Love and Other Diseases (bxb)

Chapter Seven

Blake and I used to be close friends, back when he first moved into the neighborhood. I really liked his family and I really liked him, so for a while we were two peas in a pod.

That lasted maybe a month.

It was the same summer that I realized I was gay. I was about nine years old, and I had been hanging out at Blake's house. Blake had a pool that was a ton of fun, and we were both swimming in the same direction real fast to make the water move in one direction.

In our efforts to turn around and swim against the whirlpool, I collided against Blake and he'd held me for a second too long. We were both laughing and I'd gotten an up-close of those beautiful green eyes — at least, I thought they were beautiful at the time.

I realized I was gay then, so I did a lot of research on the subject. I kept my distance from Blake the whole next week as I was discovering more about myself and what I wanted in a romantic partner. Thanks to the internet, I realized that I was normal and there were others like me.

I wasn't too worried about the whole gay thing. I was going to tell Blake and resume life as normal. So that weekend, when the Beckson family had a neighborhood cookout, I planned to tell Blake.

However, something happened that changed everything.

I snapped out of my day dream with Blake waving and snapping in my face. "Hello? Earth to probably the meanest person I've ever met in my whole life? Can we please focus on the project?"

"Sorry, I was thinking about how much of a horrible person you are," I admitted honestly. Blake facepalmed.

I looked through my book until I'd found all the quotes I could. Blake and I wrote them all down on one piece of paper and at that point it had been over an hour. It was a small miracle that Blake and I had actually managed to work together to get something done.

"So next, all we have to do is come up with a thesis based on our topic that you picked and use these quotes to support it," Blake explained. I really hated how condescending he was, acting like I needed constant explanation.

Considering I actually was really lost and confused on the project, though, I didn't mention it.

"Can we do that part later?" I asked. "I've had enough of you for one day."

Blake scowled and shook his head. His brown and curly hair went flying from side to side when he did that. "No, we're not done yet. I want to do well on this, so we can't just wait until last minute to do this stupid project."

I sighed and settled my head in my hands. "I take it back, men who do good in school aren't my type."

"Please stop being a stereotypical athlete for one second?" Blake asked, sounding like he was begging. "You're actually so annoying. Let's just do schoolwork, it isn't the worst thing."

I settled down on his bed and accepted my fate. Blake the snake was keeping my trapped in his home to never leave, torturing me with school.

After a few more minutes of silent working, Blake plopped his feet in my lap and rested his back against the wall. I stared at his feet like they'd personally offended me, which they had, but Blake didn't actually care.

And I was scared to touch him more than I had to, so his feet remained on my lap.

My rule was definitely being broken. If anyone walked in, they would totally think that we were friends. Maybe even more than friends. Horrifically, his mom opened the door right as I was thinking about it happening.

"Blake!" she said, a scowl on her face. She rested her hands on her hips. "What did I say about keeping this door open? You're lucky I didn't catch you two doing anything inappropriate, or you would be in so much trouble."

Why was she so convinced that I was a drug dealer?

"Sorry about scolding my son in front of you, Jake honey," she added and batted her lashes at me, because she was totally into me.

Once she left, I realized I had a slightly different problem. My hands were holding a piece of paper meant to 'brainstorm thesis ideas,' which I wasn't doing, which thankfully covered my crotch.

However, having a guy's body parts so close to my crotch was not having the type of effect I needed when I was around Blake the snake.

But then he yawned, lifting his arms up and allowing the bottom of his shirt to ride up his stomach. This exposed a sliver of tan and firm skin, which didn't help my problem. Almost like he knew what he was doing, Blake dragged his shirt up with one hand and scratched his stomach, exposing even more skin.

This was not good.

I tossed the paper in his face and stood up. "You're not the boss of me." I grabbed my bag and walked out of the room. "I'm leaving."

I managed to make it all the way out of the house before he appeared behind me, looking pissed.

"You can't just leave for no reason!" Blake huffed. He waved the book in my face. "This is important."

If I stuck around any longer, he was going to see the massive boner that he caused.

"I have to be going for dinner," I said. "We'll work on it tomorrow."

I walked away and Blake apparently decided it wasn't worth it, because he yelled an expletive and slammed his house door when he went back inside.

That night, I dreamt of Blake. My subconscious betrayed me by feeding me images of Blake naked and underneath me. His green eyes were electric and his face was flushed.

I woke up the next day absolutely cursing his name. Even when he wasn't around, Blake was causing me trouble.