Chapter Four - Sinfully Attracted
1542 Words
Alexander twisted and turned on his bed, not getting a wink of sleep. He hadn’t expected Eva to grow up so fast into such an irresistible beauty! At eighteen, she was smoking hot, her honey-hued eyes inviting him to drown in her sweetness. Alexander had to try hard to control his urges around her. It was something he had never expected to happen. Being sinfully attracted to his little sister’s best friend should not happen at all! Yet he was helpless and visited her apartment twice already, took her out to dinner even, all in a matter of a day! How pathetic could he get?
He closed his eyes, thinking of the torture he would have to go through the next day at home. Why did his parents have to throw a gala party on the occasion of his homecoming? He didn’t have any problems with parties, but it was the guest list he dreaded meeting, especially Beatrix. It would have been so much better if only his and Alyssa’s friends were invited, but that would never happen.
They would never invite Eva. Nothing had changed at home. His parents still hated her! They still wanted him to marry Beatrix, more so now when he had completed his studies. Being the daughter of his dad’s best friend, Beatrix always tagged along with them at all parties. He knew his parents would bring up the topic again tomorrow at his homecoming party and he wanted to avoid it at all costs.
Every time he wanted to know the reason for their grudge against Eva, his dad clearly avoided the topic. He took out the journal from his nightstand and flicked through the pages till he found the letter she had written long ago. He had preserved it, having read it a million times.
He considered it a childish whim and tried to ignore it for the last five years, concentrating on his studies instead. It wasn’t easy since his fingers inched to pick up the phone and dial her number and put some sense in her head. He wondered if she still felt the same way about him! Was it really an adolescent crush?
He was dying to know, but would rather die than ask her. What if she laughed at his stupidity? She was after all twelve when she wrote it. Alexander was a man of few words. His aggressive, temperamental, and stubborn nature didn’t allow him to make friends easily and women stayed away from him usually, all except Beatrix, whom he hated the most. He, therefore, wasn’t used to the ways of women. He only knew his sister well!
He would prefer to leave it that way, but his parents had other plans for him. He did not know what they saw in Beatrix, but they always loved her to the moon and back! The only daughter of his dad’s best friend, Beatrix, was of the same age as he was. Having returned from Paris recently after studying jewelry design, Beatrix was now more desperate and clingy than she was ever before.
Alexander sighed and placed the letter back in the journal and kept it where it belonged. He was terrible at expressing himself and that was the only reason he didn’t bring up the love letter at all. He didn’t want to hurt her and neither could he give her unnecessary hope when he knew his life was screwed up with too many expectations dumped on his shoulders. Alexander wouldn’t have cared, but the circumstances were such that he was the only one on whom his parents have pinned their hopes to!
With Alyssa perpetually holding a grudge against them for what her real dad, Dave Van Every, went through, his parents were sinking into depression with every passing day. Therefore, he didn’t have the heart to hurt them anymore.
Alyssa was his mom and his uncle Dave’s daughter, but he treated her as his own sibling. Alexander's grandparents forced his mom to marry his father’s older brother, Dave Van Every, at a young age. It was more business collaboration than marriage, and soon things went downhill. His mom fell in love with her husband’s younger brother, Daniel Van Every. The marriage fell apart when Jodie Van Every got pregnant with Daniel’s child. She soon gave birth to Alexander, who looked exactly like his father, but Dave Van Every did not agree to divorce his mom. He took to drinking and for five years, his mom had to endure it. Dave Van Every forced her to bear his child, and Alyssa was conceived. The day Alyssa was born, he gave his wife a divorce. He left drinking and dedicated his everything to his little daughter, but sadly after seven years, he died of liver cirrhosis and multiple organ failure.
His mom, who had married Daniel Van Every, brought Alyssa home, but she distanced herself from his parents, accusing them of destroying her dad's life! Her behavior turned rude day by day and at thirteen, they sent her away to their grandparents' house in California. It was the best decision since, with Alexander gone to Switzerland for further studies, she would be lonely with no one to look after her in New York. Since she didn’t interact with their parents, she was bound to fall into bad company.
Alexander sighed for the umpteenth time and finally closed his eyes to sleep, but images of Eva’s honey-hued eyes and svelte body clad in the beautiful dress he chose for her kept flashing in his mind. How he longed to hold her in his arms! She took his breath away at first glance, having grown taller and curvier than he had ever expected her to. Her hair had grown too, and he longed to thread his fingers through their silky length. He could not utter a single word on seeing her and when her hot body collided with his, all he could feel was how perfectly she fitted in with his form. His body reacted immediately as electric tingles shot up the entire length of him. It was a strange feeling, something he had never felt with anyone before.
‘Shame on you Alexander! She’s Lisa’s best friend and six years younger!’ Chided his conscience.
This won’t do. He had to keep his mind occupied with work to drive these insane thoughts away. If it were any other girl, he would have fulfilled the urge, but not Eva. He couldn’t play with her! She was forbidden to him! Alexander finally dozed off in a state of restless slumber.
The next morning, Alexander woke up early and headed to his gym to get Eva out of his system for good. He hoped she would go home by the time he returned. That way, he wouldn’t have to face her at all! His best friend, Ashton too arrived at the gym and they both worked out, catching up on their lives.
Ashton Pierce worked at his dad’s office full time after graduating high school together. He could not afford college and studied online after work hours. Ashton had never seen his mom as she had died when he was just three years of age in a car accident. His dad was a depressed man who took to drinking and gambled all his money away. After his death, Ashton was just thirteen and would have been taken away to foster homes if Daniel Van Every hadn’t taken him under his wing. He was penniless, with only a house to call his own, and it was Daniel Van Every who paid for his education and upbringing. He moved into the Every house with Alexander and they had been inseparable ever since, just like siblings. Daniel Van Every treated both boys equally, and it was Ashton’s choice to earn at eighteen.
He moved out of Daniel Van Every’s house to a studio apartment of his own after completing college, yet kept in touch with the family who treated him as their own.
“Hope you’re coming home in the evening, bro,” asked Alexander hopefully. At least he would have someone to stick to and avoid Beatrix at all costs.
“Why? Is she coming over?” asked Ashton curiously.
“Eva can’t, you know that!”
“I was asking about Beatrix, bro. What’s gotten into you? Where did Eva come into the picture?” asked Ashton with a chuckle, and Alexander colored a little for the first time in his life. He was quite reserved and calculating and never experienced such a slip of tongue. Then what happened now?
“Nothing! While everyone would enjoy themselves, she’s the only one who would miss out on good food! It’s not fair,” grumbled Alexander, and Ashton shrugged.
“It’s nothing new, bro. Eva is a strong girl. She has come to terms with it, I think.” The two friends parted ways and went home. He reached his building, wondering if Eva had left or not. Although he didn’t admit it to himself, deep in his heart, he wanted to drown in those honey-hued eyes again!
Frustrated at himself for being so weak, Alexander stormed into his apartment angrily when he received a call from Alyssa.
- Writer
