54 - The chapter with the discussion

Rose

I said hello to a few people on the way, but soon found myself in the safety of our bedroom, and then threw myself on the bed, covering my face with both hands. It wasn't long before the door was opened and slammed shut, causing me to sit up and stare at Christian.

" You look angry," I teased him in an attempt to hide my own discomfort with the situation.

"Do I look angry? The scene at breakfast wasn't enough, now this ? ", he returned in a harsh tone, making me roll my eyes.

I stood up, walking over to where he was rummaging through his suitcase for a new change of clothes, since his pants were also wet.

" And what's the big deal? " I crossed my arms and stared at him.

All right, it had been an embarrassing situation, especially for me, but I saw no reason for him to be so angry!

" What's the big deal? Your father thinks I'm some kind of suicidal maniac, my family and friends think I'm suffering from domestic violence, all because you need to wreak havoc wherever you go," he gave me an irritated look.

" Are you really angry? This is ridiculous! Do you have any idea how many guys would love to be in your shoes?”

All previous embarrassment gave way to irritation at his reaction to something so simple.

" Once again you come along with your gigantic ego that thinks everyone would kill for a night with you," Christian stopped looking for his shirt and approached me with a glint in his eye.

" It's not a question of ego, Chris. The point is that I don't know what the hell you want from me. I agreed to participate in all this craziness with you, I've been telling you for days that we should arrange a story so that at least a normal couple appears. Did you want to do this? No, you didn't, and now you blame me because everyone found the story I told strange. And I'm sorry, but I told our story, and our story is nowhere near normal. Or do you think that I am happy with the idea that people here have of our relationship?

I expressed all my irritation at this topic, and although I thought that this would be the end of our discussion Christian was far from letting it end.

" What do you want from me, Rose? Because from the beginning I asked you to keep things simple and you act as if you were in an overproduction. None of this would have happened if you…”

" None of this would have happened if you had explained it to your parents! " I raised my voice, making him shut up “ you could have told them anything, I could have called them myself and explained the whole mess to them, you could have even told them that I'm just the person you like to fuck when you're bored, but no, you insisted on this madness and threw me in with people I don't know, with no history to go along with it, and then blamed me because our relationship looks like it's worthy of a mental hospital when the only one to blame is you!”

I turned away from him, heading for the door, one more second of being in his company and they might actually accuse me of domestic violence.

" Where are you going? " he crossed his arms, staring at me.

" Anywhere away from you," I returned before leaving, slamming the door behind me, attracting the attention of some of the biker club members down the hall.

Not caring much, I headed toward the stairs, descending quickly before exiting through the front door. A chilly breeze hit me, making me regret not having at least put on a jacket over the sweater I was wearing, but I wasn't willing to go back inside, so I just left.

Looking around, I spotted a small outdoor kitchen with a barbecue and wood-fired oven a few yards down the side of the property, and further out, a small rooftop had a series of chairs arranged around a heater, which was obviously turned off.

I walked over and plopped myself down on one of them, sitting with my back to the entrance of the house and facing the river, letting the cold air clear my mind.

It was nothing like I imagined it would be. And at that moment I imagined how my friends were at my parents' house. I would give anything to be with them.

Picking up my cell phone in my pocket, I decided to try to talk to Skyller, after all, I didn't know who else to call and I really needed to talk to someone.

Are you busy?

It didn't take long for the answer to come

Your parents went with the boys to pick up all the Thanksgiving dinner they ordered. I'm waiting for Harry to answer my message.

My parents always ordered all the dishes that would be served at Thanksgiving from a restaurant that I loved. Especially the sweet potato pie with marshmallows. That memory only made me even more melancholy.

I need to talk.

Before long a video call popped up on the screen, I answered it next, seeing my friend on the other side of the screen.

" Hi little sister," I mocked.

" Are you outside wearing only this sweater? Isn't it cold? " she frowned, "What happened?”

" I had a fight with your temporary brother-in-law and I'm running away," I admitted.

" Why did you fight this time? " she wanted to know.

" I'm here doing my best, I could be with my parents, in the comfort of my own home and I agreed to embark on this madness, I spent over twenty hours on a damn motorcycle, I'm in the middle of a world of people I don't know, all so he can act like the big jerk he is!”

I cringed as a cold breeze hit me, feeling my body shiver. I was freezing, but I wouldn't bet on it.

" You just described Christian. You're always fighting here, did you think it would be any different just because you're pretending to be dating? " she returned in a condescending tone.

" I don't mind fighting with him, that's not the point," I sighed.

" And what is the point?”

" I'm tired of him acting one way when we're alone and getting angry over any nonsense when we're with other people," I explained.

