Cliché with a player

Chapter 22 - Jelly like a jellyfish

Byron stumbles back, tapping his lips and checking for blood when he finds balance.

"Matt!" I yell and grab his hand. "What are you doing?!"

Suddenly Dan steps in between the two boys, just as Byron is about to strike back. I guess him and Nessa came back from wherever they were.

"Let's calm down and not make a bigger scene out of this."

Matt clenches his fists by his side and his jaw sets. I pull him by the hand and out of the building on the cold air. The adrenaline in me is pumping so hard, I can't even feel the cold on my skin.

I take a deep breath before turning back to him. "Why did you do that?"

I try to keep my voice calm and not yell, even though I would much rather curse at him right now.

I sigh, when he doesn't respond, thinking he'll stay silent, but he opens his mouth and speaks in a hurt tone, "He kissed you."

"So what?! You were practically undressing Ophelia!"

"Lake...," he groans. I don't notice he called me Lake.

"What?"

"I was trying to make you jealous."

I am too shocked to act rationally when Matt Taylor blushes.

"Funny, I was doing the same," I admit.

His head jolts up with his eyes widened from surprise.

"But the kiss was never a part of the plan."

His face drops, his shoulders tense up.

"Matt, I've made my decision..."

"You obviously did it against yourself and what you think, otherwise you wouldn't have a problem with what I did with Ophelia in there." He points towards the club with his finger.

"I was not jealous." I stomp my foot to the ground and snow creaks loudly under my shoes. 

"You were and you still are." There is a self-centred smile resting calmly on his lips.

"Well, you are too!"

"Aha! You admitted!" He says triumphantly.

A silence falls upon us for a moment before we burst into laughter. I laugh so hard that I slip on the ice and fall backwards on my butt.

"Ouch, my tailbone."

"Here."

Matt offers me his hand and pulls me back on the feet.

"You alright?"

"I'm fine. Thank you."

I blush, once again, merely because his skin is touching mine and because he cares. I swear to god, I want to disappear from the face of the Earth right now. How can I blush this much? There's got to be something wrong with my blood.

Only now does the cold gets to me and I shiver. Matt puts one arm around my shoulders and starts walking with me back towards the door, as I lean into him, breathing in his scent. I could close my eyes and fall asleep with the smell of him and his heat surrounding me.

"Are you not cold?" I ask. He doesn't wear a jacket either, because in the club and surrounded by so many people around, you get hot very easily.

"No."

I like the fact that his answers are mostly plain and simple. You get what you need with no further complications.

We get inside and I have to force myself to walk away from his warmth. For a moment it felt like nothing had changed and we were still we.