Page 18 of When love and Hate Collide

“Where do you think you’re going, Angel?” he burrs in my ear. Sodding Christ, the irritation I felt moments ago vanishes almost instantly and I’m practically swooning when I hear his deep voice in my ear. “If you’re waiting for an apology, you’re not getting one, because I’m not sorry that I almost hit you with my car. If anything, I’m pleased it was you. It also validates my suspicions that for some bizarre reason we were meant to meet and I’m not letting you walk away this time. Furthermore, it gives me another reason to want to do this.” He expresses and spins me around, dips his head and swallows my surprised gasp with a kiss so deep it makes my head swim.

My eyes close and I moan when his tongue dexterously glides over mine deepening the kiss. Much to my dismay, the kiss doesn’t last long when a car drives by and honks its horn at us ruining the moment and we are forced to move out of the way to let him by.

“So, you still up for that kebab?” he probes, smiling adorably and pulls me toward his car when I nod.

* * *

Less than an hour later the two of us are sprawled out on the hood of his car overlooking the river Thames while we eat our kebab rolls— no onions,obviously. He brought us to a secluded spot away from the commotion of the city. The moon radiates brightly in the clear night sky and the lights from the London skyline ahead of us twinkle in the distance.

It almost feels like a setting right out of a cheesy romance novel or a movie, it is that perfect.

I heave a sigh and lift my gaze up to the sky. The music playing in the background from inside his car stops for a second as we both fall into a comfortable silence.

“What are you thinking about so deeply over there?” I hear him murmur from beside me.

“Do you ever wonder what else is out there?” I ask and from the corner of my eye, I see him shift his gaze up to look at the clear night sky.

“Aside from the planets and trillions of galaxies, you mean?” he questions, and I nod mutely. “Yeah, sometimes.”

“Doesn’t it fascinate you?” I ask distantly. “I mean, we have only discovered five percent of the universe,five percent. We are literally surrounded by a corpus of unknowns. There’s likely a whole other life out there that may never be discovered. Think about it, there could be two people sitting in the exact position we are in right now, doing the exact same thing.” I say, turning to look at him.

He smiles handsomely and turns his gaze to look at me also, “There could be, but do you think they’re having as good a time as we are?”

“I really hope so.” I reply breathily, holding his gaze. Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol starts to play from his radio. My pulse soars when his hand brushes mine between us and his long fingers lace with mine. The gesture is so trivial, but it fires tremors throughout my body.

Those darn butterflies take flight in my stomach and flutter wildly while I do my best to veil the blush I can feel forming on my cheeks. When he starts to affectionately play with my fingers my eyes drop to our hands intertwined.

Come on Jeyla, don’t you dare go and get smitten this soon.

I look up a moment later and find him watching me intently. He’s got me locked in his gaze and I couldn’t look away if I tried. Our eyes remain interlocked for what seemed like an eternity until he slowly starts to lean forward and his eyes lower to my lips as he inches towards me.

My eyes slowly start to close and my lips readily part for him and just as his mouth is about to claim mine the shrill ringing of my phone interrupts the moment.

“Oh, that’s me. I should…” I sigh as we start to draw back. I offer him an apologetic smile while I scramble to fish my phone out of my handbag. I see Ash’s name on the caller ID and curse her inwardly. Of course, it would be her to ruin the moment. I mean, I’ve only waited a couple of hours to kiss him again.

“Hello?”

“Oh, she lives. Where the hell are you, bitch?” Ashlyn’s voice reverberates down the phone through the loud music in the background. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere?”

Sitting up, I hold my index finger up to my date indicating that I’ll be a minute as I slide off the car and move away to speak to Ashlyn privately. “Were you now? Did you have a tough time locating me down Shane’s trousers? Did you manage to do a thorough search in his mouth too while you were at it?” I bite back sardonically and hear her groaning on the other end.

“Jeykins, I’m so sorry, how mad are you at me right now?”

“Royally and it’s going to take a shit ton of pleading to earn my forgiveness this time.”

“Nothing happened with Shane. I promise I was good… ish.” Ashlyn claims and I roll my eyes, smiling. She’s truly impossible.

“Nothing happened?” I iterate wryly. “You forget who you’re talking to? You lose all good sense when you’re around that boy, it’s been that way since you were sixteen.”

“It’s different this time, Jey… he’s different.” Ashlyn states jauntily and it’s almost impossible to ignore the mirth laced in her voice. I would be happy for her if I didn’t already know that this will end the same way it always does—with her heart broken when Shane tells her he would rather stay friends. The loud music and chatter in the background quietens when she likely takes the call outside to hear me better.

“I know you really want to believe that but repeating the same mistakes and expecting a different result is just foolish, babe.” I advise and hear her heave a sigh on the other end.

“Come on Jey, that silly, infatuated teenager that spent her days fawning over him is long gone. We’re playing on my terms this time and I have no intention of getting burned again, trust me.” Ash asserts and I lift my gaze heavenward, shaking my head incredulously. “Enough about me, where the hell are you? Did you hook up?”

I glance back at my date, standing a couple of feet away looking out at the river. “Uh, sort of.” I answer with a smile.

Ash squeals and I wince pulling the phone away before she bursts my ear drums. “Two nights in a row, you hoe bag! Who is it? Is it someone I know? I want every sordid detail first thing tomorrow and don’t forget protection! Safe sex is good sex!” She cackles down the phone.

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