Chapter 4 : Desire.

ALESSIA’S POV.

I remembered everything.

Unfortunately.

I lay on my bed staring at the ceiling, wishing alcohol came with some kind of mercy button that allowed you to forget the embarrassing things you’d said the night before. Mine apparently didn’t. Every word of that drive kept coming back to me, one after another, until I finally buried my face in my pillow and groaned.

Why had I said that to Zane?

Of course Zane wanted me. He apparently wanted every girl on campus, and since he hadn’t made the first move, it was definitely because of Adrian. Always because of my overly protective elder brother.

Actually, I knew why.

I’d been curious about him for months. About why he could laugh with every girl on campus but barely looked at me without that irritated expression. About why he was so different around my brother and his friends. About why the same guy who could spend an entire party flirting with girls suddenly became almost painfully quiet whenever I was around.

And last night, he had actually replied to my questions with full sentences instead of okay, good and yeah. Sometimes I hated the fact that he was my brother’s best friend and wished I had met him first, before my brother and before Zane decided he didn’t want to be in a relationship.

I sighed. It wasn’t going to be easy seeing him around school today. Remembering what I’d said to him made me cringe at the thought. He was going to kill me with his eyes, and I didn’t want any of that.

I silently prayed he wouldn’t tell Adrian and the guys what I’d said. He wasn’t that stupid, though. At least, I hoped he wasn’t.

I dressed casually in a sweatshirt and joggers and headed to campus. For the first half of the day, I didn’t see Adrian, Mason, Jace or Zane, and I had a very unsettling feeling in my stomach as I headed to the cafeteria. I was surely going to see him now.

The reason was because it was always me, Kendra, Adrian, Mase, Jace and Zane at the same table in the cafeteria. It was something Adrian had started when I resumed freshman year. Either he wanted to warn his friends about me or make me feel welcome and less alone. Whatever the reason, I had grown accustomed to it until I met his best friend, who didn’t talk to me, let alone give me eye contact.

I headed toward the table where I saw Mase, Kendra and Jace already sitting and eating. I carried my tray of hamburger and fries and walked over to them, relieved that Zane was nowhere to be found.

“Where’s Adrian?” I asked, sitting down and trying to casually ask about Zane too. Apparently, the two were inseparable.

“Umm, he’ll soon be here. I guess he and Zane got caught up in practice,” Jace replied.

I nodded, pretending that answer didn’t make my stomach twist.

We started chatting about something else entirely, and for the first few minutes, I managed to forget about the previous night. Then I noticed something change around us.

Almost every girl in the cafeteria suddenly turned her eyes toward the entrance.

Of course.

The hockey players of Northbridge University had just made their grand entrance, and my brother and his annoying best friend were among them.

I immediately looked down at my fries.

Maybe if I didn’t look at him, he wouldn’t—

Too late.

Zane walked toward our table with Adrian, Mason and the others, and of all the places he could have sat, he chose the seat directly opposite me.

I slowly lifted my eyes.

He was already looking at me.

That look on his face said I know it all.

Damn.

If I didn’t know any better, Zane was more in trouble than I was with the sitting arrangement.

Then he smiled at me.

“Morning, Lessy.”

I gave him a tight smile. “It’s lunchtime, Zane. Afternoon.”

His expression barely changed. He looked bored again, like he’d rather be sitting somewhere else, preferably surrounded by the cheerleaders who had been staring at him since he walked through the door.

He leaned forward slightly, resting his forearms on the table. “For someone who was pretty drunk yesterday, you remember the time.”

He said it casually, but he was doing it to get a reaction out of me.

Unfortunately, it worked.

My face immediately heated.

I looked down at my plate, pretending to be very interested in my fries while Kendra glanced between us with a confused expression.

I could never understand why girls fanned their lashes at him and fancied him so much. Zane was handsome, yes, but aside from that, he had a very shitty attitude and talked like he was permanently trying to get under someone’s skin.

Especially mine.

“You remember everything, don’t you?” he asked.

I looked up sharply.

His eyes stayed on mine.

There was something different about the way he was looking at me now. Not the usual bored expression. Not irritation.

Something else.

Something that made me remember exactly what I’d said in his car.

What would happen if I wasn’t Adrian’s sister?

I swallowed.

“Why?” I asked, trying to sound unaffected. “Did I say something interesting?”

A small smirk appeared on his face.

“You tell me.”

My stomach dropped.

Before I could answer, Adrian dropped into the seat beside me, completely unaware of the silent war happening across the table.

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” I answered too quickly.

Zane leaned back in his chair, his eyes still on me.

“Yeah,” he said calmly. “Nothing.”

I knew that look.

He was enjoying this.

And somehow, I had a feeling he wasn’t going to let me forget what happened in that car anytime soon.

Lunch dragged on longer than it should have.

By the time everyone started getting up, I was more than ready to leave. I grabbed my tray and followed Kendra toward the cafeteria doors, finally breathing a little easier now that I was getting away from him.

I had barely stepped outside when someone caught my wrist.

I froze.

I didn’t need to turn around.

I knew that grip.

I slowly looked over my shoulder and found Zane standing behind me.

“What?”

His eyes flicked toward Kendra, who had already walked a few steps ahead before realizing I wasn’t beside her. She looked back at us, and I quickly shook my head, silently telling her to go.

She gave me a suspicious look before continuing down the hallway.

Now it was just me and him.

Zane released my wrist and shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket. For once, he didn’t look bored. He looked serious.

“What?” I asked again, suddenly nervous.

“You remember last night?”

My stomach tightened.

“Why?”

“Because I want to know if you meant it.”

I stared at him.

He didn’t look away.

For the first time since I’d known Zane Jaxon, I couldn’t read his expression.

“What?”

His jaw tightened.

“Don’t do that, Lessy.”

My heart skipped.

He stepped closer, lowering his voice. “You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

I swallowed.

Of course I did.

The car.

The question.

What would happen if I wasn’t Adrian’s sister?

And the words I’d said afterward.

I do too.

I looked away, suddenly wishing the hallway wasn’t so quiet.

“You were drunk,” he continued. “So I’m giving you the chance to tell me you didn’t mean any of it.”

I looked back at him.

“And if I did?”

For a second, he said nothing.

Then his eyes darkened.

“That,” he said quietly, “is exactly what we need to talk about.”

“Because if you did” he added “there’s no going back Lessy. You become mine”.

I swallowed and stared blankly at him. There was something in his eyes. Not irritation. Something I’d never seen before.

Desire.