Never Have I Ever (One Last Time # 1) (Wattys2017)

Believe It Or Not

I stood paralyzed under Abel's knowing gaze.

How could he have possibly realized that I was in love with Adrian just by being there to see the scene outside? Or had I been so obvious about it at other times that he had just put two and two together?

"What?" I eventually choked out, swallowing the lump in my throat. He stretched his arms behind his head, taking a step into the room.

"I said that you're in love with Mr. Know It All out there, right?" I started to shake my head, my sweaty hands starting to clench and unclench at my sides.

"Abel, I-"

"Don't worry, Liv. My lips are sealed, baby!" He tossed himself on to my bed with a loud, obnoxious groan. Once he had gotten comfortable, he pulled out his phone and patted the spot beside him.

" You did a great job at the library by the way." He said with a lopsided grin as I sat on my towel so I wouldn't wet my sheet and blanket.

"Oh God, it was terrible." I could feel myself blushing in embarrassment, my hands rubbing my damp cheeks.

"It was great. A lot better then mine. I had to spend the next two hours explaining to the cops why I had was singing Ozzy Osborne in the middle of a library. It wasn't fun." I tried not to smile, but it won out in the end, stretching across my face as Abel pulled the video up on his phone.

I watched as Abel moved in front of the camera, his green eyes shimmering like emeralds with amusement.

"May the best person win, Olivia." The Abel on camera said with a wink before he spun around on his heels and stalked toward the middle of the library, his signature cocky smirk on his face. I felt a laugh building in my chest as he belted at the lyrics, sounding like a screeching cat. He shut the phone off half way through and glared at me.

"So you think it's funny that I had to sit in a police station for two hours?" He asked, pushing me back so I was nearly falling off the bed.

"No!" I said, grabbing on to his wrist, "I swear to God, if you push me off this bed you're dead, Abel." He sat up, nudging my legs off the bed slowly.

"Your threats scare me, Liv. They really do." He said, inches from pushing me off the bed completely. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him down with me as we both fell to the floor, laughing.

I turned my head back to face him, only to have the laugh become nothing more than a new lump in my throat. Abel was only a few inches away, his body so close that I could feel the heat radiating off of it.

"Uh, Abel?" I said, clearing my throat. He jumped up, scratching the back of his head. He almost looked. . . nervous.

"Really, though." He picked up where we left off with the conversation, "You got out of the library without them catching you, so technically you won this one." We sat back down on the bed, the awkwardness starting to fade.

"Since when is this a competition?" I said, giving him a pointed look. He nudged me with his elbow, gesturing toward the few trophies that stood in front of my books on the book shelf across the room.

"You're just as competitive as I am. So I thought we'd make this a little more challenging." He explained, falling back on to my bed and dropped his phone on to his chest.

"So far it's three to two." He rolled his eyes, making sure I could see him do so. I yawned and laid back beside him, my legs still hanging off the bed as I kicked them back and forth.

"Of course you've been keeping track. You and your weird liking for Math." I flicked his bicep, knowing it wouldn't hurt him, that he might not feel it whatsoever.