The Moment I Stepped Into His World as the Fake Girlfriend, I Became the Real Prize novel Chapter 43

Her hand was small, incredibly soft, and flawless, catching Sterling's eye and momentarily blurring his focus.

"What did you say?"

His tone was tight, the corners of his eyes flushed with heat.

Thanks to her audacious offer, his mind instantly flooded with highly inappropriate fantasies.

Especially since they had their fingers intertwined just a short while ago, and the lingering warmth of her touch hadn't completely faded.

If those soft hands were to wrap around him now...

In an instant, Sterling's torment skyrocketed, pushing him to the absolute brink of losing his sanity.

"Elena, how dare you—"

He was already struggling to calm down, and as the main culprit, she was just adding fuel to the fire!

"I was just joking. I was trying to distract you..."

Honestly, Elena regretted the words the second they left her mouth.

They were in a classroom packed with students, and the old professor was standing right there.

He was easily embarrassed, his crush was sitting just a few rows ahead, and her suggestion was wildly inappropriate with absolutely zero chance of actually happening.

Realizing this, she tried to slowly pull her hand back.

But in the next second, he abruptly grabbed her wrist, making Elena gasp in surprise.

His palm was searing hot, slick with sweat, the intense heat threatening to burn right through her skin.

"You think this is the time for jokes?"

Sterling's usually clear voice was dangerously raw and deep.

"Are you trying to get yourself into trouble?"

His eyes were pitch-black, resembling a bottomless abyss radiating an unknown, predatory danger.

"Okay, bad joke. Just let me go first. I promise I won't joke around anymore!"

Elena offered a nervous smile before wincing sharply.

His grip on her wrist was so tight she feared he might actually bruise her.

"Sterling, that hurts..."

She ended up waiting for an entire class period.

As the class neared its end, she noticed the deep flush finally fading from his face and neck, allowing her to quietly exhale in relief.

Perhaps out of a lingering sense of guilt, she waited until Sterling wasn't paying attention and covertly poked the male student sitting in front of her.

The boy turned around, and upon seeing Elena's radiant, stunning smile, he completely froze.

"Hey, could I buy that unopened bottle of water from you?"

Elena had typed the message on her phone and held the screen up for him to read.

Snapping out of his daze, he grabbed the untouched bottle of water from his desk and placed it right in front of her.

"Show me your code, I'll pay you."

She typed another line, but the boy just shook his head, signaling that she could have it for free.

Elena, however, hated taking advantage of people. The boy stole a quick glance at Sterling, noting that he was leaning on his arm, facing the other way.

He pulled up his QR code and asked shyly, "Could we add each other, and you just send the money through the app?"

Without overthinking it, Elena added him and sent the money over. "Thanks!"