Chapter Thirty Nine - No Big Deal

"You wanna come inside?"

I smiled at the sight of my Prince Charming standing on my front step. He was there to pick me up for the game. I was surprised when he'd stopped me in the school hallway two days ago to tell me he would be picking me up instead of meeting me there.

What a gentleman! He was the one right for me, not an indifferent asshole who forgot a girl's name after sleeping with her.

"I would love to but we're already late. So, shall we?" Sean pointed back to his car.

"We shall." I nodded, trying my best not to look too excited but my Pennywise grin must have given it away as I hopped down the steps after him and followed him to his car.

Beer and deodorant. So, my prince charming drinks beer and uses deodorant like every other guy. No big deal.

"You look lovely today," he complimented once we hit the road.

"Thank you."

I'd settled for a red long sleeved crop top and black denim shorts, with white sneakers. My hair was up in a ponytail and I'd applied minimal makeup. Simple and classy. Well not so...classy. But simple, yes.

"Effortless and beautiful," Meera had said over the phone and I was really thankful I'd talked to her or else with all that overthinking, I would've probably worn a gown to the game.

The car ride was unbearably silent. I don't know if Sean felt it too but it was so awkward, I hesitated to reach the radio myself or even ask him to play something. The one after the camping trip when he'd driven me home had been similarly silent but I'd just assumed it was because we were too exhausted to speak.

After about ten minutes of utter silence, he asked, "you mind some music?"

"Not at all!" I said quickly, pushing my phone into my tiny sling bag. I'd been unnecessarily locking and unlocking it for the past two minutes.

The radio blasted with some rock music and I nodded to myself in approval. Just as I was beginning to mouth along, he lowered the volume and asked, "so...excited about the game?"

"You have no idea, Sean! I've been—" I cut myself off from saying thinking about it all night. It was too desperate. So, I shrugged. "...pretty excited. Yes."

"Awesome. Me too." He grinned, cranking the volume back up, thanks to which the rest of the ride wasn't that awkward.

Once we made it to the game, I found myself a little annoyed at the first person we met. I wasn't expecting to see Ashley there and I certainly wasn't expecting her to steal Sean the moment we'd settled in our seats.

She'd poked her head between us from the back row, almost giving me a heart attack with her wide grin. "Hey, Becks. Mind if I steal him for a second?"

"Hey, Ashley," I'd said hesitantly, looking at Sean who was eyeing her weirdly too.

"What's up, Ash?" he'd asked.

"I just wanted to talk to you. Could you follow me?" Cutting me a fake little smile, she'd raised her brows at him expectantly. "He won't be long."

"Okay." He'd gotten up, passing me a reassuring smile. "Be right back, Rebekah."

"Sure!"

And then, I'd fixed my eyes on the game, not wanting to seem desperate by turning my head back even a fraction to look where they had gone.

That was about ten minutes ago and he still wasn't back. It wasn't like I was missing him or impatient for his return, I was just curious.

So, when he did come back, I kept my gaze on my phone since I'd been pretending to have some business of my own instead of just waiting for him.

"Your date ditched you?"

My head snapped up to find a certain brown eyed jock sitting next to me.

"Matt?" I blinked, bewildered. "What are you doing here?"

His eyes did a sharp sweep of the area around us before settling back on my face. "Where is he?"

"He had to go talk to Ashley. He'll be right back. But what are you doing here?"

"I had nothing to do today so I thought why not." He shrugged.

"But you gave up your ticket."

"I bought another."

"But you hate this team."

"Yes, they suck. But like I said, I didn't have much to do today."

"Oh."

He raised a scrupulous brow, saying rhetorically, "Don't you look happy to see me, Andrews."

I narrowed my eyes. "Why would I be happy to see you when I have to see your face every evening so you can get on my ass about music? You couldn't give me a day, could you?"

He leaned into me and I watched intently as his lips curled into a smirk before he whispered, "maybe I can't stay away from you."

It's just a game for him, Becks. That's how he pulls all other girls.

I swallowed, forcing my eyes off his lips to stare up into his eyes. But what I saw concealed behind the mischief nearly knocked the breath out of me—the raw honesty clawing its way out of his deceptive semblance, screaming at me, I really can't stay away from you.

You can't read shit, Becks, I told myself, yet I was captured in a daze as I struggled to come up with words until I finally managed to blurt out, "Sure. From me and other random girls you bring to your house to fuck."

