A Touch Of Sin [BxB] - Chapter 12: Chapter 12

Jake's POV:
Cold air blasts my face when I step outside. I zip my jacket all the way up to my chin and jam my hands into my pockets.
"I'm going to drop that prick," Guy growls, cracking his knuckles.
I was holding on by a thread. That thread just snapped.
We've barely made it three steps from the front door before I whirl around and slam Guy up the side of the wall. His head snaps back into the glass. I send a fist straight into his stomach. He lets out a shriek, doubling over.
"Don't talk about him like that," I say, leaning down low and looking at him in the eye. "Don't fuck with Callum, or you deal with me. Got it?"
He groans loudly, hugging his stomach.
"Got it?" I yell loud this time.
"Got it!" he gasps back.
I look up to see everyone else in the group staring at us with wide eyes.
"That goes for everyone. Don't fucking touch him," I warn.
"Dude, I know he, like, means a lot to your family but he's one of us. Callum is awesome," Kyle, one of the footballers says, darting his eyes to Guy. "But isn't that going a bit far? Guy was just messing around."
"Guy can mess around with whoever, I don't give a shit. But not him."
"Sure," Kyle nods, looking at the others. "Understood. Right boys?"
"Right," they agree, with Guy still complaining and moaning behind us.
"Good. Now let's go eat."
***
Callum's POV:
"Hey," Grant greets me, handing me a tin of coffee. "How are ya?"
"Good man, you?" I gratefully accept the coffee and blow on it a few times, before taking a sip.
"Good good. Ready for the game tonight?" he asks, before holding out his own coffee for me to hold.
I take it as I answer. "Yep, we should win this one. We always beat the Tigers."
"Heard they got a new member, seems pretty good."
"So do we," I grin, referencing Jake who, no surprise, is very athletically talented.
"True that."
"So, you been talking to Kat much?" I ask, even though I saw him at training last night.
"A bit through the week. She's coming tonight."
"She comes to every game."
He glances at me with a small smile. "I know."
Of course he does.
"So, something happened last night."
"With Kat?" I exclaim.
"Oh, no, sorry," he laughs and then I realise how excited I'm acting and try to play it cool.
"Oh," I laugh, too. "I was just surprised because Ed and I were with her last night. Anyway, go on."
"So, I've heard about the Guy and Callum encounter," he raises his eyebrows.
I exhale. "Yeah. I was going to fill you in about that."
"Guy needs a life. Anyway, that's not the point. So, Zeke told me that Jake laid into Guy once they left and then made this big threat to them all about leaving you alone."
"What?" I question, stopping and giving him a shocked look.
"Yeah... weird, right? Since you, like, punched him last weekend."
"That's... unexpected," I say.
"Do you think Haze told him to? Because of Ellie?" he questions. "You did get picked on a bit, back in the day."
"Thanks for the reminder," I point out. "I'm not sure. They were here on the weekend. I don't know."
I know a lot more than I'm letting on, but I don't share that.
"Weird. Thought you should know, anyway."
"Yeah thanks," I say distractedly as I withdraw my phone from my pocket, scrolling through my contacts. I get up our messages, before thumbing out of it and putting it away. "That's interesting."
"Very," Grant agrees, giving me once last look, before we enter the school gates.
***
"Where were you this morning?" I ask as I take my seat beside Thomas.
"Huh?" he asks before my question sinks in. "Oh, mum drove me today for some 'mother and son' bonding."
"Oh, that sounds nice."
"We got in a fight last night and I was actually right for once and now she feels bad."
"Was it a big one?"
"For her, probably. It's fine. And I got out of walking with you two," he jokes and I give him in the middle finger.
"Callum," Mrs Rose shouts across the room. "That's inappropriate."
Oops. Forgot where I was for a second.
I don't reply, or even look up, as I sort out my things. She begins the lesson and I zone out pretty much straight away. I watch as Thomas begins to write down the notes that I'm meant to be taking. I stare at his writing, the other desks, out the window and pretty much everywhere but the one place I'm meant to be. My mind is spinning. Jake threatened Guy and everyone else, and put a protection hit out on me?
When Mrs Rose finally pauses for a breath, I ask to be excused to the bathroom. She sighs and waves her hand at the door, before continuing.
I take my time as I wander down the hall. I don't need to go; I was just bored to death. Class is usually my time to really knuckle down and focus, but my mind is just consumed with Jake, which seems to be a constant lately.
When I enter the hall, I see someone at their locker. I look at how far down it is and realise that it very well could be Jake. He half-turns and I see the slits in the knee of his jeans and realise straight away that it's him. He's the only one that wears those kinds of clothes to school.
My breath hitches in my throat when he slams the locker shut and our eyes lock. I keep walking and tell myself to breathe and act normal.
"Hey," I say coolly when I reach him, leaning my shoulder onto the metal.
"Hey," he says back.
"So, I heard a thing."
"What's that?"
"You. A threat. My name being involved with that threat," I shrug.
His expression doesn't change. "Not sure what you mean."
"Why'd you do it?" I ask, ignoring his transparent attempt to act like he didn't say it.
