CHAPTER 58: SHUT UP BEFORE I LOSE IT

He stepped in, looking as irritated as always. The glare was now like a part of his expression, and he was still shirtless, just returning from wherever he had left for after leaving the field.

Theo jerked, wiping her cheeks and eyes in a frantic swipe. She quickly hid the picture behind her.

She always hated that she could hear others’ footsteps passing by her door, but not his.

Zeke froze, and the irritation on his face slipped.

But for only a second.

He wore it back and straightened, and walked into the room.

She ignored his presence and kept her eyes fixed on the textbook. He walked into the bathroom, and when she heard him turn on the shower, she quickly dropped the picture back where she had taken it from.

Then, she kept the textbook aside and climbed into bed, throwing the covers over her head.

After a few minutes, the bathroom door opened and she heard movements. She heard him sit on his bed, along with some other random movements of his.

Then, she felt this tingling sensation at the back of her head that got more intense with every second.

He was staring at her.

She closed her eyes and tried to ignore it.

"I know I haven’t upset you enough these days to make you cry," He said.

She paused, wondering if she was the one he was speaking to.

Of course, she was. There was no one else in the room but the two of them.

"If someone else upset you," He added, "Then that’s my problem, Hellcat,"

Her heart raced, and she tried to stay as still as possible. Hopefully, that would give him the impression that she had fallen asleep while he was in the bathroom. But his gaze didn’t leave her.

Suddenly, she felt a dip in her bed, and before she could do anything, his hands snaked around her body, and he lifted her from her bed effortlessly.

Her eyes flew open, and the covers slipped away as he stood back up with her. She remained frozen, her heart slamming inside her chest as she looked up at his face.

He was still covered in water. He was simply too good-looking for her to handle, forcing her to look away.

"What made you think you could put your hands on me?" She asked brusquely, her brows furrowed in anger.

"What makes you think you could ignore me?" He barked back, his gaze heavy on her.

"Put me down, dude,"

He stared at her face, "What did you hide when I walked in?"

"Why does it have anything to do with you?"

"I don’t have to explain myself to you,"

"Then I don’t have anything to tell you, either!" She fired back.

His eyes shimmered violently as he dropped her on his bed. She tried to stand up, but his movements caught her quickly and he was already hovering above her, pinning both of her hands above her head.

The view of him pinning her to the bed stole her breath away. Her chest rose and fell quickly as she stared back into those hot, angry eyes. Why was he always so pissed, anyways?

"Now, you’re being gay," She said, hoping her voice wouldn’t betray her and reveal how much she loved this, "What sort of ridiculous position is this? It’s already bad enough that I always wake up and have to tear your arms away from me,"

Zeke went still.

His gaze moved down to her lips, a dark expression flooding his eyes, then it came back to her eyes.

"Gay?" His voice dropped low, and his face inched closer to her, "You think this is about that?"

His grip on her wrist tightened, and she expected it to become painful, but it didn’t. She felt a tremor go through his hands, and his eyes flickered down to her lips again.

"I should remind you," He whispered, "You’re the one who crawls into my arms at night,"

"That’s because you always drag me there, you psycho," She retorted, "And it doesn’t change the fact that you cling to me too hard,"

"Yeah?" He snapped, and leaned forward till his forehead nearly brushed hers, "If you hate it that much, why don’t you fight against me?"

She swallowed. Hard.

She shouldn’t have. Because it only brought his eyes back to her lips, and he looked physically strained like he was fighting something back, something that was making the orange in his eyes swell.

He dragged his gaze back up.

"You didn’t answer my question," His voice was even more strained than before, "Who upset you, Hellcat, and what the hell did you hide when I walked in?"

"I don’t have to explain myself to you! It’s none of your business,"

His fingers twitched around her wrist, and something like frustration and another expression she couldn’t make flashed through his eyes, "Everything you do," He ground out through his teeth, "Is my damn business, Hellcat,"

"And why exactly do you care?"

"Let me ask you this," He held her there, his gaze so hard she almost gave up and looked away to catch her breath, "What else is Sylas to you apart from being your Homeroom teacher?"

Now, that was the last thing she was expecting. She blinked, "What does Sylas have to do with this?"

"Answer the question!"

"Why?!"

"Answer it, and maybe I’ll tell you,"

She sighed, "He’s just my teacher, that’s all,"

"Just your teacher?" He scoffed, "Is that why you kissed him in the shower?"

"What?" She blurted, thrown off, "K...kiss who? Who did I kiss?"

Zeke drowned again, studying her, "Why are you acting surprised? Don’t you remember what you said?"

"What did I say?" She asked, genuinely confused, "Was it when I was drunk? Did I say I kissed Sylas in the shower?"

He watched her more intently this time, "Tell me, what do you remember?"

"Nothing," She admitted, "I can’t remember a thing,"

"Why can’t you remember a thing? It’s already weird enough that you got sober so quickly,"

"Well I don’t know, okay? Don’t start glaring at me again,"

He didn’t realise he had loosened his grip on her wrist till she wriggled under him a bit.

He stiffened a little, water droplets falling from his hair, "Stop moving like that," He said abruptly.

"Like what?"

"Like you want me to--" He quickly stopped himself, his eyes flaring with panic at what he’d almost admitted.

Theodora was genuinely confused, "Why do you look like that?"

"I look like nothing," His throat bobbed.

"You don’t seem like yourself. Are you alright?"

"Shut up, Hellcat," He frowned and looked away. Then, he frowned again even deeper as a thought occured to him, and looked back at her, "Wait, are you a Virgin?"

Theodora’s heart skipped several beats. She tried to speak but nothing came out, but something exploded in her mind. Where the hell did that come from? Why would he ask her that kind of question?!

"E...excuse me?" She managed out.

"You must be," He said to himself, then added, "Because you have no idea what you’ve been doing to me,"

He didn’t wait for her to respond. He released her wrist and lay on the bed, facing the other end. Theodora didn’t take her eyes off him and there was a funny feeling in her chest.

What has she been doing to him? What was he trying to imply? She wanted to know before her heart would burst.

So, she hesitantly reached out and gently tapped his arms.

"Zeke--"

"Don’t touch me, Hellcat!" He uttered raspily, his voice deeper than she remembered, "And don’t talk to me, or else I’ll attack you, and it’s not the kind of attack you’re familiar with, I promise you,"

She couldn’t help herself, "I’m so confused. I don’t understand what you’re saying...,"

"It means that I’m not gay, but if you don’t shut up and close your eyes this second, I swear to God, I’m gonna turn gay and you’re not gonna wake up a virgin tomorrow morning!"