Chapter 24 - Misunderstood

One day, Jake would die of heatstroke.

Training on a hot day should be a criminal offence.

— Come on, you bunch of slobs! You still need to practise the booty.

The Rapoxia boys grumbled in unison. To their delight, the assistant asked for a break and handed out iced water to the players, being called Messiah again.

Taking the opportunity to escape the stuffy gym, Jake grabbed his water bottle and slipped outside, where the cool breeze made him feel alive again. The delicious shade of the huge tree could be fought over if anyone else wanted to escape the heat, so the alpha ran to claim it. Sitting down on the grass, he could finally breathe freely.

— Ah, now we're talking.

— Tell me you've brought something for us to eat — Matheus mumbled behind him.

— Nope. That's your job, not mine.

— Come on! I just had to buy it at the market, all you had to do was put it in your rucksack.

Jake let out a low chuckle as he went back to drinking his water, and his attention went straight to the stands, where there wasn't the usual presence. He had seen Nathaniel go to the library with some notebooks, so he hadn't missed class. But where was he now?

Was Nathaniel avoiding him again?

Why wasn't he in the gym like he always was?

— It's strange that he didn't come today.

With a start, Jake imagined that his friend had read his mind.

— What?

— The Joker. I think I've gotten used to his scary presence.

— He's not scary.

Matheus arched an eyebrow, clearly doubting his best friend's sanity. But Jake shrugged, leaning against a tree trunk.

— You were alone with him at the farm, weren't you?

— Just ask what you want to know. Stalling isn't your style.

The captain let out a low laugh, moving closer to Jake to keep his voice down.

— I felt your pheromones on him when we left. So, what were you two bastards doing?

Bloody hell.

He's been caught.

When an alpha leaves his pheromones on someone, it's a clear sign that something is going on between the two of them. Although it sounds romantic and is portrayed in many books as a relationship goal, Jake knew full well that it meant monopolising the person and threatening potential rivals.

That prey was his.

Jake had gone to great lengths at the cottage not to make anything obvious. He kept his distance from Nathaniel and remained friendly with him. But there were a few times when the alpha caught himself releasing his pheromones to cover him.

It was pure luck that Nathaniel didn't seem to notice anything, otherwise it would have been embarrassing. I mean, Jake didn't want to impose anything on the boy at the same time as he wanted to attack him in broad daylight

— Hm... I kissed him in the pool.

Matheus spat out the water he was drinking and then coughed. Wiping the dripping water from his chin, he looked perplexed at his friend.

— You what?

— I kissed Nathaniel.

— You what?

— Are you going fucking deaf?

Matheus closed his face in a scowl and showed his middle finger.

— You idiot. I didn't even know you were into him. I thought you were going to be a bachelor for the rest of your life after what happened in your town.

Ah, he knew how to poke the wound.

— I said I was with him, not that I was dating him.

— And since when are you into the Joker?

Crossing his arms, Jake began to think. Really, since when?

Actually, Jake just wanted to be his friend. He had approached him naturally and had already jumped on his neck and stuck his tongue in his mouth. The right thing to say would be that Jake had been impulsive in kissing Nathaniel.

But in fact, there was a moment when the alpha began to find Nathaniel interesting and even attractive. The kiss they had in the pool wasn't bad, on the contrary, it was so delicious that he'd like to kiss him again.

What's more, he had strong hands that gripped Jake's shoulders during the kiss. A strength that excited Jake on a whole new level. Just the thought was enough to make him hard right then and there.

Could he consider it being into Nathaniel? Was it just a sexual attraction or something more?

— I don't think it's that serious.

— Huh? So it was just a moment and nothing more?

That wouldn't be it either.

But Jake couldn't understand exactly what he was feeling.

Or rather, he didn't want to.

He still wasn't confident enough that he would be the ideal alpha to look after his partner. And it would be awful of him to take the initiative and end up hurting his friend's feelings. He needed to take it easy and see what would happen.

— It's going to go to shit.

— What do you mean?

As he looked at his friend, he realised that he was frowning. Following his gaze, he saw Nathaniel standing there with his hands in his pockets.

Oh shit.

He was fucked.

— Nathaniel...

The Joker stared at him in a frightening way. He didn't say anything, and his expression was partially hidden by his mask, although his eyes reflected a coldness worthy of Alaska.

The absence of emotion could be more frightening than the excess, because there would be no clue as to what he was feeling.

Nathaniel turned his head to look around, then began to walk away. Before the boy could even get away from him, Jake stood up and ran to grab his wrist.

