4

                                

 TAKUMI WILLIAMS

“What the fuck?!”

That wasn’t a moan from Rayna. That was actually a deep voice. One that had me immediately open my eyes, a smile appearing on my lips as I gave Rayna one quick kiss before pulling away.

With my arms wrapped around her waist, I raised my head to indeed meet Noah standing few meters away from us. Finally, he had a different expression on his face, the frown replaced with plain disgust.

“Shit, shit,” Rayna muttered, seeming flustered at the sight. She quickly got up from me to reach for her blouse and I watched her throw it on from the corner of my eyes, Noah watching the scene unfold in front of him like a bad dream.

 “Ray,” I called out to her but she ignored me, covering her body. Confused, I looked at Noah again, noticing his eyes were now fully on her.

 “Rayna?” Noah spoke up again, his voice a bit lower than it was earlier. “What is going on here?”

 He shuffled his gazes between the two of us, my lips curling as I tried to figure out what was going on.

 “I can explain,” Rayna said, rushing up to him. She grabbed him by the arm, Noah immediately yanking it away from her. “Noah, I promise it’s not what you think.”

 My brows rose as I watched the scene in front of me. Rayna kept on trying to talk to him but he ignored her and instead, darted his gaze towards me.

 “What the fuck are you doing here?”

 “Me?” I looked at Rayna before I replied him. “Nothing? Oh, except you mean few minutes ago. Then I was making out with her. Rayna.”

 “You were making out,” he uttered the words very slowly like he was making sure I felt the effect of each word. “With my girlfriend?”

 Oh.

 “Oh,” my lips now curled into a full smirk. So, she was his girlfriend. I didn't know that. All I thought was she being a pretty girl I ran into at the university. “My bad.”

 “Noah, I swear it was a mistake.”

 “Leave,” he turned to face her. “Just get out of my house.”

 I folded my arms, watching her try to speak to him a couple more times before eventually giving up. With a sniffle, she grabbed her bag and turned around, leaving the house to just me and Noah.

 If there was anything I felt, it had to be amusement. Amusement towards both Noah and his girlfriend. I had no idea someone like him could date someone like her. And even more, someone like her dating someone like him.

 The second she was out of the house, Noah’s shoulders slumped, the bag on his arm immediately slipping away. He allowed it fall to the ground then stormed towards me, grabbing me by the collar to slam me against the wall.

 My back hit the wall with a violent force. It did hurt a little but watching Noah fuming right in front of me, the pain dissolved into something else.

 “What the fuck are you doing, Takumi?!”

 I liked the way he called my name. There was an accent to it, one that rounded the vowels just enough to make the pronunciation slightly wrong. It should have annoyed me. Instead, it scratched at something in the back of my mind in a way I strangely enjoyed.

His grip around my collar tightened, both fists bunched in the fabric of my shirt. My gaze drifted to the vein standing out along his forearm.

 “What the fuck are you thinking?!”

  I tilted my head. “Wondering what it'd feel like if you choked me.”

 “What?” anger flashed in his eyes, my heart leaping in my chest. One of his hands slipped from my collar, curling into a fist. For a second, I thought he was actually going to hit me.

Then he stopped himself.

He shoved me away instead, letting go completely before taking several steps back. He dragged both hands through his hair, breathing heavily as he tried—and failed—to calm himself.

I watched him in silence, pressing my lips together to keep from smiling.

His gaze lifted to meet mine. His eyes swept over my bare chest, paused at the tattoo on my shoulder, then dropped lower before snapping back to my face.

“Can you at least put a shirt on?” The crease between his brows deepened, almost as though he was annoyed with himself for looking in the first place.

“Why?” It was hard to see his eyes, as he refused to look at me directly. “Is my body distracting?”

 “You’re insane,” he looked away, ran his hands through his hair again then continued, his voice now carrying much anger.

 “Are you on a mission to fuck up my life? First, your mother marries my father, you decide to move in with me and now you try to steal my girlfriend?”

 “I didn't know she was your girlfriend,” I replied honestly, shrugging. “If I did, I wouldn’t have made out with her where you could see us. If I really wanted to, I’ll have done it in my room.”

 “What?” he didn’t look convinced. Instead, he looked even angrier.

 “Besides, don't you think you your anger is a bit misplaced?” I folded my arms. “I returned a week ago. I moved in today. Found a girl and brought her over. How is that any of my fault?”

 “If there’s anyone you should be mad at, shouldn’t it be your girlfriend? She knew she was in a relationship with you but still made out with someone else. Like that wasn’t crazy enough, she knew this was your house and still agreed to make out with someone else on your couch.”

 “That’s really brazen of her, don't you think?” I took a step closer. “And it only makes me wonder what twisted type of relationship you both share. If she was the problem—”

 I paused to look at him, closing the distance between us with another step. “Or you were the problem.”

 I was going to take another step towards him to test his reaction. But he didn’t give me the chance, immediately balling his fists and throwing a punch at me.

 I barely saw the punch coming. His fist crashed into my jaw, snapping my head to the side. My lip split instantly, the metallic taste of blood flooding my mouth.

"Don't you fucking dare act like you know me," he hissed. "You don't know a damn thing about me."

His chest rose and fell with every furious breath. "Stay away from me, Takumi."

"Stay away from my girlfriend,” His voice was low enough to sound almost dangerous. “Stay away from everything that has anything to do with me."

I ran my tongue over the cut inside my lip, tasting blood.

Without waiting for a response, he shot me one last glare before turning toward the stairs.

 I didn’t utter a single word as he walked out of my sight. Not because I couldn’t or didn’t have the words to say.

 But simply because all I could think about was his fist against my jaw and how I didn’t mind taking another punch from him as long as he called out my name again.