Page 109 of HER SISTER

After processing the attitude Mili so clearly just caught with me, I managed to piece together my own rebuttal.

"Considering I was trying to find you after all the shots you had last night. Yes, there's a problem," I mocked her words back to her.

Mili lazily raised her brows, "I can handle myself," she pointed out.

I gave her a narrowed look, clearly about to counter that statement with a bunch of facts—one being that we're currently out of the country, so not letting someone know your whereabouts is extremely dangerous.

However, before I could fact-check her, she managed to say—

"Besides, you're the one who doesn't care."

And just like that, all my previous thoughts disintegrated.

Feeling completely caught off guard by her accusation, I couldn't stop myself from saying, "Are you kidding me right now?"

I had quite literally searched for her for at least an hour—I even headed back to the villa to see if she went there.

I almost pushed myself into a full-on fucking panic attack at the idea of her out there completely disoriented.

And now she's saying I don't care?

Mili shrugged, "Your words, not mine," she emphasized.

And suddenly, my brows were knit together—when did I ever say that I didn't care?

I mean, I haven't even been around her less than twenty-four hours—

I froze slightly, suddenly remembering the bathroom conversation that I had with Mya and Arielle last night.

"You heard me in the bathroom?" I asked, but it seemed to come out more as a statement.

Mili lazily raised her brows, "Yeah," she said distastefully.

And now I seemed to piece together everything, including the bathroom door opening and shutting before that group of girls walked in.

Now it really made sense why she started drinking so much.

She thinks I don't care about her.

But what I said only regarded caring about other girls, or even exes for that matter.

Of course, I still care about her.

"Clearly you only heard one part of the conversation if that's what you're basing this off of," I said, knowing that after I said I didn't care, I later said that I still loved her and that I was done caring about specific things.

"I didn't need to hear anything else," Mili determined as she picked up her mug to take a sip of her coffee.

"Well, clearly you did because I was only saying that I didn't care about other girls anymore. It was after that one girl pulled you off onto the dance floor," I explained, hoping that we could just drop this entire miscommunication and have a good trip.

Mili sat her mug back down, "Oh so that didn't bother you? Because we were dancing pretty—"

"Clearly you didn't finish dancing with her if you heard our conversation," I cut her short mostly for my sake.

It's definitely okay for me to be bothered by other people touching Mili in that way, there's just a much healthier approach when you're secure within yourself.

You can be bothered without being insecure, which was something I had learned the hard way.

Mili shrugged, "Who's to say I didn't go back?" she said as she carefully stared between my eyes.

She wants a reaction.

She wants to know that I still care.

"What point are you trying to prove right now?" I said as I carefully looked between her eyes.

But I knew exactly what she was trying to prove, all she had to do was say—

Do you still care?

And I wouldn't hesitate to say yes.

But instead, Mili seemed to say, "You don't have to worry about me."

And it was clear that she was recircling back to the original topic.

An obvious topic change.

I suddenly sat my bowl of fruit down on the counter beside me, "Oh? So if I go do exactly what you pulled last night, you wouldn't be pressed?"

Mili carefully glanced between my eyes before she said, "It's your life, Ana."

My brows unconsciously raised as I nodded to myself, knowing that her words were a complete lie.

She would one hundred percent be just as much, if not, more pressed than I was.

But instead, I decided to push her further.

"And if I go off dancing with someone else. Maybe go flirt with another—"

"Do it," Mili suddenly cut me short, and it wasn't hard to miss the way she suddenly leaned away from the counter to stand fully.

I defensively crossed my arms over my chest.

And my actions alone easily diverted Mili's stare down for a brief second before she met my eyes again.

"Yeah?" I countered back as I ignored the heat that managed to grow all over my body from her open actions alone.

However, I only managed to grow hotter when Mili took a sudden step toward me.

Barely leaving a small gap between us as she carefully stared down into my eyes and said—

"I fucking dare you to, Atiana."

My face suddenly grew unbearably hot as her stare held mine, clearly watching me fold under her pressure.

It was her lowered tone—

The way she pronounced my name so carefully... I knew that my words alone had definitely pushed her to her limit.

At least she knows at least a quarter of what I felt last night after she had pushed me to mine.

Yet, I only wanted to push her further.

"Careful now... dare is a really dangerous word to use."

My tone managed to match her lowered one—as I took a challenging step toward her, which easily closed the gap between us.

Mili's dark eyes carefully scanned mine as a tense silence grew between us.

She seemed entirely unamused, especially with how tightened her jaw was.

I expected her to get even more irritated on the spot, especially since I quite literally just challenged her.

Yet, all she did was remain silent.

One beat passed.

Then a second.

And a third.

Until suddenly—

Mili's lips twitched up into an amused smirk.

And out of everything I expected her to do, it was not—

Laugh?

A full-on beautiful laugh managed to fall from her lips.

And while I wanted to grow in awe of the beautiful sound that I hadn't heard in ages, I couldn't help but grow irritated.

Suddenly concluding that she wasn't taking me seriously.

Mili smiled slightly to herself, easily taking a step back from me and picking up her mug before she said—

"You wouldn't."

She seemed completely set—like she knew for a fact that I wouldn't challenge what she had previously declared.

That I wouldn't flirt with another woman or possibly take it further.

And suddenly I felt entirely defensive.

Now we were playing with fire.

Specifically Mili.

I took a sudden step toward her, reaching up to slowly lower the mug in her hands before it could make it to her lips.

And my actions alone managed to make Mili tilt her head in challenge.

Yet, I only held her stare completely unaffected as I said, "Correct me if I'm wrong—"

I took another step toward her, easily closing the gap between us yet again.

"Wasn't I the one who had you crumbling underneath me numerous times?" I pointed out, suddenly feeling emboldened.

Mili raised a brow as she carefully analyzed my face for a bluff.

That she wasn't going to find.

I'm always down to prove a point, especially right now.

I hummed to myself, "I quite literally spit into your mouth while I fucked you and you took that, Milan," I said, suddenly leaning up into her, which easily left our faces centimeters apart.

It was silent.

So fucking silent as both our eyes remained locked on each other with precision.

I smiled innocently, "So yes, I fucking would," I lowered my tone, purposefully drawing out my words, so she knew what game she was playing.

Mili's jaw grew tighter, however, before she could say anything else in rebuttal, I heard Mya suddenly call out from the patio—

"Ana? Are you up?"

My smile only grew as I leaned away from Mili, clearly satisfied with the irritation I had caused within her.

I swear the mug in her hands was on the verge of breaking due to her tightened grip alone.

I grabbed my bowl of fruit, "You know, I think we can both agree that I'm very competitive when it comes to games—especially dares," I murmured in insinuation, deciding that I would be proving a point to her.

And I swear, as soon as my eyes landed on Mili, I wanted to burst out into laughter.

I had never seen her so fucking tense in my entire life.

I almost considered if she was about to drag me out of the room with the way she was staring at me with such precision.

A calm sigh fell from my lips, "Well, enjoy your coffee," I murmured, purposefully patting her shoulder as I walked past her.

And it wasn't hard to miss the loud clatter that echoed behind me—which was due to Mili setting her mug down so harshly.

Guess that's a point for me.