9

I pull Tess towards me just in time before the car comes to an abrupt stop in front of us and the driver's mysteriously dark tinted window rolls down a little bit. I jerk my head back when I recognise him.

"Mr Kyle Reesogn," my mom's chauffeur says with a smirk as he climbs out the car and helps with the luggage. He looks at Tess before reaching down and gently removes the bags from her hands, leaving a slightly confused and curious Tess without any bags to hold.

"I think I'll take a cab from here on-," she says nervously as she quickly gets her backpack from the boot.

"Nonsense. You're coming with me," I cut her off and before she could say anything, I hoisted her up in the car and closed the door on her side. I go around the car and climb in the other side and soon the chauffeur starts driving.

"What's on your mind?" I ask her after a moment of silence. It's odd of her to keep quiet and the driver keeps glancing in the mirror to look at her.

"Nothing," she says, not bothering to look away from the window and focus on me. I decide to just let it slip and not push her further. "You won't forget about me, will you?"

I automatically smile when that question escapes her lips. I reach for her hand and hold it tightly in mine, shaking my head dismissively at her question.

"Not even if I wanted to."

"Where to for the young lady, Sir?"

"You can just-"

"Drop us at home, I'll take her from there."

"Home as in your mom's or yours?"

"Mine's."

Tess' POV

The car comes to a stop at a gate and the driver presses a red button at the security house. After a while the gates open and he drives through. The scenery is like one from those house magazines that cost 80 000 dollars or something and what's worse is that each house is uniquely built and damn expensive-looking. I was so focused on taking all the designs in I didn't realise we'd stop in front of yet another beautiful one.

"Welcome to my home," Kyle says as he scratches the back of his head nervously. Why in the hell would be nervous when his home looks like this?

"Uhm," he starts and I turn to him and try to not let my eyes wander off. "You could take a look around the place, I'll take my stuff up quickly. Then I'll take you to my mom's before your dad's, that okay?"

"Yes," I say before following him up the stairs and into his house. I guess all American kids love to live on their own.

"So that's my, uhm-" he starts to explain but I zone out when I look around. I've always wanted to be an interior designer but looking at all of these makes me feel extra cheerful.

"This is just the visitors living room, because of my mom and all. Actually, she designed the place so I have-"

"It's beautiful," I say truthfully and we share a moment of eye contact before he clears his throat and heads up the stairs.

"Wow, what a place," I say to myself as I walk around.

I walk up the stairs and come to a room that looks like an open place to just sit down and relax. The view of the city below can be the cause of a nostalgic feeling.

And the thing about his place is that every room I enter is sort of telling a different story; giving off a different vibe. The lighting is different each time and the design gets better. My legs keep walking up some stairs and soon I find myself on the rooftop, my breath hitching when I take in the incredible view that's way better than the view from the other rooms.

My phone vibrates in my pocket and I take it out and slide across the screen. "Are we going already?" I can't help the disappointed in my voice.

"First, I need to find you," he teases and I smile at his voice. I hear background movement and it seems like something -glass- fell and broke.

"What was that?" I ask as I turn around and head back downstairs.

"Nothing much. Just a vase that fell," he tries to make it sound unimportant.

I try to use the paintings I saw as guidelines but they prove to be useless as I end up stranded in an insane wing. I remember walking up some stairs, but going back down, its like there's suddenly twice the amount of stairs.

"Okay, so I'm stranded between a dining table, a flight of stairs and a number of doors behind me," I speak into the phone and hear him chuckle. "Where do I go from here?"

"It never gets old," he says more to himself than me. "I'm on my way," he says and then the line goes dead.

I stand awkwardly, trying to face all the possible entrances he could use while trying to look cool. There's certainly nothing more annoying and embarrassing than getting lost in the house of a guy you actually like.

"A normal person would go down the stairs, walk through the hallway, turn right, walk down the other skeletal stairs," he pauses when he sees my raised eyebrow. "They're made of artificial rhino and elephant bones," he half smirks.

"Don't do that," I roll my eyes and walk past him in the same direction he came in. Go down the stairs.

"Don't do what?" He asks when he catches up and smiles at me.

"That," I point lazily at him. "That thing where you half-smile-half-smirk." Walk through the hallway and down the skeletal stairs.

"If I don't stop?" He nudges my arm and I scoff.

"Let's just- Whoa!" I shout when my foot misses a landing and I slip down the stairs and hit the floor, hard. "Aww," I rub my elbow and forehead as I sit up straight and look around for Kyle.

I see him still standing at the very top with his mouth agape. Slowly his chest starts moving and he's leaning on his knees as he laughs even harder, making a fool of me. I can already feel my ears and nose going brighter by the second.

"You have it bad," he says once he's sobered up and I get up and dust myself, avoiding eye contact.

"I think your house just hates me," I say as I rub the side of my forehead closer to my eyebrow. I can already feel the bump forming. "And plus, animal bones are slippery," I add as I am forced to watch him walk down the stairs elegantly.

"You mind sleeping over tonight?" He asks once he's reached my level. Gosh, I wish he'd fallen off as well. Then maybe he'd believe me.

"I don't know," I pretend to think really hard about it. "I don't want to be made a mockery."

"Trust me, I've had my fair share of - whatever that was," he bites his lip to keep himself from chuckling and I have to look away to avoid laughing at myself as well.

"Let me show you something before I give you a room." He slides the mirror door and motions for me to come forward. He takes my hand in his and leads me slowly out the door and to the backyard.

"This is my most favourite part of this house," he whispers in my ear, causing goosebumps on my arms.

"I can see why." I take a seat beside him and he lens forward and rests his elbows on his knees. His playfulness shifted and he's looking bothered about something.

"It's not for those reasons," he says softly, his eyes trained on the grass as if he's waiting for it to grow.

I lay my hand on his back and lean down to whisper. "I'm willing to wait."

"Why?"

"Because you're worth waiting for," I shrug it off like it's the most usual thing to say.

"I'm not. Don't lie to me," he chuckles dryly, trying to make it sound like whatever emotional swift had no effect on him.

"What makes you say that? Why are you so sure you're not worth it? I don't like seeing you torn-" I don't get to finish my sentence because I feel his lips on mine, effectively shutting me up.