| 38 |

| 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐀𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐜𝐞 |

It's finally time to meet Castle.

This time, I'm actually wobbly on my feet, and can't walk straight. My words are slurred, and my head feels like the weight of a boat.

Even through all the haziness, my irritation never left and I'm still fuming inside. I almost want to smash my head against the wall at how stupid I'm feeling for being jealous.

She didn't even kiss him. She was drunk and trying to lay her hands on Castle.

She was trying to lay her hands on Castle.

Her hands. On Castle.

Her hands. On Castle.

Another burst of jealousy explodes in me.

How can she just put her hands on him!

I'm pretty sure there's fume coming out of my ears as I walk to the back of the house where Castle and I are supposed to meet.

Do I have to put a claim on Castle?

I did put a claim on him so that no one bullied him. Maybe I should put another claim, so the bitches know to back off.

Or maybe I shouldn't since Castle would probably not like that.

But what would he prefer? Himself or a girl with no hands?

I finally make it out of the house and into the cool air. Though, it does nothing to soothe my annoyance.

I go around the house to the back of it where there is no one. Except for Castle.

He's leaning against the brick wall, hands in his pockets. His eyes are already on me, probably having heard the sound of my heels from a mile away.

"Not so quiet on your feet tonight?" He raises an eyebrow in question.

"I might be a bit drunk," I admit, walking closer to him.

His jaw tightens a little, but he masks his expressions, standing up straighter when I get close.

I stop in front of him and for a moment we both stare at each other.

A cold wind blows through, making me shiver. "It's cold."

"Stand here." He gestures to the spot beside him.

I go over and stand without a question. He faces me and leans his shoulder on the wall, and I realize that he made himself a shield for me against the wind.

It's moments like this when Castle does gentlemanly things that make me wanna kiss him more.

"Aren't you gonna blabber stuff like how drunk people do?" He raises an eyebrow, but his voice sounds tight.

"I guess I'm not that drunk. Last time I blurted out my dad's card numbers and passwords to some random stranger on the street. Dad had to completely change his accounts before all his money disappeared."

An amused smile appears on Castle's lips. "Troublemaker even while drunk." He states.

A grin appears on my face. "Always."

It's then I realize that the moment Castle appeared in my sight, all the irritation and jealousy I had been feeling, completely disappeared.

"There are a few chairs over there if you wanna sit." Castle motions to the chairs behind me.

I nod and we walk over and sit on the chairs leaning against the wall.

The sound of the music from the house is still loud enough but it doesn't disturb us. The night sky is empty of stars but there's still the moon.

"How was the party so far?" I ask Castle.

He's sitting with his legs spread out in front of him, hands in the pocket of his hoodie as he slouches in the chair, comfortable.

He shrugs. "Fine, I guess? I did a lot of people watching—which was kind of interesting I guess."

"People watching is the best." I agree.

"I saw you dance." He states.

I look at him, a slow grin curling my lips. My voice gets low when I ask, "Did you enjoy watching me dance?"

He picks up on my tone and stammers lightly. "I-I mean you dance very well. You already know that."

"Very well?" I raise my eyebrows. "People told me I looked exquisitely sexy tonight. Don't you think so?" I lean a bit towards him, peering at him.

He shifts in his seat but doesn't lean away from me. "I'm not gonna answer that."

"I already know how you feel. Your face says it all." I point out.

"Holly, you can't speak like that." Castle purses his lips.

"Why?"

"That's not how friends talk."

I know that. I've been restraining myself against his rules for a whole week now. I would've still remained under his rules but the alcohol in my system loosened my tongue and thoughts.

"Can friends hold each other's hand?" I ask.

He brings his bottom lip into his mouth, his eyes slightly wary.

"It's pretty cold," I admit.

He hesitates before giving a single nod.

He removes one hand from his pocket and brings it towards me. I take his big but slender hand in mine and place it on my lap.

"Hrg." Castle makes a slight sound in his throat.

"Hmm?" I ask.

He vigorously shakes his head.

His hand feels so nice in mine. Big and warm and slightly rough. I wonder how it would feel if he slid his hands against my skin. My center throbs a little as my imagination carries away for a bit.

