Present Day.

Olivia's POV.

People usually talk about what it feels like to be falling for someone.

I've never related to that term before, until now.

I can't keep my hands off of Jace, I think I might be obsessed with him.

Obsession, lust and love are like the three things I've tried to avoid so far but here I am, obsessing over this broken, beautiful man who can throw me out the window whenever his demons tell him to.

The thing is, I know that he and I are not gonna work, we're gonna fuck in every corner, fight and scream at each other every night and then one day, one of us is gonna walk away and never look back.

That scenario sounds tragic, but I wasn't expecting a marriage proposal either, I'm good with the way things are between us, I mean, he's still hiding things from me but I won't force him to talk about something that he's not comfortable sharing, looking at things in that perspective makes things much easier for me.

Jace picked me up around nine pm for the party but then Myra and Izzy decided to tag along.

We arrived at the party around ten and people were already acting crazy, Jace wasn't photographing anything yet, he was too distracted by my dress, his words not mine, he said he couldn't stop thinking about taking it off.

I picked out the shortest, sexiest red backless dress in my closet just so he'd notice so mission accomplished.

I don't know about Olivia one but I've never had sex at a party, I told myself I'd never do that but Jace brings out this certain hunger inside of me, something I can't control, something I can't stop or say no to.

We were just being touchy, sharing messy kisses from now and then and I loved how he squeezed my ass through my dress while whispering dirty words into my ear.

So, I can't exactly say that I don't know how we ended up in this bathroom, with me sitting on the counter, my dress pushed to my waist, and him settled between my legs, thrusting into me with a rough grip on my hips, whispering how good I make him feel.

I want to keep this forever, I want us to always be like this but maybe it's just the good sex talking.

I can't stop thinking about how much I want him to keep fucking me like this till the sun comes up but his touch, the feel of his soft lips on mine, his grunts, everything he does drives me wild and makes me come sooner than I had planned.

He releases a groan when my walls clench around him and he fists the fabric of my dress around my waist, pounding into me faster and harder which makes me scream his name and throw my head back, his hand closes around my neck, making me look at him. We stare into each other's eyes, our mouths gape, our breaths heavy and bodies buzzing on the highest adrenaline rush.

He shoves his tongue into my mouth and hums, shooting one last thrust into me with a whimper, we continue devouring each other's mouths but I pull away before my body starts wanting more.

He pulls out of me and takes off the condom, knotting it before tossing it into the trashcan in the corner. I jump off the counter and start adjusting my underwear and dress as he works on his belt.

We're smiling at each other, none of us saying anything or maybe we're both waiting for the other person to say something.

"Where's your camera?" I start, stroking my fingers through my hair.

"With Myra." He answers.

"Are you gonna take pictures of people without their consent?" I ask.

"No, I'll ask, of course." He scoffs at my question.

"But everyone here is like ridiculously drunk, drunk people can't consent." I shake my head.

"Liv, it's a photograph, not an orgy." He smiles at me.

"I've you ever had an orgy?" I don't know why I just asked that but it makes him chuckle which makes my heart flutter.

"Not answering that." He grabs me by the back of my neck and pulls me in for a quick kiss, "C'mon, let's go." He holds my hand and leads us out of the bathroom.

The girl that goes in after us rolls her eyes before stomping inside, my cheeks heat up in embarrassment but Jace doesn't seem to be bothered by it.

We make it downstairs and I let my eyes drink in all the chaos around me but then I feel jace's eyes on me so I look up and find him staring down at me.

"What?"

"You're really beautiful." He tells me and I blush, I never blush but goddamn it I'm doing it right now and makes me feel so pathetic.

"Okay, fine, I'll stay far away from you for the rest of the night," I sigh dramatically, "Geez, you didn't have to be so dramatic about it." I say sarcastically.

"Ha ha." He leans down, I meet him halfway to capture his lips between mine, his arm snakes around my waist and he deepens the kiss.

I push him away, "Bye." I quickly turn around and shove myself through all the drunk people.

I head to the kitchen only to find myself face to face with Jack, AKA the guy from my ethics class, AKA the guy from my favorite Café, AKA the guy who has a huge crush on me.

He's leaning against the wall, red cup in hand.

"Hey, Jack." I send him a wave.

"Hey, Olivia." He mocks.

"That sounded a little bitter." I half laugh.

"No, not bitter, just a little bit shocked to see you and Jace together, kissing and all." He sounds bitter.

"You know Jace?" I ask him that instead of explaining myself because I don't need to explain myself.

"He has somehow photographed some of the biggest celebrities out there, that's reason enough to know him." He points out.

"Okay, why are you shocked to see me kissing him? Do I not qualify or whatever?" I ask playfully, hoping he'll smile and lighten up the mood.

He scoffs, looking elsewhere, "Nah, you're good, it just hurts a little, is all."

"Hurts who?" I squint my eyes at him.

"Me." He says in a duh tone, "Dude, I've been trying to get with you for months now but you lead me on and then the next thing I know, you're making Jace fucking Rodriguez smile which is something I've never seen before by the way and-"

"Stop talking." I cut in, "Jack, sweetheart, what exactly do you like about me?" I tilt my head to the side, getting bored by this conversation.

