind me.

This was dangerous. He was dangerous. I had to get away from him no matter what. If I wanted to save my relationship with Tyler, I had to keep him at bay.

I removed my sneakers and put them on the shoe rack by the door. “Ty?” I walked further inside. The IKEA was discarded on the floor, it seemed that he has given up. “Tyler?” I put the keys on the table along with my wallet then headed to the bedroom. I swung the door open, expecting him to be sleeping on the bed but he was nowhere to be found. The bed was untouched.

I ran to the charger port and plugged in my phone. Waiting for it to turn back on was agony. Where is Tyler? I hoped he would leave a message. Once my phone was on, I went through my messages and voicemails. There was none from him. I dialed his number and it went straight to voicemail.

“Hi, this is Tyler. I’m not available right now. Leave a message at the beep, eh?”

“Tyler! Where the hell are you? I’m home and you’re not here. Call me as soon as you can or else I’m calling the cops.”

I sat cross-legged on the couch, watching the door and hoping it would swing open anytime soon. My phone was in my hand, plugged into a power bank, as I waited for him to call me back. I was wide awake. Gone was the sleepiness earlier and at the same time, my headache was getting worse.

It was around six A.M. when the door finally swung open and he went inside. Wet from the top of his head to the tip of his toe. Water dripped down his forehead and stuck his eyelashes together. I jumped off the couch, knocking my phone to the ground, and ran to him. “Where were you?” I threw my arms around him and hugged him.

“I’m wet. You’ll get wet too.” He pushed me slightly and looked down at me. Droplets ran down his cheeks as his gaze lowered from my eyes to my mouth.

I should feel cold because my shirt was now wet, yet I felt a warm tingling all over my skin. I lifted my face and once our eyes met. “Where were you?” I asked again.

“I was on my way to pick you up when I received your message telling me you’re on your way home.” He took off his shoes and we walked to the bedroom.

I went to the drawer and pulled out a big towel. I tossed it to him and he caught it with one hand. He reached down his back, grabbed a fistful of his shirt, and pulled it over his head. The bottom of his drenched shirt lifted from the waistband of a pair of worn Levi’s resting low on his hips. I’ve watched him undress multiple times in my life but I always caught my breath as if it was the first time. My eyes went to his happy trail circling his navel, then climbed up the ridges of his abdomen. He dropped the sweatshirt on the floor and wiped his face with the dry towel.

He shook his head like a dog, sending droplets everywhere and I giggled. “Use the towel, geez.” I moved in front of him. I took the towel from his hand and used it to dry his hair.

Our eyes met and I paused. He reached for the minion in front and said, “Your shirt’s wet.” I dragged my gaze from him and glanced down at the two minions on my shirt, clinging to my chilled skin. “You should probably go ahead and take it off before you catch a cold.”

I tilted my head to one side and glanced back up, past his square chin and straight nose, and into his dark hazel eyes. “Why don’t you help me take it off?”

He smiled like a kid who went to the toy store and his mother told him he could buy anything he wanted. His eyes lit up and so did mine.