Teasing Him

**ISLA**
I can’t stop laughing hard while Zero struggles to catch me. Damn, I’ve been good with this ever since Apollo, and I love to play tagging in our pool. And Apollo never wins over me. My brother even plays the game biasedly to win.
I laughed again when Zero cussed out loud as he stared at me. He’s in the center of the pool while I’m on the right edge of the pool.
He’s been chasing me for about ten minutes or fifteen—I don’t know since I don’t watch the clock. I saw how his face turned annoyed by me.
“This is not a good game—”
“Come on! We agreed with this—you told me you knew,” I shouted back and let out a mocking smile.
Zero’s forehead creased. Suddenly, he swam towards me, and I did swim on the other side. I observed the movement of the water, and when I knew Zero was already near me, I swam fast to the other side of the pool, and when he rose, I saw irritation on his face.
“Give up?” I teased, which made him frown.
“Not in my vocabulary,” he uttered. I let out a sly smirk on my lips.
“Really?” I asked as I kept pushing myself upward so that I would not sink. Since the height of the ground on this side are more profound than on the other edge where I came from.
Zero swim towards me again, and I was about to float away when my ankle cramped. I can’t help myself not panic when I can’t move my left foot. No, I shouted inside my head.
I tried to push myself upward, but the current was dragging me down. My feet were so hurt that I couldn’t even move them. I tried my other foot, but it failed.
The height of the pool is Zero feet, while I’m just five feet ten inches. I tried to look for Zero as I opened my eyes underwater and saw how he rushed towards me. At that moment, I knew I had lost the game.
He envelops his hands into my waist as he pulls me upward and swims to the edge. “What happened?” he asked the moment he lifted me and put me down on the staircase of the pool.
I pressed my lips and looked at my foot which hurts. “I’m sorry. I tried to swim away but my foot suddenly—”
“Don’t worry. I won,” he replied, which made me burst into anger.
“What the hell did you just say?” I asked even if I knew it.
Zero let out a smirk as he snaked his arms into my back and the back of my legs, then he lifted me. “Nothing. The game is useless anyway. It will be happier if we play it with others. Besides, I have a game that I knew you would be interested in,” he said, confidence tinting his voice.
“And that would be?” I asked as I encircled my hands into his nape. He then started to walk away from the pool on the rooftop.
Zero grinned. “Secret,” he said.
I arched my brow and glared at him. “What is it?” I asked again, but I let my voice stands out firmly.
“You’ll see it once we get back to the room—”
“Then walk faster,” I cut into his words.
Zero laughed, and I will be lying if I say that his laugh is ugly. Damn, my heart started to thump fast the moment I heard his sexy laughter. It seems like a piece of music with an alluring melody. It was like a great masterpiece by a great artist.
Zero doesn’t usually laugh. That’s what I’ve observed ever since we started seeing each other.
“I love it when you laugh and smile,” these words suddenly came out of my mouth, which made me gasp in surprise upon hearing it.
Zero’s brows furrowed as he pushed the door and continued to walk again. We’re wet, and it seems like it’s okay for him even if we stepped inside his carpeted room.
He walked inside his room until he stopped and stared into my eyes. “My laughs and smiles are worth billions of dollars, and you’re the luckiest person who sees that—well, except for my mom and my dad,” he said, and my cheeks suddenly felt warm—did I blush again?
I was about to talk again when he threw me on the bed. Since I don’t wear anything, the sheet doesn’t soak wet while Zero still wears his boxer.
“God, what if someone sees us?” I asked suddenly as I gasped and covered my mouth.
Zero frowned as he took off his wet boxer, which made me scream. “What the hell, Zero?!”
Zero just let out a soft chuckle. “What?” he asked in a mocked tone.
“How dare you take off your boxer in front of me?” I asked.
“What? This is my room, and my boxer is wet. What should I do then?” he queried, but I could sense the sarcasm in his voice.
I arched my brow as I pushed myself upward and leaned my elbow on the soft bed as I post like a naked model in front of his very own eyes.
I saw how his eyes landed on my nakedness and on how he roamed his eyes to check on me. I bit my lower lip as I parted my legs and watched how his reaction changed.
I bit my lower lip to restrain myself from laughing when he suddenly lifted his face, and his eyes met mine.
“Don’t tease me like that,” he uttered and went closer to me.
“Why?” I asked, playing innocently.
Zero climbed onto the bed and crawled as he hovered over me.
“Because I'm afraid that I can't control the monster inside me,” he replied, and I closed my eyes when his warm breath touched the skin on my face. “And this monster,” he continued. I opened my eyes and looked into his, “might eat you again,” he added.
THIRD PERSON
Zero doesn’t want to grab the opportunity to touch her again. He had enough. And how could he let go of her if she was like this? It’s not that he’s in love, but they’re trying to at least loosen the heaviness of the atmosphere so that Isla won’t be having a hard time letting go.
Isla has feelings for him, and he felt that. So, to cut those, he needs to stay away from her.
“I will take a bath first,” Zero answered and didn’t mind even if Isla was flaunting her nakedness on him.
