Chapter 19: Chapter 19

I've been avoiding Dani since that night she encountered me kissing a 'guy'. I knew I couldn't escape her forever because we were living together. So, I always had excuses like I had a group project or working late. She knew I was lying but surprisingly, she played along with my excuses. I just want her to get out of my butt.

Liam still had no idea about this news and I knew once I told him about it, he'd flipped. So, here I was keeping secrets again from everybody.

I and Sean hadn't seen each other since that night we got back together but he kept texting me like how was my day at school and work and reminded me to eat and sleep well. It was sweet of him. But when I asked about him, he'd reply with 'nothing interesting' or 'taking care of my club'.

I knew he was doing more than that and he was afraid to admit it to me. I'd accepted the fact that he did dangerous things for a living and the thought that he still didn't trust me made me disappointed.

Tonight Sean wanted to take me to dinner, our first date since we got back together. I felt nervous and happy at the same time. Nervous because tonight I and Liam were supposed to have a movie night and I felt bad for turning him down.

I thought about making some lame excuses but I decided to man up and told him the truth. He'd know the truth sooner or later anyway.

"Hello, earth to Valerie", Liam snapped this fingers in front of my face.

"Huh?", I said dumbfounded.

"I said do you want to have dinner after the movie or before the movie?", he repeated.

"Oh, about that.. ", I started. "Can we reschedule our movie night?"

"What? Why?", he looked disappointed making me guilty.

"Don't be mad, OK?", I said carefully.

"Oookay?", he said confused.

"I'm having dinner with Sean tonight", I looked anywhere but him, afraid of his reaction.

He didn't say anything which made me looked at him. He just stared at me dumbfounded but then he exploded. "Are you fucking kidding me?", he barked making all heads turned to us.

"Keep it down, people are staring now", I shushed.

"I don't fucking care. All I care is what are you still doing with him?", he said.

"Liam, He won't do anything to hurt me", I said trying to calm him down.

"Have you forgotten what he does in his free time? Are you out of your mind?", he hissed.

"I know what I'm doing, Liam. I-I trust him", I stuttered.

"Trust him? He lied to you about who he is and you still trust him?", he scoffed.

I was silent at his words and I felt my eyes burning. I kept my head down, didn't dare to look at him. I saw Liam turned on his heel making me lifted my head and all I saw was his back. He turned towards the corner and he was gone.

I knew this was gonna happen. He was mad, beyond mad and I bet he didn't want to see me again. Did I just lose my best friend?  The thought of it made the tears fell down my cheeks.

I wiped my tears away, avoiding gaining attention from people. I tried to relax and took a deep breath to calm myself down.

I decided to go to the cafe to start my shift which could distract me from what had happened with Liam.

The cafe today was busy and it was a good opportunity for me to forget everything for a while. Mrs. Hardy was grumpy today and I  tried not to be on her radar. She yelled at one of the workers for spilling coffee and she kept glaring at Laura for checking her phone every five minutes. When she was back inside her office, we all sighed in relief then got back to work.

After the shift was over, I got changed and grabbed my bag from the locker. I bid goodbye to my friends then walked out of the cafe with my head facing the floor, still thinking about Liam. Did he hate me? Did he still want to go be friends with me? The thought of losing him hurt me.

I didn't know where I was going until I bumped into someone. Again.

I looked up, ready to apologize to whoever it was when I met with his familiar brown eyes. "You never watch your surroundings do you?", he joked.

"Sean. What are you doing here?", I was startled.

"Picking you up of course. You forgot about our dinner?", he said amused with my confused look.

"No, I do remember but I thought you'd come to pick me up at the apartment?", I said.

He just grinned playfully and I rolled my eyes.

"But I haven't changed", I said looking at my attire.

"You're perfect. Come on", he took my hand leading me to his car.

He started the engine and he drove away to wherever he took me. I placed my head against the window and watched the view outside as the car moved.

"Are you okay?", Sean's voice making me snapped off my thoughts.

"Uh, nothing. Just tired that's all", I said lowly. He didn't seem to buy it but he didn't push me further.

After that, the drive was filled with silence and I felt a little awkward. I looked outside again and I saw trees making me realize that we were out of town.

"Where are we going?", I looked at him.

"We're going to my house", he smiled at me.

"Your house? I thought we're going to dinner", I said warily.

"Yes, sweetheart. Dinner is at my house", he chuckled. My heartbeat fast when he called me sweetheart.

