123 - The chapter where Rose does not want to assume the relationship

Christian

" You haven't said anything to me yet, and you didn't even lose your breath when you saw me, so I guess I'll have to wait until I get to the party, right?" Rose teased me as soon as we entered Brigitte's.

" What? " I frowned, casting a brief glance at her before starting the car.

" I thought I couldn't look stunning all the time, so I decided to let you all dazzle me with my beauty at the party,” she winked at me.

I know she expected me to make some acid comment about her ego, or give her some compliment, but my mind was still stuck on her reaction from before.

" Rose, what was that?”

" What do you mean?”

I divided my attention between Brigitte's direction and her face. Does she really not understand what was wrong?

" You ducked when I went to kiss you,” I pointed out.

" Well, we were in the middle of the common area, why would you do that in front of everyone? " she returned the question.

" 'Why wouldn't I? You're my girlfriend!”

" But we agreed that we would keep it just between our group " she turned towards me, looking surprised by my reaction.

" After everything that's happened you want to continue with this? Are you serious? " I raised my voice.

" And why would I change my mind? I still feel the same way, I thought you'd respect that " she matched her tone to mine.

" Respect that? After everything that happened, I thought we would stop this nonsense, it was because of that..."

" 'What? Is that why you stuck your tongue down her throat? 'I'm sorry, but I don't feel comfortable assuming anything with you when last week you were with her in front of everyone! " Rose's contempt for me every time she said "her" was clear, and it only served to irritate me.

" I already apologized, what more do you want from me? If you can't get over it, why did you decide to try one more time? Why didn't you just leave me in that damn mill? " I let go without taking my eyes off the road, feeling like we were going down a dangerous path, but there wasn't much to be done at that point!

" I'm sorry if it's not so easy for me to get over the fact that you kissed her just to get at me!”

" But do I have to get over the fact that you had sex with him to get at me?". " I said back in a low tone, noticing that this discussion was not going to get anywhere.

Rose gave me a surprised look at that answer, not being able to articulate a sentence, making me also opt for silence. The Simons' house was about forty minutes away from campus, and we spent much of that time in an ominous mood, and when we were almost at our destination, Rose spoke up again.

" 'I thought we'd sorted things out, I thought you were okay with everything that happened,' she said in a low tone.

" I'm sorry, but I don't want to go back to that situation anymore. I thought that was clear," I took a deep breath, "but I guess I was wrong…”

Our friends' cars were in front of us, so we had to wait a while until we reached the entrance boulevard of the house, where a valet service had been hired.

" What does this mean? Are you going to break up with me just because I didn't want to give you a fucking kiss in front of everyone? " She got angry again.

" No, I'm breaking up with you because you don't seem to have the slightest interest in having a boyfriend, so what's the point in all this? " I turned to her, getting tired of that argument.

Theo and Cam got out of the car and soon the valet moved their car out of the way, and it was our turn to get out.

" Are you really breaking up with me? " She asked angrily.

" If you just want a roommate, then that's what we'll be, Rose!' " I muttered, handing Brigitte's keys to the valet, turning my back to her and walking to where our friends were waiting for us at the entrance of the house, where two security guards were doing the entrance control. We

could already hear the lively music coming from somewhere inside the house and from the state of the sky, it was possible that it would snow later that night.

I hadn't gone far when I heard her raise her voice in irritation.

"You better not turn your back on me in the middle of a conversation, you asshole!”

That caught the attention of our group, who were already talking to one of the security guards who was in charge of the party guest list.

I took a deep breath and kept walking.

" This conversation is over, Rose. " I mumbled, giving a lopsided smile as I joined everyone.

She grabbed my arm, forcing me to look at her with a lowered tone, as if they weren't going to understand what was going on.

" You're being ridiculous. You're acting like I'm cheating on you.”

" You're twisting things," I muttered, trying to cover it up as I noticed the two security guards exchanging a confused look, "And now is not the time to talk about this.”

"As we were saying, we're here for Wayne Simons' party," Liam tried to act like nothing was going on.

Rose stopped next to me, staying silent for a few seconds before whispering again.

"This is all about your need to brand me as yours, to let everyone know that I'm your girlfriend, as if that means something!" I said.

"No Rose," I raised my voice a little, taking offense to that statement, whispering again after receiving a meaningful look from everyone in our group, "This is about making it clear that I'm with you, that I have no interest in anyone else but you, that you're the only one who's allowed to drive me crazy every second of my days, but you always have to twist it all around! Like the complete lunatic you are!"

" I'm not…”

" They're looking for couple's therapy " Sky said to the security guards.

" Names, please…” one of them added a little uncertainly.

" "Liam Van Derr Waal, Skyller Baker, Camille Martin...

" Asshole," Rose whispered.

" Theodore Perterson," Theo gave us an annoyed look.

