Cyrus was absolutely captivated by her. His eyes had tried in vain to drift away from the sight of her, but since she had stepped into the clearing, she had commanded everything in him to look her way. The bonfire had kicked off two hours prior and in the beginning, he had looked around to see if she would show up. He had just been in the middle of a conversation with a pretty woman that Wallace introduced him to, all his hope completely extinguished when his eyes had instinctively looked towards her direction.
He watched how she moved from the shadows of the trees and found it extremely amusing how she obviously didn't want to be here. The snugness of her jeans had made something twist in his chest and he had left his company to follow her, like a moth to a damning flame. When April had come into sight, he had dreaded it, but when he saw the look on Sakura's face, he made the move to come closer and rescue her.
It seemed he would always rescue her from the Robinson family.
"Cyrus honey!" April's voice called sweetly, obviously surprised to see him. She was delighted though and he knew "What are you doing here? I've been looking for you all evening."
He, on the other hand, had spent all evening avoiding her. It had come to his knowledge that April had warned the female employees to stay clear of him because he was a nasty person and a player. No matter how cliché it was for them to even believe it, he found it comical and had no issues with it. The only issue he would have is April getting more chances to advance towards him.
Moving forward, he snaked his arm around Sakura's waist, feeling her go rigid against him as she sucked in a quiet breath. "I came to get my girl. She looked awfully lonely without me."
"Your girl?" the high pitch April's voice took attracted attention as her smile became forced. "I wasn't aware!"
"We aren't-" Sakura started, yelping as he dragged her closer into him. Cyrus felt her eyes bore into him and resisted the urge to look down into them. He had to finish with April first
"Wallace should have told you. I think I overheard you saying he told you Miss Guerro and I were a 'thing'." His right hand did air quotes and he was delighted to see it made her visibly irritated "Or was I mistaken?
"Not at all! That's nice to hear." April said. The disdain was clear in her eyes as her eyes raked over Sakura "I'll leave you two to catch up. I have to make sure everyone is getting enough food."
She didn't wait for his or Sakura's response as she walked away speedily. Cyrus was surprised that she didn't fall flat on the ground at moving quickly with her heeled boots. He looked down and as expected, Sakura's blue eyes stared back at his. It made his heart thump faster and he wondered if she heard the sound as loud as he did. He grinned at her, despite knowing he was probably going to end an earful.
"Good evening Miss Guerro." He said
"Mr Axton." She responded grimly "I'd like to say the same but God knows I could have done without seeing you tonight."
"Unfortunately, I would never allow that. I've come to understand that getting under your skin is something I like doing." She was still rigid against him, but his thumb moved gently on her waist as his eyes skimmed over her face "You look ravishing tonight."
"Save whatever compliment you have for someone who cares. Would you mind letting go of me? We've become the centre of attention and I'd really like to avoid being the topic of workplace gossip." He had felt eyes on them from the very beginning but when did Cyrus ever care about how others talked.
"Are you sure? I make a wonderful teddy bear you know." He adjusted to stand in front of her, never letting go. He saw something flash in her eyes, but they went blank again within seconds. She was being surprisingly decent.
"I will rephrase. Let go of me right now or my knee will make contact with that space between your legs." Oh, he had spoken too soon "And I won't hold back."
Chuckling, he let go and raised his hands in surrender. Now he could look at her properly and up close, his gaze unrelenting as he observed her attire. What exactly was this woman trying to do with him? Was she even aware of how her mere presence made every person look her way, either for one reason or the other?
She made a move to leave but he took a hold of her hand before she could move too far away. It shocked him when she ripped it back, looking back at him like he had just electrocuted her. Deciding not to dwell on it, he put his hands into his pocket.
"I'm aware that you find my presence irritating, but that shouldn't mean you shouldn't enjoy this event." He said to her
"I'm not a fan of these kinds of things. I usually attend to exchange pleasantries before disappearing for the rest of the night." She said
"Neither am I. My plan wasn't to spend my last night here being passed around by a group of handsy cowboys."
"What was your plan then?"
To do anything to get himself to her. Still, she didn't need to know that. It would surprise her and whatever action that came afterwards would embarrass them both. That was something he would try to avoid.
"I'll tell you what…" he started, purposely avoiding her question "How about we talk things over? I don't want to leave tomorrow knowing I rubbed off on you the way I wasn't supposed to."
She snorted, her eyes rolling behind her glasses into the night sky "I assure you I'm not interested. There's nothing to talk over."
"Why are you so defensive?"
"And why are you so pushy?"
He grinned at the fire in her eyes, knowing fully well she wouldn't agree "Simply because I'm strong-headed and I won't rest till I've made you see I'm not truly a bad guy."
"You could have had me fooled coconut head."
"What?" Cyrus couldn't hide the obvious surprise in his voice at what she had called him. Sakura on the other hand looked slightly fidgety. She probably hadn't meant to say it but it had slipped out in the heat of the moment.
"Coconut head. That's what my mother calls me when I'm being too stubborn. I'm sorry about that."
"See, we do have a few things in common and I'm not offended." He said, amused at the tiny bit of information "So what do you say, will you stay? Being a coconut head, I likely won't give up on this."
The internal struggle she was having reflected on her face. He didn't want to get his hopes up, especially since she was so fiery and uncompromising, but he wished that just like this morning, she wouldn't argue with him. When he only saw resolution in his eyes, Cyrus knew she had made up her mind.
"Fine" she finally said, finality dripping from her tone "After one beer, I'm gone."
"You're gone."
"And you won't come after me."
"I won't come after you."
"Why are you smiling so much?"
He was smiling? He hadn't even noticed.
Cyrus chuckled, motioning his hand behind her so she could walk ahead to their destination "After you my lady."