NO Love Club (Boy × Boy) ✔

43) 110%

I just posted a chapter yesterday, but I thought to surprise you with another one. I've been testing your patience with this slowest of the slow slow burn, but I promise we are getting somewhere here.. and to speed up the process, here we have another (short-ish) chapter. I hope you enjoy it!

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X Bélizaire's POV 

My blood roaring in my ears was a steady hum and all my muscles were tense and ready to explode into movement. I tried not to stare at Cole, as the mere sight of him was enough to make my heartbeat accelerate to a maddening thunder. And yet, I couldn't turn my gaze away.

The teacher's voice blurred to the background, to a point where he might as well have been talking double Dutch. I didn't even bother to take notes, the entire operation would have been doomed to fail. Cole and I were finally going to talk.

I was going to take my chance on him.

Unfortunately, we wouldn't have much time to talk, as Chloe would be waiting for Cole and I had a shift to get to. Ideally, we would have taken our time to have the conversation, but I felt like I was going to drop dead if I had to wait another day.

I no longer cared about losing the bet. The hell with my pride, if the price was Cole. I don't know why admitting it, even to myself, was so freaking difficult, but I had never wanted anyone like I wanted him. His stupid jokes, his snarky comments, his attitude. The deep, soft sound of his laughter. The smile curving up the corners of his mouth. The scent of his body wash, which always made me think about the ocean. 

Likely Cole could feel my eyes boring into him, as he turned to glance over his shoulder. He didn't look the least surprised to find me staring at him, and instead just made a face. It made me chuckle, which I quickly muffled with my hand, but it was too late by then. I had already caught the attention of half of the class.

Next to me, Noah had a small smile on his lips, something I wasn't used to seeing on his otherwise passive face. He even gave me an encouraging nod, revealing exactly how much he had already guessed about Cole and I. Wilder was grinning as well, so I thought he had nothing against it.

But I guess he didn't like the amused look Declan gave me from the other side of the room. It was difficult to liaise between two groups of friends and try to balance between getting enough time with Cole while trying not to seem like I had already picked Declan's side. Wilder was my friend and I liked him about a million times better than Declan, but I felt like Wilder's story had more holes than Swiss cheese.

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me.." Cole cursed, right after we had decided we would have our long-awaited talk by the bleachers. We picked the location, because Cole would see the parking lot and Chloe's arrival from there, while it still offered some privacy. 

I also thought the place fitting, as it had been there when I first realized how much I enjoyed his company. We had been waiting for Chloe that day as well, and I had hoped she would never show up. Yet, in the end, the time had passed by too quickly, when we had joked and talked about our siblings. 

I followed Cole's gaze to find Declan jabbing a finger into Wilder's chest, while Wilder laughed scornfully. They were standing near the parking lot gates, likely having been on their way to their cars, before either Declan or Wilder had started the fight. Cole turned the chair to their direction, wheeling so furiously his muscles strained with the effort, but I was faster on my feet.

"It's not worth it, Wilder, just.." Noah was telling Wilder in a quiet, low voice, but stopped short as soon as he spotted Cole and me.

"What's going on?" I separated Wilder from Declan by creating a human barrier between them.

Declan and Wilder started explaining at the same time, their voices drowning each other out. I could tell that Declan was seriously pissed off while Wilder was only mildly irked at best. They continued shouting at each other and Declan even made an effort to sneak past me. Fortunately he was a head shorter than me and there wasn't much force in his scrawny arms, so I could stop him even with the sling. 

"Jesus Christ." Cole fumed, glaring up at Declan and Wilder. It made everyone stop what they were doing, as they waited for Cole's next words. How could he possess such authority? "What are you? Five?"

"It was Decla—" Wilder started. 

"No." Cole interrupted him.

"But serio—" Declan joined.

"No. None of that." Cole ordered, shaking his head firmly. "X and I have something important to talk about and I do not have time for your petty arguments. So are you going to kiss and make it up or what?"

"We're not.." Declan's voice trailed off as Cole continued to glare at him. Then he shrugged and averted his gaze. "Okay, sorry. We're done."

"Yeah." Wilder gave in as well.

"Can I trust that you idiots behave or.. dammit." Cole cursed when a honk of a car stole his attention to a familiar car waiting in the parking lot. Thanks to Wilder and Declan, we had missed our chance to talk. "Well, that's just great. I have to get going. X, can you..?"

"Yeah." I didn't wait for him to finish, but followed after him.

"I can't keep her waiting." Cole sighed, apologetically, his gaze flicking at Chloe's direction. I felt a pang of disappointment in my chest, but nodded all the same. We would just have to wait a little longer, and I could still hold on to my resoluteness. "Do you want to come over tomorrow? My parents and Chloe are out and Aunt Dahlia can't make it, so we can have the house all to ourselves."

"Yes." My disappointment was replaced by a spike of enthusiasm, and Cole gave me a curious look after seeing the beaming smile lighting up my face. I tried dialing it down a bit and went on: "Okay, yeah, sure. I'll see you tomorrow then."

Cole gave me a quick salute, before making his way to Chloe. I watched him as he went, not even noticing the wide smile on my lips. Being around him made me feel warm, buzzing with excitement. My skin freaking tingled when he touched me. Was this how it felt to love someone?

I didn't stop smiling even as I turned back to Declan, Wilder and Noah. They were still wrangling and scowling, but it lacked its previous intensity. When I joined them, a silence so deafening you could hear a pin drop fell upon us. They gaped at my smiling face, and to say they were confused would be a grand understatement.

I was smiling, because Wilder had been wrong. He had claimed Cole would always choose Declan in the end, but today he had chosen me. He had made no compromises, but stood his ground. He had said yes. For that reason alone, I didn't feel bad letting him know he had won the bet.

It was not a NO Love Club, but more like a self-fulfilling prophecy. I had only been joking when I challenged him, and honestly thinking that I would never ever fall for a guy like him. Little did I know that by insisting on that, I was going to fall for my own trap. And I had fallen oh so deep. I knew it had to be love, 110%.

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Question of the day:
Do you like poetry?

(Me: Yes. Just not the rhyming kind. My favorite poets are Pablo Neruda, Sylvia Plath and Charles Bukowski.)