Surprise!! 🎉🎉 You thought I'd forgotten Alex and Elena's anniversary? Well, almost 😅 I was so engrossed in writing my current story Beyond and other projects I'll hopefully tell you soon about 😉

So I didn't get much time to prepare a surprise, and it'll be a small chapter, but I still wanted to celebrate, and it's one of the favorite scenes, now in Alex's POV... 👀

*ALEX'S POV*

"So what's on the list?"

"What list? Do I look like your mom?"

"No, rather my grandma with how slow you're pushing that cart."

"Oh yeah? Wait for the grandma to give you a trashing!"

We haven't even taken two steps into the supermarket, and Greg and Cameron are already bickering, for a change.

As for Logan, he's probably already dashed towards the snacks section because he's nowhere to be seen from the entrance gates to the vegetable displays—not really his thing. Whereas I find my gaze lingering there and my mouth watering at the sight of the fresh apples, taking me back to a pair of innocent doe eyes.

Okay, it's not the fruits I'm craving, rather the petite silhouette that has rushed towards me this morning, the soft lips, as plump and red as the forbidden fruit, that have parted the second she's crossed my gaze, and the sweet tickle of her touch on my hand before she's practically run away. The mysterious apple girl...

I don't even know her name, as I've been too busy staring at her to hear the roll call, or anything the teacher has been rambling about 'the importance of this year in our future'. As if this school year could really change us...

Anyway, I'm quickly shaken back to the present, literally when Cameron stumbles into me, shoved by Greg who has taken the cart now.

"Dudes, seriously?! Do you want to get us kicked out before we've bought anything?" I groan, not even needing to throw a glance around to know we're watched closely.

I've been feeling a glare prickling the back of my neck since we've passed the door, and I know the second a cherry tomato falls on the floor, the manager will call the security guys. And I'm not in the mood to drive all the way to the next town for two bags of chips.

"'Kay, so what do you suggest we buy? Fruits for the start of the year party?"

"What?" I raise my eyebrows at Greg, needing a moment to remember which party he's talking about, and twice as much to catch his pointed finger towards the apple I'm holding tighter than the throttle of my bike.

Fuck, this 'craving' is really distracting me. Zoning out in class is one thing, but here, with all the hubbub of the supermarket and the guys' bickering in my ears, it's something else.

Never has a girl taken my thoughts for so long, and she's barely brushed my hand for one second. What a brush though, so soft, so warm... I almost space out again. Almost, but sadly for Cameron I still hear his mutter.

"And then it's me you call the 'grandma'..."

"Who are you calling grandma?"

"No one." The fucker lifts his hands up, quickly stepping away. "I'm not judging if you want to be healthy and all that, but I'm not eating fruits."

"Logan's probably picked enough food to last us the whole year. You go find him," I announce, finding back my leader habits like every time we're on an illegal job, though right now, I feel more like a large family's mom. "And we already have the booze, so Greg, you just have to get some coke to mix with."

"What about you?"

"Me..." I follow the guys' dubious stare at the apple my thumb is mindlessly brushing, as if it were—Fuck, I really need to get my head straight. I really need... "I'll pick up some condoms."

I don't even wait for their reply, rushing toward the familiar section like I'm on an urgent mission. I am: I need to get laid. Although I pause all my movements when I realize I'm still holding the apple, putting it back down in its place.

This kind of forbidden fruit isn't for me. Too sweet. Too innocent.

I'm the bad guy. I fuck random bitches, and it's clearly been too long since I've had some cunts. That is the only explanation why my head is getting so messed up: hormones—and also because the mysterious apple girl is gorgeous, the kind of natural beauty, no make-up, just flushed cheeks and plump rosy lips that would fit so perfectly around my cock.

Mhm... and with those doe eyes staring up at me, and her fingers... seeing how soft they felt on my hand, I can't even imagine somewhere else. I shouldn't even imagine somewhere else, seeing how fast she has run back to her seat after. Rows away from me, at the back of the class, almost two different worlds that don't mix.

