Page 38 of Teach Me How To Fly

He became this powerful man I admired, able to accomplish everything he wanted, but most importantly, he became the man I wasn’t afraid of. The man with whom I felt safe even if my body reacted involuntarily to his touches.

Suddenly, a question came to my mind.

Was he thinking about me just as much as I thought about him? Did he wake up and fall asleep with my face in his mind, just like I did with his? Was his heart beating faster every time I sent a message, just like mine did?

Maybe we didn’t even share the same feeling, and maybe he helped me because he felt sorry for me. But I didn’t need his pity, and when he returned from the vacation with Katya, I was going to tell him this. Plus, he needed to focus on his future marriage with Katya, because she’ll be his wife.

The thought of him dressed as a groom and Katya in her beautiful white dress came into my mind. I felt a sudden tear rolling down my cheek without even announcing itself. He was going to marry her because of my father, and I couldn’t be more angry about that. It hurt me deeply.

I tilted my head to get rid of these thoughts, then I stood up and ran straight to the kitchen. I needed something to drink so I could be more focused on what I needed to learn today.

The house was quiet and I almost forgot Olivia was somewhere in it. I loved it this way.

I turned on the coffee machine and put a cup under it, and while I waited for it to be done, I took my soy milk out of the fridge. In a few minutes, the sound of the machine beeped telling me that my drink was ready so I added the milk.

The smell invaded my senses and it made my lips curl into a satisfied smile.

I took the cup and the moment I headed towards the hallway to get back to my room, I heard the front door slamming into the wall. I narrowed my eyes, scared of the awful sound that filled the entire house.

I took a silent step towards the principal hallway, and the moment I saw who was walking inside the house, my heart started racing the marathon of my life.

It was Maksen, followed by the most worried Katya I’d never seen in my life.

“You shouldn’t have been back already,” I said as I walked towards both of them.

The moment Maksen raised his gaze at me, his eyes glistened with tears and the only thing I could feel was his arms wrapped around my body. He was hugging me so hard, inhaling my perfume and sobbing, his chest rising and falling in an accelerated rhythm.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six.

Fuck it.

Every time someone touched me, I involuntarily counted to six in my head and it was happening so fast that I couldn’t even stop doing it. It was a strange impulse. I didn't know where it was coming from.

I tried to put my hand around him and not let the cup of coffee smash on the floor, and the moment I put my head on his shoulder, I met Katya’s glance. She had tears in her eyes and I saw how she was biting her lower lip nervously.

“He needs you,” she murmured so silently that I could tell only by the movement of her lips.

I nodded and caressed Maksen’s lower back as he was still keeping me close to his muscular chest. He kept me like that, breathing in hard and not saying a word. It scared me to see him like that, considering how he was most of the time.

I had never seen him vulnerable, but in that moment, I thanked God for seeing him like that because I realized something meaningful I didn’t know until then.

Me and Maksen were somehow connected. I didn’t know how, but I felt my heart learning the beat of his.

“Where do you want to go?” I whispered as soon as Katya left.

It was a surprise for me that she hadn’t made any scandal as I was already used to her doing. She just took her bags and walked upstairs, closed her door, and left me and Maksen in the same spot where we were.

“Wherever you want.”

“Well, we can’t go wherever I want. My father probably already sees us on the cameras and is making plans to get home earlier,” I explained and looked deeply in his eyes as he moved away from me.

“I took care of it,” he said and I saw how he let his eyes fall on my lips. “He’s not seeing the cameras in real time, but hesees what happened yesterday because it wasn't much of a big difference,” he added and winked at me.

“Oh,” I mumbled and my lips curled into a sincere smile. “Then let’s go to my room, or in the forest, or wherever you need.”

“I like every place as long as I am with you.”

I blushed. I blushed so hard that I felt my cheeks getting caught up in a consuming fire I didn’t know how to put out faster.

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