Cloud nine was real. I was there and nobody could ever, ever, make me think otherwise. Everything just felt so nice!

It was as if I was wrapped in clouds, my body lightweight and just floating around in absolute bliss. Nothing existed other than me and the warm, softness around me. Snuggling in more with a content sigh, I tried to go back to the peaceful stupor, dreaming about floating candies and flying penguins.

Until two arms tightened around me and pulled me against a hard body. Fuck.

My eyes flew open, adrenaline rushing through my veins as I took in my surroundings. No floating candies or flying penguins. Instead, I was met with the most spectacular view of the cityscape. The more I stared at the lights and the never ending sea of skyscrapers and buildings, the more I started to realize my current predicament.

Slowly, all the events of the night came back to me and dread settled in my stomach. What did I do?

Out of all the people I could have found to sleep with, I had to go and jump Atlas's bones. And the worst part was that I enjoyed every second of it. What would others say if they found out about this? I would seem like a hypocrite. I would never live this down. Atlas would make sure of it. I knew it!

Suddenly, I felt him nuzzle my neck and I froze, not even breathing. He trailed his nose on the slope of my neck, pressing a kiss to my shoulder and sighing before going back to sleep. I lay very still in his arms, waiting until I heard his heavy breathing. With my heart in my throat, I dared to peek behind me to see a very shirtless Atlas sleeping with his mouth open.

His dark hair was mussed and falling on his forehead. A smile tugged at my lips on seeing him sleeping so adorably but I quickly wiped it off. I didn't have time to admire him. I needed to make my escape and probably go into hiding for the foreseeable future.

I slowly lifted the duvet to peek inside and assess the situation. Butt naked. Not only that, Atlas had his arm tightly wound around my waist while one of his legs was thrown over mine. He was completely naked too but I tried to push that little information to the dark crevices of the mind.

While staring out through the floor-to-wall window, I formulated a plan of action. Get out of Atlas's hold, find my clothes, wear them, and then dash out all the while hoping that he doesn't wake up. I could do it. It wasn't like I hadn't disappeared from someone's bedroom before.

Except I didn't have to meet that someone ever again in my life. Unlike this time.

Putting my plan into action, I craned my neck to see if any of my belongings were lying on my side of the bed. Sadly, the only thing I saw was Atlas's shirt. I could still wear it while searching for my clothes. All I needed to do now was to get out from under this giant.

Lying back down properly, I grabbed his arm, trying to move it as slowly as possible. My eyes kept flitting to his face to check if he was awake while I slithered out of his hold. Thankfully, he seemed to be a heavy sleeper and didn't even notice when I accidentally rammed my elbow into his chest. He just scratched the spot and went back to cuddling the duvet, holding it close to him.

I quickly picked up his shirt and put it on. It smelled like him. The same minty, woodsy smell I had been enveloped in for the whole night. The thought of crawling back beside him crossed my mind but I immediately dismissed it. I really needed to get out of here before I embarrassed myself. Any more than I'd already had.

I found my heels first, one of them almost shoved under the bed. Next was my skirt that was lying at the foot of the bed. And then my top which was somehow hanging from the handle of the cupboard. Snatching it, I did a full round of the bed but my underwear was nowhere to be found.

Where the hell did he throw it?

It was all sexy and hot until I was standing in the middle of the room trying to locate my garments while Mr-throwing-clothes-is-my-new-hobby slept like a log. After another brief scan of the entire room, I spotted them near the ensuite's door. "Oh thank God," I exhaled and dashed to pick it up. I was about to enter the bathroom to put my clothes back on when the sound of the bed sheets rustling caught my attention.

"What are you doing?" Atlas's deep, raspy voice came from behind me and I stiffened. There went my plan to make a quiet escape.

Shutting my eyes and taking a deep breath, I squared my shoulders before turning around to face him. However, my attempt to look brave and unaffected went down the drain the moment my gaze fell on him. Atlas was sitting up, the covers coming only up to his waist and all of his glorious body on display as he leaned against the headboard.

His hair was standing up in all directions and there were distinct red marks on his neck, collarbones, and chest. Marks that I had made. He rubbed his eyes and picked up the digital clock on the nightstand, blinking at it. "It's 2:30."

"Uh..." I cleared my throat. "I'm going home."

