Torn 🤎 (Completed)

Chapter 41: Persistence

Mia 💛

"Follow me outside" Zane's command was simple as he gathered his belongings and shoved them into his bag.

I nodded my head and followed Zane out the door.

Outside, the sky was blue and the sun shone brightly above us. In silence, we ambled towards the side of the building where there was shade and a little more privacy.

As we walked, my mind raced with every possible scenario that could happen right now.

I tried to fight back the negative thoughts that crowded my mind and instead, approach this situation with a blank slate.

Zane stopped abruptly and I looked around.

Now that we were mostly out of sight, Zane turned to me; his bruised, slightly swollen face was a painful reminder of what happened the other night.

Guilt washed over me as I stood there waiting for him to say something to me first.

The ball was in Zane's court and I felt uncomfortable as I stood there biting my lower lip with anxiety.

Zane faced me silently.

I quietly watched as his blue gaze slowly raked over my body before lifting to latch onto my brown eyes.

I let out a hard sigh and closed my eyes the moment he took a step forward and entered my personal space. It was the first time since the incident that we stood this close to one another.

We were so close, I could feel his body heat radiating off of his skin and smell his masculine body wash permeating my nose.

Being this close to him again was intoxicating and overwhelming to my senses. I wanted so badly to grab him and pull him close to me but I didn't.

Instead, I waited for Zane to make the first moves.

Watching him, I could see Zane warring with himself.

But after a few seconds, I felt as Zane reached out and placed his hands on my shoulders.

I jumped slightly from the contact.

"You're.... trembling, Mia." He stated softly as he peered down into my eyes.

The stone cold demeanor that he had before defrosted ever so slightly as he took in my frightened body language.

It was the first time I realized that I was literally shaking from fear of rejection from this man.

I didn't answer him because I didn't know what to say.

His presence affected me in ways that no other person could and I highly doubted that he realized that.

Goosebumps rose on my skin the moment Zane's hands began to slowly rub up and down my arms as if I were cold and he was trying to warm me up.

The silence between us was deafening, causing me to chew my bottom lip as I tried to think of something to say.

"You have no idea how hard it is to stay away from you."  He finally stated but moreso to himself.

I cleared my throat and answered.

"What are we to each other? What's going on with us?" I asked but Zane simply shrugged his shoulders.

Immediately, my heart skipped a beat. "I don't want you to stay away from me, Zane. Give me a chance.... Give us a chance...." I trailed off after realizing how desperate I sounded; I hated sounding so pathetic.

Zane didn't say anything at first. Instead, he closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Mia- I ... I don't know....I feel..." He trailed off without finishing his thoughts.