Aniston's POV "I really wished you wouldn't be so nice after I made you wait in this beautiful restaurant close to an hour" I touched his hand as I spoke."Ani, it's okay. Moreover, I got to meet Dan the waiter, Emma and June too. It seems sitting alone in a couple's restaurant makes waiters and waitresses want to talk to you every five minutes. It's really fun" "Sorry, Ari"A waitress dressed smartly in a black and white outfit made her way to our table with a notepad and a pen. She had a pleasant smile on her face."Don't worry, Emma. We are ready to place our orders now" Ari said with a smile before the girl could speak."Of course, Sir. Ready when you are" Ari handed the menu over to me to make my choice. The menu might as well be written in french."Give me number 8""What about you, sir?" Ari placed his order but he never took his eyes off me. "Do I have something on my face?" I asked and searched my face with her palm.He smiled softly."Is something stuck in between my t
Ari's POV "Oh my God!"I screamed like a jackass as my laughter echoed.In hindsight, I should have been more sensitive to her feelings but this was Aniston, she was neither fragile or the touchy feely type or so, i thought until she spoke to me."Please, stop the car" she pleaded with me.I turned and looked at her, her face a gentle mixture of embarrassment and annoyance.It made me dial back my amusement.How am I supposed to enjoy this revelation if she was looking like that?I looked at her, my face adapting a sympathetic look like I should have from the very beginning.I thought of reaching out and squeezing her hand…just the littlest gesture to say she had nothing to be embarrassed about but I couldn't.I don't know why I couldn't.I certainly thought of it, even imagined myself doing it so vividly in my head but in real life…nothing. I decided to mask my inability to comfort her with more taunting. I can tell you with certainty that it's not a good idea."Oh, come on Sweeth
Aniston's POV I have always hated the feeling of embarrassment, it's like a warm blanket that descends on me and it makes looking people straight in the eyes downright impossible.I looked at Ari briefly. He was really handsome and breathtaking…and it confused me because a few days ago he was my mortal enemy and he wanted nothing to do with me, a few days ago he was trying to get his father to push me out of Bayblue citing reasons like I wasn't good enough, a few days ago everything made sense but now it doesn't.Now, the world was upside down with no warning at all and… now the wealthiest man I know was sitting beside me on a dirty floor by the side of the road. It was like a dream come true or maybe I was just dreaming. What if all of this was a giant dream and in reality, Ari chose someone else and he was ashamed to be seen with me and the last few hours was my brain's desperate effort to protect me from the pain by displaying a perfect world where we were together.Maybe I fell
Ari's POV I wondered how it would go over with her if I asked her for a kiss…not very well I imagined but It didn't stop my imagination from running wild.I stared at her. The phrase 'pretty like a diamond ring' locked in my head instantly. Girl was beautiful and it had nothing to do with her perfect face or posture…yet I couldn't figure it out."What? Do I have something on my face and teeth?" Her voice made me come out of my head. I realized I had been staring at her for way too long.Aniston came closer and showed me her teeth."Is there something stuck there?" Just like that the romance disappeared."You are a weirdo, Ani and I…don't want to see your teeth""Then stop staring!" She screamed."I can't help it. I want to kiss you!" I blurted out. "Because you are a dork and you dress like an Irish nun but you are also remarkable, Ani. You take the simplest thing and you make it special. It's one of the things that pulls me towards you"Aniston blinked then this little smile appe
Ari's POV I walked her to the door all the while lost in my head and barely paying attention to what she was saying.We made it to our part of the mansion when she grabbed my hand and squeezed."Are you okay? You were kind of quiet on the ride back here" Stellar observation! I wanted to yell but I couldn't take the chance that I would wake Meemaw and so, I opened the door to her bedroom and ushered her inside.I made her sit on the bed while I worked silently in removing her strap heels.I took my time like it was the most delicate thing in the world to do."You don't have to do that" she murmured but as a response I rubbed her foot.She seemed to love that because she threw her head backwards and closed her eyes, moaning at intervals like I was going down on her then as abruptly as I started, I stopped.Aniston sat upright and stared at me."Do you want to tell me why you are mad at me?" She asked.I rubbed my palm together and tried to shrug it off."I am not…""So your nose isn't
Ari's POV"Aniston!" I knocked softly before I pushed the door open.She was sitting on the floor and with her legs pulled to her chin."We are totally freaking out, aren't we?" I asked her and sat beside her."No, I am not. I am supposed to be freaking out but I am not. Why am l not freaking out, Ari? This is a big deal. This is a huge deal and all I want to do is kiss you some more and disappear into thin air. I should be freaking out! Right! Right?"I blinked. "Wait! You are freaking out because you are not…freaking out?" I closed my eyes and shook my head like it would take away some of the absurdity.Aniston turned and looked at me. She looked so afraid that it tugged at the strings of my heart and I wanted to protect her even if it was from myself."Do you want me to go?" I asked her but she simply stared.A few seconds and counting and I didn't hear a peep from her.I stood up eventually. I tried to open the door when Aniston stood up and yelled my name."Ari! You are just goi
