Chapter-16|Teasing

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Mid-week blues are real, and that's why you need people like Grayson McGowen in your life.

"You fucking can't beat me this time." Grayson said aggressively, pressing on the buttons of his controller.

"Accept it, Gray! You are done. We've already played this three times, and you have lost three fucking times." I said, pressing the buttons on my controller. A lot less aggressive than him.

When I met Gray in my initial days here, I didn't know we shared a class, Psychology. He was a freshman like me but because he came here one week earlier than me; he knew his way around the campus a lot better than I did, and that was the reason we became friends. I was late to my first psychology lecture, trying to find my way around the campus when he came to my rescue. He showed me the way around and guided me through the complex hallways of Willow Creek.

"Take that, McGowen! You fucking lose again!" I yelled, pumping my fists in the air, jumping on the couch in excitement. The look on Gray's face was hilarious. I wanted a picture of that, but the asshole is way too smart. He took my phone away the very time I tried to take a picture of his pissed-off face.

"I let you win." He grumbled, schooling his expressions into one of nonchalance.

"You know what, Gray, this is the fourth time you've lost. This excuse only works once and we are way past that." I said, with a bored expression on my face at his excuse.

"One of these days, Reed. One of these days, you are going to lose." He promised, sitting up straighter, trying to look intimidating when in reality he is just a giant pissed-off teddy bear.

"Well, you better wish that day comes before you lose whatever dignity I left you with." I said, smirking.

"Yeah, yeah. I am ordering food for us." He said, changing the subject, and went to his room to get his phone. Gray never asks me to have food with him, he always tells me. He knows I suck at eating, so he makes sure that whenever he is with me, I always eat something before we have to part ways.

Looking at the time on my phone, I realize it's almost midnight. We have a test in psychology tomorrow that we studied for, together. All the other boys were out clubbing, but Gray couldn't go, so he called me over to keep him company. I was supposed to leave hours ago, but he was really stressed about the test even after we studied everything, so I suggested playing video games to distract him, and looks like it worked wonders.

"I never understood how someone just forgets to eat?" Grayson mused and plopped down beside me, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"I don't know, it just happens." I shrugged.

I have this really bad habit of forgetting to eat. Even when I am not stressed or working, I easily skip food for the entire day without even realizing it. It's not an eating disorder, it's just a bad habit that I am trying really hard to let go of but failing miserably. Dani has gone as far as to set reminders on my phone to remind me to eat.

"It's all alright. I'll feed you." He said, patting my head like I'm his pet dog with a huge smile on his face.

"Stop it." I scowled and pushed his hand away.

Suddenly a bell rang out throughout the house and both of us looked at each other, impressed, thinking it was the food delivery guy.

"That was fast," I commented, as Gray stood up to open the door.

Pulling open the door, I couldn't see who was standing on the other side, but I could definitely see Gray's back go stiff, and that was not a good sign.

"What the fuck happened to you?" He said in a loud voice, disbelief lacing his every word.

Nobody replied to his question, and that only confused me further, but all my questions got answered when Gray moved away from the door making way for Mason who walked in with a black-eyed Noah, and Ethan who had a cut on his forehead which was bleeding. Looking at him, I couldn't help the gasp that left my lips because Ethan Knight, with a cut on his forehead, is not a comforting sight to me.

Mason looked completely fine in terms of exterior injuries, if not a little rough and tired. Noah was sporting a black eye with the biggest smile I've ever seen, and Ethan had a cut on his forehead, which was bleeding down the side of his face.

Looking at them one by one, I trailed my eyes from their head to toe checking for other injuries but other than the obvious ones; they seemed fine. Well, as fine as you can be with a black eye and a cut.

I looked at Mason, knowing my chances of getting an actual explanation were highest with him, but to my disappointment, he simply shook his head. Not even trying with Noah, I looked past him to the still very handsome but definitely hurt Ethan, but he wouldn't even meet my eye telling me they were not proud of what they did.

"Are you gonna stand there like fools or tell me why the two of you have these fucked up faces?" I asked, standing up in front of them, trying to meet each of their eyes.

"It was awesome. You wouldn't believe what-" Before Noah could continue with his overly enthusiastic story, Mason closed his mouth with his palm, shutting him up instantly.

"We are gonna ice that black eye. Come on, Noah." Mason said silently and dragged Noah away.

"I'll leave you to your interrogation. Tell me the story tomorrow." Grayson said with amusement, lacing his voice, and started walking towards his room, leaving me and Ethan alone.

"By the way, clean that cut before you do anything else." He mentioned on his way, bringing my attention back to Ethan's cut.

