Sweat runs over my forehead as I wake up panting hard, surviving from the same horrible nightmare. Thank god! It wasn't real. I touch my face like every time to make sure that it's still there in the place. As I do that, I suddenly feel something heavy on my chest. Fuck! I realize that I am on my bed and when I look down; I see a girl sleeping over me. Who is she? I gently pull aside the hair falling over her face to see who it is, and then I am bumped with astonishment as I realize that it's Nicole. What is she doing here? I try to bend my neck to get a better view of her face. That's when my head starts spinning. Jesus! What happened to me? Then the memories from last night surf before me. I reminisce about going to a bar and getting drunk.

My mind goes back to the night two days ago when Nicole told me that Sam was her boyfriend. When I heard that, I couldn't take that piece of information calmly. Since then I had been wandering the entire time like a madman in the city. I just didn't want to come back. Because it would have been torture for me to be around Nicole, knowing that she is taken. I was pretty much fucked. So, I went to Max to talk about some business. That seemed the only way to keep my fucking mind occupied. We discussed the tactics and the setup that we are going to make for trapping the Browns. Since I met Peter, I had been working hard to achieve our motive, which is to have a foolproof plan for confining the Browns. Peter has promised to help us with our major sea route imports and exports. So, this deal holds great importance for us.

We talked about it for a really long time. Even after sitting down and discussing everything, I couldn't get my mind away from what Nicole said. I never thought that there was something between that kid and her. It always appeared like they were only good friends. I was so disappointed by Nicole's words that I literally lost my mind and thought that going to a bar and getting drunk would be the best option. After I was done with Max, I straight went to the nearby bar. I remember the last time when I got this drunk; it was the time when I lost hope of getting any clue on Nicole and ended up with Mia. That was a terrible mistake which I don't want to recollect. I don't know how I even managed to drive and get back here considering the amount of alcohol I consumed. I turn my gaze down again and see Nicole stirring awake. She looks at me half asleep rubbing her eyes and then as she realizes where she is, she immediately scrambles away from me.

"Ummm.... I am sorry." She saying blushing.

I look at her beautiful face. She has just woken up and still, she looks so gorgeous. I try to sit up but my head throbs, making me shut my eyes in pain. I groan loudly and then look at her.

"What happened last night?" I ask her.

I know that I was drunk, but yet I want to hear from her because I love her sweet voice. I don't remember much from last night, but I specifically do remember one thing that Nicole confessed to me that she lied. I can faintly recollect that she said Sam wasn't her boyfriend. It's the only thing that was on my mind when I fell asleep. Maybe that's the reason why I remember it.

She looks at me hesitantly, putting a strand of hair behind her ear. "You came here really drunk last night."

I look down unable to meet her gaze out of embarrassment. What the fuck was I thinking when I decided to come home drunk? I should have known that Nicole would be here to witness this. I hope I didn't make a fool out of me.

"How did I get here in my room?" I ask after a moment, looking at her. "Did you?" I raise an eyebrow asking her if she brought me here, and she nods at me. Shit! This is even more embarrassing.

"If I am not wrong, I wasn't on my best behavior last night," I say in a small voice. She doesn't say anything confirming that what I am saying is right.

"I am sorry Nicole for causing you so much trouble," I say in a regretful voice. She looks at me with an amused expression as if it is enjoyable for her to see me getting embarrassed.

"It's okay. You didn't exactly cause any trouble for me." She says shrugging.

"You were just a little more grumpy," She thinks for a while, looking around. "and you were whining like a kid.... that's it." She says chuckling.

"Wh-What did I do?" I ask her, looking mortified.

"You didn't do anything except for saying some embarrassing things." She smirks at me. Shit! What can be embarrassing to say? I hope I didn't ask her to guess my underwear color, or did I confess that I have a terrible fear of cockroaches? Because that would have been fucking humiliating. Or did I just tell her that I am obsessed with her? That I keep thinking about her all the time. Fuck! If that's the case then she must be thinking of me as some kind of creepy son of a bitch.

