THE JOCK JUST WANTS THE PREP [ 1 ]

59 - TEARS AND PROMISES

||NOAH||

"That was so sad!" I said between my sobs as Brad was patting my back. Dabbing a handkerchief to my wet eyes that Brad lent me during the most despairing scene in the movie, we were exiting the room while the credits played behind us, "aww, it's okay baby," Brad gave me a pitied smile as he placed a kiss on my forehead.

"The dog... died..." Was all I muttered before burying my face on his chest in the middle of the hall. I felt his chest bounce as he chuckled, his hand caressing my hair to comfort me.

"Heh, we should keep walking, we're in the way of a bunch of people," he said, his head turning around to see a few staring at us.

-

Here, we're sat in the same restaurant that Liam works at, though he doesn't have a schedule at this hour. "You really love dogs, is that so?" Brad said, looking at me with a gentle smile as he moves closer from his seat.

"Yeah... it's just that, years ago, I used to have a pet husky named Adalrik that I played with all the time, that is, until he passed away from old age..." I said breathily.

"Oh... I'm sorry to hear that," Brad frowned.

"It's okay. I love huskies. The plushie you got me during the carnival reminds me of him," I nodded.

"Did you like it?" He tilts his head.

"I love it, I sleep with it every time."

Brad grins, laughing light-heartedly, "I'm gonna go to the bathroom for a minute. If our food arrives, don't bother waiting," he winks before standing up. Watching him make his way to the restroom, I remained silent and brought out my phone. Checking my talk with Thiago, I stared at my screen with bits of anxiety as I reread his warnings from a while ago.

"Noah, I don't know why, but for some reason, Damian keeps asking me if I could lend him your phone number or assign a time for you two to rendezvous."

"He tried asking Ari before, thankfully she knew better and didn't offer without your permission."

"He says he wants to talk to you, saying it's somewhat urgent that he wanted tell you personally."

"I tried asking what it was about but he says 'it's not his responsibility to spread sensitive info to anyone else' since it's personal, apparently."

"I don't know how to feel about it, but if I were you I'd just keep my guard up just in case, or if you want, I can give him your number if you allow me to."

Those were his messages. I didn't feel exactly comfortable with providing Damien my cell information, so I texted Thiago not to and thanked him for his concerns.

"No problem, I'll keep in touch just in case," Thiago replied.

-

The food arrives after a while, but I didn't touch it yet. I wanted to eat along with Brad despite him telling me to go ahead. He comes back later on, seeing as I was still neatly seated on my spot with the food looking unbothered. He sighs, "you waited didn't you," he says.

"I wanted to start with you," I smiled.

His grin rises as he nods lightly, "scooch over, I wanna sit with you in that case," he says. Doing so, I gave a bit of space for him to get in. Pulling his plate of burger near, he wraps his arm around me while we ate.

"Hey Brad, what's your favorite animal?" I asked.

He looks at me, then ponders for a while, "maybe a wolf," he mumbles with a bit of his meal in his mouth.

"Why so?"

"They look really cool. Rugged and tough on the outside, they're majestic strong creatures. Some go in packs, some are loners. Maybe I somewhat kinda relate to them in a way," he shrugged. I nodded, interested in Brad's keen on these wild canines. I found it cool how similarly close our favorite animals are. Soft slow music played in the corner speakers of this place, making the ambiance calmer and the feeling of this place amorous. I enjoyed my quesadilla when I felt Brad pulling himself closer, our sides hugging each other. He was nuzzling his nose onto my hair and breathed in deeply. I looked up to see him, his eyelids were half-closed. "You're so warm..." he said with a burly voice.

You're making my cheeks warm.

There was a moment of silence between us before Brad broke it, "Hey... Noah?" He mumbles lowly.

"Yes?" I replied.

"Could you promise me something?" He locks his gaze on me, his deep saturated eyes staring.

"What is it?"

"Promise me... promise me you won't leave me?" He pupils dilated, holding a tinge of heartbreak but also hope.

I placed my soft palm against his cheek which he leaned on, "I'll try to..." was what I could say. His face flashed a modest look of pain but quickly disappeared. He held me into a tight hug, my chin on his shoulder, one hand rested behind my head while the other wrapped around my waist. "I love you..." he murmurs on my side.

"I love you too..."