Checkmate (Sequel to Game On)

Chapter 16: Choose Your Battles Wisely

I'm gasping for air, my lungs desperately trying to fill itself with oxygen. My throat and lungs are on fire and I don't even know if I'm crying or not because my whole face is drenching wet, my hair sticking to my face.

"P-lease, Ni-" I try to beg him once again but I'm cut off by being pushed down into the water again, or correctly said, because of my face being pushed under the surface as so many times before. I thought last time this happened would be the first and the last but I was wrong.

It feels like my heart will jump out of my chest any second now because of how fast and hard it is beating.

As I start to feel dizzy and black spots starts to appear in my blurry vision under the water, I'm pulled up again, immediately separating my lips to cough up the water I accidentally swallowed and replace it with air.

"I think that's enough", I hear Nick murmurs, "have you learned your lesson yet?"

I nod shakily, not being as strong as I would want to right now. He found my weakness and there's nothing I can do about it.

Nick puts his fingers under my chin, forcing me to meet his gaze.

"Don't just nod", he says with a sickly sweet voice, "answer me."

I don't want to do as he tells me but the fear of being pushed down into the water again is too strong and I find myself answering him.

"Y-yes."

He smiles at me and wraps his arms around my small body. "That's my girl."

I don't want to be in his embrace but I can't seem to find the strength to pull back and instead I find myself clutching the back of his shirt with my hand and burying my face in his chest, wetting his shirt in the progress.

I know for a fact that he didn't keep going as long time as before because of the fact that I did end up in a state of shock the first time, but he doesn't have to go on for long in order to scare me. I hate water, I hate being underwater and it is thanks to him.

"Let's get you out of the wet clothes", Nick says and carefully pry my hands off of his shirt and gently push me towards the door.

We go back upstairs to his bedroom and he searches through his wardrobe and gives me a black T-shirt and a pair of grey sweatpants.

"Put this on, I'll be back in two minutes", he says and walks out of the room, closing the door after him.

I walk away from the door, not really trusting that he won't barge through it any second, and then strip out of my clothes and put the new ones on when I'm as far away from it as possible.

I notice that my hands are shaking because I'm cold and I sit down on the edge of his bed, waiting for him to come back.

Surprisingly enough, he knocks on the door before entering and when he sees me his lips curls upwards into a smirk and I bet that I look like a bag of potatoes.

His shirt reaches down to my mid thigh but that's not the worst, the worst is that his sweatpants would've gone down past my feet if I didn't curl up the ends - three times. I don't even know what I would do if it wasn't for the elastic waistband that I luckily managed to tie hard enough to fit my waist.

Nick throw a glance at my wet clothes that lie in a pile on the floor and without saying a word, he nonchalantly takes off his shirt and let it fall to the floor as well.

I try my best to ignore the fact that he got perfectly toned abs and focus on my hands that rest in my lap instead.

"There's nothing wrong with looking, you know?" he says, his voice full of amusement. I don't answer and keep looking down until he speaks up again.

"You can turn on the stereo if you want to."

With my attention being focused on my hands, I don't hear what he says but I quickly look up at the sound of his voice. "Huh? Sorry I didn't hear.... oh my-"

My eyes widen for a slight second as I see Nick pulling his pants off, leaving him in only his boxers.

I feel a blush spreading on my cheeks and I turn my head in another direction, my hair falling down in front of my face, shielding it. Nick chuckle at my reaction and I hear the sound of the drawers in the wardrobe being pulled out. A few moments later the stereo goes on, rock music blasting through the speakers and somewhat calming me down a little bit. Before I know it, arms wrap around my waist and I almost jump out of my skin, cursing myself afterward for being scared.

"You're freezing, gorgeous", Nick murmurs in my ear and gently kiss the skin underneath it. I shudder and notice that I have goosebumps on my arms and not only because of the cold.

"I'll be fine", I whisper, still not moving.

Nick sighs from behind me and his arms leave my waist as he straightens himself up and walks past me to go to the other side of the bed. I notice that he's still shirtless but he did put on a pair of sweatpants.

"Come here", he tells me as he lies down on the mattress, resting his head on his arm he placed behind himself on the pillow.

I bite my bottom lip and think for a while before I slowly move up towards the free spot beside him.

"I don't bite", he smirks and pulls me down so that our sides are touching, my head resting on his shoulder.

We both fall into a silence that wears out as the rock song comes to an end and Nick speaks up, his chest vibrating as he does so.

"Your hair is wet", he comments and I can't stop myself from grunting slightly.

I want to tell him it is his fault that it is but instead I answer with a simple; "I know."

His arms are secured around my waist and slowly, inch by inch, he pulls my shirt up long enough for himself to place his hand on my bare stomach.

I gasp and hold my breath, expecting him to keep moving his hand upwards, but he doesn't. It stays on my stomach and eventually, he starts rubbing circles on a spot above my hip.

"What time is it?" I ask, hoping he will take his hand off of me in order to check. My plan fails as he reaches out with his other hand for his phone that he put beside the bed.

"Half past ten", he says and looks at me. I can feel his eyes burning through my skin but I refuse to meet his gaze, my eyes focusing on his closet and our feet instead.

"Alex", he murmurs, trying to get my attention.

I answer without looking at him, my whole body tensing.

"Yes?"

"Look at me." Unlike most of the time, his voice does now sound soft.

"Why?" I whisper back, hating that you could hear in my voice that I'm still shaken up from being pushed under the water.

"Because I want you to."

"That's not a real rea-" I start to say but I'm cut off by him grabbing my chin in a gentle but still firm grip, turning my face in his direction. His eyes, now their normal dark color since he's not wearing his green lenses, stare deep into my own blue ones.

"Don't move", he whispers and slowly lean in and kiss me on my lips. I remain in a frozen position, not moving an inch, and he slowly pulls back and rests his face in the crook of my neck. I feel his lips graze against my skin and then start to nibble on my soft spot, gently catching the already sore skin between his teeth.

"Sorry, gorgeous", he whispers as he is satisfied with what he'd done," but I lied, I guess I do bite."

"I didn't trust you anyways", I whisper before turning my back against him and closing my eyes, ignoring his arm that was still wrapped around me.

I eventually managed to fall asleep to the sound of the music, somehow finding comfort in the harsh words and sounds that were played.

Yes, I'm shaken up and scared of the fact that Nick has found my weakness but I haven't given up or gone soft.

No, I just have to choose my battles wisely and this one, right now, was already going downhill.