Out of Bounds

19

"Vincent Walker," Archer said as he stopped in front of their table. "Man, it's been a while," he added, raising his hand for a handshake. Vincent grinned and immediately took it.

"Archer Whitmore," Vincent replied. "Nice seeing you again, man," he said as they shook hands firmly.

Dmitri stood beside Archer, nodding in greeting.

While they were exchanging conversation, Vincent briefly glanced at Shiloh. He noticed that Shiloh hadn't even bothered to look up. Instead, he continued drinking quietly, completely ignoring the presence of the Brighton students. Archer noticed it too.

For a moment, his lips pressed into a thin line.

He then tapped Dmitri lightly on the shoulder, signaling it was time to leave.

"Well, enjoy," Archer said casually. Before turning away, he glanced at Shiloh one last time, clearly waiting for some kind of response.

But Shiloh didn't even acknowledge him. He simply kept drinking as if Archer wasn't even there.

After a few seconds of silence, Archer turned around and walked away with Dmitri. Vincent watched them leave before letting out a small chuckle.

"Still the same tension between you two, huh?" he muttered, amused. Shiloh scoffed quietly and continued drinking.

"Slow down, will you?" Vincent added, eyeing the way Shiloh had already gone through half of his drink.

"Don't mind him," Shiloh said dismissively, waving his hand slightly as if brushing the matter away.

"Yeah, sure," Vincent replied, shrugging his shoulders with a small smirk. It was obvious he didn’t completely buy Shiloh’s nonchalant attitude, but he decided not to push it further.

Instead, he leaned back in his chair and changed the subject.

"How's Slade, by the way?" Vincent asked. "You're in the same school, right?" he added.

"Yeah," Shiloh replied with a nod. "He's fine."

He took another sip from his drink before continuing.

"I was actually planning on recruiting him to the basketball team when the selections start," Shiloh said. "But I want him to decide what he really wants to do first," he added. Vincent nodded in understanding.

"That's fair," he said. "Not everyone wants to live under the pressure of being compared to their older brother," he added. Shiloh chuckled faintly at that.

"Exactly," he replied. "Slade's good, though. If he chooses basketball, he'll definitely make the team," he added. Vincent raised his bottle slightly.

"Then I guess the Stathmore Spartans might get another Cross on the court soon," Vincent said.

Shiloh smirked lightly but didn't say anything, letting the thought linger as the noise of the bar continued around them.

"Hey, I'll go to the restroom first," Shiloh said as he stood from his seat. Vincent nodded.

"Alright," Vincent said.

Shiloh walked through the crowd toward the restroom. The music from the bar was still loud, but the moment he stepped inside, the noise became muffled behind the door. The restroom was empty.

He washed his hands quickly and glanced at himself in the mirror, running a hand through his hair before turning to leave.

Just as he reached the door—

It suddenly burst open.

Shiloh was caught off guard as someone shoved him back against the wall. His shoulder hit the tiles with a dull thud.

"f**k—" he cursed under his breath.

"What the f**k?" Shiloh yelled as he looked up. Standing in front of him was Archer.

The Brighton captain had a lazy smirk on his face, one hand still pressed against the wall beside Shiloh as if blocking his way.

"You really won't talk to me at all, baby?" Archer said. Shiloh immediately caught the smell of liquor on his breath.

"What the hell, Archer?" Shiloh snapped as he shoved him away.

Archer stumbled back half a step but didn't look bothered at all. The smirk on his face only widened as he looked at Shiloh like he was enjoying the reaction.

"You really want them to catch us fooling around here?" Shiloh said, lowering his voice as he glanced toward the restroom door.

"They won't catch us," Archer replied confidently.

Before Shiloh could react, Archer reached out and cupped his face with one hand. The gesture made Shiloh freeze for a moment. Archer slowly leaned closer, his eyes locked on Shiloh’s.

Shiloh gulped.

But then the image of Archer sitting beside that omega at the bar flashed in his mind. His expression hardened, and he quickly turned his face away.

"Where's the omega you were fooling around with?" Shiloh said sharply. "Leave me alone, Archer," he added. He tried to walk out of the restroom, but Archer suddenly pulled him back by the waist, stopping him.

"What?" Archer teased, his voice low. "Is the captain jealous?" he asked.

Shiloh scoffed and glared at him through the mirror in front of them.

"Jealous of what?" he snapped. "Shut your mouth, okay?" he added. He grabbed Archer’s arms and tried to remove them from his waist, but Archer held on firmly, refusing to move.

"They were teasing me to get one," Archer said casually, his voice close to Shiloh’s ear. "After that picture of you and your omega was posted on social media," he added.

"My omega?" Shiloh repeated with a frown. "You mean Cyan?" he asked.

At the mention of the name, he felt Archer’s arms tighten slightly around his waist.

"He's not my omega," Shiloh said firmly. "And you know we are the same, right? I don't even know why I'm saying this to you," he added. Archer turned him around so he was facing him directly.

Before Shiloh could say anything else, Archer suddenly kissed him.

Hard.

Senseless.

The suddenness of it made Shiloh’s eyes widen. He tried to push Archer away at first, his hands pressing against Archer’s chest in resistance. But Archer’s grip was strong, pulling him closer.

The tension between them—the frustration, the rivalry, the emotions they had both been trying to ignore—seemed to collide all at once. Shiloh’s resistance slowly weakened.

His hands that were pushing Archer away slowly curled against Archer’s shirt instead.

And before he realized it, Shiloh was kissing him back with the same intensity.