humbled

..............the next day.........................

This is the last place I wanted to be at is what I wanted to say to Courtney as we sat on the park bench. "Courtney, are you sure you don't want to go to the zoo or beach?" I asked her trying to convince her.

"No, I want to see Xavier, my prince." she said excitedly and I couldn't help but notice how excited and happy she was to meet that mother fucker. He insulted me yesterday yet he doesn't know a damn thing about me. Honestly, for the first time in a long time, I actually felt hurt by words. Could it be because he is my mate?

I swayed my head from side to side and looked to the sky trying to get the thoughts of him out of my mind. "Xavier!" Courtney exclaimed and I got scared as I looked where she was running to and saw familiar blue eyes and dark hair.

As if on cue, my heartbeat accelerated the moment we made eye contact. I quickly looked away and to the ground. It hurt looking at him because of the pang in my chest. I saw him and Courtney walking hand in hand and toward where I was seated. I had no time to panic so I froze.

We were now all awkwardly seated on the bench. Courtney was between Xavier and me. She looked from me who was fidgeting with my fingers probably counting them over and over again to Xavier who was staring into space with a guilty expression on his face. "You guys are acting like a married couple that just fought." she said in a sassy tone and I glared at her to shut up but she just stuck out her tongue at me and then sighed.

"I'm going to play with the kids at the playground, meanwhile, you guys should make up because life has to go on, you haven't even gone on one date." she said hoisting herself off the bench and walking towards the playground. I heard her whisper something to herself.

"Did those two fight in the bathroom of the ice cream place about Xavier's indigestion?" she said in a low voice and I saw Xavier's face twist into surprise and confusion so I cleared my voice.

"Hi, Sierra." he said nervously and I turned my head to look away from him. "Don't ‘hi’ me after you said what you said." I said and stood up to walk away but he caught my hand and once again, those sparks, the ones that appear whenever we touch. I yanked my hand and turned around to face him.

Something hit me immediately I looked into those sapphire blue eyes. I felt my cheeks get wet as I stared at him. His face was suddenly filled with a shock that morphed into panic. "Sierra, are you okay?" he asked frantically moving trying to stop the tears from flowing without touching me.

"You think I wanted that job, you think I wanted to become a whore and a fuckin slut." I said in a low voice and a slight hitch in my voice as I used my sleeve to wipe the tears. "Sierra, I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to call you that, it was just that I was too surprised and angry, I didn't know what to do." he said earnestly and I got a tissue from my pocket, and blew my stuffy nose that seemed to be gradually getting more uncomfortable.

I felt embarrassed crying in front of him.

"Xavier, I want you to know the reason I don't want a mate." I said and finally met his eyes once again. "I've been through many bad things, I've seen the world in angles that normal people don't usually see, I've been abandoned and I had to fend for myself so, naturally I was humbled by those events, knowing the pain of it, I wouldn't want anyone to join me. I want it to be just Sierra and Courtney. For now, consider yourself half forgiven but please stay away from me and Courtney from today onwards, I don't trust you." I sand and at this point, his expression was unreadable, I could tell he had a lot of thoughts running through his mind.

His emotional scent was confusing.

"I respect your decision and thank you for...half forgiving me but I won't stop trying to be a part of your world." he said as I felt the warmth of his hands envelope mine. I became mute, nothing was able to come out of my lips. He smiled softly at me as my heart began to accelerate at an unnatural speed.

"Finally, you made up." Courtney said suddenly and I let go of Xavier's hands quickly and smiled awkwardly as I scratched the back of my neck. "I thought you went to play with your friends." I said quickly changing the topic.

"I was but I saw you two looking like you were about to kiss so I rushed over." she said looking from me to Xavier. "No, we were not." I protested and she shrugged her shoulders and walked off.

I sighed at how abnormally intelligent and mature that little girl was. "So, can I have your number?" Xavier asked nervously.

"I don't have a phone." I said as I sat back on the bench. He sat down about a foot away. "Why don't you have one?" he asked confused and curious at the same time. "Since I sold my old one, I haven't found a use for one since I have a laptop." I said thinking about the hard times.

"You can just buy one at a phone store nearby." he said and I nodded. It's probably about time I got one. "I'll check one out later." I said.

"Xavier, we need your help." Courtney shouted all the way from the playground and our attention switched to her. We ran frantically fearing that something bad had happened to her.

"What happened?" we asked at the same time as she pointed up in the bush where we saw a ball stuck. "Oh."  I said calming down as I walked towards it and tried to pick it but I could reach and I felt warmth behind me as Xavier reached for the ball and picked it up.

It kinda caught me off guard so I blushed because of the close proximity of our bodies. "Here." he said as he gave it back to Courtney who introduced him to her friends as her elder sister's boyfriend, Prince Xavier.

Soon, the day broke after we played with Courtney and her friends, we also went and I got Courtney a tablet as I bought myself a phone. I couldn't escape giving Xavier my number. We headed home and so did Xavier.