Crashing into an Old Flame
Chapter 42: Growing on her

Chapter 42: Growing on her

’’What do you mean, hooligan?" Diana glared at the audacity of the man but then her gaze landed on his swollen face and bleeding arm. A few of his private parts were also roughly handled by her... ahem... ’’You should have thought about it when you broke into my house,’’ she grabbed another vase while distracting him with her words.

’’What do you mean, your house?" the man frowned, shifting his hand back to his gun when she pointed the vase at him.

Diana rolled her eyes, ’’I mean I live here. Not my house. But I am a tenant here.’’

’’My friend lives here,’’ Ryle scratched the back of his neck, placing his gun back into the waistband of his pant as he realized that this might as well be some sort of misunderstanding. This house did look unfamiliar to him. Did he enter the wrong house? ’’I was out for work so I left my house to my friend to take care of this place in my absence.’’

Diana laughed, placing the vase back on the table, ’’Poor you. I think your friend sold it off and ran away with the money. This house now belongs to my friend.’’

’’He is not in short of money,’’ Ryle looked around his house which appeared like it was completely reconstructed. Even the garden area had blooming roses.

It was impossible for Maxim to waste his time on things like these.

Was he really broke? And he did not share his financial condition with anyone because of his massive pride?

Ryle’s lips twisted at the thought of it.

’’Nobody says no to more money,’’ Diana shrugged.

’’Who are you?"

’’A tenant here and the owner’s friend,’’ Diana smiled coyly. It felt good to be able to call herself Maxim’s friend after all that ’we were kids and it’s in the past’ emotional trauma he put her through.

Ryle’s face hung to the side. Maxim would never keep a tenant.

The address board’s ’6’ and ’9’ issue was yet to be fixed even though he had already sent someone to fix it considering his friend’s OCD. He contacted the man he had sent to fix it but the man said that Maxim paid him extra money to switch it back.

It made no sense no matter how he thought about it.

’’Who is the owner then?" Ryle asked the wild woman standing in front of him.

’’Am I supposed to answer all your questions? Who are you?" Diana narrowed her eyes, ’’Who is your friend? What’s the situation.’’

"I am Ryle Harper.’’

The name sounded somewhat familiar to her ears but she could not put a finger on where she heard it.

’’Your turn to answer my question. Who are you referring to as the owner of the house?"

’’My friend, Warner,’’ Diana blinked, tilting her head to the side, ’’I mean Maxim. His first name is Maxim.’’

Ryle’s lips parted in disbelief, ’’No way he is keeping a tenant here after renovating my whole fucking house. I even thought I broke into my neighbor’s place.’’

Diana glanced at the ceiling as the realization took its own sweet time to dawn on her, ’’We are talking about the same person,’’ she mumbled.

’Are you both cohabiting? Is that why he did not let me go to Ryle’s place?’ Maxim’s mother’s words resounded in her mind.

At that time, her brain was way too dead to absorb anything in detail.

But now that her brain was back from the coma, every piece started fitting together.

The hilltop mansion which was crazily messy despite Maxim having mild OCD symptoms which got serious at times, the dirty talking parrot despite Maxim not being fond of pets (let alone the talking ones), the weird behavior of Logan and Ivy in the initial days of them living here and convincing her that Maxim was busy hence the dried flowers in the garden and the haunted house setup and most of all, the extravagance of this hilltop mansion, all those glass walls set up upstairs.

Diana knew Maxim well enough to know that he would not prefer a place like this to live. It was too over the top, too open for someone who wanted privacy. But then she passed it off as his preferences changed after he grew up.

But now... Every piece started clicking together.

She glanced at Ryle and as their eyes met, the look of realization in his eyes mirrored hers.

"Tea or coffee or wine?" the man asked her.

’’Anything you’d be able to offer right now, house owner,’’ she bowed slightly, stepping to the side as she ushered him towards the kitchen.

Both their faces resembled a blank sheet of paper.

minutes later.

Maxim did not know how he drove back to the mansion.

He did not know how he managed to drive without causing an accident with the way he broke all the speed limits.

But once he managed to reach the place, he kicked the car door open and strode inside the mansion, almost running on his way.

And the first thing that his eyes registered was Diana sitting on the couch, legs crossed above each other as she propped her forehead on her fist.

He strode towards her without stopping for a moment to catch her breath.

Diana noticed his presence and she pushed herself to her feet.

Their eyes met.

But before she could say anything, he swooped her in a tight hug.

Diana gasped at the strength he lifted her with, almost crushing her to his chest.

But Maxim did not care about any of it. He pulled her even closer to himself. Her feet lifted off the floor as he hugged her tighter, closing his eyes as he let the relief wash over him.

His unsteady breath fell on her neck, stroking her skin.

Diana could feel his heart racing against her chest. Her whole body was pressed against his so snugly that she could feel his hardness against all her soft curves. She could feel his warm breath tickling her.

The tip of her toes rested on his boots and while she was stunned into oblivion for a few good moments, she slowly lifted her hands and hugged him, patting his back, ’’I...am fine.’’

A suspicious heat was creeping up her cheeks, one she was not familiar with but having an experience with writing and reading NovelFires, she was not that oblivious at all.

As much as she did not want to dwell on the subtle flips and shifts of her heart, it was constantly badgering her.

Maxim Warner was growing on her.

Not in a platonic way at that.

And the realization made her feel like someone splashed a bucketful of cold water on her face.

...

A/N: Have you dropped a review yet? If you like this book so far, please rate it and drop a review to support it. You can also support this book with Golden Tickets and powerstones.

Also, I need to announce it that I will probably lock the Chapters soon. Usually I do it after 40 Chapters so maybe I will do it by the month end. If you don’t want to spend coins on this book, you can always opt for free fast passes. Thank you for your unconditional support so far <3