He drove until I noticed a big house on the right and it seemed like it was the only house in this area. My jaw almost dropped when we got nearer to the place. It was more like a mansion than a house.

Sean pressed the passcodes of the gate and it slowly opened revealing a large driveway. He parked his car and turned off the engine. He got out of the car and I did as well. This place was huge. I couldn't stop admiring the architecture.

"Are you coming?", Sean asked while I kept looking at my surroundings.

"Yeah, I'm coming", I said running towards him.

He placed his hand on my waist as he led me inside the house. When I stepped inside, it was even crazier than the outside. It was huge and full of expensive furniture.

"It's a nice place you have here. Do you live alone?", I asked him as I scanned the house.

"No. There's my sister and Larry. Sometimes few of my guys slept here as well. But tonight I have this place for myself", he smiled proudly.

"Anyway, you don't mind if we eat my cooking?", he said slightly embarrassed while I followed him to the kitchen.

"Not at all. I love homemade meals", I said excitedly. "Do you want any help?"

"No. Why don't you go watch some TV in the living room while I do the cooking", he said pushing me to the living room.

"Are you sure?", I said as he grabbed the remote to turn on the TV.

"Positive. I'll be right back", he said leaving me.

I threw myself on the couch and searched for something interesting to watch. As I watch the channel, I heard some grunts coming from the kitchen then I heard something broken.

Worried, I went to the kitchen to check and saw Sean was busy cleaning the broken glasses. He cursed lowly under his breath.

"Are you okay?", I said leaning down to help him.

"No, stay away. I don't want you to get hurt", he said.

I watched as he took a cloth and cleaned the rest of the mess. He turned to me and his face was red in embarrassment. Then I smelled something burning from the oven.

"Shit", Sean cursed again opening the oven and the kitchen was filled with smoke making us coughed. He wore a glove then took out the burning chicken to the sink with a loud bang.

I opened all the windows to let the smoke out of the house. After it seemed like there was oxygen back in the kitchen, Sean decided to speak out.

"Well, it's not like what I planned", he scratched his head nervously.

"You know what, maybe you should leave the cooking to me before you set your house on fire", I laughed.

He sighed. "I'm sorry. I know you're tired and need a nice meal. That's why I tried to cook tonight instead of going to the restaurant"

"Aw that's so sweet of you, Sean", I said kissing his cheek. "But really, let me do the cooking. I'm used to cooking anyway", I said putting my arms around his neck.

He pecked my lips. "Alright then. You're a better cook than I am"

"Or course I am", I snickered. "Now go watch some TV", I hushed him out of the kitchen like he did just now and he chuckled.

After Sean left, I scanned the fridge to see what I could cook for us. I decided to make mac and cheese since it was the only ingredient I had.

When I was slowly stirring the macaroni, I felt a hand around my waist and I didn't have to turn around to see who it was.

"It smelled so good", he kissed my neck that sent shivers to my spine.

"I know. I'm a better cook than you are", I mimicked his words just now.

"Don't push it, babe. I could do something more than cooking", he smirked.

"And what is that?", I said facing him.

"Let's just say it involves you, me, and a bed", he winked.

My face was red once I realized what he meant. "Sean", I slapped his bicep and he laughed.

I turned off the stove then pour the food into two plates. Sean already sitting on his chair waiting for the food. I swear he looked like a five-year-old waiting for his mom to finish cooking.

I put the plate in front of him and he quickly took a bite. "God, this is so good. Better than Mrs. Rhodes cooking", he moaned in appreciation.

"Who's Mrs. Rhodes?", I asked while I ate my food.

"She's the housekeeper. She's the one who usually cooks for us. None of us could cook for a  living. Georgina couldn't even cook an egg. Last time she did that, she almost set the house on fire", he chuckled remembering that moment.

"Well, I wonder who she gets that from", I gave him a playful smile and he glared at me, not the serious one.

"And that was the last time we used the kitchen then we got Mrs. Rhodes coming every day to keep us alive", he said.

"So, what's your sister do for a living? Does she do like you do?", I asked carefully.

"No. She's a designer. She owned a boutique at the town", he said chewing his food.

"Wow, that's so cool", I once dreamed of making my clothes but I could barely sew.

"Anyway... ", he didn't get the chance to finish because there was a loud bang from the front door making our heads turned.

"Stay here", Sean whispered heading to the front door.

I stayed there like a statue, didn't dare to move a finger or breathe too loudly.

"What the fuck happened to you?", Sean whispered shouted