"Again, don't know what you're talking about."
I exhale theatrically and rest my head onto the door. "Can you be real with me for once?"
"Real with you?" he asks.
"Yeah. Real. Because I'm getting tired of this."
"I'm protecting you," he says quietly. "I saw the situation you were in and I fixed it."
"You don't think I can protect myself?"
"I think you can, but you shouldn't have to," he looks down at his feet. "I'm here, I can help."
My heart. Oh.
"I do appreciate it. You standing up for me was big of you. But you still won't admit..." I sigh. "Don't worry about it. Thanks for, whatever, but I'm all good on my own."
I push off the door and begin to walk away.
"I tried," he pulls me back so that I'm facing him. "This is me trying."
I nod. "And I said thanks."
"But you're not happy," he says, looking so hard into my eyes that I take a step back. This side of him is confronting.
"It's fine."
"How can I make you happy?"
"You," I throw my hands up. "You know that. It's you. Me and you. That's what makes me happy. But you're afraid. You don't want people to know."
"Neither do you."
I pause. "Huh?"
"None of the footballers know about you, right? What's the difference with me?"
Well, shit. He has me there. I never really thought about it that way.
"Exactly," he says when I fail to make a further comment. "This is all I'm ready for right now. Take it or leave it."
"Okay," I say after a few beats. "I'll take it."
"Okay."
He turns and begins to walk, before I reach for him. It's always him kissing me, now it's my turn. I push him back against the lockers with a bit of force. I cup his face between my hands and kiss him. Hard. He stiffens underneath me in surprise, only for a second, before his fingers are running through my hair. He pulls me close to him and I deepen the kiss, slipping my tongue inside. His fingers tighten around my hair and wow. It feels great to be the one in charge. There's some sort of empowerment that rushes inside you when you know it's you making someone else feel this way. It's an addictive feeling.
We break apart breathlessly. I step back, my face flushed and my pulse racing.
Our gazes are locked so intensely that I've forgotten we're at school. I've forgotten we're not alone.
I hear the sound of a shoe squeaking against the floor. I look up to see a boy named Mike standing there, his eyes as wide as saucepans. His mouth is hanging open. He saw everything.
Mike is in the year below us. I don't know him well, but he'd know me. Everyone knows who is who on the football team.
"Mike," I nod casually. "What's up?"
"Nothing, man," he says awkwardly, taking a few steps. His face has changed. He suddenly looks petrified.
I look to Jake who is glaring at him so hard I'm surprised he hasn't keeled over.
"You're fucking dead," Jake says, before he calmly cracks his knuckles and begins to walk towards Mike.
"Jake, what are you doing?" I ask him.
"You going to tell anyone what you just saw, Mike?" The way he says Mike is with a slight pop, as if daring him to challenge him. Right now, he looks sexy as hell, but dangerous, too.
"Nope," he said, holding his hands up. "Certainly not."
"See? Nothing to freak out about, let it go," I say, gently lying a hand on his arm.
He shakes me off almost viciously.
"I need to make sure he won't say anything."
His tone is actually scary. He's going to do something bad.
"Mike, promise," I say urgently.
"I promise, man, seriously," he's still backing up, his dark skin paling visibly in front of me.
"See? Let's just go," I urge.
"No," Jake grunts as he advances on Mike.
"Mike, run," I snap at him, before stepping in front of Jake and slamming my hands into his chest. "Stop. It's fine. He won't say anything and even if he does, no one will believe him. If I didn't personally know, there's no way I'd believe you're gay, okay? Just drop it."
"Get the fuck off me," he slaps my hands away.
"And here we go," I throw my hands in exasperation. "We take one step forward and then five back. Why? We just came to an understanding and then you're blocking me out again."
"He saw us!" he exclaims.
"Who cares?" I half-shout back.
"Me!"
"Why?"
"Because I'm not fucking gay!"
I scoff and laugh somehow at the same time. "Really? Then what are you, then? What is this?" I wave my hand between us. "Just fun?"
"I don't know, but it's not... that."
"Jake," I say more gently this time. "It's scary, I know, but it's okay."
"Don't do that," he yanks back from me. "Don't pity me."
"I'm not pitying you, we're the exact same. You think this is easy for me?"
"I don't know. I don't know what to bloody think. Just get out of my face," he's so close to me but yet so distant. I can touch him, but he's gone. The progress we made is evaporating in front of me.
"Jesus," I sigh, shaking my head. "I can't do this. You can't pull me in and then push me away. It's exhausting."
"Then go," he snaps. "Fuck off, then."
"Fine," I snap back. "Don't come crawling back when you're lonely."
"Fine!" he yells, before stomping away from me.
"Argh!" I let out an enraged scream before projecting my fist into the locker in front of me.
My hand burns in pain and I cradle it to me. I let out a groan, shaking my head. This situation is helpless.
Sighing, I look up at the locker, my eyes resting on the large dent that now resides there. I look up at the number and can't help, despite everything, letting out a laugh.
Locker fifty-two. Guy's locker.
Well, at least something good came out of that mess.