Chapter 11 Viviana
VIVIANA
Ican’t keep this secret to myself a moment longer or I will implode.
Evie is my best friend, and she deserves to know that for the last two months, I have been meeting her brother every weekend, disregarding common sense. My feelings for Tristan overflow my chest, drowning my heart in love.
Maybe I need her to yell at me, cuss me out, anything to wake me up from the spell and resurrect my self-preservation instincts.
I have opened and closed my mouth repeatedly, but no words came out. The secrecy must end. The longer I keep the secret from her, the guiltier I feel.
Back from my classes, I pace, debating how to tell her.
The moment she walks in, I blurt out. “I’m in love with your brother.”
She freezes on the spot, the click of the door producing the only sound.
Evie is outgoing. Of the two of us, she is the talkative one, but now she stares at me, blinking as if not sure if she heard me right.
Deflated, I drop onto the edge of the bed, my head hanging. “I’m sorry. I should have told you, but I just…”
“My brother?” she whispers, rousing from the shock.
I lift my gaze, offering her a meek smile. “Tristan, yes.”
Silence stretches between us, causing me to hold my breath. Every second she doesn’t speak plucks at my nerves. Bile rises in my throat, coating my taste buds so that I could throw up any second.
“Okay. That was something I never expected.” She shakes her head as if wanting to clear her mind.
She drops onto her bed, and we eye each other, silence falling once again between us as deafening as a hammer hitting glass, splintering into a million pieces.
“I met him that night in New York.”
She slaps a hand over her mouth, a terror-stricken look contorting her face.
“He doesn’t know you were there with me,” I rush to add.
“My brother can’t find out. Swear it. Swear it to me,” she says, eyes round with panic.
“I would never. I promise.”
She gulps, her face getting back some color, and then something akin to sympathy flashes in her eyes. I expected any other reaction but that.
“Oh, Viv. What did you do?”
“I’m sorry,” I say, fidgeting with my fingers in my lap, but something tells me it’s not my apology she’s after. “Then I met him at the beach house and realized he’s your brother. I wanted to tell you, but…”
“Fate, huh?” she shrugs, accepting things that are beyond us with enviable ease.
“Are you mad at me? Please don’t be.” I shut my eyes, not wanting to catch the disappointment in hers.
The mattress dips next to me as she sits down.
She holds my hand, clasping it tightly. “If we were someone else, I would be ecstatic that my best friend is with my brother.”
“So, you’re not mad?” I ask, voice tinged with concern.
She shakes her head, a small smile arching the corners of her mouth. “No, just sad, I guess. We both fell for men we shouldn’t.”
I nod, looking into space.
“So, you have been sneaking out all this time to see him?”
“Yes.” I shrug. “I lost my mind. I keep telling him we have no future, yet he sucks me back in, and I am powerless to resist him.”
She nudges my side playfully. “They’re good at that, aren’t they?”
We eye each other, two women who are completely over their heads. We burst out laughing, the sound ringing with hysteria, then we drop onto our backs, staring at the ceiling.
She sighs, and I turn to her. “What is it?”
“I wish for things I’ll never have. A closer relationship with my brother. A love that is in the open.”
I hug her. “I’m so scared,” I whisper.
“Me too,” she whispers back.
She’s the one who stands up first, being so much braver than I am.
“Okay, let’s go out. I need something to drink.”
I glance at my coursework piled on my desk, but I can do it later. I really need to be more careful. Maybe with some liquid courage, I can tell him I won’t be able to meet him over the weekend. Plus, I must gather myself not to show anything around my parents.
Rummaging in her closet, she pulls out two dresses.
“Evie.”
She arches a brow, propping a hand on her waist. “You owe me this.”
“Sure.” I send her a knowing smile. “You’re lucky I love you.”
She tosses one dress at me, and I catch it midway. “Shut up. You’re boning my brother. Ick.”
I laugh. “We’re taking it slow, kind of dating.”
Her features melt into a dreamy expression, genuinely happy for me. “Aww, kind of romantic.”
I change into the black mini-dress and slip into some heels as she finishes putting on light makeup.
Then, she pats the chair in front of her and works on my hair and makeup.
Arms looped together, we walk toward the campus bar.
Inside, the music blares even on a Thursday night, the students starting the weekend early.
At the bar, Evie instantly piques the attention of the bartender, who tries to flirt with her, but she doesn’t return it, asking for two shots.
Clinking them, we toss the amber drinks back, and a shudder runs through me, not a fan of hard liquor.