Isla is really alluring and attractive. She got charms that can make men kneel in front of her. If only they were not in the tricky situation where he needed to stay away, maybe he would ask her hand for marriage. But the odds were against the kind of relationship that they had.
Zero thinks that he’s okay with their situation, but he feels that Isla’s falling for him deeply as time goes by.
It’s not hard to fall in love with her. Zero admits that he felt a foreign feeling to her, and he doesn’t like it. So, it’s better to cut ties with her.
Isla cursed inside her head while watching Zero make his way toward the bathroom. Just wow, she thought. Zero just ignored her—and she knew this had something to do with the things they had. Zero is really cutting ties with her. She glanced at the clock that was attached to the wall, and it was already four in the afternoon. They have a few hours left since Zero told her that they need to get back before ten in the evening.
She heaved a deep sigh and stared at the ceiling. God, Zero is really killing me, she thought. Why can’t he just get straight to the point? Why all of a sudden? Our bond is working, right? And he became aloof after that day when he brought me for a candlelight dinner.
Isla would accept that she totally fell into Zero’s trap. She’s very much in love with the man that it will kill her if they part ways. However, she understood that Zero was evident ever since the beginning. He just wanted a no-strings-attached relationship, but it was her who seemed to forget that.
She took a deep breath and rolled her body to the other side of the bed. The scene earlier is a little bit embarrassing because Zero wasn’t tempted by her. Damn, I guess she needs to finger herself when she gets back. Maybe she will just get satisfied by pleasuring herself. She doesn’t want to find another man if it’s not Zero. She instead prefers to be an old maiden.
After a few minutes, Zero gets out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around the lower part of his body. Isla heaved a deep sigh. Even if she begs in front of him, she guesses, Zero won’t give a damn anymore.
However, a naughty thought came across her mind. She climbed down from the bed and walked towards Zero. She saw how Zero’s forehead furrowed as he stopped wiping his hair with the small white towel.
For the last time, she wished that the odds would favor her.
“What are you doing?” Zero asked as he met her eyes.
Isla let out a sly smirk on her lips. “It is not yet the end of the day, baby,” she uttered and tried her best to sound seductive. She even bit her lower lip to look more daring.
Zero arched his left brow and was about to walk away when she stopped him. “Not so fast, Zero Cohen. I love to see your monster once again, and if you will be going to push me away one more time, I swear, I will not stop pestering your life,” she threatened, which draws lines into his forehead.
“W-What are you—stop this, Isla!” he uttered when Isla tried to throw herself into him.
Isla frowned. “Why are you like that? We’re in a relationship—”
“Fake, Isla. It’s fake. We’re just pretending, and you knew yourself that this is just a game. I don’t want to hurt you. So, please, listen to me. We can’t be together like you wished to—”
“Zero Cohen, it’s not that I want you in my life too. I just want to enjoy this day. It was clear as the skies today when you said that we can be like a real couple—”
“Yes, but stopped with the horny things, Isla. I’m trying my best to control myself. Please…” he begged as he held me on my shoulders. “Listen to me,” he uttered as he let me meet his eyes, “you shouldn’t put yourself as low as this. I know at our age, it’s natural to be eager, but Isla—”
“I don’t understand you,” she cut in. “One moment, we’re okay, and after a while, we’re not. Just get straight to the point, Zero. And fuck you for giving me hope this day to be your girlfriend. Thank you for ruining the mood,” I added and shrugged her shoulder before she got inside the bathroom.
When the moment she locked the door of the bathroom, and teardrops poured out into her eyes. All she could feel was the excruciating pain in her heart as if a sharp knife stabbed her.
Suddenly, a knock interrupted her. And she even cried harder when she heard his voice. “Isla…”
She covered her mouth when she heard his voice. She closes her eyes as the tears continue to flow. Indeed, there are things and moments or even situations that are not meant for you. No matter how hard you wish for it, if God won’t give it to you at the moment, then you’ll think that he abandoned you when in fact, God is just helping you. He’s trying to put you on the correct path in your life so that you won’t be lost track. It’s just the people who are defying HIS will and regret something in the end.
Maybe, this will signify that she really needs to let go. It’s not that she doesn’t have the chance, but perhaps it’s the will of God. Zero was right. And she understands him. And she hopes, after this day, she will totally forget about him—but how on earth will she do that?
It’s true that when you love, you need to take risks. She tried her best to divert—to cut her feelings for him. However, it seems like the efforts that she exerted aren’t enough.
“Isla…” she heard him mutter, but she didn’t bother to open the door. “Come on. Mom will see in a minute—”
“Stay away from me for a while. I want to be alone,” she uttered, trying not to choke.
A knock roared again, but she didn’t bother to open it and just hugged her nakedness while she leaned on the door.
“I’ll wait for you here,” Zero uttered, which made her clench her fists.
“I told you…” she shouted, “I want to be alone—”
“I will destroy the lock if you don’t come out there within fifteen minutes,” Zero warned, which made her stand up and stomp her feet in anger.
“Why are you—”
“Stop it, Isla. You don’t want my mom to find out about this, right?”
She paused for a while and was brought into deep thought. She gritted her teeth and started to clean herself.
‘Calm down, Princess Isla, you got this,’ she thought.