Zaria's POV
"Wow! You have a very nice room. You are very neat." I looked around the large room and smiled, nodding my head in approval.
I've been to so many guy's room and his topped the neatness list. Charles or Taju's room are equivalent to a dumping ground. Cloths every where and at every corner, washed and unwashed. It was always unsettling and bad. Tyler's room was okay but I've never been to Kelvin's.
But this...this was just wow!
His room was not exactly a typical boy's room. He had one poster of the rap legend Eminem on his wall and a shelve stacked with motivational and inspiring books and I was sure he must have read them all. Close to his huge king sized bed was a glass door that led to a terrace that gave a rather beautiful view of the estate.
"You haven't seen a guys room this neat?" He asked with a smirk playing on his lips and I shook my head in response.
"Not even once. Charles room is always a dump and Taju's is nothing to write home about. You must have seen them already." I informed him and he laughed.
"Whenever I go over to Charles' house, we spend out time in the screening room mostly." He mentioned and I nodded. "Besides, I'm a neat person. I can't even stand dirt." He told me and I smiled.
If I didn't have a criteria for dream guy list before, I do now.
Neatness? Check.
I watched him drop my bag on his sofa and move a stack of text books from his table to the bed. I also noticed that he didn't even make a move to cover his nearly naked torso that seemed to be giving me a cardiac arrest. He definitely doesn't know what he was doing to me dressed like that.
"Zaria." His voices pierced through my reverie and I looked at him startled. He had a concerned look in his face.
"What? Sorry, were you saying something?" I asked him and he shook his head, a knowing smile playing on his lips. He began to walk towards me in a small pace and my heart picked up a beat.
"I was asking if we should get started now. What's going on in that head of yours?" He asked me.
"Uhm... I..." I was trying to form my words but it wasn't walking as he closed in on me. I backed up till my back gently hit the shelf behind me. He didn't stop walking till he was a breath away from me, his intense green eyes looking intently at me.
"Uhm... Joel, what are you doing?" I asked when he leaned his head closer to me. Hus hand stretched beside me, brushing the skin of my hand and I shivered involuntarily.
Is he going to kiss me?
Just as I was about to close my eyes, his hand withdrew from beside me and rose a text book to my face.
"I was just getting this." He said, a smirk evident on his lips. I looked at the book and almost face palmed myself.
Advance Chemistry. Typical.
"Oh, right. Let's start to study, so we can get to the chores." I told him, clearing my throat and he smiled.
"I've got some questions!" He told me and I gave him a thumbs up.
We both sat down on his bed and started asking each other questions. I had questions from the las Decathlon and we used it as well. In between the study, my mind kept straying off because of how Joel looked. There was a way he looked anytime he was solving equations.
Serious, Sexy. The best combo.
Feeling really distracted by all of these, I decided to stand by the wardrobe and keep answering the questions but that wasn't even helping one bit because he was still distracting. I zoned out, thinking of how he would look completely shirtless.
"Zaria!" Joel's voice jolted me back to reality. I nearly jumped.
"What! Why did you scream my name?" I asked all in one breath only for Joel to burst into laughter. "What?" I asked, all confused.
"You zoned out." He simply replied when his laughter subsided. My mouth formed into and o shape and I looked away, blushing.
Thank you God for making me dark skinned.
"Well, you can't be looking like that and expect me to concentrate. You really need to put on a shirt, you're distracting." The words flew out of my mouth before I could rethink it. My hands flew to cover my mouth and looked at him.
He had a smirk on his face and he was walking slowly towards me, just like before. I stood, transfixed where I was and couldn't even look away once. When he was only inches away to me, he stopped.
"You think I am distracting you? Was that why you stood up from the bed?" He asked, the smirk didn't leave his lips. I tried to look as composed as ever but I was failing miserably.
"Well, Yeah. You are almost shirtless and you were really close to me." I stuttered, looking anywhere but his face.
"Close uhn." He smirked as he moved more closer to me now. "Is this close enough?" He muttered. I couldn't bring myself to form and answer. I was stunned.
"Is this close enough?" He asked again, closing the space between us, his voice hushed and husky. I swallowed, still unable to get words out of my mouth. The air conditioning system was on but I felt hot all over.
Jeez, what is this guy doing to me?
He finally moved impossibly close to me, our bodies nearly touching. The books unconsciously dropped from my hand as my heart beat picked up the pace, my chest rising and falling rapidly. His right hand was on top of my head, resting on the door of the wardrobe and his left was also resting on the door, beside my waist.
"How about..." He was a breath away now, closer than before and I gasped as our body touched. "...this close." He whispered, his green eyes searching my brown ones.
His eyes and expressions were not teasing anymore. They were serious. Very serious. His forehead was already resting against mine and with my palm pressed against his chest, I felt his heart beat rapidly. The feeling excited me in ways I've never felt.
His eyes flickered to my lips and back to my eyes, his tongue running across his own to wet them. I knew exactly what that meant. He wanted to kiss me and from what I saw in his eyes, it seemed he wanted to do it so bad. Instinctively, I placed my lower lip in between my teeth and that only made things worse because I heard him groan.
"You are not making this easy for me, Omolara. You have Zero idea, the effect you have on me." His voice was so husky and filled with raw emotion, I couldn't even recognize it. I loved the way my middle name rolled off his lips.
No one has ever called my name with so much passion and something else I was scared to mention.
"How much effect do I have on you?" I asked him, barely recognizing my voice.
"Enough for you to see in my eyes how much I want to kiss you so bad." His reply was simply and straight forward and my breath hitched.
My insides fluttered with butterflies at the thought of his lips against mine. I have never actually had a real kiss before. My first kiss was stolen from me so I didn't count it as a first kiss. Am I about to have my first kiss now?
My first proper kiss, from the guy I really like.
Just as he was about to lean in...
"Joel honey! Zaria darling?! I am done. Come down." Rachael's sweet voice cut through our bubble like knife.
Joel looked at me as he leaned back up and walked few steps away from me. I bent down to pick up the books that had fallen from my hands as my heart still kept beating. I can't believe Joel and I almost kissed. A face suddenly appeared in my head.
Ada.
I sighed as I realized how more difficult everything was getting. How difficult my decision would be. I watched Joel picked up an orange T-shirt and wore it over his singlet before we both walked downstairs in silence.
Rachael and I exchanged phone numbers and she promised that we would keep in touch. Joel kissed Rachel on her forehead and I felt a little jealous of their Mother-Son bond. It was so strong, unique and authentic. Only God knows when last I hugged my parents.
Rachel soon left, leaving Joel and I alone in the house. I played with my bracelet, feeling Joel's gaze on me.
"You and Rachael seem really close." I broke the silence. He chuckled.
"This is little, compared to the closeness between my dad and I." He replied.
Now I envy him. I chuckled to myself.
"Seems like we are done with today's study. Let's get to the chores." I told him
"Good idea." He replied and we got to work.