CHAPTER 5

Leo’s pov

I was getting hard.

I didn’t expect anyone to be in my room.

Back in the bar, I was sure I had misplaced my keys somewhere while calling my secretary to know the reason why he would book a hotel room that was out of class. Like, why would a hotel have a crazy venue for a club downstairs!? Not even in a further location.

If I hadn’t remembered the pass code to the door, I would have been stuck outside.

I shut the door behind me, the soft click barely settling before something in the air felt off. Not wrong exactly. Just disturbed. Like a room that had already been breathed in by someone else.

Then I saw her.

She stood near the bathroom door. Bare feet on the carpet. Hair damp, darker at the ends, water trickling down her shoulders and to the floor. The prominence of her chest made me hard before my brain caught up. She wasn’t wearing anything underneath. Between her thighs was clean shaved and the curves of her hips made it look more prominent.

I gulped.

She wasn’t that bad.

Her eyes found mine and widened, then unfocused again, like she was struggling to see me. A smile tugged at her mouth, uncertain, a little crooked.

“Oh,” she said, drawing the word out too long.

“So, you’re real.”

I’ve done one night stands. Plenty. I know the look women wear when they’re horny. Pretense. Forced confidence. Financially hungry.

She wasn’t wearing any of that.

She looked…forgotten, unloved.

I exhaled slowly. “You’re in the wrong room.” I said, keeping my voice even, careful. “I think you mixed something up.”

She blinked at me. Once. Twice. Her gaze drifted, then came back, slower this time.

“Hmm.” She nodded like she agreed, like what I said made sense. “I guess that’s true. Everything has been mixed up since today.”

I stepped closer, not because I wanted to but to make sure she was okay. Up close, I could smell alcohol on her. The kind that had been sitting in her bloodstream for a while. Her pupils were blown wide. Her balance was bad.

“How much did you drink?” I asked. She considered the question like it was philosophical.

“Enough,” she said. Then frowned. “Too much. But not enough to forget everything and everyone who feels unfair.”

I reached into my pocket for my phone. “Alright. I’m going to call security. We’ll get you back to wherever you were meant to be.”

The sentences snapped something in her.

“No,” she said quickly, stepping forward. Too fast. Already on her knees. She swayed and grabbed onto me without thinking, fingers curling into the fabric of my trousers like it was instinct.

Her head dipped, forehead brushing where the zippers of my trousers were.

The contact hit me low and sharply.

I froze.

She didn’t mean it like that. I could tell. Her grip wasn’t seductive. It was desperate. Anchoring. Like the ground had shifted under her and she needed something solid before she tipped over completely.

“Please,” she said, voice muffled, breath warm through the thin space between us. “Don’t do that.”

I swallowed.

“You don’t understand,” I said quietly.

“You shouldn’t be here.”

“I know”, she murmured. “I keep ending up where I shouldn’t be.”

She shifted, trying to stand upright, but her legs betrayed her again.

Her hands slid, clumsy, still holding on, her body too close now. I could feel the tightness of her nipples on my abdomen. Heat and softness pressing where I didn’t need it pressing.

I clenched my jaw.

“Hey” I said, firmer now, hands hovering, not touching. “Look at me”. She tilted her head back slowly. Her eyes met mine. Wet. Not crying yet but close to.

“Don’t make me leave” she said.

“That’s not…”

“Please” she cut in, the word cracking. “Don’t be another person who looks at me like I don’t belong anywhere”

Something in her voice settled itself under my ribs.

“I’m not throwing you out,” I said. “I just…”

“Everyone does.” She whispered. “Even when they say they won’t.”

Her grip tightened. I could feel her trembling now, the way her weight leaned into me like she’d run out of strength to hold herself up.

“I just wanted to be somewhere,” she said. “Just for tonight. Somewhere that at least one person acknowledges my presence.”

I closed my eyes for half a second. This wasn't a desire anymore. It was a line that just marked out the broken pieces of her.

I lowered myself carefully, easing her down with me until we were both closer to the floor, her hands still tangled in my clothes, her breathing uneven. I kept my hands neutral. Safe, on her shoulders. Then, slowly cupped her face in my palms.

“Hey”, I said again, softer this time. “What’s your name?”

She hesitated, like the answer mattered more than it should. “Tessa,” she said.

“Okay, Tessa,” I replied. “I’m Leo”.

She smiled faintly. “Nice name”.

Of course it was.

I shifted just enough to create space between us, even though every part of my body wanted the closeness, her warmth, the little drops of water still falling carelessly on the tiles.

“I’m going to help you.” I said. “But not like this”

Her eyes searched my face, unfocused but intent.

“You won’t make me leave, would you?” She asked.

I didn’t answer immediately.

“No…I won’t “ the words came out sooner than I had planned.

She nodded, struggling to pack her wet hair into a ponytail.

My gaze was now levelled to where her chest was. The roundness and smoothness made my hands itch hungrily.

She stopped midway, observing my face. The influence of alcohol still on her weary eyes.

“Can you do me a favor?” She said lazily as though she hadn’t thought about it before asking.

I swallowed. “W…what’s that?”

She pulled one strap of her lingerie down her shoulders. I made to move away but she held me by my hands. Pleading eyes. A look that yearned for someone to make love to her.

I drew a slow breath as my body betrayed me, hardness settling where control had been moments ago.