Tied Together

Chapter 11: You're Mine.

He leads me to the side of the school behind a building away from the crowd. He is breathing heavily, his jaw constantly clenching and unclenching. It is clear to see that he is extremely agitated and frustrated.

In a second his muscular frame has me pinned against a brick wall. His arms on either side of my head, caging me in, trapping me. I am caught off guard, eyes wide staring up at him.

Dang, he is being kind of... rough.

He is so close our breaths are mingling. He is hot and sweaty, perspiration running across his forehead and his hair tousled. His cheeks are slightly flushed and he looks adorable- even when mad. But I am still nervous, I know he would never hurt me but he isn't exactly in the best mood right now and I am not sure what he wants with me.

Is he mad that I came to the game?

He takes a few deep breaths visibly trying to calm himself down. My throat is dry and I am confused but I patiently wait- he needs a minute. He closes his eyes leaning his forehead against mine and when he finally opened his eyes, there is a fire in them.

He meets my eyes squarely, his eyes staring deep into mine, devouring me with his eyes.

"That is it." He states firmly, no hint of hesitation in his voice.

"Your mine."

...what?

He quickly speaks before I can say anything- not like I could say anything at the moment, I am too shocked to conjure up a response.

"Just hear me out, please. My parents... well, they rejected their matches. But they are so in love with each other, they are happy together. I grew up being told that a 'match' was bullshit, that no one can tell you who to love and who to want. That you choose who you can fall for. So, I rejected you, because Lily and I... we were happy. Everything was great. My life was good."

He pauses closing his eyes, his jaw working. "And then I was matched to you..." He trails off.

"And I really thought I would be fine without you, that Lily and I could work."

He opens his eyes again and he is so close that I can see golden flecks in his warm brown eyes. He runs a hand through his hair tugging at the ends in frustration.

He sighs heavily, sounding like he is in physical pain.

"I can't fucking sleep anymore. Every time I close my eyes I see you and I stress about your injuries and if you are okay. I can't function properly too, I am pretty sure I have fucked up at least five of my tests, hell most of my teachers are worried that I am having home issues."

He grips his hair tightly, breathing through his nose. "And when you are around It feels like I can't breathe until I have you."

My chest tightens.

"You have no idea what you are doing to me, you are driving me insane." He breathes, dropping his hands to his side.

He looks tired- exhausted. 

My heart clenches for him, but I have too many problems in my life and I don't want to drag him into them. He has no idea the trouble I get myself in. I want to be selfish, so bad. He doesn't deserve to deal with my shit. I will not taint his sunshine, I can't bear the idea of that.

I wipe all emotion off my face as I speak, I don't want him to know just how much of what he said affected me inside.

"Ray, you made the right choice" I sigh pushing him away slightly.

He complies moving away slightly but refuses to move too far. He doesn't speak, his eyes dancing over my face.

"Lily is great. You guys are good together. I..." I look down at my shoes, digging the toe of them into the dirt. "You don't want to get yourself involved with me, trust me."

I feel a hand in my hair, gripping it gently but tight enough so he can manipulate my head to look up at him, drawing my attention back to his face.

"Fuck yes I do. I know I have been a major dick and you probably want nothing to do with me but I am going to make it up to you, I promise." He says, his hot breath brushing my lips.

I shiver.

This is what I wanted all along- for him to like me, to want me and god do I want him. I am so painfully attracted to this guy it hurts. He thinks he wants me but he doesn't know me. He doesn't know how broken and cold I am. I am afraid of when he does know me and gets involved in my life he will want to leave, and this will hurt much more than the first rejection.

"Ray- I'm serious. It is better if you stay away."

"Not going to happen."

I narrow my eyes at him, not happy with his answer.

"Yes, it is." I grit my teeth. "You made your decision, you chose her. You don't get to just come back to your backup option when you want to."

He grimaces. "You're not my... I want you."

I scowl, hating the way my heart hiccups. "Yeah well too late, you made your choice and it was the right one, so fuck off."

He winces and I instantly feel guilty. But it just confirms that I am not good enough for him, that he is a ray of sunshine and I am the darkness.

"Fair enough, I deserved that. But I am going to win you over Tate." 

"You won't" I grit back.

"No matter how hard you can't deny the match bond, trust me I have tried and I am done resisting it."

He leans closer to my ear and my body jerks backwards falling more into the wall. I try to move out of his space but he is just right back into mine.

"And I get the feeling you are resisting it too," He says his lips lightly brushing my ear.

I freeze."w-what?"

The way he is looking at me is almost predatory. He uses his hand in my hair to force my head to tilt to the side, baring my neck to him.

"So this doesn't affect you..." He leans down his hot breath brushing against my neck. My legs turn to noodles, thankfully I have the wall behind me supporting most of my weight. He slowly starts to trail hot wet kisses along my neck and I think I just died. My body combusts into flames and my brain has stopped functioning.

"Not one bit?" He murmurs against my skin.

My stomach clenches and my breathing hitched.

"Not a t-thing" I stutter slightly.

"Liar." He grunts, biting my neck hard. 

I gasp.

He grins against my neck.

My heart is now racing at an unhealthy pace and my breathing is laboured. He licks the spot he bit, soothing it.

I don't like this- I don't like how much I am liking this.

I push at his chest and he reluctantly takes a step back, allowing me to not be so intoxicated by his cologne. I stubble away from him, legs unsteady- drunk from his kisses. I shake my head trying to regain my thoughts and clear my hazy mind.

He looks pleased, trying to suppress a grin.

"Just- s-stay away from me." I say, trying to be firm but it sounds weak, like plea.

I quickly turn around- desperate to make some space between us. My legs feel like jelly and my heart is thumping so loud I wonder if people can hear it.

Well that confirms it, I am never going to another football game again!