Good morning, fam and Happy Sunday!♥️🥺 This update has been ready since yesterday but it just needed some slight adjustment. I had to divide the chapter into two at some point. But don't worry, it doesn't ruin the fun.🌚

Gats warn you, Brethren, if you are reading this right now on your way to church, go to church first and come back before you read this chapter!!😂

Eh jhor!😂 Let it not be heard that I am spoiling you people.😂

But I know that some of you have coconut head and you people will not listen, so be my guest!😂

The song for this chapter- Charm by Rema.

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"𝐼𝑡𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑘𝑒𝑡 𝑠𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒.
𝐼𝑡𝑠 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑛, 𝑢𝑛𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑡ℎ.
𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑟𝑒
𝑓𝑢𝑐𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟
𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑜𝑛."

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        ~𝚂𝚃𝙴𝙵𝙰𝙽 𝙱𝙸𝙱𝙸𝚃𝙰𝚈𝙾 𝙾𝙻𝚄𝚈𝙸𝙳𝙴~

"Mtcheew!"

That was the umpteenth time I had been hissing like a salary earner that UBA just deducted thousands of naira from his account. At this point, it would even be so much better if it were my bank I had issues with. That way, I would be able to channel my anger into one place but this was so much worse.

I was pissed at everything.

I was pissed at the sun for even shining. I was pissed at our set mates for yelling like a banshee non-stop. I wanted to scream at them to just hold their tongue for once and turn off the music. I was so sensitive to everything around me and my brain felt like it was on fire.

You know that feeling when you feel extremely hot and extremely cold at the same time? Like you can legit feel hot sweat breaking out on your skin but it was overly cold, feeling like ice splinters.

Yes, I call it the Demilade effect.

I barely spent ten minutes with her and my entire mood was so disoriented. As much as I hated to admit it, it wasn't her presence that triggered my aggravation. It was her threat. I knew telling myself that she was bluffing would just mean I was trying to trivialise the havoc she had a probability of wreaking.

It was easy trying to convince myself that she was just trying to mess with my head, given the way I reacted when I accused my friends of keeping secrets from me. Now, I didn't even know what to think anymore. My thoughts were all over the place and I couldn't get a hold of them. I was even beginning to doubt my friends again. That they were indeed hiding something from me.

God, I didn't sign up for all this mess. I came to this party for solely one reason. Reina. Coming to this party was supposed to be like an extension of the time I get to spend with her and it was all going well and good until it wasn't. Demilade was a harbinger of evil. She was a full recipe for disaster. Heck, I should have known it when she showed up looking like a five thousand naira baby doll.

It was like she made a deal with the devil to never allow me to be happy, to taste happiness but never have it. But no, get thee behind me, Satan! Woe be unto you!

And with that thought in mind, I reached for my phone in my pocket and placed her number on a dial. My eyes wandered through the crowd as her line rang tirelessly.

Then, I heard it.

A rich, hearty laughter that resonated throughout the vast, crowdy compound, seizing me in its compelling hold. It had me in a literal chokehold, garnering every bit of my attention. My deflated mood that had popped like a balloon a while ago, swiftly transcended into a swirl of bubbles like droplets of rain water that brewed in the pit of my stomach. It morphed into huge knots of glee, shooting through my veins with a speed of light and completed me like a piece of puzzle.

My heartbeat quickened in pace, thrashing wildly and doing extreme backflips against my ribcage. I was pumped with an indecipherable energy that consumed me from the inside out, engulfing me in a whole. There was this after feeling...this feeling of nervousness that slowly builds up in me...a wave of anticipation that overpowered me and left splatters of goosebumps crawling over me.

I could only sum it all up in one word.

Pure, undiluted happiness.

My eyes moved like motion sensors, scouring every inch of the compound in search of her. There was no way in hell I could ever miss that wave of laughter. My legs developed a mind of their own, moving on their accord as my heartbeat doubled up in speed. And just as it quickened in rate, it dropped drastically to the pit of my stomach and at some point, I barely felt it anymore.

It was...just not there anymore.

It was completely overrode by the presence of another thing else___another person. Her.

I'd recognise that back view anywhere.

I could stand amidst a million of her clones with my eyes closed and I'd leave the job of finding her to my senses.