"What did I say?" I stutter, dreading the answer I'll get to learn.

"That's for me to know...." She says playfully. This is really bad! So last night I absolutely let go of my reputation.

"Okay...so except for embarrassing myself, I hope I didn't do anything inappropriate?" I question her timidly.

"No...not at all. You just pulled me into bed without my consent and forced me to sleep with you."

I cock an eyebrow at her in surprise or rather you can say in shock.

As if understanding my confused expression, she clears her throat. "I mean like only sleep. Sleep like sleep.." She speaks looking uncomfortable. "If that doesn't come under inappropriate then I don't know."

I study her face for a minute and then say. "I don't feel like you are complaining about it."

"Sorry?" She looks at me with wide eyes.

"Don't lie to me, Cole. I know you liked it." I smirk at her, relaxing on the bed.

"What?"

"You enjoyed being in my bed, didn't you?" I ask her cocking an eyebrow.

"Shut up!" She scoffs, throwing a pillow at my face as she stands up from the bed. "You are unbelievable!" She says and I laugh looking at her all flustered face.

"If I am not wrong, you did confess last night that Sam isn't your boyfriend?" I ask her.

She looks down nervously playing with her fingers and then says. "Umm No..."

I straighten up and narrow my eyes at her.

"I mean yes...." She admits coughing awkwardly.

Before she could continue what she was saying, her phone starts chiming. I peek over and see the caller Id flashing up as her dad's. I divert my gaze back to her and see as soon as her eyes fall on it, her body grows rigid and her face turns deadly serious. She clenches her jaw and doesn't make any move to take the call. What the hell is wrong? Why she is acting so strange. She was smiling and happy minutes ago, but now it seems like she is fuming with rage. Does it have to do something with her dad's call?

As she keeps frowning at her phone without doing much, I ask her. "Why are you not picking up?" She shoots an irritated glare at me as if telling me not to poke in her business.

The room grows awkwardly silent except for her phone which keeps ringing. After what feels like an eternity, she finally picks it up.

"Yes dad, I am fine." She says in a stern voice.

"You have said this like a hundred times."

"I know... you don't have to worry about me. I can take care of myself." I hear her snapping at him irritatedly. I don't know what her father is saying from the other end. But from her tone, it seems like everything that he is saying is just pissing her off more.

"Yeah.... don't tell me what I should do or not." She tells him harshly.

"I know what's best for me better than you." She adds bitterly.

"Yeah...fine. Okay, bye." I am sure she cut off the phone before her father did. Poor man. Why did she talk to him like that?

I look at her as she ends the call, appearing pissed.

"That was pretty rude. Looks like you don't share a good relation with your father," I say.

"It's none of your business." She spats at me instantly.

I didn't mean to make her uncomfortable. I was just curious to know the reason behind her indifferent behavior towards her father. "I am sorry...if that offended you. I just asked because I've never had someone looking for me." I tell her. It's true that I have never received a call from someone asking me how I was doing. It had always been about drug dealing or killing people.

She looks at me and her shoulders sag. She sighs deeply as her features soften.

"He...he just keeps calling me to check on me." Her blue eyes shining with unspeakable sadness. "He is insecure about my safety." She says in a low voice.

"What does your father do?" I ask her.

She lets out a sarcastic chuckle and says. "Trust me, you don't want to know."

"Why?"

She turns at me, and her face hardens. "He is an officer....A police officer." Wow! that's interesting!

I listen to her intently as she continues. "He tends to keep tabs on me because he thinks that my life can be at risk because of his job."

"Then you should listen to him. He is just looking after your safety." I tell her sitting up on the bed.

"Safety my foot! He never really cared about us." She scoffs in annoyance.

"Why would you say that?" I question her.

"Because....Leave it, I don't wanna talk about it." She says looking out of the window.

