Chapter 8: The King

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I woke up to my phone ringing. I fumbled for it, nearly dropping it as I answered it without looking at the screen. I held it to my ear, rolling over in the bed tiredly.

"Hello?" My voice was slightly raspy from sleep.

"Good morning, babe."

My eyes widened and I bolted up in my bed. It was Grimmjow! I glared at my phone before putting it back to my ear. "Grimmjow… what time is it?" I had knocked my clock over while I was trying to grab my phone…

"It's already 9:00am! So up and at 'em!" He sounded way more upbeat than I thought he should… especially considering that we had both been up so late last night.

In fact, I had only gotten a few hours of sleep. "Why? I'm tired…" I grumbled, falling back onto my pillow. I winced when pain sparked through my cheek.

"Because you and I are going out. So get ready."

I frowned. "Grimmjow… my face hurts. And I'm sure that it looks terrible…" And I didn't say it, but I wondered why he would even wanna go out with me in the first place.

He snorted. "As if your face could ever be anything less than gorgeous."

If I had been awake enough, I probably would have blushed at his comment. But instead, I just sat up again and looked at the mirror in my room. My face was colored with shades of purple and blue… and my cheek was slightly swollen. I sighed into the phone. "It looks terrible."

"Fine…" He grumbled. "If you're gonna be a big baby about it, then we'll just hang out at your place."

I felt my eyes widen. "What?"

"Get up. Get dressed. Or be naked for all I care. Either way, I'll be over in ten minutes." He hung up before I could say anything else.

It all finally hit me, and I jumped up out of the bed to get ready. Luckily, I had showered last night… so I just had to brush my hair and throw on some decent clothes. Just as I was pulling a shirt over my head, the doorbell was ringing. I stumbled down the stairs and hurried to the door. I swung it open to see Grimmjow leaning against one of the porch columns, smirking happily.

"Hey, babe." He leaned in without any warning and planted another kiss to my cheek.

My blush was an immediate reaction. Just what the hell was going on here?

Without waiting for an invitation, he waltzed into my house, dragging me along with him. The door was shut behind us and then he pulled me into the TV room. "So I figured we could watch movies or something… since you don't wanna go out." He gave me a playful wink over his shoulder.

And only moments later, we were sitting on the comfy couch and watching a movie on the big screen. I was very confused… This strange man was in my house again. I mean, yeah… he had saved me and taken care of me… but I barely knew him! And I was still kind of half asleep. He slung his arm over my shoulders and pulled me close to him, and my entire body tensed in nervousness.

He chuckled. "Relax, babe."

I puffed out my cheeks and pouted. "Stop calling me babe!"

He just laughed and pulled me closer.

As the movie continued, I could barely focus. I had a man's arm around me! And we were sitting so close that our thighs were touching. And out of the corner of my eye I could see his sharp profile… omg! Why did he have to be so freaking attractive?! I tried to keep my breath steady. I felt stiff and uncomfortable. During the whole movie, all I could think about was Grimmjow… how close he was… how his arm felt around me… how it felt to be sitting right up next to him… how good he looked… Jeez, what the hell was wrong with me? My tension kept building as time went on, and I just started to get more and more flustered. Then, finally, the movie ended. And as soon as the credits were rolling, Grimmjow spoke.

"Damn, I'm starving…" He grumbled.

I jumped to my feet, seeing this as an excuse to get some distance. "I'll make us something."

Not to my surprise, he followed me. I gathered everything that I would need to make us lunch, and he sat on the counter and watched me. I couldn't help but look at him, and of course he was smirking.

"So you can cook, huh?" He tilted his head, still watching me with his smirk spread across his face.

I averted my gaze, because I was already blushing just from looking at him. "Yeah, a little."

He just kept watching me… and it was making me so nervous. But I managed to cook our meals without messing anything up.

"So, I've been wondering something…" He had a curious tone to his voice.

I glanced at him over my shoulder. "And what's that?"

He hopped off of the counter and came closer to me. "What was a sweet girl like you doing out so late last night?"

I bit my lip, very aware of his close proximity. "I was at the library and I lost track of time…"

He laughed. "The library? Seriously?"

I turned around to face him, giving him a glare. "Yes, the library. I have a paper due tomorrow."

Then he laughed harder. "You're such a nerd!"

I kept glaring up at him. "Well what were you doing out so late, Mr. Balcony Creeper?!"

He deadpanned, looking at me like I was crazy. And then he doubled over in laughter. "Balcony Creeper?! Seriously?!"

I pouted. "Yes, seriously!"

All of a sudden he stopped laughing. And he leaned in really close to me, backing me up against the counter. "Well you were staring back at me… doesn't that make you a Balcony Creeper, too?"

I was taken aback. Dammit! "I was j-just trying to f-figure out who was staring at me!" I sputtered the words out.

"So knowing that someone was watching you… you still kept leaving your bedroom curtains open..." He leaned in so close that his lips touched my ear. "It's like you wanted me to watch you."

My breath caught in my throat. I knew that I was red in the cheeks, and probably up to my ears by now. "I did not!" I spat out.

He chuckled, his breath fanning over my ear and down my neck… it gave me shivers. He brushed his lips over my ear before pulling away, a lop-sided grin on his face. "You're so fucking cute…" He whispered.

