Do you have a boyfriend?

Feeling Carl's tongue in her mouth made her body melt and she gave in. She found herself kissing him back and she no longer resisted. She couldn't hold it anymore.

Carl's hands snaked around her waist as he kept on sucking her lips with so much passion. He noticed that Anne was no longer resisting and he got the idea that Anne has come back to her senses.

He kissed her to remind her of what they felt last night. He knew that their previous kiss didn't just happen due to a moment of weakness, it happened because they felt something for each other. Right now, he wanted her so badly. He didn't want to lose her.

Anne's heart was beating wildly. The way she felt in Carl's strong arms was making her nearly lose her mind.

Nearly lose her mind but not completely. She couldn't afford to get carried away. She immediately came back to her senses and pushed Carl away from her with her might, breaking the kiss. Her chest was heaving up and down, glaring at Carl like he just made a terrible mistake.

Carl ignored her enrage face and tried to kiss her again but Anne quickly took a few steps back to avoid him.

"What is wrong with you? Why are you being so shameless?" She yelled at him.

"Why are you rejecting me?" Carl retorted.

"Because I don't love you!" Anne shouted.

Carl looked at Anne in disbelief with his lips slightly parted. It was like his soul left his body. He couldn't believe what he just heard. He was in shock because Anne just boldly said those hurtful words to his face, looking into his eyes. He could've sworn that Anne was beginning to change her mind because of the kiss they just shared.

"yes, I don't" she whispered.

Anne was upset with how Carl was pushing too hard instead of letting her go easily and it made her summon the boldness to tell Carl what he didn't want to hear to his face. She had to say something to make Carl understand that she no longer wants him.

Also, she couldn't afford to let Carl touch her again before she gets weak in the knees like a minute ago. She was still finding it hard to believe that she was able to push Carl away in the middle of their kiss. That alone proved she has so much self-control. It wasn't easy at all because a lot of women would've been carried away.

"Then… then why did you lead me on? ... I... I thought you actually felt something for me?" Carl said in a very low tone that Anne could barely him. He felt his chest tighten and he was finding it difficult to speak up because of how shocked he was after hearing those harsh words.

"I didn't lead you on, I told you from the start that I wasn't interested in a romantic relationship," She said.

"Then what about the kiss last night? What was that about?" Carl asked anxiously.

"It was nothing! ..Stop reminding me about that kiss, I already told you it meant nothing to me. And as a matter of fact, I could kiss you without feeling anything so you better stop thinking too highly of yourself," Anne said without any remorse.

Carl's eyes were red like he wanted to cry. He felt a lump in his throat that was hard to swallow. He was getting too emotional and he might start crying if Anne continued to bash his feelings.

No matter how soft and emotional he gets when he's in front of Anne, he always tried his best not to cry in front of her because he didn't want Anne to think of him as a weakling.

Carl sighed looking down and he fixed his sad eyes back at her "Anne, have I ever offended you? Cause it looks like… you have something against me." he said giving Anne a searching look.

"If I have, then I am deeply sorry." He apologized even though he was clueless about what he must've done to her.

However, Anne folded her arms with an expressionless face not uttering a single word.

"Or are you still angry at me because I covered up for Carlos? Are you still holding grudges with me because of that?" he curiously asked because he believed it was the only thing he had done to Anne to make her despise him.

Meanwhile, Anne remained mute and it bothered Carl even more that she was quiet.

"I'm sorry I lied. It's my fault you no longer trust me, I should've been honest with you from the start…" he said, feeling regretful because it was what made Anne lose her trust in him. He immediately felt sorry because of that but unknowingly to him, Anne has put that behind her a long time ago.

Carl wasn't the problem, it was her. She was scared to commit.

Carl added, "if you don't want a relationship between us then it's fine. I'm okay with loving you even though it's one-sided. I'm not going to ask you out just let me love you, you don't have to love me back… We can still be..."

"...No!" Anne interrupted harshly before Carl could finish his sentence. Whatever he was saying wasn't getting to her head. She was that stubborn. Her no is no.

Anne walked to the door and opened it wide "leave my house" she said, holding the door.

Seeing that Carl was still standing like a pillar, looking at her like she was kidding got her pissed. "leave my house, don't be pathetic!" she said in a commanding tone.

"Anne?" Carl whispered, looking at her with a lot of questions in his head like what went wrong but she turned her face sideways.

What's the point of him to keep on begging when she no longer wants him? She has made it clear that she doesn't love him.

Carl swallowed hard, trying his best to man up. He forced a tight smile on his face that said 'I'll never bother you again'.