At most, they collide. Like the figure plowing into me with enough speed to bring me down with them in a harsh fall back into reality.

I'm already about to curse whoever has interrupted my little fantasy when my gaze slides up the silhouette straddling me from her tight jeans and pale cardigan all the way to the two familiar doe eyes.

"Sorry, my bad, I..."

Fuck, is it getting more serious than I've thought or...?

The falling box hitting my face instantly answers my question with the light sting of its corner almost blinding me, but also because even my dirty mind isn't twisted enough to make up the shower of colorful packages falling all around us.

Condoms boxes.

Life's humor is always ironic, and if it pulls me a chuckle, the mysterious apple girl jumps in horror, trying to get up yet only making more condom boxes tumble down as she loses balance again.

My hands instantly find her hips to steady her and mostly to stop her wriggling down there because with the warmth of her petite body fitting so perfectly on top of me and the way she's biting on her lower lip while pinching her eyes closed, I could almost forget where we are. Almost.

"You! Again?!" A too-familiar voice roars from the other side of the aisle, and with a quick glance there, I recognize the store's manager, who doesn't seem very pleased, judging by the lightning bolts she's throwing at me from behind her glasses.

Though I have no idea what she's shouting as my attention goes back to the mysterious apple girl, who hasn't moved, except from the shakes of her hands on my chest and the few inches she's leaning closer, just enough for wafts of her perfume to tickle my nose, as her big, helpless gaze finds mine with an expression I've never seen before.

I'm used to people looking at me helpless and scared of me, but here, it's like she's waiting for me to save her, and as if the protective instinct kicking in my guts weren't enough to knock my wind out, she takes the rest of my breath when she speaks up,

"I-It's n-not his fault... I-I slipped..."

Okay, it's cracking stammers more unstable than Mercury, but fuck, that's already brave of her to stand up on her shaky legs, to stand up against the angry witch and her two he-men, to stand up for me.

I wouldn't have expected that from a shy little thing like her.

She could have easily blamed me, or at least, kept her mouth shut; I'm sure the manager wouldn't have noticed her, contrary to now.

"I don't want your excuses! You both get out of the store!"

Under the witch's command, the two security guys instantly comply, 'escorting' us like we're two dangerous criminals.

Okay, the buff guy pulling on my arm has every reason to check carefully my clenched fists, which are already tickling as I watch his colleague. Actually, I would have already thrown them if it weren't for the panicked doe eyes glancing back at me.

How can they not see how innocent she looks?

Just the way she hurries to follow the security guy towards the opposite exit, it's obvious she's not used to being kicked out, and also that she'll never want to get anywhere near me again.

It shouldn't matter. The plan has been to get her out of my mind when I've stepped into the condoms' section. But like I reply to the guys when they join me outside the store with wide eyes and 'what the fuck dude? I thought you didn't want to get kicked out?',

"The plan changed."

Now, I have her scent in my nose—sweet, fruity, and intoxicating—the feeling of her warmth all over my body, and the sight of her big scared eyes in my head.

"Grab your hoods for tonight." I smirk, my gaze sliding to the other side of the parking lot, drawn to the same silhouette. "The party's main course's gonna be fun."

Now, I have another idea to let out all the frustration of the day.

You can guess what happens after... 😈

I hope you liked this little glimpse into our baddest bad boy's head! Was it what you imagined? 👀 Tell me all your thoughts in the comments and vote ⭐ if you liked it!

You know how special Elena and Alex are to me ❤️ They were my first characters, my first babies, my first ever story, and they'll always have a special place in my heart. Coming back to them is always so fun, and I promise one day I'll edit this story because let's be honest, there are lots of grammar errors, and my writing style has evolved a lot since then!

Still, thank you for sticking with me, whether you've been here since the start or you joined recently. This 5-year writing journey would be nothing without you, and you've helped me grow as a writer and as a human being.

I love you!!! And don't forget to light up your fire and shine, even during your most embarrassing moments (It can't be worse than Elena's stunt at the condoms' section, can it? 😂)