~~~

"If I were you I wouldn't do that"

In my ears, a familiar husky voice

whispered.

I turned around when I felt the

person's grip loosen.

It was no surprise that Sebastian Greyson was staring back at me with

those gorgeous blue eyes. And his eyes were as mischievous as they

had always been.

For a brief moment, he and I both stared at each other.

I tilted my head, frowned, and

crossed my hands on my chest prior to getting lost in his eyes.

His guarded expression became amused, but it quickly faded.

"What's the matter with you?" I frowned.

He didn't respond, instead stared at me with a cocked eyebrow.

I let out a sigh and rubbed my eyes.

"What exactly do you want, Seb?" I

murmured softly.

I didn't have the energy to confront him, and I doubt I ever will.

Regardless of how much my mind disagreed, I knew my heart thought he was the man for her.

She does somersaults whenever he

looks into my eyes or at me with those intense blue orbs.

She likes his unkempt hair and wants me to run my fingers through it. She wants me to kiss his jaws again, taste his luscious lips, and feel the tickle his sexy stubble.

She wants me to eat his sultry smirk and make him feel vulnerable beneath me.

But those were the desires of my heart, not mine or my mind's.

"I was wondering why you're avoiding me." I could hear a hint of anger in his voice as he asked.

I rolled my eyes and locked my gaze with his eyes, which were staring back at me unwaveringly.

My heart skipped a beat, but I was able to ignore it.

"Is that what you wanted to know? You seriously don't know why? Or dojust you want to hear what I have to say?" I cocked an eyebrow and asked defiantly.

This was a mistake, his words rang in my ears; I ignored them.

Something swirled in his eyes yet again, desire and pride?

When he guarded it, I lost his expression.

"I know, you don't have to repeat." He cleared his throat but did not avert his gaze. We stood there in silence, fighting internal battles and exchanging stares.

I was the first to avert my gaze.

It was difficult-too difficult-not to feel anything by looking at him or getting lost in them.

I feigned a yawn to give him the wrong impression about why I removed my eyes.

"I'm tired; I'm going to sleep," I said as I took a step to the side, but before I could, a hand slowly clasped my wrist.

"Stop ignoring me," he said quietly.

I gulped and tried to wiggle my hands free from his grasp. I exhaled and closed my eyes.

"I'm not ignoring you," I muttered, not turning around.

"You are, evidently"

"Why would you care, Seb?" I wondered aloud, turning around and yanking my hands free from his grasp as I felt them loosen.

He looked lost for a second, as if I had taken him by surprise. And, much to my chagrin, his expression became composed and guarded within a fraction of a second.

I wanted to yell at him and tell him to stop hiding his feelings.

But I didn't do it.

Instead, I stood there waiting for his response.

Why should I? Who was I to him, anyways?

I didn't let his response make my heart hopeful, but it didn't stop her from being hopeful.

" I don't."

I could already feel the ache in my heart and hear the illusory shattering of glass as he responded coldly.

"I don't want things to get weird between us because you're my best friend's little sister. Whatever had happened in a few days, I think we should move past that."

His words echoed in my head, and each one slashed my heart to shreds.

I didn't let my emotions surface on my face.

I agreed by nodding.

"I agree. Things should get back to how they were previously." I replied, blankly.

When I looked up to see him, I noticed his expression was guarded, and for a split second-maybe it was just my imagination-I felt like hurt flashed through his eyes.

I shook my head and laughed internally at myself for having such an absurd thought.

I was merely his best friend's little sister.

Nothing else.

"I'm going to my room," I said as I looked at him.

He nodded keeping his gaze locked with the floor.

I walked to my room, nodding and lowering my gaze.

My mood had dipped, and I felt like ripping out of everything and screaming at the world for being so unjust.

But I didn't do any of that.

I kept walking with a calm face, feeling his intense gaze on me the entire time.

With a thud, the door closed, and I slid down against it, bringing my knees to my chest.

This wasn't even heartbreak.

We didn't have anything like that going on, but it hurt a lot more than I would have accepted.

"I want you."

In my head, his words sounded like a tape. He was just looking out for fun and my vulnerable heart thought the opposite thing.

There were no promises, nothing, and yet I had the feeling I could go on a rampage.

Am I a wuss?

"Do you know over whom I get envious?"

A tear rolled down my cheek.

Why is it so torturous?

Why couldn't I like someone who isn't my brother's best friend and who is a good man?

Brother.

I feel like I haven't spoken to him in ages.

I will move out.

That's it, I can't take it any longer; the first thing I'll do when I return is look for a new place to live.

With that in mind, I wiped the tears from the corners of my eyes and rose to my feet, making my way to the restroom.

I showered, changed into my new baby pink pajamas, and jumped into bed after finishing my skin care routine.

After turning off the bed lamp, I let out a tired yawn and dozed off just as my head hit the pillow.

__________

The sound of my phone's alarm jolted me out of my deep sleep. I sighed, rubbed my eyes, and turned off the alarm. The alarm went off again as I closed my eyes.

After repeating the cycle three times, I opened my alarm application and deleted all of the alarms that I had set to go off every 5 minutes.

I closed my eyes after putting my phone down, but the sleep had abandoned me.

I checked the time after another 5 minutes of staring at the ceiling; it was five to seven.

The schedule had been dictated to us before we arrived at the hotel.

