Page 4 of The Bittersweet Bond

"Maybe if you didn’t act so desperate, we wouldn’t have this problem" he snapped, watching as her wide, doe-like eyes instantly sharpened into something lethal.

But instead of backing down, she stepped closer.

And his breath caught.

“Oh, so this is my fault?” Her voice was dangerous, and she was like a storm raging just for him.

His muscles tensed instinctively. Something about her determination, the way she stood her ground, made him buzz with an intensity he couldn’t describe. That self-assured glint in her eyes—as if she could put him in his place at any moment.

The cracks in his façade of indifference started to show, though he tried to maintain his composure.

Inside, he felt an overwhelming urge to give in, to claim her once and for all.

Fuck, she looked good, even better when she was this close, anger sparking in her eyes and defiance on her lips. The sharpness in her voice sent heat coursing through his veins.

It was like she had him wrapped up in an invisible game he couldn’t resist, a tension that burned under his skin and refused to let go.

Whatever she was waking in him, it was sharp, possessive, almost feral, and it made it nearly impossible to stand still.

There she was—fearless, defiant, her gaze burning into his like a dare.

It enraged him, because somehow she still held the upper hand, and he hated how much he wanted her because of it.

The fight with the other guy didn’t matter anymore.

“Whose fault do you think it is?” he shot back finally.

The sharp gleam in her eyes pierced him, and he could almost feel the heat radiating between them. Every inch of her confident expression held him captive in ways he didn’t want to admit.

Damn it, if she came any closer, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to hold back… so untouchable, yet so tantalizingly close.

Chapter 1

Whatever This Is

Evin

The glow of her laptop screen cast a soft light over her face as she sat on her bed in complete darkness.

Wrapped in her blanket, she scrolled through Google, searching for sources for her voluntary history presentation on nationalism in the USA. Just as she found a promising article and was about to dive in, her phone vibrated.

Hey.

Bas.

A smirk tugged at her lips. The flickering light from her laptop bathed her sharp features in a warm shimmer.

Ever since the bonfire a few weeks ago, Bas had been acting differently. He was chasing her, openly vying for Evin’s attention, not just in private, like he used to, but now even in front of his schoolfriends.

What was between them, however, was something no outsider could really understand.

Some called it a love-hate relationship, others labeled it toxic dependency. Even Evin saw it that way.

They had been in the same school since fifth grade, but this was not one of those cliché love stories where they understood each other effortlessly and ended up together forever.

If anything, it was the opposite.

They were known for teasing each other, fighting, breaking each other’s hearts—only to end up making out at some random party when no one expected it. While everyone was convinced that Evin had feelings for Bas, he always managed to make it seem like he couldn’t care less.

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