SINFULLY YOURS

Chapter 20: Chapter 20. Actually Apologized

Chapter 20. Actually Apologized

Rosa Lin’s POV

Fight it, Rosa. Fight it, you can do it, I thought to myself.

I turned around, breathing so hard, intentionally face-planting my face against the windshield of his car to look outside like I could somehow merge my face with it to escape the mouth-watering smell that wouldn’t stop tormenting me.

"I don’t want it," I said as sharply as I could.

He chuckled beside me.

"Come on," he said softly. "Don’t be such a loner, Rosa. You know you want it. It’s obvious on your face—the redness in your cheeks, the sweaty palms, the watery tongue, the way your throat keeps swallowing up and down like you are starving and thirsty for a giant bottle of water that is standing right in front of you. You are craving it, Rosa. Don’t be so stubborn. It’s right here."

I heard the rustling of the paper bag close to my face; he was bringing it even closer. I could feel the heat of the confectionery on my face as he pressed it against my cheek.

"Take it," he said, his voice increasingly and unknowingly soft and teasing.

It made something hot spike in my chest. God, my head felt like it was in flames. I hate him right now. I clenched my teeth tightly.

The scent drove me mad. There must be something about this. He must have known that this was my weakness. I couldn’t help it; my tongue felt dry and wet at the same time. I don’t know how I turned around and grabbed the paper bag from him. Hearing him chuckle at my side, I could barely care anymore about what he thought.

I tore open the bag to behold the magnificent snack that has always been my obsession right from the moment I was little. God, I couldn’t help it. I took out each brownie and began to stuff my mouth with them, one by one, not caring about how many I took in, chewing on them until my cheeks puffed, filled with the delicious cake, making me groan. I tilted my head backward, resting against the seat with my eyes closed, savoring the delicious taste.

"Oh, my god," I groaned in between mouthfuls of brownies.

I heard him burst out into sharp laughter beside me. It filled up the car in a beautiful volume, magnificent and true. My brain swirled. I clenched my fists together, but it was already too late. He had won. He had broken me with the one thing he somehow knew I couldn’t resist.

How? I felt his heated gaze. I could feel him gazing at the side of my head as I ate, clenching my teeth together.

When I was done with the stuffed ones in my mouth, I took out another set of brownies and stuffed them into my mouth again, feeling the sweet taste blossom against my taste buds, which were currently dancing with joy.

Oh, my God.

I could only think of how much I just... God, I really do not know.

Without looking at him, I pointed my left index finger at him. "This doesn’t mean I forgive you," I said sharply.

He chuckled. "Oh, yeah? I sure do believe you, Rosa."

I heard the sarcasm in his voice, making me tilt my head to the side, resting my hand against the edge of the car window and pressing my palm against my mouth to stop myself from laughing. My cheeks were swelling, and I couldn’t help it. There were no two ways about it. He knows. He knows that this is my weakness in some weird, freaking annoying way. He fucking knows, and I want to hit him for it right now.

I can’t help the warmth that blossomed in my chest. He has surely warmed my heart with this. I can’t picture myself remaining angry with him in the next few minutes. I chuckled and shook my head, facepalming, trying to force myself to remain angry, but I couldn’t help it.

And he saw it.

"Stop fighting, Rosa," he said, his voice soft and calm.

I didn’t reply to him. I kept my focus on the brownie and took another, stuffing it in my mouth the moment I was done with the previous one.

He chuckled. "Well, now that I have satisfied your brownie lust," he said, "will you be willing to now talk to me about Mac?"

I froze for a moment, staring at the brownie in my hand. I couldn’t keep it from him forever, not like I actually planned to. I exhaled and relaxed back against the seat, feeling my chest prickle with heat as the memory of last semester—the final days—flashed back in my mind. The endless cursing and messages on the school forum, the hate, the backstabbing, the manipulation from Mac.

My brain felt like it was firing ten times over, just like I felt back then, but the sweetness of the brownies against my taste buds was actually doing a lot of work soothing it a little bit and keeping me from losing my mind in front of him.

I opened my mouth and explained everything to him from my perspective: from the way I’d always crushed on Mac so hard—not leaving out a single detail—to the way I’d wanted him, and how Mac finally found out, took advantage of me in the closet last semester, and then spread the news to the entire campus, making it look like I was some sort of slut and making it obvious I was just a conquest to him.

By the time I was done, I moved my hand to take out another brownie. That was when I noticed the atmosphere in the vehicle was so thick I could literally taste the air. I suddenly felt choked, like the oxygen had been replaced by thick, dark smoke from an exhaust pipe. I almost coughed. Something was wrong.

When I turned to look at Mr. Don, he had his focus locked ahead of him. Deep lines creased the space between his brows. His knuckles were white, squeezing tightly against the steering wheel like he was ready to rip it right off the column. I frowned. His grip was so strong; he was enraged. The atmosphere was so tense I could feel it like a physical thing.

My eyes went wide as I gasped, looking at him. The steering wheel actually creaked under his grip. I jolted, tilting my head to the side.

"The audacity of that guy," he murmured under his breath, his voice a little harsh but soft, revealing the hidden anger he was trying to hold back.

I swallowed hard.

"I’m so going to make him pay," he added.

I frowned, chuckling nervously, and placed my palm against his arm. I felt the muscles hard and tense. They tightened further the moment I touched him. He froze. And then I saw his eyes drop down toward my hand on his arm.

"Relax, okay?" I said softly. "You don’t have to do anything. I mean, it’s in the past. I’m over it, I’ve forgotten about it, and I’ve moved on. Okay? Please don’t do anything to make things worse and ruin your career."

His eyes didn’t leave my hand against his arm. "But the campus is still against you for it. They are still turning against you at every single point in time, vilifying you for something you didn’t even do. It’s like you have become a pariah. Someone who can’t have a piece of mind just because..."

He stopped talking, and I saw him close his eyes, his jaw working as if he were trying to contain himself. He let out a sharp breath.

"I’m sorry," he said out of the blue.

I froze, my mouth still stuffed with brownies, my eyes wide. I watched him closely as he slowly opened his eyes, lifted his gaze from my hand on his arm, and finally turned to look at me. I saw the sorrow in them—something I had never seen before. It was genuine and sharp. It made something twist in the pit of my stomach.

I looked at him, my lids fluttering in a total daze as he placed his other hand over mine where it still rested on his arm. He leaned closer.

"I’m sorry you had to go through all of that. I am sorry about the way I talked to you back at the office. I wasn’t thinking. I had no idea. I just saw something, jumped to conclusions, and assumed—and I’m sure that’s why you hate me. Because of how I reacted. I reacted just like everyone else on campus."

I saw his eyes look down. I chuckled nervously as a sudden twist occurred in my chest. I quickly shook my head.

"No, no, it’s not that. I don’t... I don’t hate you," I said quickly, not understanding why I was defending myself or why I suddenly cared so much that he knew I didn’t hate him. I frowned. God, what is wrong with me right now? I can’t explain it.

He slowly lifted those sharp eyes to look back at me, and I gulped.

"You don’t?" he asked.

I chuckled. "Are you serious?" I avoided his gaze, feeling the heat rising in my cheeks. "Do you really think I’m going to hate you?"

He smiled.

When I turned back to look at him, he said, "No, I didn’t think so. It’s just... you’ve been kind of distant lately."

I rolled my eyes and turned away, taking another brownie and stuffing it into my mouth to keep myself busy, my jaw working, and to suppress the heat overwhelming my face. I looked down at the brownies, struggling to fight the warmth spreading through me, my lips stretching into a smile I could no longer contain.

Oh, wow.

He actually apologized to me.

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