Breakfast was at 8 a.m., and we had to leave the hotel by 10 a.m. to attend a seminar at Henderson Inc.'s Brooklyn branch. Then there would be a meeting place for all Henderson Inc. and Greyson's employees. They said tomorrow would be a free day for us to do whatever we wanted, with the event taking place on the third day.

Knowing I only had an hour, I quickly got up, brushed my teeth, and arranged the shower.

I called Jen and woke her up because I knew she was going to be late.

I donned into a pink polka dotted shirt and a cream colored pencil skirt after showering and freshening up, and completed my look with a baby pink 3 inch pencil heel. I took one last look in the mirror at myself, taking in my entire look, including the nude pink matt lipstick, long eyeliner, and curled eyelashes under the mashkara. My hair was pulled back into a long, tight ponytail.

With a sharp inhalation, I took my cream-colored pouch and walked out of the room, locking it behind me.

When I stepped out of the elevator, there was a commotion in the hotel hall.

I noticed a familiar figure and proceeded to approach him.

"What's going on?" I mumbled as I looked around.

Mave smiled as he turned into my direction.

They're all waiting for others, and our dear best friend has yet to arrive," he sighed.

We heard a loud squeal that caught everyone's attention, as if a miracle had occurred.

"Eyes on my face dickhead. My boobs don't speak!"

My best friend.

"They're all waiting for others, and our dear best friend has yet to arrive," he sighed.

We heard a loud squeal that caught everyone's attention, as if a miracle had occurred.

"You've got your eyes on my face, dickhead. My boobs are deafeningly silent!"

My closest companion.

In response, I chuckled. Mave groaned, but there was a tug on his lips as well.

"This woman," he grumbled.

We both walked towards the elevator, where Jen was furiously cursing the man in front of her, while the rest of the room cast curious glances in that direction before returning to their conversations.

"What exactly is going on?" Mave grumbled in front of them, and I stood beside him.

"This leache was talking to me while staring at my boobs; that's disrespectful!" She yelled.

"I agree," I nodded.

Jen smiled as she replied, "Thank you!"

"But she was flirtatiously looking at me," the man weakly defended himself. I sighed and crossed my arms across my chest. When I took over his appearance, he appeared to be in his forties.

He should have children for God's sake.

Men, men, men. Ugh-men

"But that still doesn't give you the right to look at her boobs," I retorted.

"I wasn't flirting with him!" Jen exclaimed. "For fuck's sake, you look like my father," she added scrunching her nose in disgust.

"She looks at people like that," Mave said calmly next to me.

His eyes held protectiveness yet remained calm with his hands tucked inside his pockets.

"It's not my fault that I made the incorrect assumption." The doughe yelled.

"Is it Mother Teresa's fault that you assumed incorrectly?And what the fudge does 'eyeing flirtatiously' mean?" I retorted with a snort, using air quotes. My best friend puffed her chest with pride and a big smile beside me, while the man lowered his head and grumbled something.

"OK, you three, cut it," Mave interjected.

"You," he said, pointing to the doughe.

"Please apologize," he said calmly but threateningly.

"No, I won't because I didn't stare at her boobs," the man said with a shake of his head.

The audacity.

Mave cut in before I or Jen could open our mouths, "There is a camera in the elevator;" the man paled,

There isn't any camera in the elevator. I mentally smirked while Mave continued.

"If we have to check the camera, I will make sure the footage reaches the eyes of your wife and children."

The man paled as if he'd seen a ghost, "I'm sorry," he muttered appeasingly to Jen, who was still rage-filled in her stance.

"Make sure you don't do it again," she grumbled.

"I won't," the man said as he walked away from us as quickly as he could.

That caused Jen and me to burst out laughing, and Mave to chuckle.

"You cleever brat" I chuckled looking looking at Mave; he just winked.

"I'm proud of you, Jen," I said softly as I kissed her cheek.

I meant it; we women don't normally confront the men who cast their unwanted looks on our bodies dispite the fact that it makes us uncomfortable.

And, based on my personal experience, I would say this is something I value.

I faced the same situation when I was 17. I was shopping in a department store; and while billing my items, the man kept staring at my breasts, which made me very uncomfortable, but I didn't raise my voice.

My hands instinctively drew my sweater closer to my chest, but it didn't work. I wanted to scream at him, but my voice wasn't there, and I lacked the courage to do so. So I did the only thing that occurred to me.

"My bill," I had to repeat three times before he took his gaze away from my breasts. And from then on, I always tried to send Theo or Jake shopping and avoided the store as much as possible.

Now that I think about it, I wish my 17-year-old hadn't had to go through that.

Jen also chuckled and kissed my cheek.

"Perhaps you're rubbing yourself in me," she smirked.

No, perhaps you're rubbing yourself in me.

I wanted to say but couldn't, because everyone was rushing into the restaurant for breakfast.

The aroma of freshly baked bread and cheese filled the restaurant. I took a deep breath and sat down at one of the tables.

"We'll meet Mr. Henderson in the office," Mark said as he sat down. Everyone got busy and started eating.

After finishing breakfast, everyone walked to the parking lot, where cars awaited us.

And I couldn't help but think about last night as I walked.

I shook my head, trying to clear my mind.

No, not anymore.

My stupid heart, however, became anxious and excited at the prospect of seeing him today.

Oh, my stupid heart.