All I've Never Wanted(96)

He looked surprised but not displeased as he rested his hands on my hips. “Good. I don’t want any unhappiness to mar that beautiful face of yours,” he murmured.

Ok, so that was cheesy as hell, but he was hot and seemed nice enough, so I’ll give him a pass. “Thanks."

I rested my chin on his shoulder, and as we turned, I locked eyes with Roman again. He was glaring in my direction with a very angry look on his face.

What was his problem now?

Choosing to ignore him, I averted my gaze, then stiffened as I felt Oliver’s hands slip lower to a rather inappropriate part of my body. Hoping it was an accident, I moved it back up to my hips, where it stayed for about ten seconds. Then it moved back down.

“I don’t think I’m feeling well. I should go sit down,” I said, highly uncomfortable now.

He frowned down at me. “Why? We’re just getting started.”

I shook my head. “No, really, I should go,” I insisted, but Oliver wasn’t listening.

He was looking at something over my head, a rather wicked smile on his face. “Amazing. I believe he really minds this time.”

I frowned. “What are you talking about?”

Instead of answering me, Oliver grabbed my face and crushed his lips against mine. I let out a muffled squeal of surprise, too shocked to do anything for a moment. I was just about to push him off when I felt someone yank him away from me.

I stumbled back a bit, then gasped as Roman threw Oliver to the ground and punched him in the face. Blood spurted from the male model’s nose and dripped down onto his pristine white shirt.

“Roman! What the hell are you doing?” I screamed, while the people around me stopped what they were doing to stare at the spectacle in front of them.

Roman ignored me as he went to punch Oliver again.

Oliver managed to roll away at the last second and he stumbled to his feet, wiping some of the blood from his face. “Bloody hell, that hurt,” he muttered.

“Yeah, well, it’s going to hurt a lot more when I’m through with you,” Roman growled, a dangerous expression on his face.

“Oh yeah? Let’s see you try then,” Oliver taunted.

I groaned. Did he want to die?

I looked around frantically, hoping to spot Carlo, Parker, anyone, but I couldn’t find my friends anywhere. Even Venice and Zack were gone. None of the other party guests seemed willing to help. In fact, some of them were recording the fight on their phones. I guess celebrities weren’t much better than teenagers after all.

“Stop!” I shouted as Roman and Oliver continued to fight each other. I was nearly crying in frustration.

Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. Even though I knew it was a stupid move, I ran towards them and managed to yank them apart.

“Stop fighting! Do you guys know how stupid you’re acting right now?” I demanded angrily.

Roman glared at me, his eyes ablaze. “I can’t believe this,” he hissed, his face a mottled red as he trained his gaze on my hand, which was currently pressed against Oliver’s chest to hold him back. “You’re taking his side?”

“I’m not taking anyone’s side!” I cried exasperatedly. “I just don’t want you to fight anymore!”

“Yeah? How would Carlo feel about you messing around with another boy behind his back? Again?” Roman sneered, obviously referring to our little moment last night.

I flushed. I couldn’t believe he was bringing this up right now. “That’s our business,” I hissed.

“Yeah, mate, you need to calm down,” Oliver said. “It’s not my fault she’s more into me than you.”

That seemed to make Roman snap all over again. I swore I saw his blood pressure rise as he lunged towards us to take another swing at Oliver.

“Stop!” I screamed, trying to block him. I did, in a way.

The only problem was, the punch Roman intended for Oliver ended up hitting me instead, and let me tell you, he hadn’t been holding back at all.

I managed to see horror cross everyone’s faces before I blacked out.


CHAPTER 22

My head really, really hurt.

I groaned, trying to shift positions to ease the stiffness in my lower back, but the minute I moved, a searing pain tore through my head and I instantly stilled.

My wasn’t the only thing that hurt. My jaw was throbbing, my throat was dry and scratchy, and I felt dizzy even though I was lying down.

“Water,” I croaked without opening my eyes. I didn’t even know if anyone was around me. With my luck, I was probably talking to myself right now. “I need water.”

“I have water!” a cacophony of voices shouted at once, making me wince.

I reluctantly cracked one eye open, then the other, until I saw Adriana, Zack, Parker, and Venice crowded around me with concerned looks on their faces.

“She’s awake!” Zack exclaimed. “Here!” He shoved a glass of water in my direction.

“Thanks,” I murmured, taking a sip. I almost spit it right back out. “Zack, why is this spicy?”

“I put a dash of chili powder in it,” he explained, beaming. “I read online that it’s supposed to help.”

“You put chili powder in her drink?” Venice shouted. “Do you want to kill her?” She grabbed the glass from my hands and gave me another one. “Here, drink mine. It’s normal.”