Okay, so I need to give another warning: I originally made this story rated M. Then I saw that it wouldn't show up on the main page, so no one would ever see it and read it (Thanks again to everyone who has!). So I changed it to T. It's not that inappropriate, meaning there's no explicit sex in it (none at all, in fact), but it is still a little racy and not something I would want my twelve-year-old child reading. And this chapter is probably the extent of that. Just being courteous and warning y'all!

-Fanna

AZ

Minerva looked up into the showerhead, eyes closed, letting the warm rain wash away all the dirt and grime from that evening's practice. When she had finished, she stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself in a fluffy towel from the heated rack. She eyed the stack of underwear and pajamas she had brought from home, debating whether she should put them on or not. Min took a deep breath and realized that she was shaking, no doubt due to the knowledge that Az was waiting for her outside in his bedroom. She had been spending a couple nights a week in his mansion for the past month or so, but still no action had happened between them. Min just fell right asleep most nights, exhausted and aching after practice, too spent to oblige Az and his wishes.

Min knew that she was supposed to walk out of the bathroom wrapped in the towel, eyes smoldering, and let it drop to the floor in a way that was so casual and yet so sexy. That was what the girls always did in all those stupid new-pretty dramas, but Min needed to be honest with herself. She would never be like that in a million years. She opted to put on the purple silk pajamas and opened the door.

Az was already in bed, his shirt off, his face waiting. Min walked over, perhaps a bit too slowly, and lay down beside him. Az drew her towards him under the covers and kissed her. Minerva hugged him back and laid her head down on his shoulder, for a moment just enjoying his warmth and solidness. "I love you," he said softly.

"I love you too," Min practically mumbled back.

It wasn't that she didn't love him. She truly did. Just not in the way that he wanted her to. Minerva had felt a connection to Az from the start. They had so much in common, unlike her and Max. These days, Min wondered how they had even become friends in the first place. Sometimes, it just felt like a wild twist of fate that she and Max had even begun talking to each other...

Min was distracted from these disturbing thoughts when she felt Az fiddling with her front buttons. Then he reached in her shirt and unhooked her bra. Next he would slide off her bottoms. Min knew the routine. This happened every time, and she hated it. They would go to bed, and Min would be filled with warmth and happiness, feeling like she could lie beside Az the whole night, talking about their hopes and dreams...and then this had to happen and spoil it all.

He had her completely naked now, and was probably taking off his own pants. This was usually the moment when Min would start hyperventilating, though hardly out of a burning desire, like Az most likely thought she was.

"You're beautiful," he said, his hands on her breasts. "You know, you really stand out. When I first saw you, I thought that you didn't look like any other new pretty girl I had ever seen before." Az said this a lot, although Min knew she wasn't his first girlfriend. She wondered how many others he had said that to. He made a trail of kisses down her jaw, while caressing her bare flesh with his hands. Min's eyes burned, beginning to well with tears of frustration. Why couldn't she perform the deed she was meant to?

But she still gave the same excuse she did every time. "I'm sorry, Az, but I'm too tired," she said. "Practice was really hard today. Maybe after the world championship is over."

And just like that, Az stopped. "Okay, sweetheart," he said, and kissed her forehead. And he didn't argue, or even protest in the slightest. Because despite all his bubbly seriousness, Az was still just a new pretty. And new pretties never said "no." Except for Min.

If you've just read this chapter and decided that this was the worst story ever and will never read it again, I beg of you to hang in there with me for ONE MORE CHAPTER. I swear. Then decide if you will keep reading it. Chapter 10 will be amazing, I promise.