Chapter 3
1239 Words
Chapter 3
Noah’s POV
Coach Vance didn’t yell, he just looked at us like we were two idiots wasting his time, and honestly, we were.
“You two want to act like this in class?” He tossed a mop bucket and a rag down at our feet. “Fine. You’re spending the night in the equipment room. Sort yourselves out, or I’ll sort your spots on the team.”
The door locked behind us with a thud that made it feel real. I was going to spend the entire night locked up with Eli.
Eli didn't say anything, he just picked up the mop and started scrubbing the floor like it had personally pissed him off. His jaw was tight, and his shoulders stiff as he scrubbed like that was the only thing that mattered right now.
He looked like he was really mad which sent me, but I kept myself back from smiling. Instead, I walked up to the light switch and flipped it.
The room went dark, except for the thin line of light streaking in from under the door and the only sound was the drip of the mop and Eli’s breathing heavily from having to scrub so hard. I could tell that he was trying to keep it even, but failing.
“Seriously?” he muttered. “You’re gonna do that now?”
“What, turn the lights off?” I shrugged, even though he couldn’t see it. “Figured we could use the quiet.”
“Quiet would be you shutting up.”
I smiled to myself. At least he was talking to me now.
I took a step closer. Then another until I stopped when I could feel the heat coming off him.
“You hate me, right?” I said quietly. “So why haven’t you moved away?”
His hands tightened on the mop. “Because Coach said to stay here, not because I want to be near you.”
“Sure.” I let out flatly.
I didn’t believe him and I knew he didn’t believe himself either, and I think he knew I knew that.
The silence stretched but it wasn’t comfortable at least for me, but It was the kind of silence that made your skin feel too tight.
Then he snapped. One second he was scrubbing, the next his hands were on my chest, shoving me back against the shelf.
Metal rattled loudly as my back hit hard, and whooshed the air out of me.
Eli was right there with his forearm across my chest, breathing hard.
“Stop it,” he said in a low voice. “Just stop.”
I grabbed his wrists without thinking. His pulse was jumping under my fingers, he was shaking.
“Stop what?” I asked. My voice came out rougher than I intended it to. “Telling the truth?”
“Don’t,” he said. He sounded pissed and also sounded scared....I wasn’t sure if he was scared of me, or of himself.
His eyes dropped to my mouth for half a second before snapping back up. He looked like he hated that it happened.
I let go of his wrists. My hands felt stupid hanging there.
He stepped back fast, like he needed space to think. His hands were shaking now as he gripped the edge of the shelf like it was the only thing keeping him upright.
We didn’t talk, neither of us knew what to say, then the door handle rattled.
Coach’s voice came through, muffled. “You two alive in there?”
Eli cleared his throat. “Yeah, we're fine.”
He sounded like he hadn’t just had me pinned to a shelf thirty seconds ago.
The lock clicked shut again.
I leaned back against the shelf and let out a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding. My hands still felt hot where I’d touched him.
Eli was able to find the light switch and flip it back on. Without another word, he went back to the mop, but he wasn’t really cleaning. He was just moving it back and forth while staring at the floor.
The longer I watched him scrub, working up his muscles, the tighter my chest felt in a way that had nothing to do with the way I had hit my back against the shelf and the larger the tent in my pants grew.
I didn’t know what he was thinking. But I knew he wasn’t going to walk away. And that was more than I’d had yesterday.
“You know what I think?” I murmured.
He didn’t respond, he just kept on scrubbing harder.
“I think you want me to touch you.” I said out loud and smirked.
“Shut up.” he barked at me but that only got me riled up.
I pushed away from the desk I was leaning on and walked up to him, I reached out slowly and brushed my fingers against his wrist.
Eli inhaled sharply but he didn’t move away, at least not yet. So I took that as my cue and slid my hand higher to his forearm and then settled on his shoulder.
My chest tightened as I took my hand lower but
Eli grabbed my wrist hard before I could touch his waist.
“What are you doing?” his voice came out shaky, but he wasn’t angry.
I could hear his chest rising faster, his grip on me trembling slightly. I looked down and noticed the outline pressing against his pants.
My brain completely stalled. Holy s**t!
Eli realized I saw it a second later. His face began burning instantly.
“Don’t.” he breathed, but I was already looking at him differently now.
“You’re hard,” I said quietly.
“f**k you.” he cursed but didn't pull away.
“Eli...”
“Don’t f*****g touch me.” he said except he still hadn’t let go of my wrist.
We stood there breathing the same air for what felt like forever, then suddenly Eli snapped.
He shoved me backward hard enough that I hit the shelves behind me with a loud clang, before I could react, he grabbed the front of my hoodie and pinned me there.
I stared at him, he stared back harder. His breathing was wrecked, mine probably was too.
“This what you want?” he demanded.
Geez, seeing Eli lose control did something violent to my brain. Because he was always holding himself together, now he looked undone, and it was all because of me.
“You gonna hit me?” I asked softly.
“No.” he breathed but he didn’t let go.
His face hovered inches from mine and I could feel heat radiating off him.
His grip tightened slightly when my eyes dropped to his mouth, then lower, then back to his eyes.
“Eli,” I murmured.
“Stop saying my name like that.”
“Like what?” I teased.
His jaw clenched, he didn't want to answer honestly. So I leaned forward just enough for our foreheads to almost touch.
Eli didn’t move away, that nearly destroyed my self-control completely.
“You don’t know what to do with this,” I whispered.
His breath shuddered, “I hate you.”
“Yeah?”
I tilted my head slightly closer.
“Then kiss me and pretend you hate that too.”
- Writer
