"You're such a jerk," Claire attacked him through the phone.

"So I've heard," Ryan replied coolly. "Why exactly do I owe you an apology?"

Annoyed, Claire rose to her feet while barking. "Seriously? You kissed me just yesterday, Ryan, and then I found out that... that..." that you have a girlfriend and made me look like a fool. She couldn't say it. "Never mind. I only wanted to tell you that you're a total jerk, AND THERE! I SAID IT!"

A short tense moment passed until she heard, "I believe you kissed me first, Claire, and if I didn't kiss you back, you'd be left with so much conflict as to why I didn't do it. And if I'm not mistaken, a chain of questions would be dangling in your head: didn't he like it? How does he see me now after what I did? Or worse... Am I a terrible kisser? So all I wanted was—"

"Shut up! Just shut the fuck up!" Claire snapped, her fist clenched so tightly. Not even the increasing rain outside could fray her anger this time, mainly because everything the bastard said was true if she was honest with herself. Running her fingers through her hair, she finally said, "So, are you trying to say that you merely did me a favor by returning the kiss? Is that it?"

Please don't yes. Please don't crush my dignity even more. She prayed inwardly, hoping she wasn't delusional about his reasons for kissing her back.

"Don't ever sell yourself short, Claire. I said no such thing," Ryan replied calmly. "I was dying to kiss you from the moment I picked you up, and I don't regret doing it even if you think I'm a jerk. But if it's an apology you want, then I'm sorry for kissing you even if I'm sure you loved it as much as I did."

Cocky! Claire hared it but a warm frisson of excitement ran through her spine, and momentarily her breath shallowed. What was he doing to her? And mostly....why?

"Now the real question is," Ryan went on, "why is it so important for you to know why I kissed you back, huh? By any chance, are you attracted to me, Claire?" His deep voice burned Claire's composure, and the phone turned hot against her ear.

Bastard! Was this some kind of revenge or what?

"You wish!" Her flustered voice filled the air in her room, and soon Ryan's carefree laughter filled her ears.

He laughed and laughed until he managed to say, "Okay, then. Let's both settle with that. Is it raining over there?"

"Um... yeah?"

"And I can tell you're okay," he muttered, as though he was confirming something that drew Claire's eyebrows together immediately. But before she could respond anyhow, he quickly added, "So... you left in such a hurry because of Doris?"

The audacity he has! Claire dropped heavily onto the bed.

"No, I left because of me," Claire recoiled, and it was foolish of her to send him a text after everything she'd witnessed today. "What? You wanted me to see the girl you kissed having a friendly chat with your girlfriend or something?"

Instead of answering, Ryan asked, "What about you and Bruno? The girl who just kissed me the other night hanging around with my brother on what... a date? What do I make out of that?" His voice was monotonous but there was something else hidden there.

It was Claire's turn to laugh, and like a wash of the waves on a sandcastle, her anger began to fade like the weak sand particles. "Are you jealous, by any chance?" she asked him with a smile.

"You wish," Ryan said wickedly, and it was annoying that he kept track of most words she said and used them against her when she least expected.

"Well, fine! If you say so," Claire retorted. "Are you in the bathroom hiding from your girlfriend right now?" She lay down.

"Huh?"

"Oh, could it be that you're bold enough to even talk in her presence?"

Are they living together? Claire wished to ask him.

"I'm all alone, Claire. And I don't have any reason to hide in the bathroom," said Ryan flatly.

"I see. And I guess you find me so absurd right now," Claire muttered.

"Why?"

"The fact that I'm talking to you right now, it's absurd. At least after what I learned today, I should stay away from you, right?"

"Why would you do that?" Ryan queried.

Fuck! Was he serious?

"Because I'm being a bitch right now. Talking to a guy with a girlfriend in the middle of the night is nothing but stupidity so... I'm hanging up! Have a goodnight." She was mad, at herself for the most part.

"Claire—"

"No, Ryan! And don't call me again!" She hung up, and all she felt was a deep hollow in her heart as though she'd lost a person she'd known for years.

How pathetic!

—

On Saturday afternoon, the following day, Claire dropped by Gena's place to unwind after the sleepless night that filled her head with no one but Ryan Stevens. It hadn't stopped raining cats and dogs, but she couldn't stand being at home; as soon as the sun emerged fully, she took her chances.

Little rain was never an issue.

"My parents want me back home," Gena announced as she led Claire into her apartment.

"Huh? I thought they were still in Peru?" Claire quizzed, knowing fully well that Gena's parents traveled between Africa and Latin America throughout the year, where they did medical volunteering. "What are you going to do?" She sat on the cream loveseat sofa, following Gena's lead.

Gena sighed heavily. "I'll just have to find a job! If I have something to do they don't bug me, I'm sure of it," she said absently.

"Great idea. If you want, I can ask Jorge if there's an opening in the company," Claire suggested, ready to help in any way she could. Her life without Gena would be a terrible disaster.

No, she needed her best friend as she was her only

"Oh, Claire. I'll be more than grateful if you do that, even if I may sound like a leech to you." Gena was desperate.

"Anything for you, honey. And I'll pretend I didn't hear about the leech because that's abominable," Claire replied and meant every word.

Gena's teary smile warmed her heart.