Aniston's POV I exhaled through my mouth. I was indeed freaking out and who wouldn't be in my shoes. A man who was supposed to be my mate just told me he was in love with me and now, he was taking it back."Wait! Are you taking it back?" I asked again."If I say yes will you open the door?" Ari asked me from the other side of the door."No" I stood up immediately and opened the door. "You can't say stuff like that if you plan to take it back, Jerkface"Ari rubbed his forehead before he took a step back. He turned around and faced the wall like he physically couldn't look at me. I could see his tense posture and the way he rubbed his neck like he was a bad massage therapist.Oh my God! He was freaking out too."You have to believe me, I didn't mean to say it out loud like that" he said.I smiled and took a step closer to him. I made him turn around and I rubbed his ear lobes for some reason.His bright blue eyes finally mustered the energy and courage to look at me. He was wearing a
Storm's POVI stared at my ceiling and I threw the round ball on it at intervals. I could hear Luna and Alpha arguing. I tried to shut it out but against my wish I started to remember. I start to remember when everything went to hell and my family became a caricature of itself.I remembered the day I started hating Luna Annalise.I remember like it was yesterday. It was the day I followed them into the woods against my brother's advice.I wish I had listened.Why didn't I listen?Anyway, there is something about pain that keeps people on their toes. It's like a punch to the gut, a very painful punch to the gut. I saw my father stagger just a little bit before he stopped. Even the greatest Alpha to walk the earth wasn't immune to that punch.What the fuck?!I hid behind the tree as the shock of hearing what my mother said to my father went through me causing me to change back into my Human form again.I tried to control my pounding heart so as not to give away my hiding place. But this
R18Warning.This chapter contains explicit sex scene. Please read at your own discretion.Aniston’s POVI stood in the shower naked as a new born baby counting minutes till my hot…hot mate who just told me he was in love with me joined me.Then the doubt started to creep in. He was going to see me naked and be…inside me and stuff. Did I even shave?I am supposed to shave right?! Quick Ani, check!I was about to when the door opened and Ari walked inside and locked the door behind him.He joined me in the shower and stood behind me and let his hands wander.I should say something…right? I could sneak out for a minute and shave my legs.I opened my mouth speak...All that came out was a hum.A hum?Are you fucking kidding me?!A freaking hum like a cave person. Ari ran his hand through my dark thick wet hair that fell to my back before grabbing a handful of it to rub on his cheek. When he was done, he pushed them away to expose my bare back. First he kissed my neck as his left hand
Aniston’s PovI sat on a swing by the playground for a while. God, I don’t think I have ever been so nervous like this before. Forty-five minutes and counting, that is the amount of time I have sat at this spot waiting for Ari to come, refusing to accept that it might just be over for us.I tried not to imagine a world without him, I did just the opposite. I allowed myself to daydream…about a possible future where I was actually happy with the love of my life, we had two children, a daughter named Dani and a son name Ari-Storm. And two rescue dogs and a white picket fence.I knew that the possible of that happening was slim…it got slimmer when I felt the first drop of rain.It was almost an hour, he wasn’t coming.Storm came to sit beside me."What are you doing?" he asked me."Waiting" I murmured."For?" he asked but I kept quiet. "What are you waiting for? It is going to be a downpour, Ani. I don’t think he is coming".I turned to look at him. My eyes had a glint of tears in them bu
Aniston’s POV“Few weeks ago when you told me you love me, did you mean it?” Ari asked.“Yes. I love you”“Okay…okay then, because maybe I can live with your secrets” he murmured. “Even thought it hurts that you can’t trust me with them but I am tired, Ani…tired of hoping I could catch a glimpse of you in my dreams...Tired of hoping, praying that maybe you would give me a reason why I am so untrustworthy. I have recurring nightmares of you lying dead in a ditch somewhere and then I would wake up and pace and scream and pray! I am tired of being left on the side walk”“You asked me to leave, Ari”“Well, you didn’t want to stay. You would rather be elsewhere but with me, Aniston! You chose your bloody secrets over me! That hurts you know”I grabbed his arm. "I am sorry. I got scared and I panicked. And I just…ran. I didn't think, I couldn't think…I just ran. And I thought I would never see you again but you are here and I am here now and I want to tell you everything, Ari…everything fro