My eyes widened as the words left my mouth before I could stop them. But when he cocked his head to the side like he saw right through me, I knew I had no choice but to step up to the plate now.

"You have a problem with that, Becks?"

"Yes."

I could've sworn his eyes had just darkened as he leaned in further, demanding, "why?"

I licked my lips. "I don't know."

"That's not a valid answer."

"I..." I swallowed. "Maybe I'm just worried about you contracting an STD."

I'd both surprised and disappointed myself with that answer.

He scoffed, eyes never leaving mine as he pushed further, "I'm very careful."

"Good for you."

That had come out as dismissive. Silence fell between us but we both knew there was so much more to say. I was dying to let it all out but my mind and my mouth were at a war, my mind clearly winning as I swallowed the words on my tongue.

His eyes narrowed. "Alright then."

Just then, his phone rang. While he pulled it out of his pocket, I caught a glimpse of the contact. It was Rebecca.

I think that was the final straw.

He didn't even bother letting it ring. He simply rejected the call and shoved the phone back in his pocket. Then, he made a move to get up but I grabbed his hand and tugged at it, making him sit his ass back down.

"Where do you think you're going?"

He eyed my hand for a second, then snapped his eyes up to mine. "I think we're done here."

"Did you come here with Rebecca?"

His brows furrowed and normally, it would've balked me but I had a lot of pent-up anger from the night before.

"Not like it's any of your business, but no."

"Then why is she calling you?"

"She's always calling me. What is your point?"

Right! What was my point?

"I—" I opened my mouth but was cut off.

The loud cheering around us made me cringe slightly. It took me a moment to realize that everyone's head was turned to us. I blinked in confusion until my eyes lifted to the huge screen ahead us.

A kiss cam.

We were on a kiss cam.

Oh, bloody hell!

The guys from our school football team hooted loudly from the row behind ours, Chris the loudest as he cheered and clapped for us. "Go Matt! Go Becks!"

"Oh my God!" I said under my breath.

"Whenever you're ready," came a scoff next to me.

I slowly turned my head to Matt who sat there with a straight face. He probably saw the horror in my eyes when he rolled his eyes.

"What?" I muttered. "We're not—"

"Of course we're not. There's no way you can handle this."

"Come again?"

"Really? You need an explanation for that?" He raised a brow and I was a little offended.

"Maybe I do." I frowned.

"Okay." He turned in his seat to face me squarely, ignoring the cheers around us so deftly while I was slowly shrinking in my seat with anxiety. "When was the last time you kissed a guy and thought that it wasn't a big deal?"

I could only swallow, half of my attention still on everybody's impatient eyes on us.

"That's what I thought." He shook his head.

"Fine. You win. But what are we gonna do here?" I was flustered by all the cheering around us and could feel a blush rising to my cheeks. Hell! I could feel my hands shaking. A few more seconds and I would've started to convulse.

He gave me a once-over and something in his eyes shifted. Then, they softened. "You're nervous. You need to relax. This is just a joke. Nobody's gonna remember this tomorrow."

I bit down at my lip, turning ahead. The camera was still on us. Why the hell were they being so persistent and not moving on to another pair?

"I'm never gonna recover from this embarrassment," I muttered.

I watched as Matt looked straight into the camera somewhere far ahead and shook his head, mouthing a nope. And I was a little hopeful.

"Boo!" The crowd went crazy, crushing my hopes and I just wanted to sink to the floor and crawl the hell out of that place.

"Come on!" Chris groaned out loud behind us.

"Look at that. You broke their hearts," Matt muttered to me, humoured.

"Matt! Stop it, I'm embarrassed enough already. What's it gonna take for them to turn that damn camera away?"

"Usually, they move on after getting what they want." He smirked at me, and I wasn't gonna lie but seeing him not mad at me eased something in my soul. "You could kiss me but it's okay, I get it. You're probably scared of catching feelings for me."

Amidst all that cheering and booing, his words managed to make me feel butterflies in my stomach. He wasn't entirely wrong.

"Right," I muttered, watching him casually lean back in his seat. He was about to leave earlier but I assumed he was not going anywhere until the camera was off our faces. He probably did not want me to take the humiliation alone. He was not bothered in the slightest by all the attention on us.

How could he not be bothered by it?