"Okay..." I don't want to pry her on anything. It seems like she doesn't like talking about her father. Something is definitely not okay between her and her father. Maybe she is emotionally hurt. I don't know the reason behind it. It's her personal thing, and I would never try to intervene in it. But the thought of someone hurting her even if it's her father makes me feel immense anger.

I try to stand up from the bed but my head spins and I end up falling back on the bed. I grip my head with my hands as it hurts like a bitch.

"Hey, wait, I'll get you some lemonade. You will feel better." I hear Nicole saying as she walks to the door.

She goes out of the room, and I look at her retreating figure. I think about whatever happened between us in the last few days. The only good thing that came out of me getting drunk is Nicole's attention. She is not trying to avoid me now, and I am really happy about that.

After some time she gets back and hands me a glass of juice that she made.

"I am going to get ready for the clinic. Hope you'll feel better in some time." She tells.

"Thank you!" I tell her but before listening to me she turns her back and walks out of the room. Great! Just when I thought she wasn't trying to avoid me, she has to do that.

After she goes out of the room, I get into the bathroom and have a nice hot shower. I change into a pair of fresh clothes. I feel much better now. I know even if Nicole tries not to show it to me, but I know she cares about me. Even last night she helped me to get back to my room and took care of me. I look at the glass that she gave me resting on the table and smile. Why is she so amazing? I feel I should properly thank her for everything. Earlier when she was in my room, the call that she got from her dad disturbed everything and I didn't get a chance to talk to her properly. Maybe I should go to her room now and thank her.

With that purpose, I get out of my room to go to hers. I gently knock on the door and wait, but I get no response in return. I knock again but Nicole doesn't answer.

"Nicole?! You there?" I frown and ask.

Is she okay? Why is she not opening the door? I lose my patience after knocking for continuous 5 minutes and not getting any reply. I finally burst open the door. When I barge in I see Nicole getting out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel. She looks at me and gasps in horror.

"What the hell, Christopher?" She says holding her towel tightly. She looks beautiful with her skin glowing with tiny water droplets. Her hair is damp from the fresh shower that she has taken. For a moment I am awestruck by how good she is looking, but then I am brought back to reality when she gives me a pointed look.

"I..I.. knocked on the door so many times and even called you. But you didn't give any response to me, so I thought something happened to you." I say nervously.

"Isn't it obvious that if I am not opening the door then I would be in the bathroom?" She says throwing another dirty glare at me.

"I ..I am sorry." I tell her in embarrassment.

"Now have some decency and get out of the room so I can get dressed." She says gripping the top of her towel. My eyes drop to the exposed area of her chest where she is holding her towel and I clench my jaws. Fuck!

I immediately look back at her face. "Listen, Nicole. I just wanted to thank you for bearing with my drunk ass last night." I tell her sincerely.

She looks at me and I continue.

"And I wanted to apologize for my inappropriate behavior."

"You already said that." She says looking pissed. Okay, now what Christopher? Come on, say something.

"So...we are friends now?" I ask her awkwardly.

"NO!" She says immediately. Ouch! that hurt my fucking ego.

I look back at her and start walking towards her with my slow steps. Now you have to face consequences, Cole.

"May I ask you the reason why not?" I ask as I stand in front of her.

"Because I don't want to...." She says looking a little uncomfortable by our proximity.

"Yeah, I get it....you just aren't able to control yourself when you are near me," I smirk at her. "That's the real reason you don't want to be friends with me," I say to her.

"Don't flatter yourself, Christopher." She scowls, taking a step back.

"Trust me, I don't have to. Your eyes are doing enough of it." I tell her cockily. I know the kind of effect I have on her. She glares at me. I just love how easily she gets riled up.

"Shut up and get out of my room!" She retorts.

"What if I don't want to?" I tease her, standing straight in front of her.

"You know I liked your drunk self better because your behavior is more inappropriate when you are sober." She says making a disgusted face.

"I'd take it as a compliment. At least you accepted that you like me." I tell her calmly.

"Get out, Christopher!!" she screams frustratedly. Like hell, I am going to.

"Make me," I tell her in amusement. This is really going to be fun.

