Chapter 21: Burning Heart
Lance Storm
I came home still thinking about what I did wrong. It was obvious that Ember was avoiding me, ever since last night. And last night we just... kissed. It was more like a brush of lips, but still... that few seconds... they were... indescribable.
"Did something good happen, Lance?" Marie, my caretaker, who has been there with me since my childhood, asked me as she placed delicious food in front of me.
I stared at her, so she could continue talking.
"It's just that you are smiling a lot lately," she commented, which made me furrow my eyebrows.
"Me? Smiling?" I asked her curiously.
Marie was not like other maids. She used to work as my bodyguard, but eventually retired as she got older. She couldn't leave me alone, so she volunteered to come with me here and accompanied me, together with her daughter who was now in college.
She was about to speak again when my phone suddenly rang.
"It's Alena," I told her to excuse myself, and she nodded. I had no idea why she was calling because she should be with Eltan right now because Elian has an international conference; she sent me a snap with Eltan a couple of hours ago.
"What?" I asked as soon as I accepted her call.
"You like Ember, don't you?"
My eyes widened at the sudden question. "How did you know that?" I asked as I made my way into my room to have some privacy.
"Eltan told me. You know that she can't keep things from his adorable big sis," she said proudly like she was the one who raised Eltan. She had barely known him for a few months now, but then again, she just blended in with my family like she had always been a part of it.
"I swear, I'm going to stitch your lovely little bro's mouth," I grumbled. I told Eltan two days ago after confessing it to Elian because it didn't feel right for only one of my brothers to know.
"Leave poor Eltan alone. Besides, can you please stop avoiding my question? Do you like Ember?"
Damn, I really couldn't get away from this woman. No wonder she earned such a high position in Storm Dynamics all by herself. She was hella persistent. If she wanted to know something, she'd definitely get that information... Not if I ended the call nowâ
"Yes, go ahead and end the call. I'll go to your house right now," she said as if she could read my thoughts. She knew me too well by now.
I sucked in a deep breath. "Yes, I like her," I admitted, leaning against the wall near my big glass window.
"Oh, my God! I knew it because you always looked at her with a different emotion. Hell, you showing emotion is worthy of celebration in the first place. That was also the first time you came over just because a girl said she was hungry. I'm so happy for you, Lance!" she squealed.
She was excited, whereas, I smiled softly when she said everything that I did for the first time for Ember.
"You need to confess to her, Lance." As soon as she said that, my body froze.
"IâI can't." I felt my palms sweating at the thought of confessing. It was scary. "Ember said she has some work tonight, and it looks like she's avoiding me for some reason," I reasoned.
"Avoiding you? Did you say something to her? I swear to God, Lance Storm, if you did, I'm going to be the one who's going to put a bullet through your head. That's not an empty threat, and you know it."
I smiled at her threat.
I always knew Alena had her ways with people. But so did Ember. Even though I didn't know when or how everything happened, it's like she came into my life, and then boom. I already liked her.
"I didn't, but don't worry. I'm going to fix this," I said with complete determination, which made her giggle on the other line.
"Well, you are not going to fix anything if some other man comes to her first."
I furrowed my brows at the disturbing thought. "What do you mean?" I asked as if I didn't know what she was talking about.
"You said that she said she had some work tonight, right?" Alena asked, and I hummed when she had my full attention. "See if she went on a date with someone."
I forgot how to breathe immediately when a picture of Ember laughing and holding someone else's hand appeared in my mind. My mind went numb. That scenario was all I could see, and it was hurting.
"No, no, that's impossible," I couldn't help but let out. Ember couldn't be seeing other men.
"Well, a girl always avoids a boy for two reasons. Either she has found a new man or she's avoiding her feelings for you. It's proven and tested. But it's up to you. I need to go now, so talk to you later."
My phone was still attached to my ear even though I already heard the line go dead. My mind was busy traveling the thoughts of Ember.
She was an energetic person and always optimistic, and I was her opposite. She saw the glass half-full, while I saw the half-empty. Ember liked making people happy, despite being wronged by them, but I liked seeing people suffer.
