His Only Desire (bxb)

[12] Stop Stalling

Cole raised his eyebrows, and Jayce could see his best friend wasn't buying it. Cole was one of the people who could see right through him and his poor acting ability, but up until now, Jayce thought he was doing a great job.

"How long are you planning on stalling for?"

"Uh," Jayce breathed. "As long as you'll let me?"

"I'm not letting you, so stop stalling." Cole narrowed his eyes at Jayce.

"Weather's nice today, isn't it?"

"Jaycen!" Cole groaned in frustration. Persuading Jayce to speak his mind had never been this hard. It usually took a few words of affirmation before Jayce cracked, but for some reason, today that wasn't the case.

Jayce could see that Cole wasn't going to let this go, so he huffed in defeat, knowing there was no way out of this conversation now.

"Fine," Jayce whispered, not knowing how to put what he wanted to say into words. Cole perked up at his best friend's words, listening intently. "I don't know how to say it—"

"Take your time," Cole assured. "I know I'm basically forcing this out of you, so I'll wait however long I need to."

"Uh—so, you know how Alan organised this little basketball thing we're going to?" Jayce started with a sigh, and Cole nodded wordlessly. "Leon's obviously gonna be there,"

"You had me so stressed over that?" Cole gawked at Jayce in disbelief, but stopped when Jayce shook his head.

"No... just—I don't know how to say it without... laying it out flat," Jayce said, running a hand down his face, and Cole cocked his head to the side with a frown.

"Okay... you're freaking me out now. I won't hate you or anything."

Jayce already knew this, but hearing it aloud still brought a small smile to his lips.

"I think... well, I know that I think that I—wait no, that's not right. I can't say it, for fuck's sake!" Jayce groaned, annoyed at himself for not being able to let three simple words slip past his lips no matter how hard he tried forcing himself.

Cole on the other hand, had already put two and two together and knew what his best friend was trying to confess.

"You like Leon," Cole concluded, and Jayce let out a noise of surprise and hid his face as his cheeks reddened. Cole knew he'd got him from his reaction and rolled his eyes. "And you were scared to tell me, why? Did you think I'd chew you out for liking dudes or something?"

Cole had heard more than he'd expected, so he started the car and hit the road, driving in the direction of their local basketball court.

"No, it's because... I don't know, it's more than just that," Jayce settled for saying. No way in hell was he going to embarrass himself with the story of their first—and most likely last—kiss.

Cole hummed, curious as to what Jayce meant, but he didn't press him any further. He'd already pushed Jayce enough.

"Just keep in mind, you're competing with Andrea now." He muttered to himself, and to his dismay, Jayce overheard his words, letting them sink in.

Jayce had completely forgotten that Andrea had a crush on Leon too.

That sort of crushed his hopes, knowing that since Andrea was a girl, she'd already have the upper hand. Plus, Jayce didn't know how it would affect their friendship. He didn't know if he could handle one of his best friends dating the person whom he was in love with.

As the car started approaching the court, Jayce's leg started trembling uncontrollably. It was a nervous habit he'd never abandoned from his childhood.