When A Bully Falls In Love by Valerie Sax (good books to read for women TXT) 📖

~Xander~

I am happy for my brother, but the ceremony and meeting each other's family makes me sick. How could you expect to greet an unknown person with a broad smile and ask them, is everything ok in your life? Is your baby fine? What happened to your son? When are you going to join the family business? Oh! my future plans are nothing. I am sick of all these questions.
 I am not a social person like my mom and Raphael. They can talk to any strangers, but for me, I am limited to some people. I stayed in my home as my mother strictly told me not to leave the house. Sometimes I listened to her. She wanted me to attend the ceremony. Otherwise, I would have run from here.
I enjoyed my day with the PlayStation, food, rest, movies, swimming as I always do. 

Well, the day comes when my other family members crashed into our house. I don't have a huge family like Zoey's, but big enough to bug me. Mom told me about her whole family and how happy they are to meet ours.
I rolled my eyes at this family bonding; I don't get it.
I called Matt and warned him to be on time. Otherwise, I would love to stay in my room.
The evening comes, and I must say the arrangements really overwhelmed my heart. My house looks so beautiful, with different lights and decorations. In between, I saw people started coming.
I tried to ignore this family meeting and went to the terrace.
"Where are you, Matty,"  I purred, looking down for him.
Matt is my rescuer. Whenever elder's tried to talk grab me, I present them my friend Matt as my substitute.
When my eyes searching for Matt's car, I saw a girl coming out from an SUV. It was a tough view as the lights were dim, and the distance was far. But I felt I had a glimpse of Aoife. But the very next moment, a boy grabbed her waist, took her inside.
She is not Aoife. How is this possible? I scolded myself to see Aoife everywhere in every girl. Ahhh... I missed her beautiful eyes.
Suddenly, I got a call from mom,
"Come down; Otherwise, I will leave you with all the aunties."
She threatened me.
"Mom, you know..." I replied, but before I complete my sentence, she said.
"Xan, come down. Zoey's sister and cousins are here. Please make them feel home." Lowered her voice.
I exhaled a sharp breath and said.
"Ok, I am coming,"
Why all moms torture their kids emotionally? First, they get angry with you, threatened you, and if it's not working, they will use their last weapon; tears.
I rushed down and scanned my eyes with the people around me. 
Raphael called me as I meet Zoey. I greeted her like a gentleman.
There she pointed me towards Clara as her sister.
Great! Clara is Zoey's sister. Wonderful, what more I could expect at this moment.
I mustered a smile and met other members.
"Come, let's go to Aoife and Zach," Clara dragged Luka with her.
Did I hear Aoife? Without thinking, I followed them.
And there, my eyes got stuck with the same girl, and this time I could see her bareback clearly. A thought popped up in my mind; if this is Aoife, I will kill this guy who tried to get cozy with her.
I walked towards her hoping she is not Aoife.
She slightly turned her face, and damn, my heart started pounding like cannon.
Boom Boom Boom... I could hear my heartbeats.
She was looking too pretty in this dress. A haltered neckline dress revealing her neck and back to the fullest. Her long curled hair was open and moved to the one side. I must say she looks like a goddess in this dress; the turquoise color amplified her flawless skin very well.  I stood there for a moment, breathing her beauty inside me.
But here comes the bummer, the next moment changed my gaze into anger when that guy touched her again.
It's like a weed with a beautiful flower.
I walked towards them and extended my hello to all.
They looked surprised, but all my focus was on Aoife. I scanned her again, and there, her Saphire caught my focus. Damn, I missed those eyes. I could see the reflection of her dress in her eyes. She blinked her big lashes with confusion and here goes my heart. Her curves were looking perfect as my eyes shifted to her open slit dress tempted me to touch her.
 I couldn't resist myself kissing her on the cheeks. I wanted to bite those plump lips, but I didn't know why I controlled myself.
Maybe because I didn't want to lose her this time.
I gulped her fragrance as I pecked a soft kiss on her pink cheeks.
How badly I wanted to grab her waist in my hands, but I backed up.
Suddenly the guy started talking to me; introduced himself as their cousin. But then he moved immediately towards her.
Babe? Did he call her babe? How dare he? And how come Aoife allowed him to touch her? Why did she allow him to get cozy with her?
I was losing my mind with her closeness with Zach.
I know girls are emotional, and it really scares me to involve with anyone like this.
But here, I could see how emotional she got when she saw the couple dancing together.
I gulped my drink in one shot, prepared myself to ask her for a dance, but he already took her from me.