I was struggling to breathe. He had been so close… And what was with people calling me cute?!

He took some steps backward and leaned against the opposite counter. "I was working late at my club. You're lucky that I happened to be driving home at that time and saw you all 'Damsel in Distress' and whatnot."

It took me a moment to realize what he was talking about… he was answering my question about what he was doing out so late. I frowned. "Damsel in Distress?"

He grinned at me. "It's a better nickname than Balcony Creeper."

I couldn't help but smile at him. "Well, you did save me… so would you rather I called you My Hero?"

His grin widened as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Call me whatever you want, babe. Just remember that I'm Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, and I'm the fucking King."

I laughed at how cocky and arrogant he looked as he said all of that. "The king of what?"

"The King." He shrugged. "The King of whatever the hell I feel like being at the time."

I tried to stifle my giggles. Then I realized what else he had said… "So you were working at a club?"

"Yeah, it's called The Castle." He said offhandedly.

I was connecting some strange dots in my head… He went by "The King" and he worked late at night at some sort of club… "So you're a stripper?" I mumbled, tilting my head.

He gave me a weird look, then started laughing again. "Hell, no!" He made an effort to calm down his laughing before continuing. "But I'm flattered that you think I'm hot enough to pull off a gig like that." He winked at me.

I just pouted and glared at him.

So he chuckled and continued. "I own a bunch of night clubs. Not strip clubs." He clarified.

I pondered the thought… and then the timer on the oven went off. I put everything together and Grimmjow actually helped me carry it to the dining room. As we were eating, he picked up the conversation again.

"So, I've decided that I'm going to take you to my club this weekend."

I blinked, looking at him to make sure that I heard correctly.

He chuckled at my reaction. "Don't worry, your face will be healed by then."

I sighed. "Am I even old enough?"

He rolled his eyes. "I own the damn place. So I make the rules."

I pursed my lips. "I'm a high school student… what would I do at a night club?"

He gave me an exasperated glare. "Hang out… dance…" and then he broke into a grin, "…drink."

I almost choked on my food. "I don't drink!"

He chuckled. "You're such a cute little nerd."

I groaned. He had complimented me and insulted me in one sentence. "And you're a creepy hero…" I grumbled.

He just laughed.

And then my phone beeped. I reached for it, but Grimmjow grabbed it first.

"Who's Renji?"

I sighed. "My friend from school. Now can I have my phone?"

He proceeded to read the text message. "He wants to know if you wanna go to some café or some shit…"

I groaned. "Well give me my phone and I'll answer him."

But he had already started texting back.

"What the hell are you doing?"

He cackled maniacally. "Just answering him for you."

I tried to grab my phone, but he held it out of my reach. "Grimmjow! Give me my phone!"

"Hang on, I'm almost done!" He finished whatever he was doing. Then he finally handed it over, grinning like a devil.

I quickly read the screen to see what he had done.

FROM RENJI: Hey, we're all going to the café. Wanna come?

TO RENJI: Can't. Busted my face. TTYL. XP

I gaped as I read it. And then the phone started ringing, and I jumped, nearly dropping the damn thing and earning a laugh from Grimmjow. And before I could even answer it, Grimmjow pulled it back away from me.

"Hello?" He answered smoothly.

I was horrified.

"She's currently indisposed at the moment." He was grinning, but you couldn't hear it in his voice. "Okay, kid. Have a nice day." And then he hung up the phone.

What the hell had just happened?! I stared at him, eyes wide and jaw dropped. "What did he say?"

He shrugged. "I don't remember." And then he got up and walked away.

I nearly screamed. But I didn't. I managed to compose myself while I was doing the dishes. And when I was finished, I found Grimmjow sitting casually in the TV room, waiting for me.

"So is that guy your boyfriend, or what?" He asked without even turning his gaze from the TV.

"No. He's just a friend from school…" I heard myself saying. It was true… I guess… I mean, in spite of the kiss, we hadn't exactly talked about being anything more than friends.

"Good." Grimmjow grinned, turning his sky blue eyes to look at me. "That means that I can have you."

My stomach fluttered… have me? What exactly did he want with me? I opened my mouth to respond, but he totally threw me off by grabbing my wrist and pulling me down onto the couch beside him. I stared up at him… his wild, blue hair and his vivid blue eyes… his lean, yet extremely muscular physique that was sprawled casually over the couch… He leaned in, his handsome face coming closer to mine, his lips pulled into a dangerous smirk…

"See something ya like, babe?" He whispered, his breath fanning across my face.

It felt like my heart had stopped in my chest. And all of a sudden it was very hard to breathe. "I, uh…" My lips were dry… so I licked them, trying to think of what I should say.

He chuckled. "Why don't you let me lick those luscious lips of yours?"

"G-Grimmjow!" I stuttered his name, feeling my cheeks get warm.

"Relax, babe." He laughed, leaning back into the couch. "Let's watch another movie."

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ZabuzasGirl, it's so good to hear from you! Thanks for reaching out :) Unfortunately those stories are on one of my old hard drives and need to be recovered, and I'm not sure when/if I'll be able to get around to it. I'm glad you liked them enough to ask about them, though! :)