My thumb starts to move in a circular motion, wanting to feel how it feels like when our skins rub together.

Castle's breath hitches a little, but he doesn't object to me. His hand is stiff in mine, not yet relaxed.

"Did you dance?" I ask him.

He's looking at our hands on my lap and it takes him a moment to realize that I've asked a question. "What—No, I didn't dance."

"Can you dance?" I tilt my head at him.

An embarrassed look comes on his face. "Uh no. Not really. Mom actually said I'm a horrendous dancer."

"You're really that bad of a dancer?"

He nods.

I sigh. "Why are you revealing your true self after we've become friends? You're basically cheating on me, Tutor."

"I didn't know you could drink and dance without choking yourself." He comments.

"I'm Holly Versace," I state, proudly. "I can do whatever."

"You can't do whatever." He objects.

"Yes, I can."

"No, you can't."

"Try me." I challenge. "Dare me to do something."

He shakes his head. "You're drunk right now. But I will dare you later on." He states.

"I'll hold you onto that."

We get into an easy conversation for the next few minutes.

I'm not even sad that I'm probably missing out on some great stuff happening at the party. A lot of people might question my absence, but no one will come here to look for me.

Even though Castle's and my conservation is of nothing of importance, it still feels as if this moment is something significant.

We talk about our favourite food. I get Castle to freely bitch to me about our teachers, which he does so guiltily. He tries to remain polite but I'm equally persuasive. After a couple of minutes, he's bitching about the whole school to me, telling me who annoys him the most and who he hates.

Surprisingly, it's not me.

The whole time we talk, there's a separate section in my brain that keeps imagining how it would feel like to kiss those dark lips of Castle, how it would feel like to run my tongue across his sharp jaw. What noise would he make when I'm sucking on the curve between his shoulder and neck?

Slowly, that particular section in my head keeps getting bigger and bigger until it's almost consuming my mind, keeping only a smaller section for rational thoughts.

The alcohol is messing with my head.

It doesn't occur to me that I've stopped listening to Castle because my eyes are so focused on his moving lips. And Castle notices it too because he stops talking. A light shade of pink dusts his cheeks.

"Holly?"

"Yeah?"

"Stop looking at me like that."

"Like what?" I question, looking up at his eyes.

"Like that." He blushes.

"Why?" I lean in a bit closer toward him.

His eyes widen when I lean in further. I discreetly flip our hands so that it's the back of his hand that's resting on my bare thigh. His eyes roam around my face. His scent fills my nose when I lean in further, making me light-headed.

"Do I make you nervous?" I ask, my eyes getting heavy-lidded. My eyes are on the defined sexy curve of his lip, and I think about how it would feel to run my tongue across it.

A small gulp goes down his throat. "You know you do." His voice is barely a nervous whisper.

I look at his eyes and I almost reach forward to touch his face. He looks impossibly hot right now, sitting under the shadows away from the light of the dim yellow bulb.

"Do you still want me?" I ask.

Another small gulp goes down his throat. He looks wary but not objective. He doesn't stop me when I lean in further until I'm halfway over my chair and onto his side. Then something happens that takes me by surprise.

He leans in towards me too.

I don't think he knows that his body is responding to mine without his permission because his eyes are still stuck on my face. His mouth is parted open, and his breaths get deeper in anticipation.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I murmur, relishing the way his body shivers at my voice. 

"Like what?" He asks.

"Like you want to kiss me."

His breath hitches. "I-I don't."

I tsk softly, shaking my head. I raise my hand, bringing it to his face. He doesn't take his eyes off me as I place my hand on his jaw, my thumb coming over his mouth to trace the curve of his lips.

His breath feels hot on my finger, and I'm reminded back to when he sucked on it. I'm imagining how it would feel when he sucks the same way on other parts of my body.

"Don't you know, Castle?" I whisper, feeling the way his body shivers again when I speak. His breath gets heavier and he's inching closer towards my face.

He gulps. "Know what?"

"There's no shame in desiring," I whisper.

He's closer now. Too close. I can feel his hot breath on my face.

