5. Choosing Movies

"Wow. You are the last person I expected to see here." I chuckled as I closed my car's door and locked it before moving towards the small mart at the side. He followed behind me as I opened the door with a ding.

The cashier looked at me, his eyes roaming my body. He must be in his late twenties with dirty blonde hair and brown eyes. I rolled my eyes and went in deeper, grabbing some snacks. What I didn't fail to notice was the man following me.

I turned around and looked at him expectantly.

"You need something?" I asked him and he shrugged, taking a look at all the snacks before grabbing a bag of spicy crisps.

"Good choice." I said moving towards him and standing directly in front of him. I leaned forward as he raised an eyebrow, and slowly moved back after grabbing two packs of the crisps from behind him.

I gave him a sly smile and moved towards the sweets, grabbing some marshmallows. I saw some sour patch kids too and tried reaching for them but they were too far up even though I wasn't that short.

Who puts these so high anyway?

I stopped short when I felt a hand on my waist and my back pressed against someone's front. An arm raised above my head and picked up three packs. I noticed the tattoos on the arms because the sleeves were rolled up.

His arm came down but he didn't move, just stayed pressed against me as his hand with the packs settled on my shoulder before sliding down. I felt his hot breath on the back of my neck and head.

Did it suddenly get hotter?

He moved back a bit, enough for me to turn around and I found myself staring at his chest where a tattoo was peeking out. He moved back another step and held out two packs to me and I quickly grabbed them, fingers brushing with his in the process.

My eyes flicked to his at the contact and I'm sure my face was red right now.

"Thanks." I told him and quickly moved towards the refrigerators. I pulled out four cokes, three for myself and dad and Alex, and handed one to Roman who now stood beside me. He took it from my hands and mumbled a thanks.

After looking around a bit I grabbed a chocolate bar and gave one to Roman too and made my way to the cashier, who looked at me with a hungry gaze and I sighed tiredly.

Now to deal with this guy.

"Will that be all beautiful?" He asked me and I cringed internally.

"Yeah thanks." I said taking my card out.

"You're really sexy. You want to grab a drink sometime? I'm free right now." He said suggestively and winked at me.

Disgusting.

"No thanks. I have a boyfriend." I said but he leaned closer.

"Well where is he beautiful?" He said coming closer and I moved back, only to hit someone's front. I turned my head and saw Roman looking at the cashier with a clenched jaw.

"Right here." Roman said bringing an arm around my waist and pulling me closer to his body as his lips briefly touched my temple, making me blush furiously.

I think I'm melting.

I looked at the cashier who was now pale and practically shivering with fear.

"I-I'm so s-sorry Mr. Angelo. I-I swear I didn't know she was your girl." He said as Roman inched closer to him and dumped his stuff on the counter.

"Keep your eyes off what's mine." He said.

Mine.

Holy shit. I'd be lying if there isn't a butterfly war raging in my stomach.

The cashier nodded quickly and packed our things as Roman pulled out a black card from his pocket all while holding onto me firmly. He was about to hand it to the cashier when I quickly grabbed his hand with the card. He looked at me and raised an eyebrow at me.

"I'll pay for myself." I said but he didn't listen to me and held his card in his other hand and took a hold of my hand.

Why does this feel so good?

"You really don't have to." I said again but he didn't listen.

"Roman." I said and he froze suddenly. His head moved to me and he looked deep into my eyes with an unreadable emotion, although it was enough to make me want more.

Roman. It feels so good to say his name.

Is that wrong? Definitely.

"Let me pay, please Roman." I said and his eyes darkened.

"No." He said firmly and paid quickly, grabbing the bag of snacks and pulling me out of the store with my hand.

Jeez, someone's moody.

He stopped in front of our cars and unlocked his, dumping his things on the front seat and coming back to me, he handed me the bag.

"Thank you." I said and was about to turn when he caught my arm, making me face him.

"Yes?" I asked him when he didn't say anything. He let go of my arm and shook his head.

"I forgot." He said and I nodded slowly, unlocking my car and placing the bag of snacks inside before moving to the driver's side. I opened my door but looked at Roman who stood in the same place with his eyes on me.

"Thanks again. I enjoyed our little race." I said and he nodded before I sat in and drove off Glancing in the mirror, I saw his retreating figure as he stood with his hands in his pockets, and I forced my gaze back to the road.

It took me about twenty minutes to get home. I went inside and dumped my snacks on the kitchen island and went up to my room, changing into more comfortable clothes and taking a shower.

Going downstairs, I saw dad and Alex in the kitchen. Alex was also in a t-shirt and sweatpants, talking to dad.