They exchanged cheesy gossip while having pizza and Netflix, mainly about Claire's work and her new involvement with Ryan Stevens.

"So you kissed him?" Gena was in awe as she sat upright to catch a proper sight of Claire, whose head reclined lazily on the sofa, facing the whirling electric fan. "Like you really, really, kissed him first?"

"Yeah," she replied.

"Fuck, you surprise me, girl! Who are you?"

"I don't know, Gena! I fucking don't know what I was thinking to do such a thing," Claire replied and lowered her gaze to face Gena.

"Are you sure?" Gena's stare was filled with doubts.

"Yes. Very sure," Claire uttered.

Claire left around six in the evening. She wanted a sleepover but Gena had a date with someone new. This was one of the times she'd get lonely, despising the fact that she, unlike her friend, didn't have the spine strong enough to just hook up with random guys and forget them the next day.

Claire had nowhere else to go at this moment so she stayed at the café, waiting for the rain to stop and the sun to go down completely before she'd walk into the doors of her house. Again, the idea of finding her place lurked around her, and honestly, she had every means to make that happen now that she was a working woman.

It was about time, she finally decided.

For some reason, each time she glanced outside through the glass walls of the coffee shop, her mind would betray her and foolishly draw the memory of the man in a trench coat holding her so protectively. She wanted Ryan Stevens as far away as possible, but he was always there like an addiction without a name.

Was it the damn kiss they shared? God knew how much she desired more of it. Ryan's lips on her mind were so close that she could taste them, and as she closed had eyes, the scent of his perfume was nearly in the vicinity of her nose. It was madness, and the closer she could get out of it, the better.

But once again the heavens had their own will, and it dazzled Claire incredulously. There was a call from Ryan Stevens as though he could hear the loud voice of her needing heart that called out for his name every time she breathed in, while thinking of him, and she couldn't deny the powerful urge to pick up.

"You often come to my mind whenever it rains," Ryan said instantly upon her hesitant hello.

"Why?" Claire felt her heartbeat catching up as she asked this.

Weird, but the feeling was mutual.

"I don't know," Ryan replied. "It just makes me worried, I guess. I wonder whether you're okay or not. I don't know what happened to you that evening, Claire, but if you tell me you're alright at this moment, then I'm going to hang up right now and never call you again just as you told me to."

She wasn't alright. Maybe it wasn't the little rain that barely made a sound, but she felt homesick just thinking of him. She inhaled a deep breath, and the sound of his doting voice felt like an Oasis in her dry, hot desert.

"Claire?" Ryan called urgently.

"I'm not okay," she slowly replied. "I think I miss you."

A long silence ensued but she could hear Ryan's husky breath. Her heart raced even faster, and the wait was killing her inside to the point of regret upon saying such words.

But eventually, she heard, "Where are you?"

"Downtown Lisbay," she replied, "in a small café near The Blue Pearl Hotel."

"Don't move an inch; I'll be there soon," Ryan declared and the call ended.

Ryan found her right in her seat about twenty minutes later. This woman was becoming an enigma in his mind and the more he got involved with her, the more he found himself indulged.

"You came?" Claire stood up.

"I said I would. Are you okay?" Ryan asked gently, his eyes unusually soft.

"Yeah, I'm okay now." Claire nodded with a faint smile.

"Now?" He raised a single eyebrow at that, amusement dancing in his eyes.

"Yeah. Now that—" Claire stammered.

What did he want to hear?

Ryan ran a thumb at the tip of his nose and laughed gently. Still, up to his feet, he simply told her, "Okay, let's go," and stretched his hand out for her.

She obliged without thinking twice, his warm palm clutching hers so delicately and his eyes trailed her from her head to her toes as she moved.

"Where are we going?" Claire asked.

"I'm not sure," Ryan replied, walking side by side with her toward the exit. "How about a ride?"

"A joyride?" Claire teased, and his eyebrows drew together inwardly. "Err... I meant okay, I'm fine with the ride," she murmured, flushing with embarrassment.

Ryan smiled.

Although it hadn't been long since he'd known her, he somehow found her vulnerable, urging his protective instincts to rise as though she belonged to him. But most of the time it was her foul mouth that made him drawn closer like a bee to a flower, and he knew it was dangerous.

A wolf and a lamb were never a clever combination, after all.

A one-hour ride to the outskirts of Lisbay restored Claire's brightest smile. The sight of rainfall, although very partial and scattered, through the window had never looked this beautiful in her eyes for a very long time. Ryan's gaze had been studying her keenly in search of some answers.

Why was she stuck in the rain if she doesn't seem afraid of it today?

"But seriously, where are we, Ryan?" Claire asked again as the car pulled over near a resort perched at the hillside, surrounded with earth green from the long tress and rain-scented meadow.

And her eyes widened when she saw the large board with "GREENVIEW LODGE AND RESORT".

Laughing amusedly, Ryan said, "Stop having those wild fantasies, will you? Let's have dinner; they serve amazing food in this place."

"I'm not fantasizing about anything." Claire smiled pathetically and clutched the door handle. "Damn him," she mumbled under her breath, her cheeks flushed.

__________

A/N: Can she really escape him? Haha, let's see. Happy New Year my dear readers and fellow writers! May all your wishes come true this 2023.