CHAPTER 4- THE KITTEN HAS CLAWS

Kylie’s POV

The attention of the guests was grabbed by the sound of the dining cart hitting the wall, they looked at us and sighed in relief that no one was hurt. The staff came running and apologized, I waved my hand and said that it was alright.

Just then I watched how much the staff were struggling to pull the cart and move it away.

I looked up at Elijah and asked, “How did you push it away with one hand?”

“What do you mean?” He corrected his shirt and looked down at me.

“You know, the cart. It looks heavy.”

Elijah followed my line of sight and commented, “They are being dramatic, it is not that heavy.”

“Okay.” I dragged thoughtfully and asked, “How did you manage to reach here on time? Weren’t you on the other side of the room?”

“Baby girl, did you forget that I am a football player? Running fast is all I do.” He said before adding, “Why are you asking so many questions?”

I replied, “What you pulled just now is not normal.”

“Not normal?” The guy broke down in chuckles as if I had just told a hilarious joke and said, “It is all in your head, princess. I am just a regular guy.”

I shrugged; Elijah and I were about to go to pick up our food when we saw Lisa and Justin making their way towards us.

“Kylie, are you okay?” She asked.

“Yeah, I am fine. Elijah saved me just in time.”

Lisa scanned the proud man next to me and said, “That’s impressive. I see a lot of potential in you, Elijah. You know Justin already, he is going to take over his father’s company after college. Maybe we can help you in the future.”

I darted my eyes at Justin but he looked away instantly. I could tell by his body language that he did not want to be here.

I blinked and commented, “Wow, you guys are going to stay together even after college? You must be serious about Justin because you never last with anyone for over a week. This reminds me, what happened to the guy you introduced to us as your boyfriend last week?”

The couple’s pretentious smile stiffened instantly.

“Things don’t always work out as planned, do they?” She smiled embarrassedly before shooting me a glance of warning. She hooked her arms with Justin and said, “As I was saying, maybe Justin can recruit you into his company, we can find something for you even if you don’t have any skills. I think you are strong enough to be a security guard or maybe even a janitor. We are not kids anymore, it is better to get a real job than straying around.”

I pursed my lips and stole a nervous glance at Elijah, I was afraid that he would get offended since I was the one who brought him here. But, to my surprise, he was unfazed by all the taunting. He broke into a nonchalant smile and replied, “Thank you for the kind gesture but I don’t need it. I prefer straying around.”

Lisa’s face fell when she did not get the reaction she was looking for. Knowing that sticking around wouldn’t be fruitful, she turned on her expensive heels and walked away with her boy toy.

“That was a sick burn.” Elijah whispered in my ears as soon as the couple left, “I did not know this kitty had such vicious claws.” I smiled wordlessly before the two of us made our way to the buffet.

After lunch, we did not have any more reason to stay in the boring party. We were successful in what we were here for and so, decided to leave early.

Elijah walked me up to the nearest bus station and while we waited, I said, “So this is it. You have fulfilled your promise.”

The man kept his hands inside the pocket and shrugged nonchalantly, “I guess, yes.”

I saw the bus approaching and smiled at him, “Thank you, Elijah.”

“It’s ok, don’t thank me. I think I am the one who benefited more from this deal.” His lips curled into a suggestive smirk. My face flushed when I understood what he had said and I immediately looked down, too embarrassed to say anything.

The man did not stop there and leaned forward to whisper, “You are the most skilled virgin I have ever seen.”

I clenched my fist and pushed him away, “Pervert!”

I hurriedly turned around to get into the bus, hearing him chuckle as he said, “That was a compliment.”

“Goodbye, Elijah!” I stopped at the stairs and turned to look at him.

“Goodbye, kitten. See you at school.”

My heart skipped a beat when our eyes locked, there was a light in his eyes which I had never seen before. The bus drove off and I quickly shook off my head to break myself out of my thoughts.

I reached home in a daze, still thinking about what he had just said.

Elijah and I had never interacted with each other in school before, in fact, he did not even know about my existence till I introduced myself to him at the bar last night.

I was never associated with Elijah and I wanted it to remain like that, it would be a huge disgrace for me if I was associated with that manwhore.

And, I always hated attention, and being anywhere around him would attract me to nothing but unnecessary trouble.

I engaged myself in my assignment to take my mind off him but whatever I did, I could not shake him off my head.

His handsome face, the way he teased me… The way he stripped me off last night.

“No! Stop, what are you thinking?” I covered my face with my palm and screamed within myself.

I tried to get back to studying but all the flooding thoughts made it impossible for me. I took a glance at the clock, it was close to 10 so I decided to call it a night.

I changed into my pajamas and got onto the bed but no matter what I did, I could not get the least bit sleepy. Elijah and his stunts last night occupied my mind. Even though I tried not to think about it, the images from the erotic moments we shared last night flashed in my head.

I bit down on my lips, thinking, “What have I done?”

Last night, I was drunk and not in my right mind. Sleeping with him and deciding to make him my fake boyfriend seemed like a good idea inside my head but now that I was thinking about it with a sane mind, I think I took it a bit too far.

It was impulsive of me to have had a one-night stand with a complete stranger like him! There were a million other, less risky ways to get out of the situation I was in.

I turned around and closed my eyes as realization slowly hit me.

Last night was a mistake!

I have to stay away from Elijah and forget about him like a bad dream.

The next day…

I was picking up my books from my locker when I heard a familiar voice call out my name. I turned my head towards the direction of the sound to see my best friend, Jessica, walking towards me.

Jessica was your typical golden retriever, she was always cheerful and bubbly. We met in middle school and have been inseparable since then. She was the only friend I had and was the only person I confided in.

The girl immediately wrapped me in a hug and said, “I got to know what happened. I am really sorry.”

“It’s okay.” I shrugged and said, “I am over it now.”

The two of us started to make our way to the library where we usually hang out during free classes. That was when the main hall door opened and the cheerleaders poured in, followed by the theme music of our football team.

We stopped in our tracks to look at the celebration. Jessica’s face lit up and said, “Is there a game today?”

“No idea.” I shook my head and continued watching in the direction. Amongst all the cheers and clapping, came our school’s official football team. My whole body stiffened and my grip around my book tightened as I saw Elijah make his way through the hallway.

He was standing there like a giant, watching the show when suddenly, his eyes found me. A smile broke on his face as he lifted his hand to wave at me.

“I think we should go.” My eyes flared open as I grabbed Jessica and started walking away.

“Hey, wait. Did Elijah just wave at us?” Jessica asked. I started to panic, I did not want Jessica to know that I had slept with him. I immediately refuted, “What? No, he was not waving at us. He doesn’t even know us.”

Jessica thought about it and said, “You are right. Maybe he was waving at someone else.” She then stopped in her tracks and suggested, “Let’s go watch the game.”

“What? Why? Weren’t we going to work on the project in the library?”

“We can do it later.” Jessica squealed, “Let’s watch the game.”

I looked at the team making their way to the stadium and most of the students following them out. I thought about it for a while before saying, “I don’t know, girl.”

The girl put on her puppy eyes and said, “Kylie, please. It will be fun… I ”

I looked at her pleading face and could not refuse it, “Okay, fine. “Let’s go!”

“Yaay!” She cheered before dragging me away.