He blinked at me again, his sleepy face looking way too adorable for no fucking reason. And then as if his mind had finally booted up and he could start functioning, he raised a brow at me. "Did you not hear the part where I said it's 2:30? In the morning? Which is almost like midnight?"

I rolled my eyes. He was back again. "Of course I did," I said, scowling. "Did you not hear the part where I said I'm going home? So let me get dressed and I'll be out of here. You can go back to sleep."

He scowled back at me. "You are not going anywhere this late."

The authoritative tone of his voice irked me. Who was he to say what I could do and couldn't? Folding my arms against my chest, I narrowed my eyes at him. "I am going home. I'm not going to stay here and cuddle you to sleep."

"Evelyn, don't be difficult. It's late," he said, rubbing his temple.

He said something else too but my mind stopped processing after hearing the words 'don't be difficult'. If he thought he was trying to make me see the reason, he was wrong. It just made me more furious.

"I am going home! You are no one to stop me," I said, my words coming out harsher than I had intended to.

"Evelyn—"

"No," I said, stopping him. "I have to go home. I don't do sleepovers. I can't... I need to go home."

He just stared at me for a long moment and I felt my heart rate getting erratic. This was wrong. All of this was wrong. I shouldn't have slept with him. I should have gone home the moment I had seen him. I should have—

"Okay," Atlas said with a sigh. "Go get changed. I'll drop you home."

"You don't have to—" I started but this time he interrupted me.

"It's late. I brought you here so it's my responsibility to get you home safe. I am dropping you off. End of discussion," he said all that with such finality in his tone that I found myself agreeing. I spared him one last glance before going inside the bathroom to get changed.

The bathroom was grand as well as the rest of the penthouse. The floor had beige tiles while the rest of the bathroom was completely marble. There was a circular bathtub built on the floor itself at the center of the bathroom, a little away from the glass shower cubicle.

I kept my clothes on the counter on my right and my eyes immediately fell on my reflection in the huge mirror on the wall. My hair was a mess and my mascara was smudged. My lipstick was non-existent but my lips still looked red and puffy from all the kisses. Despite everything, it almost seemed like I was glowing.

There were visible marks on my neck that I dutifully ignored as I stripped out of Atlas's shirt. Quickly wearing my clothes and heels, I splashed water on my face, trying to get rid of as much makeup as I could. I wiped my face on one of the neatly rolled towels and ran a hand through my hair before stepping out.

When I entered the bedroom again, Atlas was already dressed in a plain blue t-shirt and black track pants, his hair tamed down to a less messy look. He was checking his phone but looked up at me as soon as I closed the bathroom door behind me.

His eyes did a slow appraisal of me and I shuffled on my feet, suddenly feeling conscious under his gaze. "What?" I finally said, gathering the confidence I wasn't feeling at all.

"Do you want a hoodie? I think I have one here," he said and I looked up at him.

Yes.

"No," I said instead. "I'm fine. Are you ready to go?"

Again, he stared at me for a beat with furrowed brows before giving up with a sigh. "Let's go."

Atlas walked ahead and I trailed after him to the elevator again. A few hours earlier, when I had entered the penthouse for the first time, I was too distracted to pay attention to anything else other than the man with me. But now that I was seeing it again without the haze of hormones blinding me, I could see how posh everything was.

Everywhere my eyes landed, it was either glass, marble, or something more expensive. The entire place screamed rich and my eyes went to Atlas who had just pressed the button for the elevator. I had always known he was rich. People talked on campus, a lot. Besides, the way he dressed, the car he drove, and the way he carried himself didn't leave much for doubt.

One look at him and anyone could tell he came from money but this was extraordinary. It made me wonder why he was living in a shared house with the other guys when he could be living here.

As much as I was curious, I knew it wasn't my place to ask him. We weren't close. And all of this just proved that we could never be.

An uncomfortable silence enveloped us as the elevator took us down. None of us spoke until the elevator stopped at the lobby and Atlas told me to step out first. The lobby was pretty much empty except for a few people on the staff. As soon as we walked out, all eyes turned to look at us.

I knew how this looked. And I was too scared to meet their eyes and see their judgment for myself. I wrapped my arms around myself, feeling nervous, and kept my eyes on the floor.

Suddenly, Atlas grabbed my hand and entwined our fingers together before giving them a squeeze. I looked up at him, my eyes wide with surprise and he just smiled at me. "This way," he said, tugging me along to the exit where a valet was waiting with his car.

