CHAPTER 72

“Are you serious right now?”

“Yeah— I was just kidding”

Sharon said through her door. She had left to take a shower in her apartment,she wouldn't shower in his, no matter how hard he tried to convince her. Sharon was so confident on the bus, but all of a sudden, she felt like it was a terrible idea

“Would you at least let me in?”

Sharon looked around uncomfortably, then she slowly opened the door

He walked into her apartment, his aura surrounded the place, and the entire house suddenly felt smaller. Everything seemed to revolve around them all of a sudden

“What in the world are you wearing?”

“It's a onesie!”

Sharon said excitedly as she spun around. The oversize piece of clothing hung loose on her figure, making her appear like an overly grown child

“You put this on to piss me off, didn't you?”

“No seriously, it's just really comfortable”

Sharon said clasping her hands around herself

“I hate it”

“Sharon smiled coquettishly”

“I love the fact that you hate it”

She turned around, and walked a few steps away from him

“I actually bought it because of you”

“Enlighten me”

He walked a few steps closer to her, and stood, dwarfing her

“I half expected you to sexually assault me on our wedding night—

So I picked out the ugliest sleepwear I could find, the idea was that you would look at me me and realise that I'm not good enough for you, so you would leave me alone

But I guess I didn't have to wear it, you separated the house—

“Sharon”

She had no idea what made her turn to look at him. Maybe it was sympathy, or the sheer inclination to care for him, and know what he felt. That sympathy should've died a long time ago, but it didn't. It was as though she had forgotten everything he had done, so much so that she was able to convince herself that he was deserving of her love—

In his eyes she could see pain

“Listen, I messed up—”

“Shhh”

Sharon said, standing on her tippy toes with her index finger to his lips

“We need to talk—”

Sharon somehow how managed to slip away, before he could get a hold of her

She walked slowly up the stairs, yes her apartment was a two storey.

He followed her, until he was standing at the entrance of her room

“We can talk in there”

Luca looked at Sharon with curiosity. His eyes were fixed on hers, for what seemed like eternity

He placed his palm on her head

“Do you realise what you're telling me to do?”

“Realise what? I just said we could talk—”

Luca's expression was dark, very dark. Like he wasn't the same person he was a minute ago. His eyes burned with desire

He walked in, and shut the door behind them, Sharon gasped in fear. The air hot out of her lungs, and once again, she was at Luca's mercy

“Fine, let's talk”

*****************

“This is not what I meant Luca”

Sharon said.

She sat sideways on his lap, while he was seated on her bed. Her head rested on his shoulder, and his arms were wrapped loosely around her stomach. She breathed into the crook of his neck

“It's what you implied”

“I want my mummy”

“Shh”

Luca whispered, placing his index finger on her lips. They made eye contact for a few seconds, and Sharon slowly relaxed into his arms

“I'm not enjoying this, just to be clear”

She said, pouting her lips. But she was slowly weaving her fingers into his. She could feel his heartbeat rapidly through his chest

Will you stay with me? I'm kinda getting used to being held like this—

“You don't even have to ask”

He placed her on the bed, and laid next to her. She rested her face on his chest, and he let her play with his hair. She had the demeanour of a little girl, who was fascinated with a flower, or a cute puppy. Her turquoise green eyes glistened with intent

“Sharon”

“Yeah?”

“I think your onesie is cute”

“Really?”

He nodded. His dark hair fanned his face and his deep blue eyes gleamed on admiration. There wasn't a single trace of pretense on his face

He kept staring at her, while she named the dinosaurs that decorated the grey onesie

She seemed genuinely happy, and Luca wished he could freeze time. It was love, pure innocent love. The kind that poets described, that existed only in fantasy. The kind that could only come from a beautiful heart

But Luca knew that the feeling was temporary. His love was deep, possessive, consuming, dark.

And he felt that loving her that way would open up old scars. And he knew that he would never be able to live with himself, if he hurt her more than he already had.

So for that brief period of time, he wanted to pretend like it would last, he wanted to prolong the time, before lust would consume them both—