Caught In Your Chaos ✓

Chapter Thirty-Seven

"You are quiet," Jake's voice pulled me out of my thought. I was rather busy pondering over my earlier actions. There wasn't any other reason than my crazy obsession over making Jake my protagonist's desired infatuation. And the only explanation for my attraction towards the noodlehead sitting beside me was that I desperately needed to date someone for real.

"There's nothing in common between us to talk about," I shrugged, giving him a tight-lipped smile. It was indeed true. We had nothing to talk about in common. Except for a million questions that I wanted to ask him, but I wasn't sure he would answer them.

"Are you saying we can't talk like civil people?" He asked with a soft smile focusing his attention on the road. He was a different person all of a sudden, and I liked that side of him. But I wasn't sure which one I was attracted to more.

"Only if you tell me the reason behind your interest in me. I'm not the type of girl you mess around with, then why are you forcing me to be around you." A little frown appeared on my face.

"And my presence doesn't please you, why?" he asked me, trying to divert the topic.

"Why don't you answer that for yourself?" All the images of him with other girls ran wild in front of my eyes. Did I want to be around that kind of guy? Never.

"I'm not justifying for my behavior. It is who I'm, and there's no denying that." He said and rolled his eyes.

"Of course, there's no denying you're a jerk." I laughed. I could see the way his face lost its color and was hit by autumn all of a sudden.

The car fell silent. He kept his gaze at the front, and his side profile didn't appear to be very calm either. Did my words make him sour?

"What's with the big face? You don't expect me to call you a gentleman, do you?" I sighed. His mood was tightening my lungs.

He took a deep breath, and I could see his lips twitching. "Can you afford this jerk as a friend?" What! Was he drunk or something?

"Don't look at me like that? By far, it has been hard on my conscience to force you on this hangout. Also, I have come to enjoy your company. And let's not deny the fact that you too enjoyed yourself." My heartbeats turned irregular. He enjoyed my company. So what if he did? It means nothing, right? It might be one of his techniques to woo innocent girls. But I wasn't the one he could run over that easily.

"I don't think we could be friends," I mumbled, not sure for him or to myself. It was true. Every time I was close to his chi, I lost control.

"You can take your time," He pulled over the parking lot of a casual, laid-back diner. The place wasn't very fancy but surely packed. I subconsciously adjusted the oversized hoodie around my body. It was apparent that the piece of clothing could catch a lot of eyes. "I know what you're thinking, but this diner has a special place in my heart." His voice was gentle again. He might be using that sentence for all the girls he took out for dinner. But then I remembered him telling me that he preferred fancy restaurants while taking girls on dates.

While we settled inside, my eyes fell on the purple patch on his cheek. The bruise was taking up its shape. I couldn't help but wince internally. The sight of his hurt face wasn't making my heart comfortable. There was something new I felt. And it was heavier than the feeling of attraction I had for him.

A girl approached with the menus and a glint of flirtatious air around her. No matter where he went, Jake always had some girls rolled up his sleeves.

The waitress never made her way towards me, paying all her attention to the jerk in front of me. I could see that Jake was rather cold since he entered the place. His concentration never shifted from the menu. He finally looked in her direction with an expressionless face and placed the order.