That back view belonged to the girl that tugged at my heartstrings like a damn guitar. Like a violin, controlling the strings however she saw fit. The one girl I would do anything for, be anything for. All she had to do was just glance at me and I would find myself tripping on air to get anything done for her. It was hard not to. Shakira Niniola Malik had my heart. She had my body, my mind and my soul. She consumed every inch of me.

I was fucking high on her!

She would look at me with those eyes at times and I would feel myself getting lost in them. I would feel myself shattering into a thousand pieces yet, I would still feel so whole. She completed me in a super bizarre way and turned me into a full-blown addict for her presence. She didn't even have to try. She had all of me by being so effortless with everything she does. The effect she had over me was insane but I loved every bit of it.

I lived for it. I never wanted it to stop.

And suddenly, the thought of her spinning around to face me scared me so much because I didn't know if I would be able to handle it without completely melting away and fading into nothingness. On G, the girl had a way messing with my sanity, in dangerous, dangerous ways.

I was shamelessly and utterly into her.

I couldn't see her face but it didn't stop me from contorting a image at the back of mind, how breathtaking she must have looked when she laughed. It was one of those things about her that always rendered my brain on a total shutdown. I knew I could never get enough of it.

I could never get enough of her.

Not in this lifetime, at least.

A few more steps, that was all I took, approaching her and every feeling of glee that was equated to seeing her was completely washed down the drain. It dissipated into thin air at the sight of the muscular boy that leaned on one of the ridiculously tall pillars that held the foundation of the Ejiofor's mansion together. His brown eyes were solely fixed her, watching her with keen interest.

My hands were clenched tightly in fists, jammed together in a way that started straining and hurting my knuckles. My jaw was completely locked, my blood icing up in my veins. My eyes were narrowed at his frame in dangerous, laser-like slits. I was blinded by pure, undiluted rage that felt like scorching flames running up my skin in waves. Each sensation stronger than the last one.

My insides felt like they had reached a certain boiling point and were beginning to melt into a steaming pit of goo. The frown on my face deepened with each step I took towards them, where they stood at the front of one of the entrances that led into the building.

The poolside was crawling with girls but he didn't hangout with the truckload of girls that were hanging out there. It just had to be her? Was Allan Ejiofor kidding me right now?

"I'll take it from here," I said coldly once I was standing about two feets away from them. My voice garnered their attention but I was too pissed at him to spare so much as a glance in her direction. My eyes were thoroughly fixated on the light-skinned boy, engaging him in a deadly stare.

His gaze, however, didn't match mine. Instead, he looked amused and he couldn't conceal it. I tucked my hands into my pocket, chewing on my lips a little aggressively.

"Kira and I were just talking, bruh." The urge to yell in his face that I didn't give a flying fuck was so overwhelming but snapping outrightly at him would be extremely disrespectful to her. I held her in too much of a high esteem to come at him like that. So, for her sake, I tried to keep it together.

He smirked and raised his hands in surrender. His actions thoroughly indicated that he was just teasing me but it didn't stop it from getting on my nerves.

"Well, you can run along now. I am here now. Thank you for keeping her company." I shot him a disgruntled look, shifting on my feet. I was legit glaring daggers at him but he seemed to be enjoying it.

"I'll see you around, Kay,"

You have got to be kidding me...

He had a tiny smile playing on his lips and his eyes didn't leave mine the whole time even though his words were directed at her. He leaped forward and patted me on the shoulder, then proceeded to walk past me. I didn't even realise I was still glaring at him and my eyes were still boring holes into his retreating back.

Damnit, how did he manage to get me so worked up?

"Stefan?"

Her soft, luscious voice that was unabashedly compelling drove me out of my murderous trance. It seemed to be the right amount of sprinkle I needed because it eased my tense nerves, leaving a sense of serenity to barrell towards me in waves. An unconscious sigh left my lips as my muscles visibly relaxed.

I diverted my eyes from his retreating figure, averting my eyes to her frame and my words died at the tip of my tongue. The little breath I had left in me dissolved completely into a sprinkle of fairy dust that dissipated into thin air right in front of me.

I died right on the spot. I resurrected. I died again. And again. And again. And again.

"Fuck me,"

I whispered, bewitched at the sight of her. At this point, there was nothing normal in my reaction whenever I saw her anymore. She had a way of striking the perfect chords in me. She had a way of appearing like I was just seeing her for the very first time in my entire existence.

