Drive me Wild, Rival(BL) Chapter 52: Jealous

Alaric

The instant the words left my mouth, I regretted them.

The tension around the dining table shifted almost imdiately after I ntioned Sophia, and suddenly I could not stop thinking about how ridiculous I must have sounded.

Why the hell did I even say that?

I was tired of hearing her na leave Nico’s mouth every five minutes, and sohow that irritation had slipped out before I could stop myself. Now I sounded exactly like what I did not want to sound like.

Jealous.

Nico’s brown eyes never left mine after that question, but I looked away almost imdiately because I could not bear holding his stare after saying sothing that embarrassingly possessive.

The silence stretching between us afterward felt unbearable.

The warm atmosphere from earlier disappeared completely, replaced by sothing tighter and far more awkward. Even the soft music still playing quietly in the background suddenly felt too loud inside the silence.

For several long monts, neither of us spoke.

Nico remained leaning back slightly in his chair while studying carefully, and the longer he stayed quiet, the more uncomfortable I beca beneath his gaze.

Eventually, I could not take it anymore.

"Do not get the wrong idea," I muttered while reaching for my wine glass again. "I only asked because I wanted to know how you found my penthouse and how you got my number."

Nico let out a low, quiet chuckle beneath his breath, the sound soft enough to almost blend into the silence filling the dining room. Then he slowly pushed himself up from the chair, his movents unhurried and calm in a way that imdiately made my chest tighten with nervous anticipation.

My entire body imdiately stiffened.

He took two slow steps toward before leaning slightly closer across the table, and for one humiliating second my breath caught sowhere in my throat while my heart started pounding violently against my ribs.

I genuinely thought he was about to do sothing reckless.

Instead, he reached past calmly and picked up the empty plate sitting in front of .

"That is adorable," he murmured casually.

I frowned imdiately. "What is?"

"The fact that you are pretending this is about your address."

Heat rushed into my face instantly.

Nico glanced toward again while stacking the plates together carefully.

"I think you asked because you are jealous."

My eyes widened so quickly they almost hurt.

The accusation hit like a slap despite the fact that he was not entirely wrong.

Still, there was absolutely no way I was admitting that out loud.

"Have you completely lost your mind?" I snapped imdiately. "Why the hell would I be jealous of my ex?"

Nico said nothing.

Which sohow made everything worse.

"I am not jealous," I continued defensively while gripping the stem of my wine glass tighter. "And besides, I do not care who you sleep with and—"

I stopped abruptly the mont his eyes t mine again.

God.

The way Nico looked at sotis should have been illegal.

There was sothing steady and unreadable inside his gaze that made my chest tighten painfully every single ti he focused on too intensely. It always felt like he could see directly through every lie I tried telling him.

I quickly lifted the wine glass toward my lips before finishing the rest of it in one swallow just to avoid looking at him any longer.

Nico let out another quiet laugh beneath his breath.

Then he picked up his own plate before turning toward the kitchen.

I exhaled slowly, hoping the conversation had finally ended there.

Unfortunately, Nico Park never let anything go that easily.

Halfway toward the kitchen, he suddenly paused before glancing back toward over his shoulder.

"By the way," he said casually, almost too casually, "there is nothing going on between and Sophia and I already knew your address from that night at the gala silly.’’

Then he clicked his tongue softly and continued walking away before I could answer him.

And unfortunately for , my heart reacted imdiately.

The violent flip inside my chest felt sudden enough to steal the breath from my lungs while warmth spread sharply through my entire body before I could stop it.

The relief that crashed through my chest the mont Nico said there was nothing going on between him and Sophia felt so imdiate and overwhelming that it almost embarrassed .

The tightness that had been sitting painfully inside since dinner loosened all at once, replaced by a warmth so humiliatingly comforting that I instantly hated myself for reacting that way.

I hated how relieved I felt.

Absolutely hated it.

Because the mont Nico said there was nothing between him and Sophia, the tightness sitting painfully inside my chest since dinner began disappeared so quickly it made feel ridiculous.

What made everything even worse was the fact that I knew Nico noticed my reaction imdiately.

Of course he did.

Nico had always been terrifyingly observant when it ca to , always catching the smallest changes in my expressions, my tone, or my behaviour before anyone else ever could. That smug bastard noticed absolutely everything about , including the things I desperately tried to hide.

