CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Mark stared at her speechlessly. Sapphire smiled and grabbed the books in his grasp. The touch sent warmth all over his body. She tucked a strand of hair behind her neck and nodded courteously at him. "Thanks for helping."
When Sapphire began to turn her back on him, he decided to go for it. What could he possibly lose? Except for his sanity, of course, but that was a given. 
He grabbed her arm gently to stop her from leaving. Sapphire turned around with a strange look in her eyes. 
Fear? Longing? Admiration? Lust? 
He shook his head. 
This isn't the time to get distracted. 
He dropped his hand and asked her awkwardly if she wanted him to take her home. Her eyes widened. "T-take me...home?" Mark blinked and felt himself blush. Crap, she probably thinks he's creepy as right now. "I-I just meant that...you know...it's already dark outside and I don't know, it's not safe for a girl to walk alone and...stuff." Stuff?! Did he seriously just say that? He mentally slapped himself. Since when did he turn into this kind of idiot? 
Sapphire watched him curiously with her head cocked to the side. "Do you really mean that? Is that the only intention you have?" 
Mark sighed and decided to tell her the truth. He was already acting like an idiot, so why the hell not? 
He shifted his footing, put his hands in his pockets and stared intensely at her. "If you really want the truth, then I'll give it to you." Mark moved a step closer. "Yes, I did mean what I just said and no, that wasn't my only intention..." He saw Sapphire flinch, but he went on. "...you know what my other intention was?" Another step closer to her. He softly grabbed her chin and gently made her look at him. "To get to know you. You fascinate me, Sapphire. You've been driving me crazy since the moment I met you.
"It's weird, I know. But you've been running around my head every second of every hour of every day since a couple of days ago. At first, I thought it was just a crush or something, but..." He leaned closer so that their faces were inches from each other. 

"...I think I'm in love with you."