Page 47 of Summer Haze & Tokyo Craze

I'm a few blocks away from the hotel now as I lower my phone and take a deep breath of the not-so-fresh evening air. Single rain drops turn into a gentle rain fall as I make my wayback to the hotel, becoming a heavy rainfall only seconds after I’ve entered the lobby.

I come to a stop by the elevators and take a second to breathe, leaning my back against the closest wall.

Today was a dream.

The best kind of dream.

And this call was like being woken up by having ice-cold water poured over me. Just what the fuck am I doing?

This is going to end badly. This is going to end so fucking badly.

I’m supposed to be the person to make smart decisions. So why am I throwing all caution out the window for Adam?

My readiness to ignore the ‘careful!’ screaming voices in my head scares me. I never knew how easy it is to ignore them when my heart decides it wants to take a risk. When it decides to continue that dream of today, to throw all caution to the wind and enjoy what's slowly developing between us, damned be the consequences.

I know I’ve been vague with Adam, but I know it can’t last. As much as it sucks, that’s the only thing I know for sure.

He's my rival. Even our goddamn contracts are probably working against the two of us.

Nobody can ever know. And it can’t last.

The sentence echoes in my head over and over again as I push the button and wait for an elevator.

Nobody can know.

And keeping him a secret is definitely not going to be easy. A part of me already wants to shout it from the rooftops, wants to claim him publicly by holding his hand.

But I'm replaying the way he looked at me on the Ferris wheel over and over again—his striking blue eyes and the conviction in them, the tenderness as he came closer for a kiss. Fuck this.

Nobody can know.

And nobody will know.

It’s going to be a challenge, but no soul will ever know.

Well, apart from Lucy but she’s a redhead, so she doesn’t count.

The ride on that elevator feels like hours, yet it ends before I feel ready. But as soon as I step out of it, all my impatience bubbles to the surface and I stride along the corridor in quick steps until I find his room at the very end.

My knuckles have barely touched the hotel room door when it flies open.

In front of me is Adam, wearing nothing but a towel around his hips.

"I was starting to wonder if you were ghosting me," he says with a low chuckle, and I feel my cheeks warming into a deep red as I let my eyes wander over his body appreciatively.

God damn, he's buff. When I lay my hand on his chest, it feels like a layer of steel under his skin. He puts his hand above mine and takes a step back. Then another, pulling me with himuntil we’re standing in his room, the door falling shut with a soft click.

Under my palm, I feel his heart beat as fast as mine. Lifting my other hand, I let it trail a path from his arm to the back of his neck, playing with his hair and feeling him sigh under my touch as his free hand lands on my hips, pulling me flush against him.

"You're in your head," he points out and lifts my hand to press his lips against my palm. I can't help but sigh.

His presence is calming, entrancing, just like the music in the museum and I feel the anxiety rolling off me.

"It was Kayla and Millie," I say softly, and he tenses, only softly relaxing again as my fingers start playing with the hair at the back of his neck.

"Listen. I know this is a difficult situation for the two of us." His voice is barely above a whisper and his thumbs start rubbing soft circles along my hip. I already feel myself melting under his touch and his understanding gaze and no words falling from his lips could sway me in my decision. "And if it's too much for you, I get it. We can stop here and this will never have happened."

"It's not too much," I whisper back and finally look up at him, although it takes a great deal of effort to tear my eyes away from his chest. "But no one can know, Adam."

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