Crashing into an Old Flame

Maxim’s movement paused as he glanced ahead. What came to his view first was a pair of smooth fair legs. As his gaze trailed higher and higher, he noticed the black shirt that reached her lower thighs, making her skin look slightly paler. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Diana was standing at the entrance of the gym with her hair tied in a messy bun, her face was free of any makeup. His gaze trailed lower to her exposed collarbone and a little lower where he could tell with one glance that she was not wearing a damn thing under that fucking black shirt that highlighted her taut nipples, taunting his useless workout session.

Maxim lost his composure and in a moment of distraction, his arms lost strength. He almost ended up dropping on the floor if not for his fast instincts.

’’Are you fine?’’ Diana grabbed the towel from the treadmill and approached him as Maxim pushed himself to his feet.

’’I doubt...’’ he mumbled under his breath, lowering himself to her height.

’’Hmm? What did you say?" Diana asked as she wordlessly wiped his face.

’’Nothing.’’

’’When did you wake up?"

’’Almost an hour ago,’’ she whispered but her eyes widened when Maxim grabbed her wrist and pulled her out of the gym.

’’Where are we going?" she asked.

’’To get you fed,’’ Maxim stopped near the kitchen. He grabbed her hips and placed her atop the kitchen counter. His palm lingered on her bare thigh for a moment before he let it slide down.

She looked so enticing in his shirt, wrapped up in his scent that the past hour of workout flew in smoke. He should have known that he had no cure for this poison. He could never have enough of her.

Not that he wanted to have an antidote for this.

He told her that she was his yet this woman treated his words like air. But he was not in a hurry to prove his point. They had all the time in the world. He did not mind if she continued taking her sweet time realizing that now that she took the initiative to throw herself into his arms, he had no intentions of letting her go.

’’I am not a cat,’’ Diana said in a disgruntled voice when she heard his words. What did he mean by ’to get you fed’?

’’Really?" Maxim shifted his attention away from her as he washed his hands and started preparing breakfast for her.

Diana made a ’mm’ sound as she peeked at him. Fresh out of the gym, he still had the towel swung on one arm. His upper body was fully naked, giving her a view to feast upon.

Diana gulped, looking for a distraction, ’’I...’’

Maxim glanced at her questioningly, ’’What’s wrong?"

Diana had no idea what to say but suddenly, something clicked in her mind. She glared at him.

Maxim quirked a brow. The look on her face... did not give him a good feeling for some reason.

And his premonition turned out to be right when he heard her speak.

’’You lied to me.’’

Maxim: "_"

He wanted to deny her words subconsciously but he held himself back and tried to filter through his memories. He did not think he lied to her. He just... hid a few things he thought she would not like. Just like the matter of him living in the same building as her.

Those were the things he wanted to do but he did not want her to feel pressured or anything. He wanted her to be as free and comfortable as she wanted to be.

’’You...’’ Looking at the docile expression on his face, Diana felt even more frustrated. It was like she wanted to kill him and kiss him at the same time. What a strange feeling!

She rubbed her chest.

Maxim was startled when he noticed her actions. Did he infuriate her to the extent that her heart was in pain? ’’Are you not feeling well? Shall we go to the hospital?"

"_" Diana pushed him away lightly when he held her hand in concern, ’’I am not dying so young. Tell me, Warner, why did you lie?"

Maxim opened his mouth to speak but his expression shifted slightly, ’’Call me by my name and I will tell you anything you ask,’’ he proceeded to continue with the breakfast.

Diana felt speechless, ’’I can’t...’’ She was used to calling him by his surname.

Maxim gave her a side-eyed glance, ’’That’s not what you said yesterday.’’

Her face flushed at the insinuation behind his words. Taking a deep breath, Diana opened her mouth, ’’Maxim,’’ her voice was smaller than the movement of a mosquito.

’’Birds are being loud outside the window. I can’t hear anything,’’ Maxim said as he shifted the omelet from the pan to the plate, without sparing a glance at her.

Diana closed her eyes, ’’Maxim.’’

’’Hmm? Are you saying something?"

Her eyes snapped open and she grabbed his wrist, her fingers were far from enclosing it, ’’Don’t push your luck.’’

He looked at her with confusion and pulled his hand away gently before he focused on the breakfast.

’’Maxim. Maxim. Maxim. Happy now?" she raised her voice.

Maxim looked exasperated, ’’I heard you the first time, Ana. What are you shouting my name for?"

Diana was stumped for words. Why did this man seem to be so brazen today? Has the effect of wine not gone yet?

Not possible. He already had the hangover soup.

Sighing, she looked at him seriously, ’’Why did you lie?"

’’About what?"

’’About Ivy’s occupation. About the fact that you live here. About going to Beijing."

Maxim’s movement halted when he heard her words. He pushed the plate to the side and walked to stand in front of her.

Noticing the hint of confusion on his face, she added, ’’I told you. Drunk Maxim is way better. He is honest and he communicates with me,’’ she let him know just in case he was wondering how she discovered these things.

Maxim dragged a palm down his face in frustration. He wanted to tell her that he did not share the same opinion as her. In his mind, drunk Maxim was a disaster.

Now that she was with him, Maxim decided to stay away from alcohol in the future. It was embarrassing as it was while he was drunk. But what was more embarrassing was that after he woke up, he had no clue about what blunders he had caused when he was drunk.

Diana could almost read his face, ’’You can’t disagree with me on this.’’

He looked at her helplessly. He was not going to disagree with her on anything as long as they could be like this. As long as she stayed within his reach, and remained right in front of his eyes.

’’I did not lie,’’ Maxim said.

Diana’s lips thinned.

Maxim sighed, ’’When did I lie? Think about it,’’ he added before she could be angered by him, ’’I just... did not tell you about any of it.’’

As Diana pondered over it, she realized that he had a point.

’’You wanted to have Ivy around and it was only right because you can’t trust strangers around Angel. I did it for Angel because I knew if you knew about Ivy’s occupation, you would feel guilty about troubling her. So, I decided to let you have peace of mind so that you can work without worries and Angel would be taken care of properly. And Ivy enjoys your company so it’s not trouble on her part either,’’ It was rare for Maxim to speak so many words at once to explain his actions but he knew he could not brief her about his thoughts and reasons lest she ended up overthinking. She tended to do that.

That was the only reason he held himself back last time when she started stating the ground rules. Diana was the kind of person who tried to have everything under control. Even back in school, she would recheck and remodel a project countless times till she was sure that it will get her good scores. He did not want her to worry unnecessarily about the future or be pressured.

Whatever and however she wanted it, he would make sure she got it. But the last call would be his to make. He could only slow down the process lest she was wary.

When Diana heard his explanation, she fell into deep contemplation. What he said was right. Had she known about it, she would have felt guilty for bothering Ivy. But at the same time, she did not trust many people around Angel other than Ivy, Logan, and Maxim. It was impossible for Maxim to be Angel’s caretaker. Logan... did not come across the kind of man who could coddle a child. But Ivy was pretty meticulous at what she did despite being so young.

When he noticed that his words were getting to her, Maxim continued speaking, ’’You have been wary about getting your whereabouts discovered by your parents. And after what happened in that library, I was not comfortable with letting you stay out of my sight. I did not tell you that I live here because I did not want to make you feel as if you owe me anything. I don’t want you to thank me or say that you don’t want to trouble me.’’

Diana was stumped for words. Because that’s exactly what she felt like when she realized that he lived here. She did not want to trouble him to take care of them. He had already done enough.

Diana glanced at Maxim and pondered. Was he a worm in her stomach?