"What?" She says in disbelief.

"What the fuck, Christopher? Get out of my room!" She again yells.

"This is not working, Cole. Maybe try something more convincing." I tell her subtly crossing my arms over my chest.

She looks at me in irritation. For a moment I thought that she is going to slap me on hit me and I was even ready for it. But then unexpectedly her face changes. I see her batting her eyelashes as she bites her lip seductively, looking at me. What the hell happened to her? I rub my eyes frantically. Am I dreaming or what? Before I can realize anything she grabs my collar with one hand and pulls me down to her so that our noses are almost touching. She then looks into my eyes and says.

"Let me show you how convincing I can be Chris .." Holy shit! As soon as those words come out of her mouth, I literally lose my mind. She then abruptly pushes me back. I stumble back, not believing my eyes over her bold move. What did she say? Chris? That sounded so fucking sexy! Where the hell this Nicole came from? I take a minute to process everything and when I look back to see her walking towards me. She walks to me slowly and trails her fingers over my face. I close my eyes, enjoying her touch. This feels fucking heaven! Her fingers trace my jaws and travel down my throat to my chest. A tortured groan escapes my lips.

"Let me show you.." She whispers as she keeps walking, pushing me back. I automatically take steps back so as to enjoy the view of her sexy body. It's blissful to watch her walking sensually towards me with a towel. I don't realize, but I keep walking back. Wait! Where am I going? It's too late until I realize that I am out of the room already. Shit! This was a fucking trap.

"What the..." She shuts the door on my face before I complete my sentence.

"I hope that was convincing enough for you. Have a nice day, Christopher!!!!" I hear her giggling from the other side of the door. Fuck! She just got this so easily.

I shake my head and smile to myself like an idiot. She is just too adorable.

I walk back to my room and sit on the bed thinking about Nicole. She always brings a smile to my face. I realized now how much I love being around her. She is like a fresh breath of air to me. I wish she could realize how I feel about her. Suddenly my phone buzzes and I see Max's name blinking on it. I pick it up.

"Hello, Max!"

"Hey, Chris. I just called to inform you that we are going to meet Benjamin tomorrow." Hearing Max call me Chris, my lips curve into a smile as I think about how sexily Nicole called my name. What the hell, Christopher? Concentrate on your work. I instantly shake that thought off my mind and get back to the business.

"Did he agree for 5 kg?" I ask him in return.

"Yes, but he wants to check the rifles first."

"That's not a problem. You keep the rifles ready in the car, we will leave together."

"I think we should take Tony and Josh with us too." He says.

"That's fine. Inform them about this. We'll meet tomorrow." But before I can hang up, he says.

"Chris wait, Sophia called me today asking me why you are not picking up her phone."

A scowl appears on my face as soon as I hear Sophia's name. "I know that...I am not picking up because I don't want to talk to her. I don't know what's her problem? I just broke everything off with her and she still keeps bothering me." I huff.

"Man, she is that clingy kind of ex-girlfriend, I guess." He chuckles saying that.

"That would probably be an understatement. She is a total headache."

"Watch it, dude. You are probably messing with the wrong guy." His tone suddenly turns serious. And I know who he is talking about. "Richard isn't happy with the way you are treating his daughter. I hope you know that?"

"Yes, I know."

"It's not only about Sophia, Chris. He is pissed with other things too. If you know what I mean."

I don't say anything as he continues. "Look man, I am not trying to give you advice. I am just saying because you are my friend. I don't have to tell you how Richard is, you know him better than me." He sighs and then says. "Just be careful."

"Yeah..."

"I hope you'll sort everything out quickly."

"I hope that too."

"Okay see you tomorrow Chris." With that, he hangs up.

I stare at the phone in my hand as I process what Max said. I have been with Richard for so long and I have known better than to mess with him. But I have rejected his daughter it means I've already messed everything. The question is, how am I going to handle this? But one thing that I am sure about is I will not let Sophia step into my life again.

A/N:

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Janny❤