I could already picture Ember introducing some random dude to me, 'Lance, meet my boyfriend. Thank you for being such a supportive friend of mine, Lance.'
I snapped out of the thoughts and immediately grabbed my keys along with a revolver.
I swear to God, If I saw her with someone else tonight, that man would have his last day on Earth today.
No one was going to lay a hand on her. I was going to make sure that they would lose both their hands and lives if they tried to touch Ember.
___
Ember Corbin
I was walking from the convenience store to my house during the night. I bought some ingredients, so I could make a soup that Lance cooked for me since I was craving it. Though I knew that it wouldn't taste the same, I still wanted to try it.
"I wish I could call Lance. Gosh, I am so hungryâ" My sentence was cut short when I saw someone sitting on my doorstep. I already knew who it was, from his well-built body to his addicting cologneâI could recognize it all from here.
"Lance!" I called out, so I could scare him, but he didn't even jump. He sighed in relief before looking at me with a hard gaze.
"Where did you go?" Lance asked me, but his tone seemed scary; it was unusual.
"M-Me? Groceries," I simply said, scared that he'd get angry at me.
Wait. Why am I scared? It's Lance.
I took a step forward, and that was when his eyes landed on the plastic bag I was holding.
"God," he mumbled as I saw him tuck something behind him before he began marching toward me. "It's late, Ember. Why didn't you call me?" he asked me so softly that made the fear in my heart go away in a jiff.
"I thought we were quarreling?" I joked while walking past him to open my door.
"We were not quarreling, you were avoiding me," he corrected, and I giggled.
"Wait, what are you doing here? Looking depressed while sitting in front of my house?" I asked him curiously.
"I need to talk to you," he said, and I arched an eyebrow.
"Okay, talk," I said while taking steps backward, so I could avoid the type of talking we did this afternoon. Gosh, I could still feel his hand on my back, and it gave me goosebumps.
"Why are you taking steps backâ you know what? It's okay. Just listen."
I crossed my arms against my chest, waiting for him patiently to continue speaking.
"I like you, Ember."
Yeah, of course, he doesâ What the fuck?
I blinked once and twice until he spoke up again.
"I know, this is not the type of confession you're expecting from me. Girls like you like flowers and surprises, but I don't have anything like that for now. I just don't want to see you with another man, so I came rushing. I don't want to be too lateâ" He closed his eyes for a brief moment to take a deep breath and opened them again before continuing, "Alena told me that girls avoid a male they know for two reasons; it's either you have feelings for the guy or you have another new one in your life."
He talked straight without giving me any chance to properly digest what he was saying.
I did know two things here. First, Lance Storm actually liked me. I didn't know for how long and how deep his feelings were. Second, damn, he was starting to impress me with how much he could talk these days.
"I really don't want you to be avoiding me for a new guy because I won't be able to take it. You have no idea how badly I'm wishing that you liked me, but I knowâ"
"Lance!" I shouted when he still kept on rambling without making any sense. "I like you," I confessed without any second thoughts.
"What?" He was caught off-guard. "Are you just saying that to make me feel better? Because you don't have toâ" His sentence was immediately cut off when I rushed toward him and threw my arms around his neck. Rising on my toes, I cupped his cheeks before collecting every ounce of bravery I had inside of me and placing my lips on his.
My lips were on his for almost five seconds, but he didn't even move a single muscle. I pulled away a little to look at his shocked face.
"I'm not only doing it to make you feel better. I like you as well, Lance. Truly. I am not angry with you. I was just sorting out my thoughts," I said, still smiling at him, but it faded when he didn't answer me and just turned his back on me. He was walking away from me, and I didn't understand what was going on.
I stood there frozen at the rejection. I thought he would be happy. Or, was he just pranking me?
"Lanceâ" I was about to take a step toward him when he abruptly turned on his heels with a stern look, then approached me at a fast pace.
My eyes widened when his right arm snaked around my thin waist and the other one went behind my head.
"Sorry, I just couldn't absorb the words just then. But thank God, Ember," he whispered before smiling at me and started leaning toward my lips, pulling me into a deep passionate kiss.