His eyelids get heavy and almost droop close as he gets close enough that his nose nearly touches mine.

My hand slides around to the back of his neck. When we're too close to feel the warmth radiating from each other, we close our eyes. Our mouths are a breath away from each other. Deep lust swirls through my arousal which has my heart aching painfully.

Our lips brush against each other.

That's when we hear the group of guys.

Castle jerks away from me, pulling all the warmth and excitement along with him.

It's almost a miracle how I held in my loud snarl at the loss. My eyes flick in the direction of the group of guys sauntering to the back of the house. Anger so intense lights in me that I'm ready to get up and beat the shit out of them for ruining my moment.

Castle is breathing heavily with his face red and his leg bouncing. He's acting as if he got caught watching porn or something.

One of the guys notices me and Castle. He calls out to his other friends and points at us.

And now they're walking towards us.

I can tell they're fully drunk by the way they're walking. Slow, unsteady and staggering.

"Look what we caught." One of them says, grinning.

There are around three guys, and I don't miss the way how all three of them rake their gazes from my chest to my bare legs.

I don't know any of them meaning they're probably from another school.

Castle shifts uncomfortably in his chair, his eyes darting between me and the group of guys.

"There are rooms upstairs, ya know?" Another one of them says, a sleazy smile on his face. "You don't have to fuck near the dumpster. If you want I could take you upstairs."

I glare at him. First, they ruin a near-perfect moment between me and Castle that was going to go perfect-fucking-ly and was going to be one of the best days of my life.

Then they think I'm gonna leave with them upstairs to fuck leaving Castle behind? Oh hell nah. My irritation tonight keeps on spiking by different people.

I should get an award for how I'm not up yet and beating the shit out of anyone who comes in my way.

"She has those fuck me lips." The guy says to his friends, not so discreetly.

"Wanna test that mouth of hers?"

"Hell yeah. She looks like that stripper from last week."

"Look at those thighs."

Castle squirms uncomfortably in his seat as if they're talking about his lips and thighs.

Although they should be. Castle definitely has hotter lips than mine. Lips that I would like to bite and suck on...

Which I would've been doing if these assholes hadn't interrupted us.

Before any of these perverts can say more, Castle stands up from his chair, moving so that his body covers me halfway from the jerk's eyes. "Don't talk about her like that."

All the guys turn to look at him.

While a small burst of adoration consumes me at his attempt to defend me, I also want to laugh at how timid and cute he sounded while calling on them.

All three of them laugh.

"Go back to the wiener's club, freak." One of them says. "Losers have no place to be beside someone like her."

"I'm asking you once again," Castle says, firmly, even though I can see the slight tremors shaking his legs. "Stop looking and don't talk about her like that."

He's officially won my heart.

"Don't be ridiculous." The guy scoffs.

One of them steps forward toward Castle. Castle turns rigid when the guy steps close enough to get in his face. Even still, Castle doesn't back away an inch.

The guy cracks his knuckles as he glares at Castle. "If you don't scamper outta here in two seconds, I won't hold back from snapping your dick off your body and feeding it to you. Get me?"

My fingers flex.

He continues. "I can easily snap your bones like a toothpick so go ahead and be a pussy and fuck off from here, alri—"

I move so fast, he doesn't see me coming. One moment, I'm sitting in my chair, and the next I have him pinned against the wall. My hands fist his collar, jerking him to my face.

"Why don't you say that one more fucking time?" I growl.

★・・・・・・★

I wanted to write a scene where it's the GIRL who saves the guy instead of the guy doing all the saving and threatening.

Watch Holly beat the shit out of them! *grins*
...unless Castle stops her that is.

DID YOU PEOPLE NOTICE ONE THING? When Castle was getting bullied he didn't say a word to Justin and Joshua. But here came 3 perverts and Castle stood up for Holly instead of remaining silent! Even though our guy was trembling, he didn't back down an inch!

Also, Holly was silently fuming in her seat but the MOMENT the asshole turned to Castle—BAMM! She snapped!

I started reading A Court of Thorns and Roses btw. I just wanna meet Rhys already 😭

Words: 2,500

Date of publishing: 25th April 2023