Pride

Chapter 30- Chase

After another of the football team's victories, Jordan, Nate, Levi and I agree to meet up to celebrate at my house. Jordan and Nate have to shower first, of course, so Levi shows up a lot earlier than them. We collect some beers and put them in an ice bucket, then head outside to set up a few lawn chairs (not everyone likes sitting in the grass, Jordan). I'm debating between waiting for Jordan and Nate to get here to start opening beers and just going for it now because it's hot outside and now that I've been made aware of the beers' existence, water sounds a lot less appealing, when Levi interrupts my thoughts.

"So, you and Jordan have been together for what, like, a month or two now?"

I nod, automatically smiling already. "Yeah."

"You seem happy."

I glance over at him. He's already looking at me, the corner of his mouth turned up a little. "I am."

He smiles more. "I'm happy for you guys. You seem surprisingly good together."

I grin a little. "Who would've guessed, right?"

He shakes his head. "Nobody. Really, I heard about at least three different bets between students, on your punishment from the coaches. One of them was which one of you would decide it's not worth it and leave your team first, one was which one of you would try to start a fight with the other first, and the third was how long it would take for both of you to get suspended. Nobody was even considering what actually happened."

I smile to myself. "He's a different person than I thought he was. I really like him."

He smirks a little. "Did you ever figure out your sexuality?"

I shrug. "I mean, I'm going with bisexual right now. Just because it seems the most fitting. But I think what I needed most was really just... surety. And now I can say, without a shadow of a doubt, that I'm definitely attracted to a guy. That's enough for now."

He nods. "Fair. I'm glad you're feeling better on that front, because it was really eating you up a few months ago. But then you got distracted with Jordan."

I smirk a little. He's not wrong. "Speaking of distracted..."

Levi groans and hides his face in his hands. "No. We're not talking about Nate."

"We're totally talking about Nate. You guys spend basically all of your free time together- because Jordan and I usually spend all our free time together, and you guys both have no other friends-"

"That's a lie-"

"-So you've gotta tell me. What's going on there? Have you guys..." I wiggle my eyebrows at him, and he makes a face at me.

"You're the worst. And no, nothing is going on between Nate and I."

"Except for the fact that you like each other."

"That is 50% true."

"You're impossibly stubborn. And, by the sounds of it, neck-deep in denial."

He scoffs. "Denial? Why would I be in denial that Nate likes me?"

"Because you're dead set on being single forever. Or torturing yourself. Or both."

"Or maybe I just don't want to see something that isn't there."

"Or-"

"Hey!"

I glance up, already half out of my chair, heading towards the gate where Jordan's voice came from a moment ago. I open it and put my arms around him immediately, bringing my mouth to his. He presses up against me, holding me by the waist and kissing me back.

"Get a room!" Nate says as he passes us to go to the backyard. I pull away from Jordan's mouth and immediately look towards the back door of my house. Nate shoots me a deadly glare. "No."

I smirk a little and start towards the lawn chairs and beers instead, where Nate's promptly taken my chair beside Levi. I smirk even more, and when I look at Jordan, he's doing the same.

I take a seat in one of the other chairs, and Jordan sits in the grass in front of me, leaning back against my legs. I rake my fingers through his hair, letting my nails run along his scalp the way he likes it. He tilts his head back into my touch, as usual, and I smirk a little.

"Are you guys going to be nauseating? Should Levi and I relocate to a different planet?"

"Yes," Jordan and I say at the same time, both grinning. Levi rolls his eyes at us, and Nate just gives us a flat glare.

We do kind of keep it toned down, as in not making out right in front of them because that seems a little unnecessary. That's not to say I'm not nestled in Jordan's lap by the time it gets dark, though. As well as stealing sips of his beer from time to time. And also stealing kisses from time to time. It's okay, though, because Nate and Levi are talking about something else.

Jordan gently rests his forehead against mine, his eyes fluttering shut. I lean up to peck his lips, and he's smiling. And maybe it's because of the way his arms feel around me, or because I've been drinking a little, or because I'm so happy with him that I'm forgetting about my pride, but it just slips out of my mouth in a single breath-

"I love you."

My heart feels like it stops as soon as the words exit my mouth, until-

"I love you, too."

THE LAST CHAPTER!!! Don't worry, there's still an epilogue :)

What are your thoughts on Jordan's dad's sort-of-acceptance of his sexuality? How about Jordan and Chase watching each others' games? And Chase and Levi's conversation? What about the 'I love you's? And if you enjoyed this chapter, please consider leaving a vote or comment to let me know!

THANK YOU TO EVERY SINGLE PERSON WHO HAS READ EVEN A SINGLE WORD OF THIS BOOK!!! It means the absolute world to me to know that people are enjoying my work, and the support for this book has been amazing! I am so fortunate to have such incredible readers and I am so grateful to each of you :)

Finally, if you go to my profile, you can find the sequel to this book, which will be titled Fine. See you there!