“Why won’t you acknowledge me in front of everyone?”
Walter asked, cornering me against the wall during a break in the party.
He’d had quite a bit to drink, his eyes were red and puffy, and he looked fragile and upset. His vulnerable state stirred something in me.
I swallowed hard, feeling the pull of desire.
I couldn’t tell him it was because I was considering breaking up with him, worried about rumors affecting his future.
In front of everyone, I was afraid he might actually start crying.
Walter closed in; his flushed, moist lips dangerously close. They looked so kissable.
“Do you not like me anymore?”
His lips were so tempting that I wanted to kiss them.
“Are you bored with me?”
They looked so plump and inviting that I was dying to kiss them.
“Or have you found another guy you like better?”
This was a public setting, so I had to keep it together! But I really wanted to kiss him.
My mind was overwhelmed with the urge to kiss him, and I couldn’t focus on what he was saying.
Finally, under his relentless questioning, I blurted out, “Because I want to officially acknowledge you as my boyfriend!”
The moment the words left my mouth, I realized my mistake.
Walter froze, his face turning red.
With a dazed look in his eyes, he pulled me close and gave my lips a playful bite.
“Oh, then I’ll be waiting for you to acknowledge me officially,” he said with a goofy grin, resting his head on my shoulder and relaxing into me.
I ran my fingers through Walter's tousled hair and noticed the blush on his ears.
Ah, boys are so easy to manage.
If I weren't around, someone else would probably snap him up.
But when it came to officially acknowledging him as my boyfriend…
It’s not that I didn’t want to give him that.
With Walter drunk and me too tipsy to drive, I called a cab.
While we waited, he kept his arms around my waist, rubbing it gently.
He remembered I was sore.
I leaned into him, enjoying the comfort.
“Wow, you and Walter seem really close,” came a voice filled with envy, breaking our little bubble.
I stayed nestled against Walter and raised an eyebrow at Zoe. “Yeah?”
Zoe took in my face and then smirked.
“Sister, what happened to your lipstick? It looks like a dog got to it.”
I burst out laughing. Well, in a way, it was like a dog had chewed on it.
“Sweetie, haven’t you seen this before? It’s a couple’s lipstick. The other half is on his lips.”
In front of Zoe, I gave Walter a deep kiss, pressing my red lipstick firmly onto his lips. The bold mark was a clear sign of ownership.
With a confident grin, I looked at Zoe.
I’d kept our relationship under wraps to protect Walter’s future, but since he’d openly acknowledged me, I had nothing to worry about.
With my fortune, I wasn’t afraid to keep him close.
Walter seemed to sense the change, tightening his embrace and grinning from ear to ear.
Zoe’s face turned a shade of green.
She plopped down next to me, putting on an exaggerated show of surprise as she said loudly, “Wow, you’re carrying a Hermès bag! What do you do for a living to afford all this? You must be loaded!”
“Just living off my family.”
Her carefully crafted insults and barbs were left hanging awkwardly.
I couldn’t help but laugh.
Zoe’s motives were pretty obvious. She liked Walter and was envious of me. Considering how great Walter was, her jealousy was pretty normal. I wasn’t going to let a jealous girl get under my skin.
Realizing that I wasn’t someone she could easily push around, Zoe dropped the act.
She roughly pulled me out of Walter’s embrace and dragged me to a corner, glaring at me. “I know you’re engaged to the Banks family. You have a fiancé, yet you’re still all over Walter. Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?”
