Page 29 of Care: Part 1

Adrik shut his book and placed it on the nightstand before turning his full attention to Avelina. "What are you curious about?"

Avelina couldn't ignore the way her body seemed to melt as he pressed himself closer to her side.

"Have you ever been with anyone before?" She asked.

"I am with someone every day.”

His answer left her to frown as she imagined him being with a different woman every day. "I work in an environment where people surround me. Your question is very dubious because I am with you right now."

She let out a breath of relief before a smile eased onto her features. "Not in that way, Adrik. I'm asking you, have you ever been in a relationship with anyone?"

"No."

“Okay," she laughed out.

She looked over at his hair to find that it was already tucked away in a neat bun. The thought made her eyebrows push together as she stared at it. "Hey, I just realized something. Who would do your hair before I arrived here?"

"Me."

Avelina's jaw dropped as she came to realize that he had just played her. The whole time when he was perfectly capable of doing his hair, he would tell her to do it for him.

"I'm mad at you," she spoke, her eyes narrowing into little slits.

"Why?"

She folded her arms over her chest, overdramatically.

The truth was, she wasn't mad at him at all. Deep down, she knew that she enjoyed doing his hair for him. It provided a sense of nurturing comfort. Not to mention that it was her job to do whatever the client needed in order to make their lives easier.

“You made it seem as if you didn't know how to do your hair," Avelina told him, a small smile playing out on her lips.

"Oh," he said, his eyes falling onto Avelina's before continuing, "it is not necessarily my fault for your misguided assumptions."

"Touché," she muttered.

Suddenly, a dog ran into the room, leaving Avelina to scream. She quickly leaped over Adrik to get behind him while the dog came closer.

"Get the dog!" She screamed out, pushing Adrik toward the bulldog.

A sob ripped out of her as the dog jumped onto the mattress. She was quick to step down from the bed, but Adrik grabbed onto her arm, making it hard for her to escape.

"Let me go!" She cried, her face probably turning a deep red intertwined with her olive-toned skin.

The tears were trailing so far to the point that they were seeping down her neck.

She finally realized that Adrik was laughing. He was laughing, and it was such a beautiful laugh. It made her completely forget about her biggest fear staring her right in the face as the musical sound of his laughter flooded her eardrums.

Sadly, the moment didn't seem to last long because her attention immediately went back to the dog, who had begun to lick Adrik's arm. However, she didn't care how friendly the dog was being.

"Avelina, this is Sobaka. She is Anton's bulldog," Adrik said.

She noticed that Adrik had already sat up against the headboard, and the dog hurriedly crawled into his lap as he ran his hand through the dog's short fur.

"Sobaka means something in Russian, right? I think I’ve heard it before," she spoke while slowly backing away from the bed.

Avelina was doing all she could do to get as far away from Adrik and the dog as possible.

"Sobaka means dog in Russian.’