Atlas opened the passenger side door for me and I got in with a small thank you, immediately buckling my seat belt. He nodded at me before rounding the car and getting in as well. "Where do you live?" he asked, turning the key, the engine roaring to life in the silent night.

I rattled off my address and he started driving. Throughout the ride, I kept staring out the window. I knew I should have said something and that avoiding talking was unhealthy but I just didn't know what to say. I had never thought that I would actually sleep with Atlas. Although it had been a frequent theme of my wildest dreams, I had never thought it would become reality.

It didn't help that he was silent as a rock as well. I caught him sneaking a few glances on the way but he said nothing. His entire body was rigid as if he was sitting on a bunch of explosives. I wondered what was going on in his head. Was he regretting it? Did he think it was a mistake? Or was he not affected at all?

As these thoughts swirled in my head like dirty laundry in the washing machine, I spaced out completely. I didn't even notice the car stopping in front of my building and him killing the engine. I felt his hand on my shoulder and nearly jumped out of my skin, whirling around to face him.

"We are here," he said, retracting his hand immediately.

I looked at my building and unbuckled my seat belt. "Thank you for dropping me home," I said, getting out of the confines of the car as fast as possible.

The door shut behind me with a loud bang that made me cringe. I was about to apologize when he called my name. "Evelyn. Look, I know what happened between us was unexpected."

I didn't want to hear it. I didn't want to talk about it. What was done was done. It didn't matter now.

"Good night, Griffin," I said and turned around, fleeing inside the building, not waiting to see if he was still there or if he had left.

Instead of waiting for the elevator, I took the stairs, two at a time, wanting to get to the comfort of my room fast so that I could slump down with a tub of ice cream and overanalyze everything to my heart's content. I hurriedly jammed the key into the keyhole and pushed it open. Getting inside, I closed the door and slumped against it, finally catching my breath.

The darkness of my small studio apartment greeted me and I let out a sigh. Trudging in, I collapsed on the bed face first and lay there for a few minutes. It was a whirlwind of a night and I was going to need at least a day to unpack everything. Absently, I reached for my phone that I had dropped on the bed and tried to turn it on to see the time.

It was dead. With a groan, I crawled up on the bed and plugged it into my charger. "Oh Thank God," I exclaimed when it turned on again after a few minutes. I needed a distraction and nothing was better than doom-scrolling on Instagram.

However, my relief was short-lived. The moment my phone came back to life, along with it came the barrage of texts. Messages from my dad. I didn't even need to open them to see what they were about. The same thing as always. It was the only time he was reminded that he had a daughter.

With a lump in my throat, I switched it back off and buried my face in my pillow, wishing I could shut down like my phone as well. With no distraction to take my mind off of things, I kept rewinding the events of tonight, picking everything apart until all of it became a distorted memory.

Tonight was a mistake. It shouldn't have happened. I shouldn't have let it happen. Not when the project was in full swing and heavily depended on me keeping a straight head and calling the right shots. Which I was definitely incapable of because if I was, tonight wouldn't have happened. Not only was it extremely unprofessional, it was also a death sentence to the image I had worked hard to build. And it wasn't because I had a one night stand but because of who I had it with and the timing of it all.

If Atlas told anyone about it, word would spread around faster than the wildfire destroying everything in its way and my credibility would be destroyed alongside. It would only be a matter of time before the faculty hears about it and then my chances for getting perfect recommendation letters would go up in flames as well. Knowing Atlas, he would definitely brag about his latest conquest. How else does word get around about his activities?

I rolled over again and covered my face with my hands, groaning. "What did I do?"

Tears pricked my eyes the more I thought about it. I was supposed to focus on my studies, get in the good books of all my professors so I could get a foot in the door, and then build a successful career so I could finally get away from my past. And what did I do? I jumped in bed with Atlas the first chance I got, risking all of it. The worst part was that despite it all, I still couldn't get over the fact that I enjoyed every second of it and would probably do it again.

I jolted up in my bed at the thought and slapped my cheeks with both hands. "No, it can never happen again. It was a mistake. I need to forget about it and move on."

That was that. Even though I wasn't exactly sure I could forget it, I was never going to sleep with Atlas Griffin again.

Ever.