"Ugh, I think I'm gonna be sick." I turn away from them and rush away. I don't know where I'm headed, I just know I'm going to actually get sick if I don't leave this instant.

I can't handle this mental stress. It's pushing at me from all sides and I can feel the suffocating bile rising in my throat. I need to escape. I need to hide from all of this.

"Connie, wait." I know I'm being pursued by the Big Bad Wolf, and I quicken my pace, weaving through the crowd towards the exit as fast as I can. I don't hesitate when my heel wobbles and my ankle sprains I just increase my speed until I'm close to speed walking. I hear voices saying my name, but I can't place them in or out of my head. All I know is if I stop to try to acknowledge them, he will catch me.

I push through the revolving doors out into the bush city street and shove my head into a garbage can just in the nick of time.

I groan as a small amount of wine and bile pushes it's way out of my stomach and into the outside world. Despite the circumstances, I'm pleased I've thrown up even a little, but I know it was not enough to be sobered up. I mentally berate myself for drinking so much, for losing control.

I grab a complimentary bottle of water from inside the door and swish it around my mouth until I'm sure I no longer can taste the wine anymore.

"Connie." I nearly jump out of my skin as I feel a warm hand clamp my shoulder. A thick, sure thumb traces the strap of my dress comfortingly, then in an instant, slips beneath it for the briefest moment. My breathing becomes shallow and wanting as he slows down the pace of tracing. My body warms and aches for more, but then his hand drops away and I'm left feeling more alone and disgusted with myself than I have in a long time.

"Please leave me alone," I whisper harshly, not caring in the least if I'm offending him. I blame the remaining amount of alcohol.

"I've upset you." Steven's deep voice washes over me and I brace myself, not wanting to feel a thing except for fury or indifference. But instead, I feel just the opposite. Never, ever before has a man's voice made me want to fall into his arms and beg for him. Not even Kevin's. "I didn't mean to do that. I'm just..."

"You just what?" I can't face him so I look down at the concrete beside his feet. I'm afraid I'll stare into his eyes and drink in that gorgeous face, those dark and sexy eyes, that cologne that makes me crazy and I'll do something unladylike. Like throw myself at him. Beg him to take me and make me forget.

Yes, that's just what I need. To beg him to take the pain away and have him reject me. Or worse, have someone witnessing the whole encounter. The CEO's daughter begging handsome Steven Universe to ravage her in a one night stand would spread like wildfire.

Despite the unpleasant image, my body heats up and I clench my thighs. Oh yes, I am very inebriated.

"Jealous. Worried." Another pause, this one heavy with unspoken tension. "Lapis and I ... we have an especially unusual relationship."

"Really." A snort escapes me and I slap my hand over my mouth, embarrassed. The unbridled sarcasm in my voice could easily be mistaken as jealousy. And Father told me jealousy makes a beautiful woman ugly. Luckily, Steven doesn't seem to notice.

"It seems stupid, I know. I sound like a jealous teen but..." He shifts nervously. "Lapis and I have known each other for years. She's helped me out of some impossible situations. We became close. And she, of all people, know how I feel about Johnson."

The way he says Kevin's last name has me reeling with fury. At who? Im not quite certain. "And how do you feel about Kevin?"

His lips thin and his nostrils flare the slightest bit. Those dark eyes close for a moment, and when he opens them, they glow pink, and I gasp quietly. He blinks again, and they turn back to the endless dark chocolate they've always been. Must have been a trick of the light. "Isn't it obvious?"

Three words, so simple yet filled with passion. And not the good kind of passion, either. Hateful, deep, and abiding, that's how they sound. Why he dislikes Kevin I'm not sure. They're business rivals, but there's so much hate, and it's not one-sided. "But, why?"

"He's a conniving, underhanded asshole." I glance down to see Steven clenching his hands into fists. "I know he's your fiancé or whatever he's been telling you, but I can't help the way I feel. I got this job fair and square, and the second we met eyes, it was an all out war. He's done some terrible things to me for no reason other than to sabotage, pull himself up higher, or simply for the pleasure of it."

