Hatred With Benefits

F I F T Y - O N E

EVA.

I stride into the living room to see mom standing behind the couch with her hands on her hips as she

whispers some words to dad.

"What's going on?" The sound of my voice catches both of their attention and they turn their heads to

me, quick to mask their faces with a bright smile.

"Hey, baby. You're up?" Mom smiles at me as she extends her hand for me to take it, and I do, lacing

my fingers through hers as I step to her side.

"Is everything alright?" I ask her, looking between her and dad, and she nods, "Of course, everything is.

Why wouldn't it be?"

"Because you both are looking suspicious right now? You were whispering some words in hushed NôvelDrama.Org content.

tones before I appeared. " I let out and mom's gaze darts to dad's, a sigh leaving her lips before her

eyes fall back to me. "I was just persuading your father about some things. "

"What things?" I'm quick to question, and once again, mom looks at dad before she turns her attention

back to me to say, "You don't have to worry about it, Eva. It's nothing serious. "

"Dad?" I drawl, pinning him down with a questioning look as I meet his eyes and his shoulders sink in a

heavy sigh before he opens his mouth to say, "It's like your mother said, Eva; it's nothing serious. Just

some work problems and I'll have them sorted out. "

"You're sure we are not in any trouble?" I narrow my eyes at him and he smiles, "Doesn't come close to

it, Princess. "

"Is it him?" I proceed to ask about the only other thing that could have caused a problem, and when

dad's face hardens, I know I hit the right nerve.

"What's it this time?" I pinch the space between my brows and Dad shakes his head, turning his body

to the other side to get his bag off the couch before he turns back to me, "I'll have it settled. I need to

get to work now. Will you be here or you're heading out on one of those dates?"

Heat spreads to my cheeks at his mention of my outings with a guy he would rather not know

repeatedly, and I say, "Dad!"

"A genuine question, Princess. " He chuckles as he paces closer to me to press his lips to my forehead

before he steps back to kiss the side of mom's face.

"I love you, hmm—" his tiny whisper to mom doesn't escape my ears and my lips tug up in a tiny smile

as mom responds to his words of affection before dad steps back, throws a wave at me then turns to

walk out of the house.

As dad's figure disappears through the door, I turn my body to mom's view and lift a brow when she

stares down at me with hands on her hips.

"What?" I ask and she draws closer, pushing her face forward. "What has been going on in your room

lately?" The question catches me off guard and an awkward cough falls from my mouth, causing mom

to draw back.

"Eva!" She throws me a pointed look and I say, "I'm sorry, beautiful. I didn't realize that was coming. " I

press my palm to my chest to calm down the race of my heart as I pray the slight unpleasant incident

made her forget about her question.

The prayer wasn't accepted. "So you want to tell me what you do every night? I heard voices the other

night. "

"What voices?" I feign innocence, pressing my fingers into the skin of my palm as I let my hand drop

from my chest.

"Voices that tell me you weren't alone in that room, Eva. " She explains and I let out an awkward laugh,

one I hope she doesn't notice. "What are you talking about, mom? Who else would I be with? It's only

the three of us in the house. "

"Not if you had someone sneak up to your room, " she suddenly says, and my eyes widen barely as

uncertainty rushes through me at the fact that my mother could have caught me. Caught us. Not until

she says, "Did you have Aliya climb to your room to go to some parties like last time, Eva?" I let out a

breath of relief at Aliya's name before I throw mom an innocent smile.

"I didn't. I've been staying up late to watch movies recently, so those were probably the voices you

heard. " I tell her with a raise of my shoulder and she furrows her brows, "Are you sure about that?"

"You don't trust me?" I throw back. "You can ask Aliya about it if you want. "

"What? Of course not. " She's quick to say, stepping closer to brush my hair. "I just wanted to make

sure you're fine, baby. Nothing more. "

"Trust me, mother. I've never been finer than I am right now. " I assure her and her smile broadens.

She drops her hand to my cheek to give small slivers to the skin before she lets it falls to her side.

"I have to head out to check up on Danielle today, and Mrs Martins isn't coming in because she had a

bit of a family issue. Do you want to come with me, or you're alright with—"

"I'm alright with staying home. " I don't let her finish her words before I interrupt her and a chuckle falls

from her mouth. "Is this because of Danielle's son again?"

"His stares are creepy and he irks me. I absolutely don't want to go there, knowing he'll be around. " I

scrunch my nose in irritation and she smiles in understanding. "I would never want you to do anything

uncomfortable either. Maybe call Aliya to keep you up and running?" She teases with a glint in her eyes

and I shake my head at her playful taunt as I cross her side to move over the couch.

"I'll be fine, mother. " I announce and she comes from behind me, clasping her hands to the sides of my

head to press her lips to the middle of my hair before she pulls back, taking her warmth with her at the

sound of her receding footsteps.

~

"Why are you here?" I question as Emerson climbs through my window and I step to the side to give

him space.

"You said your parents are out?" He states the obvious, referring to our earlier conservation on the

phone and I throw him a look, "I said they are out; I didn't say you could come, Ford. It's fucking

daylight. "

"And you're all alone so I don't see what's the problem here. " He moves past my side to climb on my

bed, and I let out a huff as I stride towards my window to shut it before I pace back to my bed.

"Anyone could see you, Emerson. Your family included. " I remind him of the fact he seems to have

forgotten and Emerson says, "Everyone is out, but my stepmom. "

"And she could—"

"I'm bored. " He silences the rest of my words. "What were you doing before I came in?" He lifts a brow

and realizing arguing with Emerson would get me nowhere, I drop to the bed and take a seat by his

side.