" Little Freak” I whispered back.

" The couple of the year here are Christian Davis and Rose Campbell," Liam added.

The poor guy looked a little lost at the whole situation, but he just checked his tablet with the list before releasing our entrance, opening the door, pointing to a large marble staircase in a sizable hall, where some people walked, but the largest concentration was at the back of the house.

" Mr. Davis and Mr. Van Derr Waal, these are the keys to your rooms, go up the stairs, and enter the first corridor, there you will find the room numbers. You can dress there or in one of the bathrooms in the house, to get to the party, go through those glass doors, go down the stairs and you will reach the pool area, " he instructed, seeming eager to get rid of all of us at once.

I took the key he offered me, frowning uncomprehendingly as to why I had been given a key. It wasn't the first party we'd been to that would probably last until the next day, but usually we didn't get a room! At most, we slept on some mattress on the floor.

We moved away from him, following the man’s instructions, and as soon as we reached the hallway after being cleared by an employee controlling access to the second floor, Theo took the lead in the situation.

" Right, Cam and Sky, you take care of the little freak in Liam's room. And the two of us will deal with the asshole. Let's try not to let this party turn into a war field " he asked the girls, while Liam handed the keys to his girlfriend.

" That won't happen if he can keep his hands off that slut Alicia," Rose muttered.

" 'I'm not the one insisting on being single at the party,' I returned.

" 'Right, the two lunatics are forbidden to speak,' Sky interfered, dragging her friend away.

We waited until the three of them entered the room before we followed the same path as them, entering the neighboring door. The room was all white with large windows covered by heavy curtains, the only furniture in the place was a large double bed with two bedside tables and a sophisticated armchair in one corner.

" What was that?”

" 'She wants to act like we're just friends, and I'm tired of it,” I muttered, “We're sharing a fucking room and she thinks she's fooling anyone with this just friends thing?”

" You're overreacting, why don't you try talking to her another time?". " Theo suggested.

" No, from the beginning I always let her be right! She hit me with a glass, tried to run me over, made me carry her all over campus, she's a pain in the ass in every way! Why do I have to apologize again if all I'm trying to do is be a nice guy to her? Why can't she just accept that? ", I replied with a gesture, pointing to the next room.

" 'Because you don't know how to be a nice guy! " Theo rolled his eyes.

" How is that?”

That comment surprised me.

"Come on, Davis. You talk about the glass she threw at you, but you forget that you said her career choice was a joke. You talk about her almost running you over, but you forget that you called her an insane bitch. You were the guy who chose a tattoo on her ribs just because you knew it would hurt! " Theo added.

I frowned, thinking about what they had just said. Are they right?

" You're trying to be the guy who shows up with flowers and makes declarations in front of everyone, but I'm that guy. Not you! " Liam shrugged " Taylor Ashford was that guy, and guess what? She chose to be with the guy who never misses a chance to call her a crazy lunatic.”

I looked away, knowing they were right. Why am I trying to change something that has always worked out for us?

At that moment I felt like an idiot, but what could I do? I wanted to be able to be with her without worrying about whether or not someone was watching!

" Let's get ready for good, and try not to act like a complete asshole with her today " Theo suggested.

We decided to drop the subject since the place wasn't empty. After getting changed and leaving our bags in a corner of the room, we left, waiting for the girls in the hallway to follow us to the party.

During those minutes I remembered our whole conversation when Rose explained to me her fear of relationships. I need to be more patient!

That's when the girls came out of the other room, Sky was wearing a brown bikini that drew a lot of attention, to the happiness of Liam, who seemed fulfilled to see the girl ready. Camille was a real surprise, one that not even Theo was ready to witness. Her delicate body was highlighted by a bikini that might not be small, but still made her look very sexy, her hair was tied in a way to expose her tattoo.

But nothing had prepared me for the moment Rose walked out the door. My gaze traveled down her body covered in a minimal bikini, which had its top completed by a body necklace that highlighted every curve of her body. She had let her hair down, and it wasn't long before her gaze locked onto mine, in a mixture of satisfaction at my reaction and hurt at our earlier argument.

" Right, before we go downstairs, I expect you two to behave, it's Cutie's first party and we want everything to go well,' Liam recommended.

"I already said, as long as he doesn't decide to stick his tongue in your cousin's mouth just to annoy me…”

"Rose, you're not helping," Sky groaned.

I remained silent in the face of that provocation, and everyone took it as a peace agreement and started walking towards the stairs. But before Rose could move away, I grabbed her wrist, receiving a surprised look in return.

"I told you I'd wait until you were ready and that's what I'm going to do. I can stay away from you today, but I hope you know that it's not because your parents replace you whenever a problem happens that I'm going to do the same " I whispered before letting her go, following the others while she continued to stand in the same place, staring at me dumbfounded.