"Come on." Agreeing with Gray, I sighed and took Ethan's hand in mine, taking us to his room to clean him up before I ask questions.

Walking straight into his ensuite bathroom with him in tow, I started looking for the first aid box.

"It's in the first drawer on the right." That was the first thing Ethan Knight said to me ever since he walked into this house with a damn cut on his forehead.

Not bothering to answer him, I moved to the said drawer and took out the first aid kit. I opened it to look for something to clean his wound, hyper-aware of Ethan just standing behind me with his eyes focused on my every move.

Realizing that I should probably clean away the excess blood first, I took a clean hand towel from the shelf beside the counter and held it under the tap to wet it, all while trying to guess the reason behind his injuries.

"Come here." I said, turning around and asked him to walk inside the bathroom instead of just standing at the door and stare at me.

He didn't need me to say it twice as he slowly walked inside the bathroom to stand right in front of me, making it difficult for me to reach the wound or clean it without hurting him.

"You're tall." I grumbled in a low voice, not wanting to diffuse the serious situation at hand.

"You're just short." He mused, clearly having opposite thoughts.

"Here. Clean the wound." I said, holding out the towel to him. If he thinks he can dissolve all this with a joke on my height, he is wrong. He can't just walk in here with a cut on his forehead and expect me to be okay with it like it's normal. It's not, and I am freaking out.

Instead of simply taking the towel from me and cleaning his wound as any normal person would do, he places his hand on my waist, picks me up, and places me on the counter. He then placed his hands on my ankle and pushed my legs apart to stand between them and places his on the counter on either side of me, effectively caging me.

Just like that, all my previous thoughts leave my head, and all I can think about is the closeness between Ethan and me. The lack of distance is definitely alarming for my certain body parts as I feel my cheek heat with what I can only assume: a deep red blush.

Trying to calm my obvious nerves, I took in a deep breath and looked up to see him watching me with a look that made me weak in my knees. Good thing I was already sitting. Avoiding his coveted gaze, I simply leaned forward and started dabbing away the excess blood. The wound had stopped bleeding excessively a while ago, so it was easier to clean. When I reached the actual wound, I accidentally pressed a little hard on it, making Ethan wince and clasp my waist tightly to counter his pain.

"Oh fuck! I am so sorry." I apologized instantly, looking at him, trying not to grimace.

"It's okay." He dismissed the pain with a simple nod but didn't let go of his grip on my waist, which became significantly lighter.

"So, are you gonna tell me or not?" I asked a while later, now cleaning his wound with the rubbing alcohol he gave me to disinfect it.

"Are you gonna continue giving me the silent treatment if I don't tell you?" He said, raising his eyebrow. Luckily, I hadn't hurt him after that one slip-up.

"You are stupid if you think this is my silent treatment. It's worse than this." I told him, raising my eyebrow in reply.

"Well, remind me to never piss you off because I don't think I can handle you not talking to me." He said in a soft voice, taking hold of my chin and moving my face to look him straight in the eyes which I have been avoiding ever since we got in this sexually tense position.

"I wouldn't be there to remind you because I wouldn't be talking to you, I would be that pissed." I said, maintaining the soft voice.

"How are you so sure that I will piss you off?" He said, almost offended.

"Because you are pissing me off right now by trying to dodge my question and stupidly, might I add." I called him out. He was definitely trying to dodge the 'What happened?' and failing miserably at it because I'll not let it go until he tells me what happened. It's that, or he tells me to back off!

"You'll not let it go, huh?" He said, handing me the ointment from the first aid box.

"You can tell me to back off or that it's not my business and I'll leave it alone." I said, squeezing out some ointment on my fingertips.

"It is your business." He said with a slight smile on his face.

"If you are here, sitting on my counter, treating my wound, then you should know, it is your business." He continued while I held one side of his face to stop him from moving while I applied the ointment.

"Does it hurt?" I asked instead, changing the topic.

"Not one bit." He said, looking straight at me with unwavering eyes.

"Pass me that." I gave him back the ointment as he handed me the gauze and placed the ointment back in its place.

"I think you should get it checked by a professional once." I said, placing the gauze on his cut and securing it.

"I will."

"So, we were at this club. We don't go there usually. Noah heard about it somewhere and wanted to check it out. We were chilling among ourselves when Noah approached this girl he saw at the bar. They were good for the first few minutes but turns out she had a boyfriend but she never told Noah that she was taken. Suddenly, this guy comes out of nowhere and punches Noah and I couldn't let just someone beat my friend for no reason, so I had to jump in. He got in a few punches, but he must have some rings on his finger. Hence, the cut on my forehead." Ethan continued, explaining to me the whole situation.

