The Arranged Bride

Sophia's POV

"Five more minutes." I replied while putting on the earrings. I and Nick were going to attend a gala and Ethan would be staying with Amy. It had been three weeks to our honeymoon but regardless of the number of times we have had sex, I haven't recovered from my shyness. On the other hand Nick was becoming more and more blunt with each passing day. No matter what, I could never cope up with his uncensored vocabulary.

But honestly, we have become transparent to each other over the past few weeks. It's as if communication is even easier between us now.

"Mom, you look so beautiful!" Ethan gushed. Nick had chosen the dress for me to wear to the gala tonight and I must admit that the dress is swoon worthy. It was a champagne gold one shoulder dress with a thigh slit. I paired it up with nude heels and a pair of hoop earrings. Putting my hair up in a messy updo, I completed it with a nude makeup.

"Thank you baby." Ethan immediately scrunched his nose up in annoyance causing me to chuckle.

"Done yet or I should..." Nick trailed off once his eyes fell on me. He was shamelessly checking me out but I wasn't anything better. He looked tempting as his perfect muscles bulged through his black Armani suit, hair neatly gelled and beard perfectly trimmed. I could bet that I was looking at him like a hawk.

"Why are you staring at each other like there is double cheeseburger in front of you?" Ethan's voice broke our trance. I blinked multiple times, not knowing what to do. This li'l guy can really embarrass you if he wants to.

While my face flushed with embarrassment, Nick just chuckled.

"You look stunning." He complimented looking into my eyes.

"And you look handsome." He was. In fact he looked much more than just handsome.

"Shall we?" He offered his hand to me. I put my hand in his and gave a nod.

Nick's POV

We came out of the car and made our way to the venue. Paparazzis were covering the front of the entrance. Just on seeing us, they started throwing questions at us about our honeymoon. Sophia answered some of them until one.

" So should we expect a tiny Carter within some months ?" Sophia didn't blush at that. Instead I felt her stiffen beside me.

"Ahh let's see." Giving a vague reply, I made a move to enter. Leo and Chris walked us inside.

Are you okay?" I asked Sophia.

"Yeah." She gave me a smile to which I nodded.

We greeted a lot of people, business associates mostly. I kept Sophia by my side all night to keep her away from the horny men until she walked off to get a drink while I was in the middle of an important conversation.

When I looked again to check on her, a guy was standing with her while she was all smiles. I was purely irritated with the scene. Who does he think he is? Approaching a married woman. I felt a restlessness inside me.

I wasn't able to concentrate on the conversation going on here. I kept glancing at Sophia every now and then until I had enough.

While I made my way towards them, I heard Sophia laughing. Jealousy coursed through me as I looked at another man making her laugh like that.

I stood beside her and putting a hand around her waist, pulled her to me.

The guy's curious gaze meet my heated stare.

"Nick, meet Austin. We were friends in the high school. Austin, he is Nick, my husband." Sophia introduced us. Each time she introduced me as her husband, it made me feel strangely good.

"Oh Sophia, come on, tell him we weren't just friends. We were in fact high school sweethearts." He adoringly smiled at Sophia.

If possible, my hold on Sophia tightened. I clenched my jaws and stared straight into his eyes clearly warning him to back off.

"Austin!" She said with wide eyes but was still smiling. If I wasn't mad already, this really did the job. Why was she smiling at her ex?

"We had such good memories, especially the lunch breaks." He sighed dreamily like he was having a nice walk down the memory lane.

"Just shut up, will you ?" Sophia by now was laughing and Austin was grinning as well. I swear I felt like breaking his jaws.

"Well I have never been really interested in history. If you would excuse us, we need to leave." I didn't wait for his answer as I started walking off subtly pulling Sophia along.

"I will see you later Soph." He called from behind. He had a nickname for her? Ofcourse he had, if they were high school sweethearts.

"See you, my ass." I murmured.

Sophia chuckled at that.

"Yeah sure Austin." She replied. This just added to me seemingly growing anger.

Sophia's POV

Nick didn't even speak to me throughout the ride. He kept looking out of the window. As soon as we reached, he went out of the car and walked straight inside the house.

After changing into my clothes as I

came into our room, Nick wasn't there. After a whole of five minutes,↓

found him in his study. He didn't even look up at me. He was in his t-shirt and sweats and looked quite handsome but again when did he not look good!

I folded my arms across my chest and leaned against the frame of the door, observing him. He angrily went through a lot of papers, venting out his frustration on the laptop keys. After a few minutes, I walked in. Standing behind him, I swivelled his chair around to face me. Before he could get up, I sat on his lap straddling him.

He huffed like an angry kid and turned his face away.

"Nick." I called but his eyes seemed to find the blank wall more interesting than my face.

"Why are you angry?" He looked at me like I had stolen his favourite candy.

"Why do you care? Go back to your highschool sweetheart, Austin or what ever his name is." He again looked away. I bit my lips to stop the laughter from escaping.

"I would have stayed a bit longer and talked to him. You are the one who dragged me out." He snapped his head towards me, hurt clear on his face. I would lie if I say that I didn't feel bad for him but still I continued.

"You like him?" He asked as if dreading the answer.

"Of course I do and we haven't met in such a long while.I think we should meet up someday at a coffee-" He cut me off.

"Sophia ... I love you." He looked at me, uncertainty lacing his words. His eyes held a certain vulnerability, a fear that he was going to be walked over. It was like a plea to understand his feelings. I honestly felt like a monster.

I held his face with both my hands

and put my lips on his. He didn't waste time in kissing me back. Placing his hand around my waist he pulled me closer and hungrily. kissed me, sucking and nibbling on my lower lip. He traced my lips with his tongue asking for entrance which I gladly granted. His desire for me was so evident in his kiss. We

parted as we felt the need to

breathe. I joined our foreheads,

hearing each other pant.

"I love you too Nick. You don't have to be insecured, you know? I could never possibly walk out on you with my heart intact." I whispered against his lips. He nuzzled his nose in the crook of my neck. "Why were you smiling at your ex like that? I guess he is your ex for a reason." He pulled back to look at me.

"Austin.." Nick's hand automatically gripped my waist tighter at the mention of his name. " isn't my ex." Nick looked at me in confusion.

"He is gay. He has a boyfriend." Nick's eye's widened like they were going to pop out any moment.

"Then why..." He trailed off.

"To rile you up. During our school, he always used to pull pranks at everyone and he is still the same." I explained running my hand through his hair.

"And you decided to play along?" He asked with a straight face.

"Well it's pretty nice to see you jealous,you know ?" I shrugged.

"Ah is it? Now don't you think that you, my dear wife deserve a punishment for teasing your poor husband?" He had a playful smirk on his face.

"Do I now ?"I innocently asked to which he nodded before he picked me up and slung me over his shoulder, making his way to our bedroom.