ChapterAri’s POVI stared at her face and then everything stopped. Time stopped like I wanted it to, because right this minute…right this second, everything just became too real and I had to deal with it.But I don't want to.I want to go back to the beginning. To the time when I was a boy and my only concern was the butterfly outside my window, when my mother's embrace was the safest place for me.I want to go back to the time when my father's shoulder was the highest place in the whole wide world…to the time when crying meant a smile was just around the corner.I want the beginning, when mother's laughter was music to my ears and father's voice was a source of admiration and solace.I want the little tree house behind the house, I want the fake dance parties and fast car races…to the time of tooth fairies and little gods, when Santa Claus was real…when all I had to be was… good and everything worked out just the way they were meant to be.I want the beginning and the goodies that c
Ari's POV I must have stood there for a very long time, just staring at nothing. Images of a naked man in Aniston’s room stayed with me for as long as i stood there. I mean nothing made sense anymore; nothing seemed real anymore too…everything has gone to shit. “Ari?” Everything seemed so far away like I was floating and nothing was keeping me tethered to earth anymore. Something didn’t feel right. I could feel it from the depth of my soul…I could feel it. I just can’t explain it. “Ari? Hey, are you alright?” Dev’s voice brought back to reality, I turned around and looked at her. She had a smile on her face. “Making this trip is the best thing to have happened to…” “I have to go” I murmured, more to myself than for her benefit. “What? Go where?” she looked puzzled. “I just saw a naked man in Ani’s room” I said and looked at her with this deep frown that came from my soul. “I am so sorry” She said. It sounded like she meant it. “It is a good thing we are here…away from all t
Aniston's POV "No, I am not""Yes, you are. It was idiotic of me to trust someone like Anton, I know but I was going crazy with boredom and…" I was interrupted by Markle "Do you know what is worse than boredom? Death, sis. You went with a strange man to God knows where, outside the scope of my protection and he could have hurt you…really hurt. Did you even think it through….""I am not a child, Mark. I can fucking take care of myself and stop treating me like some porcelain doll that will break at the sign of trouble! I am not breakable! Or I would have shattered a long time ago…so, just stop! Just…cut me some slack" i voiced my opinion strongly before continuing on my journey to my room, he tried to follow me but I stopped him"I know you suddenly want to be a good big brother but Just give me some space…I am serious, Mark, don't follow me!"I walked away and banged the door as loudly as I could when I got to my cabin.I went into my makeshift closet to change into something less
Chapter "Wow…you are really…really bad at threats, Aniston. Laxatives? Laxative was the best threat you could come up with. Even the way you are standing doesn't encourage fear and your face looked like you are about to offer me chocolate"I was taken aback and I couldn't speak. Anton removed his hand from his pocket."I am going to do something I rarely do. I am going to teach you how to effectively threaten someone and get them to take you seriously. Now stand upright, it will make you taller, narrow your eyes…please stop smiling…move closer to your intended recipient, pout and make sure to voice out each word with precision and bone chilling coldness, none of your sweet soprano voice, for Christ sake you are threatening someone not trying to get them to fall in love with you. Now, give it a try" Anton instructed me.I relaxed. I was always in the mood to learn something new.I stood upright earning another inch; I narrowed my eyes and pouted. When I opened my mouth, every word was
ChapterAri's POV Chioma didn't give it much thought; she just went around the table and hugged Veronica. "It won't be enough for the whole project but it is a good start. You can stop hugging me now, I haven't told you but…there is only a tiny hiccup, we need an engineer""Oh that's okay, Ari is one and a damn good one too. I am sure he is happy to help" Lee said and I turned sharply to glare at him in shock.Why on earth would he volunteer me for a project that huge when we leave in three weeks for home?"Will you?" Chioma asked me with a puppy dog look I couldn't turn down."Sure. Excuse us, come on guys" I ushered my friends out the door specifically to get my hands on Lee and murder him.When we were out of a hearing distance from Veronica's office, Lee took off on a run.I looked at Dev and I didn't have to ask too. She seemed pissed off."I will get him and I am going to fucking kill him!" She ran after him leaving just Caleb and I to stand in the middle of the hallway stari
ChapterAri's POV "Yes, that's one reason and second, is I don't want anything complicated right now. Nothing about starting up a relationship with Chioma screams simple. So, just drop it" I told him firmly. "And Lee, don't talk about Aniston like that ever again"Lee was quiet for a few seconds before he said something."Let's see how long you can go without sex, Ari""You make it sound like I am an addict" I turned to look at him."Just saying….the only thing the two of us have in common is the fact that we aren't saints. We all including Caleb love a good bang, maybe you more than all of us""I love sex! I ain't ashamed to acknowledge that but I am not a dog and I have self control. And I refuse to treat women like a sex object. Worry about yourself, Lee"I said and walked away but not before I heard him mutter "you are so full of it"I almost made it to my room which was opposite Chioma's when I saw a boy knocking on her door.He was skinny, average and had a dark chocolate skin