Chapter 4

ARIELLA’S POV.

The golden rays of the sun flooding through the window stirred me in my sleep. As my eyes slowly opened, a throbbing headache greeted me, blurring my surroundings.

I tried to move out of the bed, but I felt strong arms around my waist, pin me down. “David, let go,” I groaned as I turned over to face my fian—

Oh shit!

My eyes widened as last night’s events began to flood into my head, intensifying my headache. Who was this man? Oh my God, what have I done?

My eyes scanned the figure lying beside me. His tanned, muscular body perfectly complemented the sun seeping through the curtains. His dark hair was recklessly scattered on his face, and his arms, which had prevented me from leaving the bed earlier, wrapped around me in a possessive hold. His face was chiseled to perfection, and as he lay beside me in just boxer briefs, he looked almost perfect. Almost.

My hands twitched, moving on their own accord to touch his face. For all I knew, I could be lying unconscious in a bar somewhere, imagining all this.

“If you take a picture now, it will last longer,” his deep, sexy voice jolted me out of my reverie and I immediately withdrew my hand.

Oh, he’s real alright. Had he been awake the whole time?

“Yeah… I had been. And you should learn to keep your thoughts in your head,” he said, raising his head and staring intensely at me.

His features accentuated each other, from his well-defined jawline to his cheekbones, and his pointed nose. There was no doubt that God had spent extra time creating this fine specimen.

“Peach.. you’re drooling,” He said, stifling laughter and my hands flew to my mouth almost instantly.

Oh, God… I was indeed drooling. Get it together Ari!

“I’m sorry…” I said, shyly.

“No need to apologize, Peach. I get that a lot… it’s quite hard for anyone to resist THIS,” He emphasized, flexing his body as he stood to his feet.

Cocky bastard.

“I heard that, Peach,” He called out.

“Can you stop calling me that? It's so weird… I remember telling you my name, Dax,” I stated, holding on tightly to whatever dignity I had left—and it had to be a very pitiable amount—as I grabbed the duvet along with me towards the large shirt on the ground.

“Can I wear this?” I asked over my shoulder.

“You don’t have to wear anything, Peach. You’re fine just the way you are.” He replied, with a sly grin.

I eyed him menacingly before putting the shirt on. He was cocky, and I hated it..

“Do you say that to every girl you sleep with?” I asked out of the corner of one eye as I looked around for my underwear.

“Actually,” he began, “I hardly have conversations with most women I sleep with.”

I was so stunned that I nearly staggered. What?

“So you just, fuck a-and.. leave?” I gasped.

“You're saying it like it's a bad thing, and yes.. I often fuck and leave.” He replied matter-of-factly with no iota of shame or regret on his face.

“So you’re basically a walking STI, Great!” I scoffed and then realization dawned on me, “Wait… we had sex, so that m-means…” I gasped, covering my mouth in realization.

“Calm your tits peach… I always use protection. And If that's not reassuring enough, I had my monthly checkup done last week… I’m clean.” He reassured me.

“Ok, that's good,'' I let out a sigh of relief. “But why are you still here if you always…j-just leave.” I furrowed my brows as I put on my underwear.

He was about to reply, but then, he turned around, giving me privacy as I put on my underwear. It was an unexpected act of gentlemanliness for someone who has been cocky and slightly misogynistic so far.

“Because… I can tell you’re not like the girls I’ve been with. You don’t seem like this is something you do often. And, If you weren’t so beautiful, you would have had a hard time seducing me,” he said with a shrug, before turning around to look at me after ascertaining that I was done dressing.

I looked away because of the sheer embarrassment seeping through my veins. Now that I thought about it, I really shouldn’t have done this.

“But, don't worry about it, Peach, you did good.. Very good," he acknowledged naughtily.

“Please stop,” I blushed, and he chuckled softly.

“So… Do you want to talk about it?” He said after a couple minutes of silence, his voice now low with a streak of genuine concern.

I sat on the bed and sighed as the events of the last 24 hours replayed through my head.

“You don’t even know me,” I grumbled.