"Hey guys." I said as I walked into the kitchen and kissed both of them on their cheeks, hugging my dad tightly.

"Hello sweetheart. How was your day?" He asked me and I beamed.

"It was so amazing, everyone loved the fair, especially the guests of honor." I gushed and my dad patted my shoulder.

"That's good sweetheart, I expected nothing less. Who were the guests of honor?" He asked me as I downed a glass of water.

"The Angelos. Speaking of, are you guys business partners?" I asked turning to Alex who hummed in response and gave my dad a look.

"What?" I asked them but my dad shook his head.

"Nothing sweetheart. Did you bring all these snacks?" He asked me looking at the snacks and I nodded.

"Yup. I was hoping we could catch up. We haven't sat together in so long." I said and he smiled

"Sure sweetheart." He said and I looked at Alex with raised eyebrows.

"Sounds good to me." He sad and I clapped my hands, putting all the snacks in a tray and putting them in the living room.

"Are we watching something?" Dad asked and I shrugged.

"We can. But I'll choose." I said grabbing the remote but Alex frowned.

"No. You put on sappy romance movies. I'll choose." He said but I shook my head.

"Nuh-uh. I'll choose since I'm the younger one." I said moving away from him, which was a good idea because I knew Alex too well.

"I'm older, so I should choose. Now give." He threatened but I shook my head.

"Never." I said and he narrowed his eyes at me before running towards me. I screamed and ran away from him and around the living room, trying to dodge him, but he was quick.

The doorbell rang and my dad sighed, shaking his head at our childish behavior before going to check who it was. I ran into the hallway, skating on the slippery floors in an attempt to get away from him, but he followed me there.

I heard a familiar deep and velvety voice and made the mistake of looking over at dad who was only a few feet away from us and on cue, my brother tackled me to the ground and tried to snatch the remote from me.

"You cheater! Get off!" I shouted but he laughed at me.

He held my hands in place so I wouldn't move but I wrapped my legs around him and threw him over, and got on top of him, pining him down and grabbing the remote and shouting in victory.

"Hah! I won!" I said while Alex groaned in pain.

"Ah fuck." He groaned in pain but I knew he was pretending when my dad cleared his throat and both our heads whipped his way and we saw who was at the door, our eyes widening by a fraction.

Roman freakin' Angelo was standing at my doorstep and I looked at his hand which held my phone.

Where the hell did that come from?

I looked at Alex who was trying to stifle a laugh and back at Roman who looked at us confused.

"He's actually there isn't he?" I asked my dad who had his arms crossed on his chest and he nodded.

At that both Alex and I burst into laughter and I fell off of him, rolling on the cold floor and laughing hysterically with Alex who rolled over. We laughed for a good two minutes before we laid back on the floor trying to catch our breath.

"Shit, he's actually here." I said and Alex nodded.

"We can hear you, you're hardly five feet away from us." My dad said making us both quickly sit up as Alex helped me up and walked over to dad. I straightened myself up and walked over to them as well.

"Sorry about that. We were choosing a movie." I said and took my phone from Roman's hand.

"You dropped it at the shop." He said and I nodded as his gaze went over my body and lingered a bit on my bare legs before he cleared his throat.

"See you later." He told me and I thanked him for the phone as he shook my dad's hand and left. I crossed my hands over my chest and saw him put on his sunglasses and get into his car, not before looking at me, and drove off.

"What shop was he talking about?" Alex asked me as we went back into the living room.

"I saw him at a gas station where I got the snacks from." I said and he nodded, looking at me skeptically.

"Okay... Just stay away from him, yeah?" Alex said and I frowned.

"Why? Is something wrong?" I asked him but he shook his head.

"Nothing you should concern yourself with. All you should know is that they're dangerous people. And Roman Angelo is the worst one of them." Alex said and I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Dangerous as in..?" I asked him and he sighed.

"As in Italian mafia dangerous Thea, so you stay away from all of them, got it?" He snapped and my eyes widened at his sudden outburst and nodded quickly.

They were those Angelos? Shit.

"I'm sorry love, just... stay safe, okay?" He said and I nodded slowly as I reached for the remote but he snatched it before me.

"I'm still choosing." He smirked at me and I huffed loudly before plopping down on the couch as dad came back in the living room.

We all got comfortable and watched the movie quietly, munching on the snacks but the tension after Alex's outburst didn't dissipate even now. I knew he was only looking out for me, but he could be really over protective sometimes. But I can't blame him after everything that happened.

But there was one thing I couldn't deny.

I was attracted to danger, and it showed up at my door.

Quite literally.