— Hey, you...

Completely ignoring the alpha in front of him, Nathaniel turned to the captain.

— Could you let Guilherme know that I'll be picking him up at the end of training?

— A-Ahn? Oh, of course... But you're not going to watch the training session?

— I've got somewhere to be — Lowering his eyes to Jake, the joker pulled his arm free from his grip — Excuse me.

Without having the courage to stop him a second time, Jake watched Nathaniel slowly disappear from his sight. What would he think of you? That you weren't into him? That the kiss meant nothing? Or that Jake was one of those bastards who, once he's got what he wants, discards the person and pretends nothing happened?

Haa... Jake was really worried about what Nathaniel would think of him.

Receiving a pat on the shoulder, the alpha was comforted by his best friend.

— You're so fucked.

— Next time I'm going to shove that bottle down your throat.

— It's not even my fault. I just asked you a question and you didn't answer it, causing all this misunderstanding.

Haa, it sucked when he was right.

Jake wanted to disappear.

Why did he have to cause so many misunderstandings between them? Usually Jake wasn't so bad when it came to hitting on people. And Nathaniel was someone who was simple and straightforward. Small talk didn't work for him.

He needed to clarify things before Nathaniel put distance between them.

At the thought of it, the alpha felt uncomfortable, biting his lip.

— I'm going to kill the training — Jake muttered with his hands on his hips.

— Go ahead.

Running off across campus, Jake had to catch up with Nathaniel.

Surely that guy was thinking crazy thoughts, Jake had to be careful. Nathaniel didn't consider himself attractive, and he found it hard to believe that anyone would like him.

Jake hadn't forgotten how he'd called himself a monster when he was in heat.

Of course the alpha was interested in him, it was just that...

Looking around, Jake tried to find one person among the many students. The college was quieter in the afternoon, but it was still hard to spot Nathaniel.

— Shit!

Tucking his hair back, the alpha growled and ran off across the campus, continuing to look for the guy. It should be easy to find a tall guy in black clothes, so why couldn't he find him?

On the verge of going mad from running under that sun, Jake finally found him. Sitting on a bench near the café where Jake had taken him for coffee was Nathaniel without his mask. A sigh of relief escaped the alpha's mouth as he pulled himself together before approaching.

This time he wasn't going to leave any misunderstandings between them.

He had to be clear and objective.

Stopping in front of him, Jake waited for him to look at him. However, Nathaniel's gaze remained lost, standing like a statue.

— Nathaniel, look at me — The opaque eyes lifted to him, obedient to the alpha's request — What did you hear?

— Does it matter? It's not as if I expected anything from you.

An arrow through the heart would hurt less.

— I didn't mean that kiss didn't mean anything.

— You just helped me when I was in trouble. And about what happened at the pool, maybe it was just our curiosity. No big deal.

Was he justifying their kiss in the pool? It certainly hadn't been out of mere curiosity. It had been something more. Jake wasn't someone inexperienced who would do something like that just to find out his preferences.

Or was that how Nathaniel felt?

Clenching his fist, Jake sat down next to Nathaniel. He needed to stay calm, after all, he was the one who hadn't explained things properly.

— I was taken aback by Matheus' question, and we've only been together once, so it's a bit early to talk about possibly dating or anything like that.

— That makes things easier — muttered the boy, not looking at Jake again, which annoyed the alpha.

— What things?

— You were right about me being an omega. But I seem to have made the mistake of accidentally tagged you.

Marked?

Jake was tagged?

Checking his own body, Jake couldn't feel any bite marks on himself. He remembered all the times they had been together, and he hadn't been bitten by Nathaniel to the point of having a mark. So...

When?

How?

A faint smile appeared on his face.

— Did you mark me?

— Since you threw your pheromones at me that day, I ended up having my awakening. My doctor said that because of this, I unconsciously consider you my alpha, which is why your pheromones are the only ones that can calm me down.

Jake remembered the night in the alley. That time, that red-haired guy's pheromones had left Nathaniel in an absurd state of rejection. It was a big gamble for him to use his pheromones again, but he considered it very lucky that he managed to calm him down.

What's more, Nathaniel began to react to his pheromones, just as Jake himself also became sensitive to noticing Nathaniel's pheromones. The signs were obvious and neither of them had noticed, it was ridiculous.

Bringing his hand to his chest, Jake felt his heart racing with excitement. Covering his mouth, he tried to hide the smile that only tended to grow.