"He's not my fiancé," I say.

Steven frowns. "What?"

"Kevin. We're not engaged. Not anymore." I don't know if we're ever going to get engaged again, but I don't tell him that.

"Of course. I'm not surprised." He's practically fuming, he seems so mad, and I can't help the tendrils of pleasure that curl through me at his words. It almost makes me smile. Almost. "I can't say I'm not glad he's such a stupid fucking twat." His words are hot and fuming, so much so that I almost feel burned by the intensity and rage behind them. "And why shouldn't I be pleased with you catching on that you're wasting your time with his bullshit?" He studies me, his anger fading into confusion. "Why are you still staying with that dipshit? And more importantly, why are you still talking to me?"

The way he says it, the genuine confusion and curiosity makes my chest pulse. "Wh-what do you mean?"

He moves closer, intimidatingly so. I feel trapped. I almost kinda like it. "We both know who I am. What I'm like." His voice has dropped again and I swallow.

I don't really know much about him at all, but I don't argue. "Really. So tell me, what are you like?"

He smiles, and something deep within me begins to throb and pools out into my panties. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

It all becomes too much, the change in tone, the way he's looking at me and asking questions I don't have answers to... I step around him and walk to a small table so I can sit.

Of course, Steven follows me. It's like someone has doused me in steak sauce, and he's the rabid dog wanting to tear me to pieces. He tilts his head when he sits across from me and says, "Are you upset thay Johnson wants to go to London while you want to settle down and get married?"

This conversation changes pace too quickly. It makes my head spin. "Well, as much as I would like that in the future, I don't exactly know if I want that now. Although, him being consistent would certainly... Be..." Nice. Why am I telling him this? "Not that it's any of your business, Mr. Universe."

"Seamless. " He murmurs and I can't help but laugh at his joke, feeling more and more intertwined with this man every passing moment. He joins my outburst and I immediately stop laughing, listening to his almost childlike chuckle. It felt so familiar, almost as if I had heard it a million times. Perhaps in another life. "I do hope we can become friends, Connie. Besides, we are going to be intertwined for the next few months." He gives me a borderline wolfish grin and I blink rapidly, turning away with embarrassment.

"Because of the project."

"Yes, yes, of course." I turn to find him watching me carefully, his arm overlapping the back of the chair, the breeze tossing his hair carelessly about his head. It's a good look for him. The elegant suit, that unruly mess of hair blowing, his gorgeous face, and all that pent-up anger still hanging onto him. Very sexy, dark, and dangerous. I've never been attracted to dark and dangerous. I dealt with that enough in my past. Fought against it and won. Of course, I wouldn't exactly call Ronaldo dark and dangerous. He was more misleading and conniving. Not that that description didn't also fit Steven. It just wasn't my type.

So why am I suddenly drawn to this man? And why does it feel like he's also drawn to me?

"I don't dislike you. We can have a professional relationship." I crack a smile against my will and follow a car with my eyes, desperate to not look at him in this second.

"But what about what's happening now?" The pointed look he gives me is filled with unspoken meaning.

I go ahead and try, even though I'm nervous. "And what exactly are you referring to, Steven?" His eyebrows shoot up at my saying his first name and I realize I may have slipped with my tone.

"You know what I'm talking about, Connie." His eyes never leave mine. "There's more between Lapis and Johnson. You know there is." A pause, and his gaze darkens, if that's possible. "And you know there's something going on between you and me. Whether you choose to see it or turn a blind eye, you feel it."

"A-and why would you assume that?"

"Because," he leans forward with a calculated pause, "I feel it too."

WOOOOW IT JUST GOT STEAMY IN HEREEEE!!!

Did you guys see this coming? Was it too steamy too soon, too hot ad cold, or was it juuuust right?

Let me know Juanifans,

Love, juanitasuniverse ❤️