Chapter 4: Josiah Adler
My legs weakly quaked with every step as I trudged along the grassy pavement from the tennis court to the basketball gym to wait for Ashton. It's been a while since I last caught a ride home with him but I decided that I couldn't really avoid Joss altogether, so here I was, sitting quietly on a corner, stealthily sinking my butt into the chair to evade attention.
I was scrolling through my phone, occupied with different faces and coffee on my timeline, when someone sat on the seat beside me. Tomas wore a boyish smile as his arms were covered in a thin gleaming layer of sweat.
"Hey." he said, his smile touching his eyes as he settled into his seat.
"Hey, Tomas. What are you doing here?" I asked, frantically looking around the court and just noticing that there were a whole lot more people in here than usual.
"Missed ya too, bud." he chuckled. "How was training?" he asked, leaning his body towards mine slightly so that he was only sitting on the edge of his seat.
"It was tiring as usual, nothing interesting really happened." I said.
"Aww, that sucks." he said before his eyes flitted subtly to my lips. The familiar heat came rushing into my cheeks, and I bit my lip
"Listen... Sorry if I kissed you last week without asking first. Hope we're good." he said, not looking sorry at all as a wicked smile was etched on his lips.
"Don't worry about it, Tomas. I actually kinda liked it." I laughed to lighten the mood but instead of laughing along, he leaned in closer and stared at me, waking all the butterflies in my stomach.
"Yeah?" he whispered before snaking his muscular arm along the topside of my backrest, coming into contact with my back in a ghostly touch. "Do you want me to kiss you again, then?" he teased. I chuckled nervously. He started leaning down further to reach my lips but he was ungraciously interrupted by the piercing sound of a whistle from the court, making him jump back to his seat.
I thought we were about to be called out by the coach but the he looked like he was reprimanding one of the guys in the court. My eyes travelled to the culprit, Joss, whose eyes were almost permanently transfixed in our direction. His jaw visibly tensed from the distance and his gaze cut through the thick the air as he ignored the coach completely. I looked at my fiddled thumbs while my heart skipped a beat.
"What's the matter with you, Josiah? Keep your head in the game!" the coach's voice boomed loudly across the gym before we heard the whistle screech once again, resuming the stretching practice match.
"I better go, Leo, I might get in trouble too." he chuckled. "Catch you later." he patted my back before half-running towards the side bench beside the court. I watched quietly as the match progressed. Joss kept looking in my direction, and I felt very self-conscious.
After the match finally ended, I saw Ashton approaching me. I was about to get up and take my stuff with me when he interrupted me and spoke.
"Hey. Something came up and I have to take Tina home today. Joss will give you a ride." he casually said before he swiftly ran towards the washroom before I even had any chance to complain.
I was following Joss and Denise in the parking lot as we headed towards Joss's car, only now noticing how he subtly tried looking at me through his shoulders every now and then while Denise snuggled her arms against his. I climbed into the backseat quietly as he started the car and the engine roared to life. Our eyes connected in a split second in the rearview mirror before I turned away and looked through the window as if the pale blue sky was the most interesting thing in the world.
Most of the ride was peacefully quiet with only Denise talking every now and then about the random stuff she was seeing on her phone. We were rounding into an unfamiliar street, parking on the road across a huge modern bungalow before Denise unbuckled her seatbelt and reached for Joss's face to give him a swift peck on the lips. Joss's eyes were hot on me. I looked away.
"Bye babe." Joss said before Denise hopped out and walked towards their house. A full half minute has passed while we were static on the side of the road and the uncomfortable dead air filled the car awkwardly. I decided to look at Joss to see if something was wrong and he caught my eyes yet again in the rearview mirror.
"Come here, Leo." he commanded. His voice was like a sharp jolt piercing through me and making the hairs on the back of my neck rise.
"Okay..." I replied quietly.
I hopped out and climbed into the passenger seat before buckling my seatbelt in place. He started driving away shortly, speeding through the road with only the weak roar of the engine accompanying us for a while. I fiddled with the radio in front of me, an unfamiliar song playing mellowly filling the stillness of the air. This will do.
