Ava's POV
I shrieked in fear as I fell from the tree and shut my eyes tight because I felt I was going to fall right to the floor.
But then, I fell on something else rather than the floor. I opened my eyes to find out what exactly that was, and to my shock, I fell into Joey's arms.
He was holding me tight like he had barely caught me and didn't want me to fall on the ground even by mistake.
“Are you okay?” He asked softly.
His eyes were intoxicating and were more like they were calling out to me and drawing me closer to his soul. His embrace was warm and inviting, and it felt like I could snuggle up to him, enjoying the touch of his arms wrapped around me.
“Ava?” He called my name again, and that's when I came back to my senses.
My eyelids fluttered, and I looked away from him. I couldn't even bear to look into his eyes anymore, as it made me have feelings that were uncomfortable in every part of my body.
“I'm… I'm okay.” I replied to him in a stutter.
“You just ran off. What's wrong?” He asked me, sounding concerned.
Gosh. Why can't he just drop me down? This is beginning to seem awkward. I'm meant to be treated like a guy and not a girl.
“Can I get down?” I said to him in the most polite manner.
“Oh! Yeah, sure.” Joey responded and helped me to stand back on my feet.
“So… why did you run off?” He asked me, still looking curious.
“I didn't really run off. I just… I just needed a break.” I replied to him, hoping he didn't have any more questions to ask me.
“Oh, I see.” He said, but his tone gave off the vibe that he didn't really trust me on that.
“Can… can we go back now?” I requested, tired of feeling uncomfortable.
It felt like it was only two of us who were in the forest, and things just got more awkward by the minute.
“Oh, yeah. We can.” He replied with a smile.
When I was about to take a step forward, he held my hand, and I felt sweet vibrations and sensations move around my body like a wave.
I gasped softly, and my heart began to beat loudly as he did that all of a sudden. I could swear that my cheeks were burning red and showing, and when he looked at me, I looked away because I didn't want him to notice my cheeks.
But at the same time, I didn't want him to feel something was weird about my reactions. So I tried withdrawing my hand from his with a slight frown.
“Why are you holding my hand?” I questioned him, and even as I tried to withdraw from him, he held me tight.
“That's because I don't want you running off again.” He replied to me and winked with his right eye.
Gosh. How could he be so annoying and charming at the same time?
There was nothing I could do to withdraw my hand from his as he had already held it tight, and I didn't want any more awkwardness to happen from fighting to release myself.
Although I wanted to keep my distance from him because the way I felt just by him holding my hands and being close to me was causing a lot of turbulent emotions in me, at the same time, I didn't want him far away from me at this moment.
I felt so good to be around him, and it was a little exciting to have butterflies roaming around my stomach.
Even as he was my second chance partner, the attraction I felt for him was still as strong as any other mate I had.
All of a sudden, he halted and turned to me.
“You know what? This won't do. We have to get back to school faster than this.” He said to me, and without my permission, he swooped me off the ground in his arms.
I gasped, and my eyes also widened to express my shock.
“What are you doing?” I questioned in a soft tone.
“Trying to get us faster to the school.” He replied and walked faster.
Actually, he was right because I didn't seem to walk faster even while we were holding hands. While I didn't want to be in his arms, it actually made me feel safe and like no harm could come to me. I felt safer than I have ever felt before with anyone.
This feeling is good.
~
Soon, we got back to the school gate, and he put me down gently like an egg and hit my butt a little, gently.
“Hey!”
Then he chuckled.
“I'll take that as an appreciation. You should go on to the apartment and have a shower. The forest has really rubbed off on you, and trust me when I say you're really going to itch yourself if you don't have a shower soon.” Joey said to me and walked away.
I let out a deep breath and watched as he walked away. The kind heart he had shown me today made me feel like my emotions towards him were growing.
He has always been teasing me or doing things that could get on my nerves, but today, he seems different.
I smiled like a lady who had just been complimented and then turned to go into the school. At least I got all that I needed before he saw me, and I'm completely safe as he didn't find out anything about me being a female.
I walked to the dorm, and then getting closer to the dorm, I could sense an unfamiliar presence right in our room, so I opened the door cautiously and went in only to see someone I had never seen before sitting comfortably.
“Hello.” I greeted, feeling really suspicious and cautious about the whole situation.