I hesitantly lifted my eyes up to the screen. The camera was still on us. The crowd was still cheering, some booing.

Was it really as big of a deal as I'd made it out to be in my head? Probably not.

"Screw it!" I said under my breath, leaned over to Matt to grab his face in my hands, and placed my lips over his.

If I thought the crowd was crazy before, it was wild now. It could've been my overactive imagination but everything around us seemed to have skyrocketed into an ecstatic frenzy. I think I heard Chris yell the loudest amidst everyone.

The kiss meant nothing to me. Or so I told myself. At least till the point where Matt was too taken aback to react and I'd intended for it to be just a peck. But when his lips started treating mine with his expertise, I felt it in my stomach. This tingle that I never imagined Matt would be responsible for.

And when he put his hands on my neck, I lost it. His fingers skilfully pulled me into him as his mouth hungrily devoured mine. I felt myself losing a part of me to him right then, somehow knowing he was going to gladly keep it and there was nothing I could do to get it back now.

I also knew this kiss was going to be anything but a 'no big deal' to me.

It's more than enough for a kiss cam, Rebekah. Break apart. Now.

But I couldn't.

What the hell is wrong with me?

I never thought wanting to break a kiss with Matthew Williams, aka my childhood enemy, would be the hardest part of my day but it was. Especially when his hands worked so magically against my skin and made me feel all sorts of things in my stomach.

After an inner conflict, I finally cut the kiss and pulled back, breathing heavily. My eyes fell on his swollen lips, rendering me a little surprised that I was capable of that, then trailed down to his neck, all the way to his chest and finally, to the ground.

The camera shifted back to the field but the people around us still continued to cheer.

I could feel Matt's eyes on my face.

"The things I do under crowd pressure," I muttered, lifting my chin slightly and letting out a chuckle as I worked to push back the aftershocks of the kiss. My legs were shaking for some unfathomable reason.

He remained silent, then after a moment, he cleared his throat. "Right."

"You're a good kisser," I commented without looking at him, then bit down on my lip for letting that slip.

There was a long pause, his eyes still on me and just as he opened his mouth, he was interrupted.

"Rebekah!" Our heads snapped to the end of the row on Sean making his way over, waving his hand at me. My eyes grew wide. I was just registering the fact that he saw that. Oh no!

A frown appeared on Matt's lips and after what seemed like a moment of hesitation, he got up. "I should go."

"Yes. I'll see you in the evening."

"Good." He nodded, walking away. I tensed up a little when he met Sean halfway in the row. They exchanged a few words, patted each other's shoulder like guys typically did and then, Sean was headed towards me.

"You've been busy." He settled down in his seat. I fished for a hint of repulsion in his tone but there was none.

"That was...that just happened. You know, the crowd pressure," I found myself explaining.

"Of course." He nodded, then a little smile formed on his lips. "But to think that if Ashley hadn't interrupted, I'd be the one here."

Oh

"Y-yeah." I stuttered, frowning a little because I wasn't immediately thrilled at the idea of Sean being there instead of Matt but in my defense, I was still a bit flustered from the kiss.

I'd kissed before, obviously, but none of those were anything like...that.

Those were just light-hearted pecks we did for dares but what had just happened a while ago, seemed to have ripped my soul out of my body, lit it on fire, then put it back inside me to deal with the burning fumes.

What the hell, Becks?

"That would have been nice." I smiled at Sean before going back to watching the game. For most part of it, I didn't pay any attention to the field, neither did I try to. Not when I could still feel his lips on mine.

Before I knew it, the game was over and the crowd had started to clear out. I walked in silence next to Sean.

"You alright?" he asked me as we neared his car.

I nodded. "Yeah, I am. Why?"

"You're very quiet."

"Just tired." I managed a smile while mindlessly running a hand down my hair.

"You also weren't as focused on the game as you always are," he pointed out, carefully studying me.

The last thing I wanted was Sean getting a hint that I was feeling disoriented from the kiss.

"Well." I crossed my arms. "You weren't on the field like you always are."

That was smooth, Becks.

His eyes lit up and as we reached his car, he opened the door for me but didn't let me get in. Instead, he took a step closer so I was wedged between the open door and the car.

"So, you do watch me on the field." A little smirk formed on his lips.

"Not like a creep, I promise."

I did used to watch him like a creep.