Regardless of him smiling, Anne could see the pain in his eyes and it made her frown slightly. It made her heart ache but she chose to remain cold-hearted.

Carl took a deep breath and walked towards the door to leave like a sore loser.

"And take your flowers with you," Anne said to him.

"I want you to stop bringing me flowers, I want you to stop sending me texts of how much you love me. I want you to move on from me because no matter how much you try, I am never going to fall in love with you and get that into your head," she said sternly.

Carl delivered a frustrated sigh as he took his flowers and left feeling miserable and Anne Immediately shut the door closed as he left.

Carl got inside his car and flung the flowers at the shotgun seat. Out of frustration, he punched the steering wheel of his car three times. He closed his eyes tight not to tear up because his eyes were already welling. He felt like crying but he kept holding back.

He thought about what he did to deserve the ill-treatment from Anne. He has never been rejected like this before. He felt so worthless.

The romantic kiss they shared last night was like a dream and he just woke up to the sad reality that Anne would never have feelings for him.

'I knew it was too good to be true,' he thought to himself with his still eyes shut.

However, immediately Anne shut the door as Carl left, she sat down on the doorstep and began crying profusely with her palms covering her face.

She didn't mean anything she said to Carl. In fact, she meant the exact opposite. She only lied to get rid of Carl because if she didn't push him to the edge, Carl would continue being persistent until he gets her.

After her heartbreak experience with Carlos, she promised herself never to fall in love again and it's not up to five months since her break up and her heart is already drawn to Carl.

Instead of succumbing to her feelings, she chose to run away from love.

********

Dexter was at the supermarket collecting pringles from the shelf to buy them and then, he felt tiny arms wrapped around his waist from behind.

"hey, Dexter" Treasure said with a smile and Dexter turned around to see who just hugged him.

"What's up?" she said pulling from the hug.

"Treasure" Dexter smiled back. It's been a week since he saw her and she looked as beautiful as always.

"I'm good just like you look," he said and Treasure smiled.

She was wearing a grey color straight gown with a fashion belt around her waist and her hair was packed in a low ponytail.

"Okay? But I hope we're good?" she said.

"Mmm, what do you mean?" Dexter asked because her question sounded weird to his ears.

Treasure sighed "I mean since we exchanged numbers, you didn't bother to call me and you haven't been picking up my calls either. It's like you've been avoiding me," she said sadly.

"Uh, it's work... I've been very busy lately" he said but Treasure was finding it difficult to buy his excuse.

She didn't understand why Dexter had been avoiding her and she didn't want to act too clingy. After all, he's a detective who works with the police while she's just a student so it seems fair to her if he said he was busy.

"I see" Treasure replied nodding her head.

"Okay, I'll see you around," she said turning to leave.

"Wait," Dexter said and Treasure turned to face Dexter.

He felt bad for intentionally snubbing Treasure but it was for his own good. He didn't want to get too close to someone's else girlfriend after being threatened to stay away from her.

Although, he had the urge to ask Treasure about her supposed boyfriend even if he wasn't sure of how to come up with the topic. He couldn't just ask her out of the blue but he felt determined to ask her.

He wanted to know why she was in a relationship with that maniac that almost killed him the last time they met. He felt that Treasure looked too innocent and good for that psychopath and he finds it hard to believe that she was actually dating him.

He knew that her love life was none of his business but he was still eager to ask her.

"Treasure, do you have a boyfriend?" Dexter asked her straight up meanwhile, Treasure's eyes shone at what Dexter just asked her. She wasn't expecting such a question.

"No, I don't and... and why are you asking?" she asked with a puzzled expression.

Dexter immediately heaved a sigh of relief as he heard the word 'no' from her mouth.

'Thank goodness! how can this pretty girl be in a relationship with that ogre' he thought to himself.

"No? You don't have a boyfriend?" he asked Treasure. He was now surprised because he was sure that the lunatic that warned him to stay away from Treasure was dating her.

Nevertheless, Dexter was certain that Treasure was telling the truth because of how she responded and he also read her body language when she answered. Dexter is like a human lie detective so it was very easy for him to know when he is being lied to.

"yes, I don't have a boyfriend and you still haven't told me why you're asking" Treasure insisted.

Dexter originally had no plans in telling Treasure about his encounter with that deranged man who threatened him to stay away from Treasure so he wouldn't make her feel paranoid.

But, he also wanted to know why that psychopath threatened him and beat him up that day because of Treasure.

Why would that psychopath threaten him to stay away from a girl he's not even in a relationship with and he doesn't look like Treasure at all to be her sister.

He thought that Treasure must've known something about him and it would also help with his investigation of finding out who that psychopath was. He had no idea that man was Treasure's stalker.