He peels off the wall and walks closer to me, standing in front of me.

"A lot of students I know are fucked up, like, if I could afford therapy for all of them I wouldn't even hesitate to pay for their sessions but then there's you, Olivia Conner, the girl who goes for morning runs, drinks coffee, reads in the campus library, shows up early to a lecture, debates with the lecturers, attends parties and is friends with everyone. You're what the rest of us want to be and I like that a lot about you." He says in admiration, which makes me grin.

That was weirdly the sweetest thing anyone's ever said to me.

"Stalker much?" I lightly punch his shoulder.

"No, I'm just really good at studying people." He scratches the back of his neck, clearly lying.

"Okay but what makes you think that I don't need a therapy session too? What if I'm one of those people who hurt in silence?"

"You're not." He says with a determined expression.

"What makes you so sure?" I laugh.

"I don't see it on your face." His gaze lingers on my smiling lips.

"That's a little ignorant of you." I try to stop smiling so he stops staring, his eyes shift to my eyes and he chuckles and shakes his head for some reason.

"What?" I whine.

"Can I have a dance?" He extends is hand to me, I stare at it hesitantly.

"I don't think-"

"Please? Just one dance and after that, I'll leave you alone." He assures me.

I sigh.

One dance is not gonna hurt anyone, right?

"You poor child." I huff, placing my hand on his shoulder, "C'mon." I grab his hand, ready to walk him to the dance floor but he pulls me to his chest, wrapping his arms around my waist.

"I meant slow dance." He says, I roll my eyes, interlocking my fingers behind his neck.

I probably smell like Jace and sex which is good with me but I bet it's disgusting to other people.

As we slow dance to a rap song, a part of me actually thinks this is nice and I kinda wish I was doing it with Jace.

I should be doing this with Jace.

I know we're not dating but still, I came here with him. For him.

"Okay," I awkwardly stumble away from him, "Truce?" I forward my hand for a handshake.

"Truce." He puts on a faint smile as he shakes my hand.

I kinda feel bad for him and for myself. For him because he fell for the wrong person, for me because I'm also falling for the wrong person.

At least we have that in common.

To make things less awkward, I walk away without saying anything to him and I find myself looking for Jace but I end up finding Myra chatting with two guys.

"Hey, have you seen Jace?" I ask, which might come off as rude given the fact that I haven't said hello to her friends.

"Yeah, he stepped outside a minute ago." She responds quickly, almost like she's trying to get rid of me.

I scowl, looking at all three of them, trying to guess what they were talking about right before I showed up.

Myra shoos me away with her hand and I gladly walk away from them, I step out of the house and I immediately spot Jace sitting down on the steps.

His hands interlocked behind his neck and his head dipped between his shoulders.

I stride towards him, sitting next to him and waiting for him to face me but he doesn't.

"Jace?" I place my hand on his shoulder.

"Hmm?"

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"I don't know," he finally faces me, showing me that broken expression that I hate so much.

"You don't know why you're practically shaking right now?" I hold his hand.

"I saw you dancing with that guy and I just... I just realized that I don't know what the hell I'm doing, Liv." He tells me.

He sounds honest, it makes me hate whatever he's about to add on to what he just said.

"What? What do you mean by that?" I feel uneasy.

"I mean I don't know what I'm doing with you, Olivia, I'm not supposed to be doing this, I'm supposed to be leaving you alone, letting other serious guys get to know you and all that stuff." He says.

"Don't be silly," I place my hand on the side of his face, my thumb caressing his cheek, "I love our situationship and Jack just wanted to dance with me,"

"You're not hearing me." He shakes his head, turning away from me but I make him face me again.

"I am, you feel like you don't deserve me cause you don't want something serious but I don't want anything serious either." I point out.

"No, Liv, it's not that. I feel like I'm doing this for closure, to make myself feel better about everything and also to forget about..." He stops himself but the words that could have followed after still linger in the air, my heart drops and I swallow a lump.

"To forget about who? Cassandra?" My voice cracks.

"That's not what I said." He whispers.

"Jace, this situationship is never going to work if you keep bringing her up, I get that you're still in love with her but at least try to pretend that you're over her." I plead, like an idiot.

He stays quiet, the kind of quiet that makes me wonder what he's thinking.

"You know, the worst part is that you don't even know what I'm talking about half the time." He says, I nod, totally agreeing with him.

"Then make me understand." I lift my shoulders, he forces a smile that never really pulls through then he plants a sweet prolonged kiss on my lips.

"I will, eventually but not now, I'm not ready." He says.

He'll never be ready but you know what? I'm not gonna die of curiosity so I'm gonna go ahead and take matters into my own hands, by that, I mean I'm gonna contact Cassandra Richardson.

She's the only one who can answer all these questions, I know she's a celebrity and her DMS are probably filled with fan mail and all but I have one name that can make my message standout in those fan mails.

Jace Rodriguez.

I bet my fucking life she's more than familiar with the name.