There was definitely tension between the both of us because I couldn't just ignore the way he made me feel during our last encounter. Joss kept sighing subtly, cutting the awkward silence briefly while he stared straight ahead through his hooded eyes. The ride thankfully came to an end as we reached my street before he parked right in front of our house.
"Thanks for the ride, Joss." I said. I was about to pull the handle when the lock flicked on, making me look at the man beside me. His eyes were like lasers, hooded yet almost boring into mine for a heavy couple of seconds, and I had to swallow a huge lump in my throat. My heart started thudding wildly against its enclosure as he started unbuckling his seatbelt and slowly leaning his body towards mine until our faces were just a few inches away from each other. I closed my eyes and waited for his lips.
One... two... three... four... five seconds have passed and nothing. My lips parted on their own, frustrated from the lack of contact.
When I opened my eyes, he was still staring at me just a couple of inches away as if he was trying to memorize the smallest details of my face.
"You told me you didn't like Tomas." he whispered. I opened my mouth but no words came out and I could only nod my head meekly. "Then why didn't you stop him when he tried to kiss you today?" he asked, his warm minty breath hitting my lips and making me bite it involuntarily. That seemed to have caught his attention as his eyes darted swiftly to it before looking back at me. "Don't try to distract me, Leo. Answer the question." he commanded.
"I... I don't know." I answered. His eyebrows furrowed which was a tell that he wasn't satisfied with my answer.
"What do you mean you don't know?" he asked, his demeanor giving a mix of genuine curiosity and frustration while his eyes shifted from one of mine to the other repeatedly as if trying to squeeze the answers out of them. My chest began to tighten from his proximity and I found it harder and harder to breathe. I placed a tentative hand on his chest to gently push him away but his breath hitched from the contact instead. "Leo, I'm trying to talk to you."
"Tomas... is cute," I said, recoiling slightly from the way his eyes hardened and the way that his jaw tensed. "but..." I lingered. I honestly didn't know what I felt about Tomas but I was pretty sure that it was nowhere near how I felt about Joss. He has me wrapped around his finger because all I could think about every second of everyday is his lips, especially now.
He heaved a dragged out and heavy sigh. "But what, Leo?" He asked impatiently.
"I don't know... I'm sorry," I whispered in almost a squeak as his scrutinizing gaze took the air out of my lungs completely. "Sir..."
He closed his eyes shut before taking a deep and steadying breath which seemed to calm him down. "I don't mind a little competition, Leo. I'll play along if that's what you want but..." his hand caressed my cheek and slid forwards to cup the back of my neck before pulling me against his face and finally pressing his lips hard against mine. Oh fuck. His sweet taste whisked me out from the world, forcing me to relive the times when I was under him, and I felt like I was putty in his hands. The kiss sent sparks throughout my body, reaching the very tip of all my fingers and only stopping when he pulled away slowly.
"I'm not letting you go this time." he gruffly whispered into my mouth. I was in a trance, completely lost in his eyes as my body betrayed me. The butterflies in my stomach were now banging against the walls and all I could do was try to expel the air from my lungs through a deep sigh in hopes of alleviating the chains of the overwhelming emotions I was feeling.
"O-Okay. I'll -- I'll go ahead, Joss. Thanks again for the ride." I said with as much composure as I could muster before climbing off of his car and trying my best to walk normally towards the door despite my spiralling vision.
I went through the door, leaning against it and sliding down right after I shut it close behind me to have a grip on what I was feeling. That jerk sure knew how to drive me crazy like this, and I hated the fact that my feelings only grew every single day.
Joss's words replayed over and over in my mind. The thought honestly made me giddy the entire day but I knew better than to cling to a feeble hope that would most likely just lead me into another devastating heartbreak.
A couple of days went by in a blur as I found myself sitting beside Joss and across from Ashton in the corner of the food court. His firm thigh was unabashedly pressed against me, making me uneasy and tense during the entire dinner.
"Washroom." Ashton simply said before standing up and walking away. The silence that came after was so unbearably awkward that I decided to fiddle with my unfinished food with my spoon, praying and willing Ashton to finish his business faster.
"I broke up with Denise today." Joss said out of the blue. My eyes widened as I looked at him in surprise.
