In The Heat Of Passion - Unfinished, Sophie J Brain [dark academia books to read txt] 📗

The night they had slept together he had told her that he didn’t want commitment and she had said she understood. He had tried to resist for as much as possible but she was attractive and he was only human. Why did it bother Michelle so much anyway? She was a smart girl, surely she knows that it will all blow over soon enough.

He sighed angrily; he didn’t want her mad at him. It bothered him for reasons he couldn’t explain, he would have to make amends at the party later.

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

 

Later that evening Tom circulated the party and watched Michelle as carefully as he could. She was playing the role of daughter of the host wonderfully but he could see tension in her eyes.

They hadn’t spoken much that day as Tom had immediately left the house with Chris but he hadn’t been able to get her out of his mind. She frustrated him for reasons he couldn’t explain, how dare she get annoyed at him for acting like himself?

He didn’t want her to be upset with him but she had to understand that he was not the villain in the situation. Everyone had been let down by circumstance more than anything else.

He walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. She felt warmer than usual and that the heat transferred onto his body. He moved his hand away as if he had been burned as she turned around with a growing glare.

“Thomas, I don’t wish to speak to you.”

“Five minutes Chelle, please.”

With a heavy sigh she walked out into the empty kitchen as he followed her. He looked down at his hand like it was a foreign object, it was still heated from touching Chelle on the shoulder. What on earth was wrong with him?

“Well, what did you want to say?” She asked.

“Chelle, why are you being like this?”

“You made your feelings on the subject perfectly clear this morning Thomas” she bit back “I have nothing more to add to the matter.”

They stood in silence for a moment as Tom tried to gather his thoughts. He realised he had asked her to speak without knowing what he wanted to say, which was rather embarrassing.

Chelle scoffed at his silence and started to leave but was stopped by Chris who entered the kitchen with a smile. “thank goodness you are here together, you aren’t fighting are you?”

Chelle glanced at Tom “we aren’t doing anything at the moment.”

“I have something to tell you both before I tell everyone else” Chris murmured “I bought a house in Crowmarsh near where I will be doing my last year of teacher training. I will have a job there when my training is finished.”

“Crowmarsh?” Michelle echoed. “Why on earth do you need to move there?”

“Maybe so he is closer to work” Tom quipped.

“It’s under ten miles away” Michelle replied “there is no need for him to move there. How will we be able to go out now?”

“It’s under ten miles away” Tom answered with a smug smile “he can travel here.”

“Will you stay out of this” she shot back “it doesn’t concern you.”

“One could argue that it doesn’t concern you either Chelle” Chris commented.

Michelle turned to them both and grunted something in response. She knew she was being foolish but she didn’t want Chris to move away and leave her on her own. Things were awkward with Tracy and she didn’t have any other real friends.

“What does Maisy have to say about it?”

“She is happy I believe” Chris shrugged “we aren’t moving in with each other just yet.”

Michelle nodded, she wondered how long Chris would make Maisy wait before taking the next step in their relationship. She winced at her thoughts, she certainly had no desire to live with a man after her last boyfriend.

“Chelle, are you really upset?” Chris asked.

Damn, she couldn’t tell him the real reason his moving bothered her, especially with Thomas behind her smiling like a smug idiot. They would both say her worries were misguided. She wasn’t even sure what her worries were, how could she put them into words in a way that would make sense? She just didn’t want Chris to leave. She had known that things would change once they both started their new jobs but she didn’t want them to change completely. She had assumed they would go out just once every two weeks instead of once a week. Truthfully she hadn’t really thought about it in too much detail.

“Of course it doesn’t” she finally murmured when she realised they were still waiting for her to answer “why would it bother me?”

“You just seemed very upset” Chris remarked.

“I was just surprised” she replied wanted to end the discussion as quickly as possible. She felt saddened for reasons she couldn’t explain and she just wanted the feeling to go away. “I need to be getting back, unless you wanted something else from me Thomas?”

Tom looked at her in surprise, he did have more to say to her but he couldn’t do it in front of Chris so instead he shook his head as she left.

Chris sighed “she seems really put out by my moving, do you think she is all right?”

“I’m sure she will be fine” Tom replied but his mind was still on Michelle. There had been more to her reaction than just surprise. “How long as it been since her and her chap split up?”

“Duncan?” Chris mused “about six months.”

Tom nodded “I thought so, we had better be getting back to the party.”