I felt a shiver run down my spine when he brought his finger to my face and pushed a strand of hair away, gazing into my eyes intently. About a month or so ago, I would've given anything to have those blue eyes looking at me like that.

"You're really something, Rebekah. Why didn't we start hanging out sooner?"

"Beats me." I gulped when his eyes darted down to my lips and he slowly leaned forward.

I sucked in a breath, anticipating his next move when—

"Hey guys!"

The sudden interruption made me jump and Sean fell back a step in surprise. About two feet away from us, stood Matt, looking between us with a smile that didn't reach his eyes as he walked closer. "Hope I'm not interrupting."

"You're good, man!" Sean nodded. "The game sucked, just like you said."

He only shrugged in response, averting his eyes to me.

"But at least someone had fun." Sean threw us both a hinting look and I blinked in disbelief. He was just about to kiss me two seconds ago and now he was joking about me and Matt kissing?

What is wrong with guys?

"At least it was sudden and quick," he continued, eyes set on me. "Saved you the trouble of choosing pineapple pizza."

"Pineapple pizza?" Matt tilted his head in confusion.

Oh, come on!

"Oh yeah. She's so repelled just by the idea of you two together that she said she'd choose pineapple pizza over kissing you. Even if it's just a peck."

So, my crush is a snitch. No big deal.

I internally cringed as Matt cut a glance at me, his eyes narrowing for a moment. "Of course she is."

"But you gotta admit it's funny." Sean chuckled, throwing an arm across my shoulder. "I like you, Becks. I can call you Becks, right?"

I would've been flattered any other day by Sean telling me he liked me but I felt this twinge of annoyance towards him in that exact moment. I smiled nonetheless.

"Of course you can, Sean."

"So, shall we?" He opened the door wider to let me enter the car.

I turned to Matt. "I'll see you in the evening, okay?"

His face remained devoid of any emotion as he uttered a 'sure' without even meaning it. And then he turned around and walked away.

I stared at his back and before I could give in to the urge of going after him, I got in Sean's car, telling myself that once Matt would've had the time to cool off, he would understand that it was just a joke.

At least the ride back home wasn't as awkward as before. Sean and I had something to talk about. The game. I didn't understand some stuff he said but agreed with him anyway. Boy! Was he a talker? At one point, I don't think he even cared if I was listening. Just kept going on and on about one of the players.

"What kind of music do you like?" I asked, hoping to change the topic.

"I can listen to anything, honestly. Just whatever sounds nice."

"Same." I smiled just as he parked the car in front of my house.

"Did I just spend the entire car ride talking about football?" he muttered to himself, brows pulling together.

At least it dawned. I chuckled. "It's fine, really. I enjoyed the conversation."

I'm so good at lying.

"It's not fine." He shook his head, then turned in his seat so he was facing me squarely, eyes hopeful. "Can I make it up to you sometime?"

"How?"

"Maybe we can hang out after school someday this coming week. And we'll talk."

"About football?" I joked.

His eyes gleamed. "Anything but football. We can go out to eat pizza. You like pizza?"

"I do."

"See? I should've known that. I wanna know more about you, Rebekah. Let me take you out."

"I'd love that." I nodded, managing another smile. Who would've thought I'd have to force a smile for him some day?

After five long seconds, he winked at me. "It's a date, Becks."

Oh!

What do you mean 'oh', bitch? This is what you've wanted for more than a year!

Once again, the look in his eyes shifted as they darted down to my lips and as he leaned towards me, I internally scowled. Hold your horses, you ever horny corndog.

Before I could let my reproach show on my face, I quickly unbuckled my seat, saying, "great! See you tomorrow."

With that, I practically jumped out of his car and waved him goodbye, seeing his disappointed face through the window, which he recovered in a second with a smile and waved me goodbye.

Whew!

*****

"Rebekah, right?" I turned around to be greeted with a warm smile from a familiar face. "Changed your mind about that membership?"

"Hey, Mindy. Not yet." I shook my head nervously, hoping she wouldn't kick me out of the gym.

She pouted. "Alright. Well, the person that you're trying to reach is currently sweating off in the steam room. Want me to get him?"

"You guys have a steam room?"

"And a spa," she whispered with big excited eyes. "Changed your mind yet?"

I let out a laugh. "Are you going to kick me out if I still say no?"

She gasped, bringing a hand to her chest. "I would never. Come on." She headed towards the doors that probably led to the steam room.

