Love Contract novel Chapter 23

The men were burly and fierce, intimidating to look at. They pulled the drunkard off the ground and turned to William, "You, brat! You're quite the skilled martial artist. Why not spar with us, give us a little practice ?"

"Or would you prefer to have a drink with us? AHA..." laughed another of the men.

William frowned at this, remaining silent. Mary felt a thick tension brewing in the air.

William, sneering, put his slender fingers on the buttons of his suit and began unbuttoning them one at a time.

"Mary," William leaned in to whisper in her ear, "we're going to run on the count of 3."

"What ?" She was a little scared and at the same time quite amazed at what he had just done. Knowing what he meant by those words, she gripped her high heels tight and nodded sternly.

"One," William began, standing in a powerful pose.

The fierce men were surprised, he seemed to be brave. "Two."

They rubbed their hands together and slowly approached them like hungry wolves eyeing their next meal.

"Three, run!"

William yelled before turning on his heels and sprinting away, pulling Mary along with him.

They ran towards the parking lot as fast as they could.

"You little brat! How dare you try and fool us!" The men they had left in their wake stood stunned for a moment before they realized they had been fooled. They all picked up weapons and charged at the two of them screaming, "Stop!"

"You'd have to be a fool to stop now!" Mary yelled back at them, throwing her heels at them as she did. "You bastards! Come and catch me if you can!"

The two of them kept running, still holding each other's hands tightly.

"Get in the car!" They ran to the parking lot and William opened the car door, pushing Mary in. He then quickly got himself into the car as well.

The car squeaked to life and they sped off. The men threw a stool at them but it didn't even come close. William and Mary roared off into the distance, leaving the group of strong men beating their chests and screaming in despair.

"I'm so tired..." William said heaving. "A gang of bastards, ruffians and hooligans..." Mary added, out of breath as she collapsed in the front seat.

"You... You're quite a fast runner," William said, impressed and gasping for air.

"Yeah... I used to... Be the best runner in my school."

"Ha... I would have never said so before tonight, " William said in amusement.

"I'm old, old..." Mary said taking a bottle of water out of her bag.

"You've just finished running and you're already drinking," William said, incredulous.

"I just need it," she replied wiping her mouth with her sleeve. "Do you want a drink or not?"

William took a dry swallow and said, "I'll drink when we're back at the room."

"I know you're shy," Mary responded, "But we just went through a whole lot of trouble together, so don't mind it. Come on." ...

She put the bottle to William's lips and said, "Drink, I'll hold it for you."

His throat was dry and his chest burning, he couldn't refuse the water now. He opened his mouth and drank.

Beads of sweat began forming on his forehead and his Adam's apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed gulp after gulp. Some spilled out the corner of his mouth and slowly dripped down his neck, into his shirt and on his chest.

He was quite a romantic image at that moment.

"You're so beautiful," Mary said, staring at him like a depraved demon. "No wonder that drunkard flirted with you instead of me."

"Puff!"

William choked on the water and coughed some out as he glared at her intensely. "You want to die, don't you, Mary?" "No, I don't. I'm telling the truth. You really are beautiful," she said with a fawning smile.

"That's just because you're too ugly!"