My hand turned into a fist when I saw him touching her; clenched her waist towards him. It was getting hard for me to breathe.
She glanced at me with a blank face. Is she trying to tease me?
Is she trying to make me jealous? Because I am now.
Suddenly someone tapped me on the shoulder. It was Matt and Zareena.
"Hey," I tried to divert my mind from her, but my heart was stuck with her.
Zareena kissed me on the cheeks and hugged me.
"Hey, babe, I missed you."
"Is this Aoife? What is she doing here?" Matt asked.
"Clara is Zoey's sister," I rolled my eyes.
"And who is this guy?" Next question.
"How would I know?" I answered him in an irritated tone.
Matt waved her hand towards her, and she smiled back.
It was not her looks; even her smile gave me thousands of death.
"Come on, babe, let's dance," Zareena jumped in between my thoughts.
I glared at her while calling to refill my drink.
"Dance is not my thing. You go with Matt," I jerked my head in frustration.
Matt took her to the dance floor.
Everyone was enjoying it, and here the song changed to a romantic number.
Zach gave her a twirl and pulled her in his arms. 
Great!
Slowly she wrapped her arms around his neck, and they were smiling at each other. He slightly kissed her hand.
Ahhh... something screeched underneath my breath. I finished my third peg and jumped towards the stage.
It's time to bring her back.
"Can I have a dance with this beautiful girl," I asked calmly?
Zach calling himself a gentle guy looked at her.
He delicately gave her hand into mine.
As her hand placed around my neck and her fragrance hit my nose; it calms everything inside me.
I wanted this moment to be still. I could feel she was getting uncomfortable when I touched her perfect waist.
"Are you not going to smile with me?" I purred in her ears.
She raised her eyes and killed me with a smirk.
"I thought you are angry with me. I didn't expect you to be here,"
She answered in her soothing voice.
I was constantly looking at her without blinking my eyes.
"How's is your hand?" She tried to look at my hand.
But I didn't want to lose her sight; I pulled her closer to me.
I could feel her boobs touching my chest. There was no gap between us. She was afraid to raise her head as our lips would collide.
I could sense her raised heartbeat as she tried to back herself from my grip.
"I am better," I answered in her ears.
I could feel the goosebumps on her body.
She was getting nervous.
I loosened my grip a bit, but not more.
"You look..." I was out of words.
She raised her brow at me.
"Bad? I knew it. This is not my color," She questioned with her cute nose squeezed a bit.
"Dope," I smirked.
"Dope? Is this a compliment or a comment?" She smiled.
"You can read my eyes," I replied, biting my lips and looking at hers.
She blushed as her cheeks could compete with tomatoes.
"You are looking handsome in a black tux. It's a pleasure watching you in these clothes." She tried to turn the table.
"Pleasure is all mine to see you at this party,"
I gave her a twirl and pulled her back. She hit my chest with her delicate body, but all her focus shifted when I rest my palm on her back.
A chill shiver ran down her body. 
"Thank you for helping my brother," she said.
I smiled, accepted her thanks.
I could see a small mole on her neck. She looks so innocent when she talks. I wanted to suck those tempting lips.
She raised her hand, kept her hair strands behind her back.
I was looking at every bit of her body and action.
She was trying hard to act normal, but she was not.
"Aoife, there is a problem."
"What? Did I do something wrong?" She looked worried.
"No, this one," I lifted her hair from her left shoulder and placed them at her back.
"It's perfect," 
She understood as I was trying to cover her bareback with her hair.
We were lost in our small talks, finally disturbed my Matt and Zareena.
Matt took her away with me and danced. 
"You were saying dance is not your thing.. What happened then?" 
Zareena questioned.
I felt like I was living a dream and somebody woke me up from it.
I rolled my eyes and went to the bar for another drink.
As the party finished all the youngsters settled themselves around the fire.
I saw Raphael, Zoey, Clara, Luka, Zach, Aoife, Matt were talking.
There were discussing something about a trip, which I was not interested in at all.
"Hey, Xander, we are planning to leave for cabins. It will be fun; it's been a long time we have never been on holiday."
Raph called me.
"I am not interested," I answered.
As usual, he rolled his eyes.
"Come, it will be fun to see fall colors, all of us in a big house in the woods."
 He replied.
I was quiet.
"Ok, so tomorrow we all can leave in our eight-seater car."
Raph said while coming towards me.
"Hey, why are you not coming?" He smirked.
"I am not interested to come on this silly trip," I answered.
He smiled and said.
"Well, Aoife and Zach are coming too, and I hope we will enjoy it with them." He patted my back.
We looked at Aoife and Zach. They were busy playing with cushion fights.
"I am coming," I answered him while pissing my teeth on Zach.
"I knew it," He smiled and walked away.