Chapter 3

Ian appeared to be in shock. Within a moment, he let go of my hand. A roar of laughter erupted from everyone. He glared at the other people, signaling for them to be quiet, and they did obey his command. "I-I did not mean to get in your way. But–" After his gaze had returned to me, I paused for a moment. Because of his dark eyes, I was unable to move or speak because I was so captivated by them. "What exactly are you doing here?" He questioned me with gritted teeth. His question astonished me. Before I could answer his question, another voice rang out. "I invited her. She is my friend." I turned around and noticed Luke. I felt relaxed when he came to my rescue. Abigail was alongside him. He came up to me and held my hand. "Are you okay?" Luke asked me. Without uttering a single word, I simply nodded my head. "When did you start making friends with nerds?" Ian asked with a careless tone. I felt hurt by his question. I lowered my head, trying to conceal my emotions behind my glasses. "Don't speak about her like this, Ian. She had done nothing to you. Stop picking on her unnecessarily." Ian frowned upon hearing Luke. "Excuse me? Did you say I was picking on her? Like, seriously? Don't I have anything else to do in my life?" "Ian, leave it. Let's drink," his best friend, Ronald Solace, said to him. "Yeah, it's better if we continue the party. I have no intention of arguing either." Luke let out a sigh while gazing at Ian. Ian gave a slight nod before turning his attention to me. My glasses allowed me to catch a glimpse of him, and as soon as he caught my attention, I quickly averted my gaze. He rolled his eyes and turned around to rejoin his friends. Luke turned to me, saying, "I am so sorry." I raised my head to look at him. "For what?" "You almost got lost at the party. I should have welcomed you from the outside." "No, it's okay." "You came to my party and received a lot of attention, which you did not want. It's my fault." I looked around at the other people who were still looking at me with judgmental eyes. I told Luke that he did not need to be concerned about me. He then introduced me and Abigail to some of his friends. His friends were decent, just like him. They were kind people. They did not judge me based on my looks or appearance. Abigail wanted to dance, while Luke was chatting with his friends. So I went to sit on a couch near them. Abigail tried to persuade me to go with her. But I had enough for the day. I had no desire to receive any further attention. Therefore, I did not agree to accompany her. My eyes traveled all the way around the surface of the pool. My eyes fell on Ian once again. I had no idea why my eyes were always drawn to this bad boy. What was the feeling all about? I was not the type of girl who could get involved with a bad boy. I was not like the other girls he had slept with. He always spent the night with girls who eagerly wanted to be played by him. As if the girls would gain a reputation for warming his bed. I noticed he was looking at a girl while sipping on his drink. My focus shifted to the girl. My eyes nearly popped out when I saw her strip off her dress and reveal her white bikini, exposing her almost naked body to seduce Ian. Everyone started to cheer for her. She winked at Ian and dove into the pool. A few minutes later, some other girls joined her in the pool. Ian smirked at the girl. His gaze remained fixed on her as though she were his prey for tonight. For some unknown reason, my heart ached.