"Oh, my god. That's horrible." I said, trying to wrap my head around the whole incident.

"Yeah..." He mumbled, agreeing.

"Did you get in a good punch at least?" I asked after a minute's thought. That guy gave one of my friends a black eye and gave Ethan a cut on his forehead. The least he deserves is a good punch.

"He is sporting two black eyes, so yes, I probably got a good punch in." He told me with a smirk on his face.

"You guys are probably banned from that club now." The thought of these boys getting banned from a club was hilarious enough for me to forget about the fight.

"Well, we wouldn't go there again anyway, it's shitty." He said, not so convincingly.

"Whatever helps you sleep." I said, patting his cheek in mock sympathy.

"You would." He said without missing a beat.

"Huh?" I don't believe that what I heard right now is correct.

"You heard it right, Reed." He said, pulling me closer if that was even possible.

His hands on my waist burned through the material of my dress. The sexual tension between us was already palpable, and then he goes ahead and says things like that.

"Don't say that." I whispered. My hand, which was still on his cheek, slipped to his shoulder, holding tightly as my life depended on it.

"Why?" He whispered, stepping closer to me.

I could feel his breath on my face, and the lack of space was doing inexpressible things to me. I could feel the tension build in my abdomen as he started moving his thumb back and forth on my waist.

Looking up to meet his brown eyes with my blue ones, I could see his eyes turn a shade darker. And if it is possible, that just added to the surrounding tension.

"Answer me, Iris." He said in a deep husky voice while maintaining heavy eye contact with me, but my mouth seemed to have lost all its connections with my brain.

I don't even remember what the question was. All I can focus on right now is how close are Ethan Knight's lips to mine. I clutched the collar of his shirt in my hands in anticipation.

"Iris..." He persisted, despite my lack of an answer.

"I don't remember." I admitted honestly in a low, soft voice.

Ethan simply hummed in response with a tiny smirk on his face. Just when I thought he would lean in and kiss me, he casually stepped back.

"Well, let's get something to eat. I am hungry after all the fight and I am sure you must be starving after nursing me back to health." He said taking a few steps back to give me space to jump down from the counter while I just sat there with my face contoured in the most confusing expressions ever.

"Okay..." I trailed off, trying to understand what just happened.

I jumped off the counter with Ethan's help and was about to walk out of the bathroom, trying to ignore the obvious spark, when he circled his hand around my wrist and pulled me back, making me stumble into his chest.

I looked up at him with my eyes wide open, trying to figure out what is going on in his head, while my hands held on to his shirt to prevent me from falling.

He looked down in my eyes as one of his hands came up and pushed my hair out of my face, securing it behind my ear with so much tenderness that I could melt.

"What are you doing?" I finally asked.

Instead of replying, he leaned his face down beside mine and started placing feather-light kisses beneath my ear, making my hands tighten on his shirt and my eyes close on their own accord because of the shivers running down my spine.

He traced the shell of my ear with his tongue and threaded his fingers into my hair, causing me to whimper in need.

I am pretty sure I would have fallen had he not wrapped his arm around my waist. Sucking my earlobe in his mouth, he pulled at my hair, causing my head to tilt back and my hands to tighten on his collar to the point where my knuckles turned white.

"Teasing isn't as much fun when you aren't the one doing it, huh?" He whispered huskily in my ear and walked right out of the bathroom, leaving me to collect myself.

⤎❁⤏

Hey guys! So, my favorite chapter is now yours. I know, I say it about almost every chapter but trust me, I have been dying to post this chapter ever since I completed writing it almost a month ago. In this chapter, they finally move on from subtle, little teasing to physical teasing and I can't tell how much I enjoyed writing this.

On another note, thank you so much to the amazing meha-k for making this beautiful cover just as I wanted it. She is an amazing graphic designer, so anyone interested, please contact her and trust me, you won't be disappointed.

I also started an Instagram page because I feel like Wattpad doesn't give as many interaction options as I would like, to be honest. All the interactions are restricted to announcements and feed pages but on Instagram, we can have polls, QnA sessions and so much more. I will also be posting teasers and pictures related to Overcoming and my upcoming projects, so please follow me. My username is spiicychoco. Also, if you follow me on insta, please drop your Wattpad username in my DMs, so that I can give you a shout-out in the next update. Hit me up.

Don't forget to vote and comment if you liked this chapter. The votes make the story more visible and it increases the reach of the book, so please vote guys.

QOTD: What's your favorite cuisine? I can't really decide between Indian, Italian, and Chinese.

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