Chapter 19 In My Space

Chapter 19 In My Space
I’m finally breathing again. Not scared of anything anymore and most importantly not thinking that Dominic will end up telling Malik the truth. It’s not like I didn’t trust him enough to keep the secret, but my guts keeps telling me that something might happen. 

Sitting on the bed while reading a novel, the bedroom door suddenly opened and Malik walked in. He didn’t say a word to me and casually lay on the bed next to me.

"What are you doing here?" I frowned  

"What does it seem like?" He scoffed rolling his eyes as he pulled the covers to his chest. 

"Wait, you’re sleeping here?" I blurted, startled. "Why? You don’t usually sleep here, so why now?" Panic prickled beneath my skin. The last thing I wanted was to share a bed with Malik. It’s bad enough that I’m already living in the same house as him.

"I’m trying to sleep. Do you mind?"

"Of course I mind! You never spend the night here. Why suddenly decide to?" My voice edged with confusion.

He hesitated, then turned to me. "You seem to be forgetting, Eli. This is my room too."

"Yeah, but you’re never in it," I shot back.

He scoffed. "I am now."

"But why?" I pressed harder "What happened to staying in your other room?"

"This is my room," He said flatly.

"No, your real room. The one no one’s allowed into. What happened to spending the night there?"

"I don’t feel like it anymore."

My brow arched. "And why is that? Actually, what do you even do in there every night?" The question had been simmering in my mind for days, and finally, it slipped out.

Malik rolled over away from me "None of your business." He reached for the lights and said "Goodnight." He turned off the lights 

I quickly turned it back on from my side. "I’m not ready to sleep. I’m reading a book."

He growled silently, I could tell he wanted to say something but for some reason, he chose to stayed silent. 

Even his silence bothered me. I didn’t want him around, I wanted him away from the room like he’s supposed to be.

"So, you’re not gonna tell me what you do in that room?" I asked. Now I just want to annoy him enough for him to leave the room. 

He said nothing just pretending to be sleeping.

When I noticed he won’t respond at all, I scoffed "Okay, don’t say it. I guess I’ll just find out someday." 

Again, I was replied with pure silence. 

After a while, with him still on the bed, I knew I had to say more if I really wanted him out of the room. 

"If you don’t want to tell me what you do in that room, can you at least tell me why Dominic had to leave? He says you had something to do with it. Is that true?" I asked  

Still, he didn’t respond. At this point, it was almost as if he didn’t care.

I had to press harder "You know Dominic is a good brother. You shouldn’t be pushing him away like that."

Again, no response.

I rolled my eyes. Now I have to go deeper "Speaking of good, how about your dad. Do you think he’ll like me?"

Malik didn’t answer, but the way his body stiffened told me I’d struck a nerve.

"Do you think he will approve our marriage?" I pressed  

Malik finally turned, his gaze hard. "Are you trying your annoy me?" He questioned 

"Maybe?" I challenged 

His eyes narrowed "Don’t."

That warning wasn’t enough to shut me up. I just had to keep going. "Why? I’m just curious and trying to get to know you."

Instead of being annoyed like I thought he’ll be, he smirked "If you want to get to know me, you should tell me to take my shirt off. To show you a little more skin."

"That’s not the right way to get to know a person"

He scoffed "To me it is." He said heatedly "You want me to take it off?"

"I don’t think that will be necessary," I quickly said 

He scoffed, then in one motion tugged his shirt off. My eyes widened, betraying me as they lingered on the cut of his muscular chest.

"Come on," He taunted. "Want me to take off more?"

"Oh, no, no, that won’t be necessary," I stammered.

His smirk deepened as his fingers went to his trousers. A second later, he slipped them off, leaving only his boxers. "Do you want to know more?" He leaned in closer.

"No. No!" I yelped, ready to jump out of the bed, but his hand shot out, pulling me back against him.

"You said you wanted to know me," He murmured. "Is this enough or should I take everything off?"

Take it off, my mind betrayed me, screaming in secret.

I shook my head. "No. Don’t do that."

"Why not? Don’t you want to know me better?"

"Yeah, but… this is not what I meant," I muttered, refusing to meet his eyes.

He tilted my chin until I did. The smirk lingered. "You’re suddenly shy," He whispered, his gaze slipping from my eyes down to my lips.

I didn’t respond. Being this close to him made it hard to breathe.

He brushed a strand of hair behind my ear and leaned in. I quickly turned away, but his hand clasped the back of my neck, pulling me to face him. He inched closer.
"Why so shy Eli?"

"I’m not…" I whispered, breathless.

"You are, Eli. You are." His warm breath fanned against my face. He leaned in again, our lips now only inches apart.

Malik tilted his head, his mouth drawing closer. I thought he was going to kiss me so I closed my eyes, waiting for the kiss that never came.

When I opened them, he was smiling, then laughing. "You’re so easy for me," He chuckled, rolling back to his side.

"Good night." He switched off the light, leaving me in darkness, wondering what the hell had just gotten into me.