Several minutes later, Nico returned from the kitchen holding a dark wine bottle loosely in one hand while carrying two freshly cleaned glasses with the other.

"I found this in your wine collection," he announced casually as he walked back into the dining area. "So I decided we should drink it while you ask all the dramatic questions you clearly want answers to."

I frowned imdiately the mont my eyes landed on the bottle in his hand.

"Oh no," I muttered under my breath.

Unfortunately, it was already too late.

The bottle he grabbed was a 1998 Château Margaux I had been saving for years. It was one of the most expensive wines inside my collection and one of my personal favorites, reserved specifically for an occasion important enough to deserve opening it.

Not whatever the hell this dinner had beco.

"Not that wine," I said quickly while sitting upright in my chair.

Nico looked down at the bottle briefly before glancing back toward with absolutely no concern whatsoever.

"This one?" he asked innocently.

"Yes, that one."

"Why?"

"Because that bottle is expensive."

Nico scoffed softly.

"You are rich."

"That is not the point."

"It literally is the point."

Before I could stop him, Nico grabbed the corkscrew resting beside the kitchen counter and smoothly twisted it into the cork with the confidence of soone who had absolutely no respect for my emotional attachnt to expensive alcohol.

"Nicholas," I warned sharply.

The cork popped free with a soft sound that imdiately made feel physical pain.

"There," Nico said proudly while pouring wine smoothly into both glasses. "See? Nothing exploded. You are being dramatic."

"That bottle was for a special occasion."

Nico glanced toward over the rim of the wine glass before a slow grin spread across his face.

"Then let this beco our special occasion."

My entire chest tightened stupidly at the sentence.

I hated that.

Absolutely hated it.

Nico only winked lazily afterward before walking back toward the table and reclaiming his previous seat beside like he owned the place.

Then he pushed one of the glasses toward across the table.

"Co on," he said while lifting his own glass slightly. "Let us play twenty questions."

I stared at him flatly.

"Why the hell would I want to play twenty questions with you when you should already be leaving my penthouse?"

Nico chuckled softly before bringing the wine glass toward his mouth.

The warm lighting above the table reflected against the dark red wine while he took a slow sip, completely relaxed despite the chaos he continuously caused inside my life.

"Because," he replied smoothly after swallowing, "I know you have questions you want to ask ."

"I absolutely do not."

"You absolutely do."

"I really do not."

Nico pointed his wine glass toward accusingly.

"You literally beca jealous over Sophia ten minutes ago."

"I was not jealous."

"You almost looked ready to commit homicide."

"I was curious."

"You looked emotionally unstable."

I narrowed my eyes at him.

"You are unbelievably irritating."

"And yet you still let stay."

"That is because removing you physically would probably count as assault."

Nico grinned imdiately.

"So you have considered it."

"Several tis."

"Aw," he murmured while pressing a hand dramatically against his chest. "You think about constantly."

I genuinely contemplated throwing the wine bottle at his head.

Nico must have noticed the look on my face because he burst out laughing again before leaning back comfortably in his chair.

"Relax, princess," he said teasingly. "I am offering you valuable information here."

"I do not need information from you."

"Really?" Nico asked knowingly before taking another sip of wine. "So you’re telling you are not curious about how Sophia and I know each other?"

Silence.

Nico’s grin widened imdiately.

"That is what I thought."

I hated how easily he read .

Every single ti I tried pretending not to care, Nico sohow saw through it instantly like my emotions were written directly across my forehead.

"You are annoying," I muttered while finally reaching for the wine glass he poured for .

Nico lifted his own glass slightly in victory.

"So that ans you agree to twenty questions?"

"I did not say that."

"You picked up the wine."

"That ans nothing."

"It ans everything."

I rolled my eyes before taking a long sip from the glass just to avoid answering him properly.

Unfortunately, the wine tasted incredible.

Nico noticed my expression imdiately and smirked triumphantly.

"See?" he said smugly. "I make excellent decisions."

"You opened my expensive wine without permission."

"And now we are bonding over it."

"We are not bonding."

Nico leaned slightly closer across the table before lowering his voice deliberately.

"You keep saying that," he murmured softly, "but sohow I am still here drinking your favorite wine inside your penthouse while you stare at like you want to kiss and strangle at the sa ti."

My throat imdiately tightened around the wine I had just swallowed.

Coughing violently in front of him was unfortunately not how I imagined maintaining my dignity tonight.