Chris nodded “lead the way my friend.”

Tom walked out of the kitchen and back into the lounge, the main party area, and spotting Michelle talking to an aunt of hers. He needed to finish speaking with her but he would have to wait a while before getting her attention again.

 

Later on that evening, at around half an hour to midnight, Michelle felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around and rolled her eyes as she saw Thomas beside her “at which point does this become stalking?”

“Chelle, please just another five minutes.”

She followed him once again into the kitchen and say down at the table. “What can I help you with?”

“I wanted to say sorry” he murmured.

She blinked in surprise “you what?”

“I never meant to upset you” he replied “I was a bit churlish earlier without thinking.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“Your chap Duncan” Tom murmured “he left you in the middle of the night didn’t he?”

Michelle jumped up in anger, how dare he use her break up against her? She had told him the details in confidence because he was her friend not so he could throw them back in her face. “What happened between Duncan and I has nothing to do with this as well you know.”

“Chelle, don’t be upset” Tom murmured “I just wanted to say sorry for being so insensitive. I imagine what I did to Tracy brought up bad feelings and I hadn’t meant to hurt you.” he paused before adding “either of you.”

Michelle looked at him as she tried to work out what to say. The whole situation had been blown out of proportion, mainly by her she had to admit, and she just wanted it over now.

“I am sorry for being so hard on you” Michelle murmured “I still think you acted harshly but it’s done now.”

“He was a fool by the way.” Tom commented.

Michelle blinked “Duncan?”

“He should never have left you” he replied.

Michelle laughed “is that a compliment?”

“It is” Tom replied with a smile.

“I don’t get you Tom” Michelle murmured “you treat Tracy like dirt but now here you are being nice to me. Why can’t you be like this all the time?”

“First of all I did not treat Tracy like dirt” Tom snapped “and second of all I was worried about you after earlier.”

“You do not need to worry about me” Michelle shot back “I can look after myself.”

“You’re scared” he murmured “of Chris leaving; you don’t want to be left behind.”

Michelle felt her heart beat faster as she came face to face with the reality of her feelings from earlier than evening. She was scared, how had she not realised it before? Since Duncan, her first real boyfriend, she had clung onto her nights out with Chris, Tom and Tracy. She didn’t want to find anyone else to be with, at least not yet, and it was all she had to ease the loneliness. Now Chris was moving and Tom had made things awkward with Tracy and Michelle was going to be left on her own again. Suddenly her anger flooded back.

“If it hadn’t been for you then I wouldn’t have lost my best friend” she snapped.

“Oh for goodness sake” he replied angrily “if something like this is going to destroy your friendship then you couldn’t have been that close to begin with.”

“It hasn’t been destroyed but it has certainly been strained” she murmured.

“Why must you keep going on and on?” Tom answered in exasperation “I can’t go back and unsleep with her. What do you want me to do? I will apologise to Tracy if it would help but contrary to what you believe she chased me and I told her what to expect going back with her.”

Tom hated how nasty and harsh he sounded but she couldn’t blame him for the break down in hers and Tracy’s friendship completely. They would get over the awkwardness soon enough and everything would go back to how it had once been. Michelle was scared of moving on with life that was why she was so desperate for her weekends out. She didn’t want to find to another boyfriend as she was terrified of getting her again. It was so obvious and yet he was the only who seemed to be able to see it. Duncan had treated her horribly, surely she knew that she deserved better than him. He took a proper look at her for the first time in years. It seemed that while he hadn’t been paying attention she had grown up.

She had long blonde hair that bounced of the kitchen light almost artistically. She was around five foot six, was of medium build and her eyes were a clear blue, which seemed to sparkle like diamonds, how had he not realised before? She was beautiful and God help him he wanted to kiss her.

“You will find someone better than Duncan” he murmured softly as he tried to control himself.

“I don’t want anyone else” she replied angrily, confused at the sudden change of topic.

“Of course you do” Tom answered.

“Thomas, please do not tell me how I feel” She snapped back at him “I don’t want to find anyone else and at least not right now. I don’t see what you hope to gain by pulling out of the party twice purely to argue with me but if it’s all right with you I will make my life choices without your input.”

She started to leave the room but he took her arm, he couldn’t help himself. She looked beautiful and he needed to know what it would be like.

“Is it midnight?” he asked.

“Not yet why?”

“I wanted an excuse to do this.” He replied raggedly before kissing her.