Chapter 20: Chapter 20

I could feel the people's eyes on us, but my full attention was only to Xander who was standing tall in front of me, his hands on mine. I couldn't see his face but I could feel the anger in his voice.

"What? The woman told me she doesn't have a boyfriend—What the fuck?" I heard the man shout when two bouncers entered the scene. They held the man in the arm and escorted him outside the bar. Then the dance floor went back to normal like nothing had happened.

"Sir…" I said, Xander turned to me. I bit my lower lip when my eyes went to the small cut on the corner of his lips.

"I'm sorry about what happened."

He shook his head at me. "Not your fault, Charity." He answered, then looked around the dancefloor before meeting mine again. "Are you here alone?" He ran his fingers through his hair.

"I was with my friends."

"Where are they?"

I looked around but I didn't see the two of them. Where are they? "I…uh couldn't see them." My eyes drifted back to his lips. "Your lips… they're bruised."

He just touched his lips and wiped the small blood there using his thumb. "This is nothing."

I frowned at him. "That's not nothing."

I watched how Xander pursed his lips. Then my eyes widened a little when he grabbed my hand and led me to the exit of the bar. "Come on. Let's get out of here."

"What about Sir Austin?" I said, my heart starting to race.

"You knew I was with Austin?" he asked, not looking at me and still dragging me ahead.

"Uh… I saw the two on the couch earlier."

"We'll go back inside later. I need to talk to you about something first." He stopped when we exited the bar. He turned to me. "And you have to mend my wound first like what you've said earlier."

I pursed my lips. "But I don't have a first aid kit here with me."

The corner of his lips rose, revealing his dimple. "Let's go."

He continued to hold my hand as he led me to a convenience store nearby.

"What? Why are you buying ice cream?" I asked, confused when we went to the store's fridge and picked up two pieces of drumstick ice cream.

"I just remembered that when I was a kid, every time I got wounded, my mom would buy me ice cream and the pain would magically go away." He said with a playful shrug. He finally let go of my hand.

"What?" I said with an amused chuckle. "I didn't know you're a kid at heart, Sir Xander."

He just chuckled with me as he paid for the ice cream on the counter. Shit. That laugh sounded so sexy in my ears. "Seriously, this cut was nothing, Charity."

I noticed how the staff on the counter got mesmerized by Xander. I just wanted to sigh. Same, Miss. Same.

"Do you have your phone with you?" Xander asked as we sat on the table just outside the convenience store. He handed me one of the ice creams he bought before he started opening his.

"Yes. I have it here." I said, fumbling with my phone in my clutch bag with my one hand. The other hand was holding an ice cream.

"You should text your best friend. I don't want them to get worried for you." He said, a smile stretched at his lips as he licked on his ice cream.

Shit. I felt like my throat dried while watching him eat his ice cream. There were people walking beside us but all I could see right now was Xander.

"Come on, let me hold your ice cream." He said, holding my ice cream for me while I text Mariel. I just informed her that I already went home and that I'd just explained later.

"I'm sorry for earlier," I said as I put back my phone in my purse. "I ruined your date." I took my ice cream and started peeling the lid off.

Xander frowned at me. "I'm not on a date."

"I saw you talking to a woman earlier." I said, biting off the inside of my cheeks when I realized what I said. Shit. I sounded like I was wearing him earlier.

"Oh. She's just a friend." He said, locking off his lip and wincing a little when the tip of his tongue touched his wounded part. "Ouch," he chuckled.

I pursed my lips. Shit. I'd never thought I would ever associate the word cute with Xander Villarama. But I found him  so cute right now.

I forced myself not to stare at his face. Damn those red and kissable lips of him. I wondered what it feels like to be kissed by him?

Shut up, Charity. Concentrate.

I shook my head and concentrated on the ice cream in my hand.

"Charity?"

"Sir?" I turned to him and found him staring at my face. Then smiled at me, picked up a tissue on the table and wiped the corner of my lips.

My lips automatically parted with what he did. "Uh… thank you."

He smiled as he put down the tissue on the table. But his eyes…they continued to look at me. My heart started to thump inside my chest.

"Charity, you don't like me, right?" he asked, his face was now serious but his eyes were soft.

Why… Why was he asking me that? Why was he looking at me like that? He was looking at her through the depths of her soul. His gaze was so intense she felt like melting under him.

Did he already notice my true feelings for him? Oh… please. No.

My heart… it was beating frantically inside my chest. But I forced myself to act casual. "I don't like you, Sir," I answered with a soft chuckle. "I already told you, I like someone else."

Xander reached for my left hand on the table. "Then will you marry me?"