His Beautiful Addiction

He did not like her, did he?

Ari's eyes dilated at that thought and she immediately dismissed it.

No, she was thinking about it too much. This was the same way she over-thought things with her ex and got into the mess she just came out of. She was not about to get into another mess. Plus, there was no reason for him to like her. It was not as though he had not seen pretty girls. She was nothing special, so it was all in her head.

Xavier cut Ari's thoughts short as he opened the can of coke and passed it to her. They chatted and spoke about other stuff, and halfway into the movie, Ari was almost tearing up from laughter, not from the movie they were seeing but from Xavier's jokes.

They finished the movie by a few minutes past eleven, and Ari subconsciously wished he would stay longer.

''I have to go now, have to be up early tomorrow,''

Xavier said as he stood up from the couch. Ari smiled and stood up; ''Thanks for coming over and keeping me company, didn't know I needed that,''

''You can invite me over whenever you need someone around. ''

Xavier said, and she smiled; ''Probably would. ''

She saw him off and locked the door after he left. Ari stood by the door for a few minutes before she turned off the television and grabbed her phone, and as she had expected, Xavier's text came the moment she picked it up.

Ari jumped on her bed like a 5-year-old, and tapped on his message box,

''Just got in now. Thanks for today. ''

She read the message and quickly replied; '' yeah, you too. Goodnight. '' She waited a few seconds for his reply and he texted;

''Goodnight, ''

...

''You don't say?'' Lu asked, her eyes wide open as usual; ''he likes you. '' she added and Ari rolled her eyes;

''You should know better, Lu. He doesn't, but it's quite funny that he is putting in all this effort for someone he might never get. I don't get it, is it just the sex? I mean, he can get sex from literally anywhere, so why would he want to go through all this?''

Ari said, adjusting her phone so she could see Lu clearly. They were on face time.

''That's what I thought, but sex can be gotten literally anywhere. It's not gold. For a man to take out as much time and effort to buy the house opposite his crush's, and even come over for Netflix, girl, he is interested in you.'' Lu said as a matter of finality.

Ari was quiet for a second, her fingers clutching the can of water tightly, ''so what about Melissa? Are they not dating?''

''Well, maybe it's just for the pr, you never can tell.''

Ari rubbed her forehead, ''Lu, I don't want to go down this path. It will not turn out well. He's not someone who can love me, and I don't want to fall for him and, in the end, find out he does not feel the same way about me.''

Lu was about to say something when Gold, her dog, jumped on the bed and knocked over her phone. He barked and wagged his tail when he saw it was Ari on the phone.

''Gold!'' Lu scolded, but Ari erupted in laughter as she greeted him. Gold was fond of her, even more fond of her than he was of his owner, Lu.

''He must have heard your voice. '' Lu said as she picked up her phone and tried to chase Gold away, but he maneuvered her, refusing to leave.

''Let him be, Lu, it's not his fault that he likes me more. '' She mocked Lu, who just eyed her;

Ari laughed as Lu successfully took Gold out of the room;

''Now back to what we were saying before Gold interrupted; I feel you should just go with the flow. I don't think he's doing all this to hurt you. Besides, even if he doesn't want a relationship, he's super-rich, so he can fund your trips and you can have fun while it lasts. You are not thinking of getting married soon, so just go with the flow. It's not as bad as you imagine it to be.''

Ari sighed; ''how did I get entangled in this mess? If that night didn't happen...''

''Well, if that night didn't happen, you might not have gotten your job baby girl!, plus it was entirely your decision, you even threw him out the next morning, now I think about it, Xavier has done nothing wrong... ''

''Lu!'' Ari scolded as though reminding her who she should support; Lu laughed;

''Alright, alright, I'm just saying, though. The only issue I see here is Melissa, who I even doubt he is seriously going out with. You can ask him though. ''

''We haven't gotten there yet. He hasn't even texted me since today. ''

Lu laughed when she saw Ari's expression; ''Don't tell me you were waiting for his text?''

''No! I wasn't.'' Ari instantly rebutted,

''Baby girl, you might be falling faster than you think. I don't blame you though, Xavier is irresistibly handsome. It would be hard not to fall. '' 𝐟𝙧ee𝔀e𝐛𝓃𝐨𝚟𝑒𝗹.c𝗼𝚖

Ari shrugged; ''I'm not falling for him, Lu. You should know me by now. '' She said as she rolled her eyes.

''yeah, I believe you.'' Lu replied sarcastically; ''But I want you to be happy, you know. Have good sex and have fun. Just make the most out of it. Okay?''

Ari was about to say something when Xavier's message came in. A smile brightened her face as she quickly tapped on it;

''hey, how was your night?''

Lu noticed Ari was distracted, so she asked; ''what are you doing?''

Ari looked at her and smiled; ''nothing, talk to you later. Bye!'' she ended the call before Lu could say any other thing.

Ari wanted to reply immediately, but she held herself back. It would seem like she had been waiting all morning for his text.