Pride

Chapter 18- Chase

I drive Jordan and Nate to the school, practically grinding my teeth as I try to keep my eyes on the road. Jordan unfortunately happens to be sitting in the passenger seat, which makes everything harder. I want to look at him so bad. I've been looking at him all day, it feels like a habit at this point. A very enjoyable habit.

He didn't say anything about the way I was staring at his chest when he was sitting on the hood of Nate's parents' car, being very, very shirtless. His chest is a work of art. His entire upper body is. I thought I was pretty fit, but he's on like, another level of fitness. So muscular. So, so hot. I don't think I took a single breath for like, three minutes, I just stared at him.

And then he saw me, because of course he did. I suppose I wasn't being very subtle. He didn't say anything, though- he didn't look disgusted or uncomfortable. And he didn't reach for his shirt at all, even after Nate got his. Nate literally had to put it on top of his head to get him to put it on. Not that it hides anything. Not that it leaves much to the imagination (especially now that I know what he looks like underneath it).

I clench my jaw as I try to focus on driving. Only a minute or two later, we pull up to the school. I relax a little and turn my gaze to Jordan immediately. He's looking at me in a way that makes me think he's been watching me for the entire drive. Maybe he has. I try not to be too interested in the thought, but it's pretty much impossible. It's a very, very nice thought.

Nate gets out of the backseat pretty fast, thanking me for the ride, but Jordan lingers. Just looking at me, not looking like he's planning on saying anything. I don't mind. At all. I could stare at him and let him stare at me for a very long time without complaint.

"I-" he starts, but the passenger door opens and Nate sticks his head in.

"What the heck are you guys doing in here, making out? Come on, let's go," he says, practically dragging Jordan from the car. I'm sure my entire face goes red at his choice of words, and I barely catch a glimpse of Jordan's similarly red face before he disappears from view, the door slamming closed behind him (Nate's doing, no doubt).

I sit there for a minute or two, wondering what he was going to say and also wondering why Nate had to say those particular words. Does he know somethi-

Oh. Oh, yes he does.

I drive back to the car wash and, after parking Levi's car, get out and point a stern finger at him as I storm over. "I cannot believe you told Nate, Werewolf's best friend, that I'm gay for him!"

"Chase-"

"No! Why would you even do that?!"

"Chase-"

"And don't say that you had to, because you know you could have found a way around it!"

"Chase! You sprayed Jordan with freezing cold water out of nowhere! What was Nate going to think?"

"That we were hot and playing around like normal people on a hot day when there's a hose laying around?"

"You two do not count as normal people. You've got a history, Chase, and you need to understand that neither of us was seeing it the way it supposedly was. We were appointed by our coaches to watch you two and make sure you didn't get into trouble with each other again! They're trusting us to tell them the truth, but we're not only on the teams you guys are a large part of, we're also your best friends! So we have split loyalties, and we feel bad either way, so we're doing everything we can to make sure you guys don't get into a fight, since that's our worst case scenario, and then you just randomly pick up a hose and turn it on Jordan?! Dude!"

I blink at him. "Okay. Fine. I shouldn't have. But he's also going to tell Werewolf that I like him, and that's going to make him possibly hate me and that will almost undoubtedly lead to a lot more almost-fights."