EDEN

I stormed back into the party, my eyes red from the tears that had refused to roll down my cheeks. I rushed towards the bar, grabbing the first bottle that my hands could reach.

“Woah, what happened?” Isla asked, looking shocked as she watched me take a big gulp.

Before I could respond, I felt a hand wrap around my body, “I can’t believe that I am seeing you at a party,”

“Zayn?” I whispered in a shocked tone. “What are you doing here?” I asked, looking around the crowded space.

Zayn was here and that meant that his teammates would be here and that was trouble.

Two titans couldn’t stay in the same building without a fight for dominance.

“What? Oh, you think I would miss a good party all because we lost to the Eagles?” he snickered.

He was trying to look like he was unbothered, but I could see it in his eyes. He hated the fact that they had lost to Jaxon’s team.

“No,” I blinked, fighting off the thought that crossed my mind.

I was here mourning over a man who barely acknowledged me, while I had someone, who loved me.

“I am happy you are here,” I muttered, wrapping my hands around his shoulders.

“Harper?”

Isla turned, surprise written on her face as she stared at her, “Look who finally decided to show up,”

She smiled, the smile not quite reaching her eyes, “Sorry, I have been really busy,” she said, her eyes flickering towards Zayn.

“Well, I am happy that you are here,” I said, taking another gulp from my drink.

“Are you fine? You are drinking, I don’t think…” Zayn whispered, staring at me with a worried look on his face.

He was caring like that. Always trying to make sure that I was safe.

“Yes, just thought I should do something other than…” I shrugged.

I needed to be something other than being seen as boring.

Harper frowned, “She isn’t a baby, you don’t have to tell her what to do,” she spat.

Zayn sighed, “She is my baby,”

I could listen to them bicker all day, but I had other things to worry about. Jaxon was out there, doing god knows what with Chloe.

I drank more, trying to drown the bitter feeling that I felt at the back of my mind.

Zayn leaned closer, his breath fanning the side of my face as he pulled me closer to his body, “Do you think that tonight…”

I knew what he was asking. For months, Zayn has been trying to get us to move our relationship to the next level. I wasn’t ready. No, correct that, he wasn’t the person that I wanted to have my first time with.

“Zayn…”

He pulled away slowly, a disappointed look pasted on his face, “Babe…”

“What the fuck are you doing here?”

Jaxon looked feral, his eyes hard as he glared at Zayn. The room suddenly felt tense, the music had stopped, and eyes fixed on us as they waited to see what the next action would be.

Zayn had a smug look on his face, his hand tightening around my body as he placed a loud sloppy wet kiss on my cheeks, “What? I can’t spend time with my girlfriend?”

I didn’t miss the way he emphasised on the word girlfriend.

Jaxon’s law tightened, his eyes glaring at the way Zayn held me.

“Here to have a replay of what happened on the rink?” he smirked.

“Ooh!” the crowd muttered.

He was treading on dangerous grounds, rubbing the fact that Zayn had lost the game.

“I guess that is why she has never shown up to watch the pathetic people you called a team,” Jaxon said.

The crowd gasped, they were getting high off the drama that was rising. Zayn’s grip tightened as if he were flaunting me to be some trophy that he had earned.

Jaxon’s eyes flickered towards mine, I tried to avoid his gaze, not when each time I stared at him, all I could remember was his head thrown back as Chloe gave him pleasure.

“You don’t scare me Jaxon, You may have done that to the rest of the school, but you can’t do that to me. I love Eden,” Zayn said.

It was a lot to take in. Jaxon couldn’t have done what Zayn had just said. No, not when he knew how hard it was to be around people.

And Zayn, he just said he loved me, for the first time, in a crowded room.

“You…”

“I love you, Eden” he said, grabbing the side of my face as he gently pulled me in for a kiss.

When my eyes met Jaxon’s gaze, I felt gutted. His eyes were filled with an unrecognisable emotion, he was looking at me like I had betrayed something special between us.

Jaxon’s emotion wasn’t the only thing I picked up, Harper stood with a scowl on her face as she watched the interaction. In her eyes, I saw pain. I didn’t miss the way her eyes flickered towards Zayn like she was trying to signal him.

A lot was happening, and the crowd hadn’t stopped staring. It was like they were enjoying the front row seat to the Eden’s show.

I was in the middle of it, garnering attention that I never should be in the middle of. The atmosphere had turned tense— filled with pride, possessiveness and some primal rage.

“Eden, you know better than to be down here. Go up to your room,” Jaxon hissed.

His tone was dark, awakening something dark within me. I was enjoying the way he looked pissed, it was like this was the only time that I could have his attention for more than ten minutes.

“You don’t control her. You aren’t her father,” Zayn hissed.

Jaxon smirked, I knew that look, I have seen it a couple of times, “I am her guardian and I have every right to tell her what and what she shouldn’t do,”

There, he said it. I was nothing more than a burden that my father had dumped on his just so that he could have some lovely time with his mother.

He wouldn’t see me as anything other than a responsibility. I felt it, the ache in my chest as his words registered in my mind.

“Maybe you should go upstairs, Eden,” Harper said, her voice tight like she was holding back from getting angry.

“You are freaking joking right?” Isla hissed. “You are seriously suggesting that she returns to her room? Whose side are you on?”

“I just don’t…”

This wasn’t what I thought the night would be like. I had expected it to be fun and filled with some drunken decisions, but I didn’t expect my whole night to turn into a shit show.

“Why can’t we ease off this tension with a game,” Chloe spoke up for the first time.

Jaxon turned towards her, “What are you going on about?”

She looked unbothered by his tone, “She is already down here, so she might as well enjoy the party,”

I wanted to stay, but there was something about her tone that kind of drew me back.

“We can all play a friendly game and forget about all this tension,” she said, her fingers playing with a strand of her hair. I didn’t miss the way her voice dropped in a purr as she stared at me, like she knew something that I didn’t.

The crowd had dispersed, seeing as there literally was no drama to leech on.

“Come on it will be fun,” Chloe said in a sickeningly sweet tone.

Jaxon’s eyes were on me, like he was waiting for me to make a decision.

“What game?”

“Are you in?” she asked, rather than responding to my question.

Isla stared at me, It was my call. I wanted to be here, to show Chloe that I wasn’t some scared cat she could box up.

“I am in,” I said in a hard tone, my heart pounding like I was signing up for the army.

Jaxon smiled, “What game are we playing, Chloe?”

She smirked, a cold calculated smile that sent shivers down my spine, “Truth or dare,”

Shit! I should have run away when I had the chance.