A knock at the door made us break apart and I smoothed my hands down my dress to straighten it out.

            "Excuse me," I pushed past Roman to get to the door and opened it, revealing Colton. He looked nice in a gray suit, his hair slicked back stylishly. He smiled when he took in my outfit, eyes lingering on my curves.

            "You look beautiful, Violett." He complimented me and I gave him a smile, stepping to the side.

            "Thank you. You like pretty nice yourself." I complimented back, making the grin on his face grow. He stepped inside and leaned in, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek, which I accepted.

            "Drakos. Didn't know you were going to be here." Colton sounded surprised and I pressed my lips together as I closed the door, turning around to face them. I really hoped this wasn't going to be awkward. When I faced them, I could tell there was tension just by the looks on their faces. Roman stood confidently, his hands tucked in his pockets as he sized up Colton, as if he were a total stranger. Colton seemed to do the same, a cocky smile on his face. I suppressed a groan. I did not want to be in the middle of some kind of match of who could get the woman. Roman shrugged at Colton's words, glancing around nonchalantly.

            "I'm usually here on and off. Just came to get some of my stuff I left over the other night." The corners of his mouth twitched as if he wanted to smile when he took in Colton's reaction. I rolled my eyes that time. He just wanted to get a rouse out of Colton because he definitely did not come here on and off and wasn't even here recently to have left something the other night. But Colton didn't know that, which made this game even more fun for Roman, I could imagine.

            "Not a problem. I didn't plan to stay long anyway. Just came to pick up this beautiful woman for date night. Ready to go, Violett?" Colton glanced at me and asked, a soft smile on his face just for me. I nodded.

            "Yep. I was ready before whatever it is that's happening between you two started. Are you guys done yet? I'm getting hungry." I clasped my hands together, giving them both a look. Roman chuckled and Colton joined in.

            "I think we're done here." Roman spoke as he slowly walked my way. His eyes locked with mine and two of his fingers slid under my chin when he reached me and he pressed his lips to mine softly, claiming them as his. Before I could react, he pulled away and his thumb brushed my lips. "Let me know when you're home safe, yeah?" he murmured and all I could do was nod. He gave me a little smile before nodding at Colton as he left. I was not expecting him to kiss me in front of him.

            "Well, that was something." Colton muttered under his breath before glancing at me. I could feel the heat creeping up my neck to my face and I cleared my throat, gesturing to the door.

            "After you," I gave him a smile that I hoped was convincing enough to forget about what happened. I could only hope that Roman's presence and actions wouldn't affect whatever Colton had planned for the night. I wanted the night to go well. He walked to the door and held it open for me. I couldn't read the look on his face as I walked past, and I still couldn't even when he opened his car door for me. Only when he was in the car and driving toward our destination, did I finally speak to break the silence.

            "So, where are we going?" I asked lightly, hoping the question would get him to start talking. He didn't say a word. My brows bunched together as I tried to figure out whether or not he was upset. Did the kiss ruin his mood? Was something else bothering him? Maybe he didn't hear me. "Colton?" I called out his name and I watched as his jaw clenched before he glanced at me. He looked annoyed and looked back at the road in front of him.

            "I didn't know that you and Drakos were still seeing each other. I thought what happened between you two was a one-time thing." He definitely sounded annoyed. I adjusted in my seat as I tried to think of what to say.

            "At the time, it was a one-time thing. Then it slowly started becoming something more." I admitted to him, and my answer seemed to put him in more of a bad mood.

            "So even though you know that you guys can't be together, you want to risk it?" he asked, jaw clenching again. Why was he so upset about it? It wasn't like we were actually dating each other. Plus, he already hinted to the press that we weren't even together anymore, so why was this so important to him? His reaction was confusing me.

            "Who says we can't be together? His father? He doesn't get to dictate who Roman can be with, not anymore. Why are you so upset about it anyway? I thought we were good." His attitude was annoying me, and I wanted to stay calm before I snapped at him. He sighed heavily, passing a hand down his face.

            "I'm sorry. I just," he sighed, shaking his head before speaking again. "I just thought we had some type of connection and that maybe something would blossom and become something more. I guess I was wrong." He said bitterly and I raised my brows in shock. That was the last thing I thought he would say. I didn't know what to say to that, so I kept quiet for a little bit, trying to think of a response.

            "I'm sorry to disappoint. I don't want that to ruin the friendship that was starting to bloom between us though." I spoke the truth and the corners of Colton's mouth quirked up.

            "It's okay. My little heart can handle rejection pretty well. You aren't ruining anything. It's just me and my stupid feelings. Don't worry, being friends is definitely good enough for me." He gave me a smile and I gave one back, though it was more nervous. Was he actually okay with that decision?

            "Good." I answered before glancing out of the window. The area was starting to look familiar and I scoffed when I realized where we were headed. "I know where we're going. I knew you wanted to be in front of cameras. We're going to that same restaurant you first took me to." I scoffed, letting out a little laugh. Colton grinned and nodded.

            "You're one smart cookie. I did want to take you back here because I thought it would be good for the optics if you were seen with me in public." He admitted and I tilted my head.

            "Even though mostly everyone assumes that we aren't even together anymore? I didn't think it would matter."

            "Everything matters to the media. Even if we're seen as friends out together, it could make the narrative of you being the bad guy change. This is a good thing." He reassured me and I nodded, trying to understand. If it was good for me, I guess it wouldn't be too bad.

            "I trust you then. Hopefully there aren't too many of them this time." I commented, but it was pointless. We were barely around the corner, and I could see all of the cameras from the paparazzi. It seemed like there were more tonight than the last time, which made me nervous. Even though I prepared myself for being in front of the cameras, it didn't stop the nerves. As soon as Colton pulled up to the curb for the valet, cameras swarmed the car. I put my head down, hand in front of my face to save my eyes from the flashes. They were ruthless. I could hear them shouting, some of the questions they were asking were absolutely disgusting and I debated whether or not to turn this car around myself. Was this even a good idea anymore?

            "Hey, you got this. I'll get out and come around the car and get you out, okay?" Colton kept his voice low, and I nodded at him, grateful that he knew how to handle situations like these. Like last time, when he got out of the car, he stole the show, answering some questions as he walked to my side of the car. He opened the door and held his hand out for me to grab. I grabbed it and as soon as I stepped out and everyone saw that it was me, the shouts became worse. I wrapped my arm around Colton's, keeping my head down as we walked through the crowd. I wasn't claustrophobic, but in this moment, it felt like invisible walls were closing in on me and I just wanted to run. The only thing that was keeping me up was Colton's arm.

            "Colton, Violett, over here! I have just one question for you!" Someone shouted and my grip tightened on Colton's arm when he diverted from the path to the restaurant and to the paparazzi that called out to us. What was he doing? I wanted to tell him to turn back, but cameras were already on us, so all I could do was smile at this point.

            "What's up?" Colton asked, a big smile on his face.

            "Are you guys still together, working things out?" The guy asked, eager for an answer. Colton looked down at me and I gave him a smile, knowing that this was the perfect time to tell him that we were just friends. He turned back to the pap.

            "We are still together, working things out. There are lots of things happening behind the scenes that you guys don't know about. Violett isn't the bad guy here, but know that things are better than ever between us now. Isn't that right, babe?" Colton smiled at me and it took everything in me not to strangle him. What the hell was he doing?