"Shouldn't I wait out here? I mean, the people in there might mind."

She didn't seem to listen as she swung the door open and I followed her inside, walking through the short corridor with lockers on one side until she stopped outside a room.

After giving a little knock, she opened it a fraction and poked her head in. "Matt?"

Then she shut the door and turned around, throwing me a little wink before walking away. "Now that's a sight that makes me doubt my sexuality. He'll be right out. I'll leave you guys alone."

The door slowly opened and Matt stepped out in nothing but a towel around his waist. "What is it—" he stopped abruptly when he saw me, jaw clenching. "What are you doing here?"

His body glistened under the ceiling light and I had to tear my eyes away from his packed abs and chest to focus on what I came for. I came for that V disappearing in his towe—No! Focus, Becks.

I cleared my throat. "I went to your house. Aiden said you were still at the gym."

He folded his arms. "And?"

"And I thought...it's way past your gym time. You should've let me know we weren't training today."

"You came all the way to the gym just to tell me that?" He raised a brow.

"I-I tried your phone."

After a moment of just staring, he nodded. "I usually head home after working out but I guess I lost track of time today. Anyway, you're right, I should've dropped a text."

"It's fine." I smiled and without returning it, he walked past me. Rude! I turned around and followed him as he made his way into a room full of more lockers.

"So, you're heading home now?" I asked.

No answer. He opened a locker and fetched a duffel bag from it, set it down on the bench and started pulling his clothes out. I found myself observing how effortlessly his shoulder blades flexed whenever he moved his arms. And I definitely shouldn't get started on his lower back. Look away, Rebekah. Look away!

"If you don't have anything to do after this, we can still train for about an hour," I suggested.

He threw me a look over his shoulder, no emotion whatsoever on his face so I muttered, "or not."

He turned around to face me and inhaled sharply. "Turn around."

"What?"

My jaw dropped when his hands undid his towel and I flipped around with enough urgency to give myself a whiplash just in time to hear the towel land on the bench. "That was close, Williams. Could have given me a warning."

"I told you to turn around," he replied dryly.

"Yeah, but when you're about to strip, a little less subtle warning would be nice. Maybe try something like flip if you don't wanna see my wick."

I was expecting at least a chuckle but he remained silent. Come on! That was funny. I bet he at least smiled and I really wanted to turn around and find out but I wasn't sure he was dressed yet.

I sighed, picking on my nails while waiting. "It was a joke, you know?"

"What?"

"The...the thing about pineapple pizza. I was talking to Meera over the phone and she asked if I would rather k..." I took in a breath. "...kiss you or have pineapple pizza. I chose latter. It was all a joke and it was weeks ago. I just...I—" I cut myself off and shut my eyes for a second. "Sean just happened to have overheard that."

He didn't say anything and for a moment, I doubted if he was still in the room with me.

"Rebekah," he started and I flinched for some reason. Not Becks. "I really don't care."

"Then why are you mad?" I asked.

I heard the zipper of his duffel bag and sneaked a peek over my shoulder. He still hadn't put his t-shirt on but at least he was wearing his track pants.

I found my eyes lingering over the M on his torso as I turned around. "I don't know what gave you that impression," he stated while slipping into his t-shirt. Once done, he grabbed his bag and headed out.

"You're still at the gym," I said, following after him.

"As I am every day."

"I mean it's our training time and you're still here. You've never done that before."

"Like I said, lost track of time."

He had longer legs so I had to take twice as many steps to keep up with him.

"I get it," I continued. "So, are we training today or not?"

"We're not." He pushed open the glass double doors and stepped into the reception area.

"We're not?" I blinked. Mindy looked up at us. I passed her a little smile and waved her goodbye. She waved back right before I stepped out in the cold air after Matt.

"No. I have to go somewhere."

"Oh! Alright." I was a little disappointed but I was careful to not let him hear that in my voice. I didn't blame him for wanting a day after everything that had happened. "See you tomorrow then."

He started walking towards his car but stopped and looked around, asking, "how did you get here?"

"Aiden gave me a ride."

"I'll drop you home then."

"But you have to be somewhere."

"Yes, so be quick. Get in the car."

"It's fine, really," I told him, taking a step back. "I haven't taken a walk in ages. Go ahead. I'll see you tomorrow."

He opened his mouth to argue but I'd stepped further away, already turning. "Bye."

He didn't respond.