His eyes flickered when I said his name. There was no mistaking it. Even if I hadn't recognized his face—how could I not? He was the most beautiful man in the world—that recognition reflected in his gaze sealed the deal.
He remembered me, too.
"Kola," Jian murmured.
A shiver ran down my spine. There it was. The nickname that only Jian ever called me. Everybody else called me Nikolas, or worse, Niko. But "Kola" was Jian's special name.
Noise buzzed in the background, edging in closer. There was a crowd of gawking people now, all rushing forward and asking if I was okay. I saw flashes of light from phones taking photos.
"What..." I said, unable to find the right words to say. "What are you—"
At the same time, Jian asked, "Are you—"
We'd spoken over each other. It was funny and awkward and we both let out a small chuckle. It felt just like we were teenagers again.
Like Jian never left.
Just as I was trying to form a proper sentence, a car door slammed. The driver stormed out in a huff, throwing his hands in the air as he stomped towards us.
"Hey, what the fuck were you doing rambling in the middle of the street?" he demanded.
It took me a second to realize he was talking to me. "Huh? Oh. I'm sorry, I was distracted." My cheeks flushed. That was the second time I'd embarrassed myself tonight.
"Yeah, you should be sorry. I could've killed you!" the driver snapped. He turned his glare on Jian. "And you! Do you see this?" He gestured to the dented front bumper. "Did you really have to total my car? I was braking! I wasn't going to hit the guy."
Jian ignored the driver and gently helped me to my feet until I was standing on my own. He ushered me to the sidewalk.
"Kola, are you all right?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'm okay," I said, still breathless from adrenaline.
"Hey, asshole, I'm talking to you!"
The driver wasn't letting up. He trudged over, his face nearly purple, and shoved a finger in Jian's face. "You better pay for the damage on my car!"
Cool as ever, Jian faced him without losing his composure. "You almost hit a pedestrian. Like you said, Nikolas could've been killed."
"No, I told you, I was braking hard enough to stop."
An icy edge entered Jian's voice. "You were not. If I didn't step in, he would've died. Your car is not worth more than a human life."
"Maybe ifhewasn't jaywalking." The driver pointed an aggressive finger at me.
"I'm sorry," I said. "It was my fault. I should've been paying attention."
The driver snorted. He seemed disarmed by my apology. "Well, whatever. But you better pay up for my car," he told Jian.
Jian stood as still as a statue, staring the man down. Then he reached for his wallet and pulled out an amount of bills that made my eyes pop out of my head. When he gave the driver the cash, Jian turned his back on him, like the man ceased to exist. Jian's dark, smoldering eyes were only on me.
"Let's get out of here, shall we?" Jian asked. His voice was gentle again.
"Um. Yes, sure," I said, still confused and overwhelmed by everything that was happening.
Jian led me away from the scene, ignoring the driver—who was gawking at the cash, baffled but apparently satisfied—and the morbidly curious crowd who were sharing photos and videos of the event on their phones.
The noise died down as Jian took me down the sidewalk. When we were alone, he asked, "Kola, do you live nearby?"
The ignition to my brain kicked on. I still felt like I was sleepwalking in a dream, but at least I wasn't a depressed zombie anymore. "Uh. Yeah. Just in that building over there."
