Chapter18 - Lit with pink

He looked at the little boy with adoration and longing. Was he longing for a kid? My heart ached for this devastated man who made my heart flip. He had lost his soul mate at this young age. His eyes were filled with tenderness and pure love, it was a total contrast of his arrogant, brooding self.

Whenever he was in the same room with me, all I feel was his strong, powerful aura with his masculinity. But today, I saw a playful, carefree, friendly self of him and I totally love this side of him.

I scooped Eric's sleeping form in my arms and he clutched the front of my floral shirt in his tiny fist on reflex and buried his face in my chest still sleeping. He snuggled to me and I could hear light snores from him. The little boy looked calm, but he wouldn't sit in one place when he was not sleeping.

I smiled at his sleeping form and made my way to my bedroom closely followed by Xander, he opened the door for me since I was carrying Eric in my arms. As soon as I entered my room I gently laid the little boy on my mattress and tugged him under my sheets. I combed his hair tenderly with my fingers without waking him up.

"You'll make a good mother," Xander whispered out of the blue with a genuine smile on his face. He was leaning on my bedroom door, his hands were folded against his muscular chest, his ankles were slightly crossed over each other and he looked so relaxed.

I didn't know how to reply to his statement, so I just smiled at him. I always thought that I was not a kid's person because I was irresponsible and careless. I was not even capable of taking care of myself that was one of the main reasons why I never stayed at the dormitories.

Most of my high school friends didn't like kids because they think that kids were whiny and hard to maintain. Even I too thought that was true until I met Eric. I never handled or babysat a kid before. Eric was the first kid that I ever oversaw, and so far I was enjoying myself. Maybe kids were not bad after all.

"Let's go downstairs," I ushered him to the living room. I took a seat on the big couch while he took the single couch opposite to me. There was an awkward silence between us.

For an unknown reason, the way he kissed me in my backyard came to my mind. He was animalistic back then. The mere thought of the way he ravaged my lips brought a delicious shiver down my spine. Suddenly the room felt so hot and I still could feel his hot kisses on my jawline.

For anonymous reasons, my eyes strayed at his lips. It looked pink and luscious. It was also a bit swollen from our previous make-out session.

"Is Eric your cousin or something," he asked me breaking the silence and snapping my little bubble.

"N…No, he is my friend's nephew, she is on a date so I'm taking care of him till this evening," I responded to him, he nodded in acknowledgment. Did that kiss mean anything to him? I mean he was the one who kissed me.

Did that mean he likes me?

I raised my eyes to look at him and he too looked at me at the same time. Our eyes clashed with each other my brown against his pale blue. There was this thick tension in this room.

"I feel oddly calm and collected when I'm with you, Catherine," my name rolled off his tongue like butter, which made me shudder.

He confessed to me, looking at the floor, he was bent down from his sitting position, his elbows were rested on his knees, and his hands were intertwined with each other. He looked laid back but his jaw was clenched as if, he was controlling himself.

Why do I always feel like, his emotions and actions were different? For instance, he would smile at me, but his eyes would hold hatred towards me, it was a total contrast. Maybe, you were putting too much thought into it, a little voice told me. I internally shook my head to clear my thoughts and focused on his words.

My heart flickered at his words. My stomach exploded with butterflies. My heart was beating so fast and my skin broke out with goosebumps. Why the hell was my body reacting this way, it was not like he was confessing his undying love for me.

All he told me was that he felt calm around me.

Held your emotions together woman, I scolded myself for getting jittery for nothing.

I was speechless, I didn't know how to respond to him because I was not used to compliments or things like this. So I did the only thing which I was good at doing, I stared at him without uttering a word.

He looked right into my brown orbs, my heart started to beat so fast. I could feel the pain in the depth of his blue orbs; it was filled with so much susceptibility and pain. Maybe, he felt calm around me.

At this moment, I stopped thinking about the world around me. All I saw was this fallen angel in front of me. Before, I knew what I was doing; my feet carried me to the man who I was crushing on. He too stood up when he realized that I was walking to him. He looked surprised by my sudden action.

I didn't know what to say through my words so I told him through my action. I tugged at his collar and kissed his pink lips. I felt like I was melting into a puddle of goo. My one hand snaked at the nape of his neck and tugged at his silky brown strands while the other one, cupped his razor-sharp jaw. I felt like, I was struck by lightning. Well, it was my time to return his kiss.

His lips were so soft and plush against mine at first, but it soon turned so rough and urgent. He was not kissing me anymore, he was devouring my mouth like a feast, he bit down my lower lip softly, which made me gasp. He used that opportunity to plunge his tongue into my mouth, which made him smirk against my lips in response. He groaned against my mouth when I sucked his skillful tongue, which made me smile against his lips in satisfaction.

I was flushed against his muscular chest; his arms circled my waist and pulled me further into him as if, that was possible. His hands started to explore every inch of my curve.

We pulled away from each other in need of air, we both were breathing so fast and hard. He rested his forehead against mine and our noses were grazing against each other. He closed his eyes still breathing hard. My heart was going crazy by now, it was pounding against my ribs so fast and I can feel my adrenaline rushing through my veins.

I felt so alive; suddenly we heard a throat clearing. We pulled away from each other and we witnessed our granny on my doorstep, trying hard to hold her smile in.

"Did I miss something?" she asked me with a wink, which made me blush to the tip of my ears. I looked at Xander and he was not looking at me, he just rubbed the nape of his neck with awkwardness. He looked tense and his jaw was gritted.

"Hello…, Mrs. Brown, I was just delivering the things that you asked for." He told her and moved his feet back and front.

"Thank you, honey." My granny's teasing smile never faltered.

"I'll leave now, I… have some work." He informed her and left our place without acknowledging my presence. I saw his retreating figure from our doorstep. He didn't even spare me a single glance as soon as my granny arrived.

Was he regretting our kiss?

Why didn't he say anything to me?

Was I overthinking again?

There was this gut feeling that something was off with Xander. Probably, I felt this way, because I felt apprehensive that I was caught by my granny.

"Ahem," someone cleared their throat behind me. I turned around to my granny looking all smug.

"So… you and Alex, huh?" my granny asked me with a teasing smile, her eyes shone with mischief.

My face heated up at her question, I was gaping at her like a fish out of water. She looked at me with amusement and tomfoolery, glistening in her eyes.

"We…um sort of talking with each other, while you walked in," I stuttered and blushed profusely. My granny gave me a full-blown belly laugh.

"Sure honey," she teased me, pinching my both cheeks. I looked at her as if, I was caught red-handed.