"I was being forced to reply to your texts. " I tell him and he tilts his head, "I don't think you were being

forced, Carson. You loved it. "

"Please shut up. " I groan and Emerson lets out a laugh– one that creates a beautiful sight where the

sides of his eyes wrinkles and I'm unable to help my own smile.

Emerson notices my stare after the sound dies down and we fall into silence, just looking into each

other's eyes and hoping to unravel more than we already did.

It's been a week since that day with the garden and the warm confession at night, and we've been

meeting a lot. We've come to know a lot about each other and I've come to peel so many layers of

Emerson Ford– discovering things I never thought I could. The more I grow to know Emerson Ford, the

more he seems to become more appealing.

"You're staring at me, Carson, " Emerson says, bringing me out of stance and I part my lips to speak,

"Your eyes are on me, Ford. "

His lips curve into a smile. "I can think of a different way to use them. "

When his eyes roam across my body, I throw him a grimace, "We're not fucking after last—"

"I never mentioned anything about fucking, Carson. " He snickers and I say, "You're staring at my body.

"

"I'm staring at an art; there's a difference. " He has no right to make my heart jump in my chest at those

words. Absolutely no fucking right.

"Remember when I told you I would show you my art one day?" He raises a brow and I hum. Then he

says, "I think that day is today. " He jerks his head to my body and I look down at myself before I lift my

head to him, "You mean to say—"

"Yes, Carson. I mean you. Get over here. " He extends his hand and I chew on my bottom lip as I place

mine in his and let him drag me towards him. My hands flatten against his chest from the force and

Emerson smiles, letting his lips brush against my cheek before he climbs off the bed.

"I kept a board in here last time. " He says and I nod, angling my head to the left corner. Emerson

catches onto my gesture and strides to the other side of the room to retrieve the board along with the

pencil he kept with me days ago after I found out he has a thing for arts– one he promised to show me

one day.

"Slide your top down your shoulder. " Emerson instructs as he settles on the floor and keeps his board

to the edge of the bed.

"Why?" I question and he says, "I want a sexy sight, Carson. "

"You just want a peek at my skin. Nothing more. " I grumble under my breath but go ahead with his

request either way, and let my loose top slip off my shoulder.

"Don't move. " He says, and I hum as he points the pencil towards me. He tilts it to the side along with

his head before he looks back to the board.

"Sit still. " He hisses as I adjust on the bed and I throw him a glare, "I'm fucking trying to!"

"I can't focus if you keep moving around, Carson. " He says as I cross my legs over each other. "You

should be able to focus even though—"

"I can't focus because your breasts are almost spilling out of that top. " He silences the rest of my

words to say, and I swallow down my throat at the immediate effect his words have on me.

"You wanted the sight so bear the consequences. " I whisper, my words cutting through the tension that

he managed to successfully build between us and Emerson's lips lift in a tiny smirk before he takes his

eyes back to the board in front of him, and begin to move his hands effortlessly.

I don't take my eyes off him as I watch him look between me and the board; something about his gaze

makes my heart race in my chest, when he's just there– making a drawing of me.

I keep my hands pressed to my legs as Emerson's gaze gets heated, ensuing the familiar ache

between my thighs and I clear my throat as I shift my eyes from him, which earns me another scolding

from him. "Eva!"

"I was just teasing. " I chuckle as I turn my head back to him and he shakes his head before he

continues the movements of his hands, and I let my body ease under his gaze.

After a few minutes of moving his hand across all directions, Emerson moves to his feet to stare at

what's before him and I say, "That's it? You're done?"

"Yes. " He tells me and I start to climb off the bed. "Wow, that was so fast. I thought it was going to take

hours or something. "

"It's just a sketch; that doesn't take much time. " He explains as I stand a few steps away from him and

Emerson turns the drawing to my view. My eyes widen at the sight of the beautiful craft he has created.

He's right; it's more like a sketch but you can clearly tell which details are which and it looks so fucking

beautiful. The outline of the way my hair rolls down my shoulders, the top that I slid off my shoulders to

reveal the skin under and my hands on my crossed legs– everything is so fucking perfect and I can't

believe Emerson Ford is capable of something like this.

"What do you think?" Emerson's voice pulls me out of my thoughts and I lift my gaze from the drawing

to his face. He meets my eyes with anticipation shining through those gorgeous brown orbs of his and I

look away from his mesmerising eyes before I rant about how beautiful I find what he's done.

"It's okay. " I say nonchalantly, turning my lips in a playful tease and when I look back to Emerson, he's

staring at me like he misheard me.

"What?" I let out a chuckle and he frowns. "Did you say it's okay?"

"Yes, it's okay. You don't think it is?" I lift a brow and he looks back to his beautiful work before he looks

back to me, then back to the drawing and I watch as he grabs the board. "I just thought you would like

it more than just it being okay, but I guess not. We should try this again next—"

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" I exclaim, grabbing hold of his hand when he angles the

board to the side and he says, "Ruining it since it's bad?"

"No!" I snap, snatching it from him and Emerson watches me in awe. "Why the fuck would you say it's

bad?"

"You said it's okay?" He points out my earlier tease and a scoff falls from my mouth. "I said it's fucking

okay, Emerson. I didn't say it's bad. "

"Your okay is equivalent to it being bad, Eva and I want you to think of it more than that. " He says in a

small voice and my chest falls in a sigh as I keep the board to my side. "Why does my opinion suddenly

matters to you? You never gave a fuck before. "

Emerson's lips twitch after my words and he stays silent for some seconds before he steps closer to

me. He fills the entire space around me as he lifts his hand, tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear

before he looks back to my face and says, "Because everything you do and say suddenly matters,

Carson. Because I think I'm falling for you. "