My brain that was working on an overdrive earlier suddenly went blank. My mind was numbed to a point where I couldn't even feel it anymore. The ground beneath my legs crumbled heavily and I could feel it parting ways and warping me into a ball of yarn and tossing me into it.

All I could process was skin. So much skin. More skin.

A silky shade of an enticing brown goodness. Her spotless brown skin and the brown fabric that was pressed firmly against her skin was no doubt the same shade, bearing a little contrast. It highlighted the raw melanin that made up the composites of her skin in a way that was both captivating and downright seductive at the same time.

Brown had to be one of the most underestimated colours I knew but it was a very dangerous colour on her skin. It looked so natural, at the same time, a living, breathing weapon of destruction.

Sure, Cove girls brought their A-game to the pool party but she stepped out looking like a million bucks. I watched my self-control hang at the tip of her fingers, crumbling into dust right in front of me.

Reina was seduction wrapped in clothes and today further proved that in the three piece bikini she was clad in. A coffee brown material that looked like a second skin, accentuating her curves. It was a bikini, paired with matching thong. A scarf was lazily tied around her waist in a sash-like style, revealing a generous amount of her rich chocolate slim-thick thighs and long flawless legs.

She was showing off a lot of skin but was terrifyingly confident while at it. The flimsy brown material she had on her upper body hugged every inch of her bust so perfectly, revealing a sinful amount of her cleavage that soaked up the entire attention of my eyes.

My eyes were thoroughly fixed on her cleavage and it was like the more I willed myself to look away from that dangerous, dangerous place, the harder it became, driving me nuts.

Did she come here in the hopes of running me mad? Because if she did, it was working so perfectly.

It was so distracting. The actual definition of temptation.

The super-curly weave she had on her hair with dark shades stuck in them looked like it had spent an awfully long time in water, pouring down her shoulders in wet waves. She was most breathtaking in her natural state and today was no exemption. The only form of makeup she had on her face was the clear gloss on her lips that made them appear more pinkish and fuller.

Her soft, delicate and beguiling beauty was so pronounced with a touch of elegance in it, exuding a pristine glow.

Her eyes...God, her eyes...

A deep, dark mesmerising shade of brown that were like pools of thick, rich chocolate. So, warm and inviting with heart-tugging emotions thrown across them. Flickers of warmth, seduction and a certain amount of depth that sucked me in with their magnetic allure. The dark brown essence were highlighted by the flames that sat elegantly around her irises that sparkled under the sunlight, leaving me to drown in them.

Her eyes mirrored the reflection of her actual self, mostly. They made up the entirety of her. They were like little windows into her soul, reflecting her emotions. I was spellbound by the ethereal magic and sheer beauty they held.

Those rich pair of molten brown goodness seized me in their electrifying hold, reaching out to touch my soul without actually touching me. It felt like I could feel her fingertips brushing my skin, leaving a sizzling flame in its wake. When in reality, she was standing just a few feets away from me, soaking me up with those enchanting orbs that I considered to be the highest form of sorcery.

Was I shamelessly checking my friend out? Yes. Could I bring myself to stop? Capital fucking letter NO. Do I want to stop? Hell no. I could do this all day and feel like I just got to do it for the first time.

"Are you alright?" She queried, her voice holding a hint of concern in it. Her face was scrunched in a light frown as her eyes wandered every inch of my face, trying to discern what was going on with me. I blinked before releasing a soft chuckle.

I had my eyes fixated on her, watching her with utmost fascination. If I didn't know better, I would say her brown eyes were driving me insane. Brown was a basic colour but she made it look so compelling. At this point? I didn't know better. They were running me mad.

"Yeah, yeah...I'm fine. Of course...I am okay..." I was stuttering like a complete idiot, losing control over my speech. I didn't know how long I could hold it together. She giggled and gave a dismissive wave in the air, catching me unawares with her next action.

She barely allowed me to stop and catch my breath when she walked towards, wrapping her arms around me.

I froze. Fuck. She was making this so hard for me. So, so hard.

I was struggling to grasp on to the last shred of restraint I had left in me but she was hellbent on stripping me of it.

"If you don't start hugging me back, I will start thinking that something is actually wrong with you." She said in a sing-song voice and I immediately enclosed my arms around her, pulling her closer and enveloping her in a bear hug.

Home.

