"It means," she said slowly, her eyes locking onto mine. "that if you lose, you'll marry me."
My entire body stiffened, and my mind screamed in protest. "What?! Marry her?!"
I felt like the ground had been pulled out from under me. I stared at her, thunderstruck, as her words echoed in my head.
Was she serious? Was this some kind of joke? Marriage? I couldn't process it.
My jaw tightened, and my hands clenched into fists at my sides as I tried to regain my composure.
"Bianca," I said, my voice low and serious. "are you messing with me right now? What kind of bet is that?"
She just smiled, her confidence unwavering, and leaned in even closer. Her breath was warm against my skin as she whispered once again, her voice soft but firm.
"I'm not messing with you. Those are the terms. Take it or leave it."
For a moment, I couldn't say anything. I was completely thrown off balance.
This girl—this crazy, beautiful, infuriating girl—was turning my entire world upside down, and she knew it. She was playing me like a game, and I didn't know whether to be angry, amused, or intrigued. All I knew was that I couldn't look away from her. Her eyes held me captive, and her words were like a dare I couldn't resist.
In that moment, I realized something. Bianca wasn't just different—she was dangerous. She was the kind of girl who could break me, and I wasn't sure if I was ready for that.
But one thing was clear. I couldn't back down now. Not from her. Not from this bet.
"Fine," I said finally, my voice steady but my heart racing. "You've got yourself a deal. But don't think for a second that I'm going to lose."
Her smirk widened, and she stepped back slightly, giving me just enough space to breathe but not enough to escape her presence.
"We'll see," she said, her tone playful but confident. And with that, she turned and walked out of the elevator, leaving me standing there, completely stunned.
My heart was still racing as the elevator doors closed, and I realized one thing: I was in trouble. Big trouble.
As the elevator doors closed behind her, I stood frozen, staring at the empty space where Bianca had just been. My mind was racing, trying to make sense of what had just happened.
She had walked in, turned my world upside down in less than five minutes, and then left like it was nothing. My heart was still pounding in my chest, and I could feel the heat rising to my face.
I was a man who prided himself on control—control over my life, my emotions, and every situation I walked into. But Bianca? She was like a storm, unpredictable and impossible to contain.
And now she had me in her game, playing by her rules.
I leaned back against the elevator wall and let out a shaky breath, running a hand through my hair. What the hell had I just agreed to?
A "bet"? With "her"? And the stakes? They weren't just high—they were life-altering.
If I won, I'd get her, her body, her innocence, and everything she'd been holding back. But if I lost... if I lost, I'd be hers. I'd marry her. Forever.
The thought sent a strange chill down my spine—not a chill of fear, but one of something deeper, something I refused to acknowledge. The idea of being tied down, of being anyone's 'first and last' wasn't just foreign to me—it was terrifying.
I had built my life around avoiding that exact scenario. Women came and went, and I liked it that way. No attachments, no commitments, no risks.
But Bianca wasn't like the others. She wasn't a fleeting fling or a temporary distraction. She was a challenge, a puzzle I couldn't solve, and she was dragging me into her world whether I liked it or not.
I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts as the elevator dinged, signaling that I had reached my floor. The doors slid open, and I stepped out, forcing myself to focus on the day ahead.
I had patients to see, appointments to keep, and an entire clinic to run. But as I walked down the hallway, my mind kept wandering back to her—her voice, her touch, the way she looked at me like she already knew she had won.
I clenched my fists, trying to push the thoughts away, but it was no use. She was everywhere. Every step I took, every breath I drew, she was there, lingering in the back of my mind like a shadow I couldn't escape.
By the time I reached my office, I was already frustrated, not just with her but with myself. How had I let her get under my skin like this?
How had I, a man who prided himself on being untouchable, let one girl turn my entire world upside down?
I sat down at my desk and tried to focus on work, but it was useless. The first patient of the day came in, a middle-aged man complaining about back pain.
I nodded, asked the usual questions, and gave him the standard advice, but my mind wasn't really there. I kept replaying the elevator scene in my head, over and over, like a broken record.
Her words echoed in my mind, taunting me. "If you lose, you'll marry me." I could still hear the way she said it, so calm, so confident, like she already knew the outcome.
It made my blood boil and my heart race at the same time.
After the patient left, I leaned back in my chair and rubbed my temples, trying to will the tension away. But then I remembered something.