She grabs my hand, and we keep dancing and drinking, the night passing in a blur as we enjoy some much-needed girls’ time.
I ignore the phone that won’t stop vibrating in my clutch, wishing to be present for my best friend smiling through her pain like a terrific actor.
“Evie?”
She squeezes her eyes shut for a moment. “Don’t…”
I nod, knowing how hard it is to talk about some stuff.
No one bothers us as if we sit behind some invisible barrier.
It’s two a.m. by the time we reach the dorm. The moment her head hits the pillow, she falls asleep, and I hope she can find some peace during the night.
Wide awake, I pluck my phone from my clutch and notice the dozens of calls and texts from Tristan.
I am about to call him when my phone rings again, startling me so much that I drop it, but I catch it in time.
“I’m downstairs,” he says in that no-nonsense tone I know so well. The one showing he struggles with control, reaching his limit.
Damn, I should have simply replied to one of his texts.
He hangs up, and I tiptoe out, not wanting to wake Evie.
I walk downstairs on shaky legs, my heart bursting in my chest. There’s this mix of apprehension and desire unbalancing me, weaving tendrils around my being—under his spell.
The moment I step out of the building, he backs me against the wall by the door, slamming his mouth on mine, depriving my lungs of oxygen while simultaneously feeding me pure ecstasy.
Goose bumps pepper my skin, leaving me feverish, aching for more, for everything he can give me. Nothing is enough to sate the constant hunger—starved for his passionate kisses, longing for his fiery touches, craving him with every greedy fiber of my being.
The entire world could see me right now and I wouldn’t care, too high on him.
“Fuck,” he rasps once he kisses me breathless.
I giggle, tipsy from the alcohol but drunk on him.
“You drank,” he groans.
I roll my eyes at him. “Yes, Dad.”
“Brat.”
“Your brat,” I say. “I told your sister about us. And I would have called you once I returned, but you were faster.”
He takes a step back and rakes a hand through his hair, looking so adorably disheveled. “I was worried.” A low groan rumbles in his throat. “How you look in this damn dress is driving me wild. I don’t know whether to burn it or let you wear it only in my presence.”
A peal of laughter escapes my mouth, but then I remember where we are. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“Where else should I be, Viviana?” My name flows down his sinful mouth like silk and chocolate, making it a million times more difficult not to beg him to fuck me already.
He corrupted me all right, the good girl a distant memory.
His question has my mouth clamping shut. I look down, kicking at an invisible rock.
“You drove all this way to make sure I am okay?” I ask, knowing full well he would, but there are still moments when I think he can’t be real. That this is only a dream.
His features soften, and he cups my face. “You have no idea what you mean to me, do you? I would cross any limit for you. Drive thousands of miles just to see you for a minute.”
I propel myself into his arms, needing to burrow into him. In my safe cocoon, everything is right; nothing can touch me but him. I am safe. Loved. Desired. Alive.
Eye to eye, I smile, melting the hardness, and he rubs his nose against mine.
“What were you doing before you raced to me?” I murmur.
“Closing a deal.”
No one works as hard and as long as he does. His discipline and work ethic are admirable, inspiring me to push myself even harder and achieve greatness. He motivates me, so it’s no wonder that I took extra classes, wishing to be the best in my field as well.
He places me down. “Go to sleep. I’ll pick you up tomorrow.”
Aware that I won’t be able to refuse him, I agree with a nod, needing an escape from reality just as much. Our weekends are stolen moments that open a world that is solely mine—my happy place.
Plus, his eyes promise something more sinful, and I am so ready. I’ve been ready from the very beginning, but it’s like he has been waiting for something, and now he’s done. Every bit of patience and restraint dissolving one thread at a time, snapping and scattering lifeless at his feet.
I am about to turn when he curls his hand around my elbow. Spinning me around, he lifts me off the ground and backs me into the wall, kissing me so long and profoundly, an electrically charged wire zaps through me from head to my toes.
“Thank you.” I don’t know exactly what for, but he drove from New York just to see if I am safe.
Features softening, he rasps, “Mo run, it’s my duty to make sure you’re all right. It’s my responsibility to take care of you.”
“I would have called,” I say meekly. “I’m sorry. I will answer from now on.”
He nods and comes in for another kiss. “You better.”
It’s on the tip of my tongue to say I love you because I do. I don’t know when it happened, but between the talks, the sleeping together, the riding, love snuck into every crevice of my being. He’s intense in the best ways, and I fall hard, hoping love won’t shatter me once I hit bottom.