I was home. The phrase that a home didn't have to be a place, it could be a person couldn't have been more than right. The sense of comfort was unnerving. How could something as trifle as a hug evoke so many powerful emotions in me all at once? How could I feel emotions so intense, everywhere, all at once?

My hold tightened possessively around her waist and I heard her release a soft breath that poked right through the fabric of my vintage shirt, embedding itself deep in the core of my soul and sending a light surge of vibration through my body.

Her breasts were pressed up against my bare chest. The only thing between us was the overly soft linen of her bikini. She was all squashed up against me. I could feel everything. I could feel her. And God! Heaven knows I was hanging on a really thin thread of sanity. My restraint grew thinner and overly narrow as the seconds ticked by.

I was so obsessed with her. So obsessed with every inch of her being. I didn't understand how I could be so consumed by every little thing about her and feel so alive at the same time.

My body ached for her in an eerie way that made me pull her impossibly closer to myself as though I wanted to fuse our bodies until there was no space left between us. She didn't protest at my clinginess. She only leaned into the hug and sighed in contentment.

She was so soft, so perfect in my arms. I clung to her so desperately like I needed her to be able to breathe. I nestled my face into the crook of her neck, drowning in her essence.

I picked up on her strange scent and furrowed my brows in confusion. I knew how and what she smelled like. She smelled mostly like fruits.

The perfect blend of peach and berries, doused with a hint of fiery oud that always manages to leave me wanting to inhale every drop of it off her skin. It was a very clean scent in the most natural way possible.

"You smell different, Reina." I noted, unable to resist the urge to press a soft kiss on that spot. Her words came out rushed. I almost didn't hear them because they were overpowered by the soft moan that emitted from her. The soft sound was so inciting and I found myself letting out a groan.

Fuck, this girl would be the death of me.

"I used a different perfume,"

"Don't you like it?" Her voice came out so small. I could sense the sadness that dripped off her words and they made my chest constrict in pain.

"Fuck, I love it. I love it. It's perfect. You are perfect." I rapped out all in one breath, breathing her scent in. The exotic, floral scent wafted into my nostrils, numbing my senses. Fuck, she smelled so good. She was that perfect elixir that was like a drug I was hopelessly addicted to and could never get enough of.

Right there, I knew I was gone and there was no coming back from the effect she had on me. I didn't even want to come back. I loved drowning in her essence. I was lost and at the same time, this was the most alive I have ever been in my entire life.

The light, breathy sound that rolled off her mouth sounded so erotic, causing goosebumps to scatter across my skin. It was an effortless turn-on that made my heart thump wildly against my chest and plunged my senses into a dangerous overdrive.

I wanted, more than nothing, to stay this way and not pull away. My feelings for her grew stronger and more intense, each passing second and having her in my arms was more than perfect. It was always something I looked forward to. Never have I craved physical touch the way I craved hers.

"Do you want to go back to the party?" I asked her, hoping she would say otherwise. I wanted to spend the rest of the day with her. In her arms. Having her hold on to me this way and never let me go. It was filling. She groaned softly and pulled away from the hug. The absence of the body heat was so uncomfortable. I felt the loss of her weight in my arms and I hated it so much.

"I asked Allan the other time if I could hangout in the house and he said yes." The blooming smile on her face didn't falter and boy did it make my breath hitch.

"Do you want to hangout with me?" Those seven words made me feel like I had just won a lottery. I couldn't control the smile that broke out on my face and I watched a beautiful glow descend on her face, tugging dangerously at my heartstrings.

She looked so ethereal.

I'll be damned if I say no.

"Of course. Head into the house, Reina. I'll be right behind you. Let me get refreshments for us." I grinned widely at her and she nodded eagerly. She giggled like a two-year-old and spun around, heading into the house.

I watched her disappear into the house with a wide, Cheshire grin on my face and with a speed of light that I could barely comprehend, I bolted off the porch, dashing to the poolside.

A/N

Stefan Bibitayo Oluyide, you are a very shameless boy!!!!😂😂 Ahnnnn This boy is so intense. I want himmmmmmmm😭 If Shakira doesn't marry this boy, I will get pregnant for him.😂🤝 And I will steal him away.😂

His clinginess is so adorable.🤣🤣

Allan should watch his back. Stefan's return go dey very bloody.😂

Don't worry, it even gets better in the next chapter.😌

Let it rain in the comments section, fam!!! Don't forget to vote, comment and share. Hopefully, I will drop the second part today.😌