“That’s true,” He affirmed, “But we had mind-blowing sex last night, so that should count for something, right?”

He sat beside me on the bed, giving me a look of expectancy, as though to say “I'm waiting.” There was an authoritative aura about him that felt intimidating “Well, I hav… had a fiance,” I began, grimacing as the word 'fiance’ now tasted bitter in my mouth, “And my best friend, I loved and trusted them a lot. But, maybe, too much..”

“Anna is a model, and my fian—ex-fiance.” I shook my head, reminding myself constantly that their statuses in my life had changed, “He’s a doctor…” I narrated the past day's events, while Dax listened, attentively.

“...Anna and David, my ex-fiance, they…they were together, I saw. They were sleeping together. My best friend and my fian—” I break into sobs. unable to hold my emotions in.

Dax immediately wrapped his arms around me.“Hey, hey.. Shhh.. It's okay.. It's okay..” He comforted me. His soothing voice resonated through my ears as he tried to calm me.

“So the reason you were at the club yesterday was to drink your sorrows away”

“well… not exactly,” I replied, still wiping my eyes, “I wanted to be petty. I thought if they could sleep with each other and move on so quickly, then I could do the same. But now I don’t feel comfortable about the whole thing.”

He nodded knowingly for a while before eventually saying: “Well, if it makes you feel any better. You gave me the wildest time I ever had...”

“Oh my God, you suck at this.” I slapped his shoulder playfully.

“Well, people don't usually come to me for advice, but I’m glad you’re smiling now,” He replied. “And, since you're all lively now, how about we grab something to eat? My treat.” He suggested.

“That sounds good, but could we go to a pharmacy first?” I replied, and he stared at me confused.

“A pharmacy?”

“Yeah, I need to get the pill, I know you used protection, but I am not gonna take the risk and end up pregnant after my first one-night stand.”

“Mm.. Okay,” he said, concurring.

*****

Thirty minutes later we were out of the hotel. I'd had to throw on my dress from last night and it felt a little uncomfortable.

I hadn't thought that my one-night stand would want to go out for lunch but, here we were. I was immensely grateful that he had a car because it would have killed me to have to walk down the street with this. Dress.

We got settled in the restaurant and I ordered some broth to help with my headache while Dax ordered the breakfast special.

“So… What do you do, like, I mean for work? If you don’t mind.” I looked at him speculatively.

But he didn't take offense and replied as casually as possible:

“Oh, I’m a businessman; buy this, sell this, import this, blah blah blah, work, work, work,”

“What about you? What do you do?” He asked back and I quickly cleaned my mouth so I could answer.

“Well, I….my….I mean the company I used to work for folded recently, so.. I'm still in the hunt for rehiring.”

This was a lie, and although he had replied to me when I'd asked him about his occupation, how could I be sure he wasn't lying? It was best for me to hold back the truth.. at least for now.. The two people I'd trusted with everything had just done me dirty. Trusting anyone was something I wasn't willing to do.. Not right now, at least..

We continued making small talk until I heard brisk footsteps approaching our table, I turned my head to see who it was.

Ohh, you’ve got to be kidding me! What was she doing here?

“I see you've moved on quickly, Ari,” She sneered.

“What are you doing here, Anna?” I groaned.

“Oh, I was passing by when I saw you through the window, and who is this hottie?” She asked, her gaze fixed on Dax.

“Why is my ex-fiancee not enough for you?” I shot back.

“Oh, stop the pity party, Ari, you knew I liked him from the very start. He was mine to begin with, but yo… you stole him from me!” She screamed, her eyes flashing with disdain.

The commotion caught the attention of people in the restaurant, and they turned their curious heads in our direction.

“Well, goeduck with that. He's all yours," I replied, trying to look unfazed by her words.

“Know this Ariella, I’m not done with you, you took everything from me and I am going to do the same,” She said with a tone of finality and walked out of the restaurant.

I stared at my food as Anna's words played back in my head. Did she just say I took everything from her? But she was the one who did that!

What did I take?