When we were alone he could be a real jerk, but he still didn't treat me badly. It was just our way. But what happened today was different.

" I can't say, I don't know how he treats you when it's just the two of us," she hinted.

" You just need to know that he treats me differently," I returned, "it's my first day here and I'm homesick and feeling out of place and he's being a jerk.”

Okay, I wasn't exactly feeling this way before our argument, but now I feel dreading even going back with everyone, maybe I can pretend to be sick and spend the rest of the trip locked in my room.

" I'm sorry about that, Rose. But I think you should talk to him about how you're feeling.”

" I'll freeze to death out here before I even consider that possibility," I returned grumpily.

She sighed in a condescending smile, and soon after I felt a leather jacket being slung over my shoulder.

" What if I came to talk to you? Would you consider it? " I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath as I heard the voice of the reason for the crisis. “Hi Sky, how are things?”

" Looks like it's better than it did for you," she sneered.

" Can we call you later? " he ignored the provocation.

I couldn't deny that I felt grateful for the jacket, but I was still upset about what had happened before.

Without asking, Christian took the cell phone from my hand, ending the call before pulling one of the chairs closer to me, facing me.

" How's your hand? " he tried to start a conversation when he saw that I would remain silent.

I turned my hand over, watching the reddened skin that still burned from the burn from before, but all the confusion made me forget about the pain. Christian held my wrist, raising my hand to check it, pretending to focus on the burn with a frown while I could only concentrate on the almost tender way he was touching me.

Damn it, Rose, you're mad at him!

" How long are you going to go without talking to me? " he began without taking his eyes off my hand "the silent treatment is new to me, usually you decide to talk until I feel like killing myself, so you must be pretty upset right now.”

I didn't answer, just gave him a quick glance, before focusing on the river behind him. Christian brought my wounded hand to his lips, placing a light kiss there, without stopping to look into my eyes. And as hard as I tried not to reciprocate, his blue eyes were calling me.

Feeling a shiver run through my body at the light brushing of his lips against my bruised skin, I pulled my hand from his grasp, looking away again.

" Okay, Rose. I admit that I overreacted, but I'm here to fix this, so please, talk to me," he took a deep breath.

I looked straight into his eyes for the first time as he approached, deciding what to do next.

" What do you expect me to say? The only reason I haven't left is because I'm alone in the middle of a state I don't know and have no means of transportation," I muttered without looking away from my hands.

" I should be more grateful for what you did, I know that and I'm sorry. But Rose, this situation is new to me, I have never brought a girl home, let alone a girl who is not part of this world," he explained, "I know I was an idiot earlier, but now I need to understand how you are feeling.”

" If it's new for you, how do you think it is for me? I don't know what to do, what to say, because it seems like anything could be offensive to you. My God, you're supposed to be my boyfriend and you didn't prepare me for anything I would find here, you let it get to the point where some random guy would come up and yell at me for no reason," I started to list everything that had been bothering me since the beginning of the day, "then there was the story about our first date and then you left me alone in the middle of everyone and disappeared!”

Christian bowed his head, considering everything I had said, he took hold of my hands again, caressing the back of them before speaking up again after a few seconds of silence.

" I'm sorry, I don't know how to act with a girlfriend, especially here. I never thought I'd be in this situation," he let out.

" Damn it, Christian, I'm the last person who thinks about getting a boyfriend, but I know how I want him to treat me and it's definitely not like that," I took a deep breath. Just pretend that we're with our friends, the difference being that here, you don't have to hide from anyone that we've been having sex for the past few weeks.”

" You're right, I guess I need to stop thinking of you as a fake girlfriend, until we get back to campus it's for real, right? " he sighed "can we try again?”

I shook my head affirmatively, feeling lighter after that conversation.

" Do you still want a girlfriend who is crazy about you? " I forced a smile.

" I know you want a romantic guy, but I don't know how to go about it," he returned.

Did I want a romantic boyfriend? Or was I just getting on his nerves? Because I really couldn't picture myself with a guy who made grand romantic gestures.

" Christian, you forget that we're the same. You need a girlfriend who makes you feel amazing, I need a boyfriend who will stop what he's doing to look at my ass when I'm leaving the room," I declared, looking into his eyes.

" You know I've been doing this for weeks and I'm not your boyfriend, Campbell," a small smile came to his lips.

" But it seems you've become my boyfriend and forgotten your obligations, Davis," I returned in the same tone.

Christian abandoned my hands, stroking my thighs in turn.

" So, from now on, you'll be the one who makes all the guys in this biker club envy me, and I'll be the one who will always remind you how hot you are," his smile widened.

" Now we are speaking the same language," I returned his smile.