Soccer ~★ bxb romance novel ★~

Chapter 7 ~ Jake

Max

On Monday morning I carried the weight of sleeplessness all the way to my school. I had won a sports scholarship for my district's most prestigious and pricey boys' school. As I entered the school, I noticed an unfamiliar head of hair walking by the deputy principal. I paid no further notice to the new kid and approached my best friends, Sammy and Ken who were chatting by their lockers. They both noticed my fatigued expression immediately.

"Dude, what happened to you last night? Why wasn't I invited to the party?" Ken joked.

"Ha, ha, ha, very funny. I just couldn't sleep." I replied humorlessly.

They shared a look that told me that they both realised I was in a shitty mood and returned back to their conversation.

"Apparently there's a new kid at the school... Who joins in the third week of term though? That's kind of weird." Sammy updated us.

"Yeah true. Anyways.... So there's a party being planned by this rich dude who goes to Ravenfield public in a few months or something. He has a sick mansion and we're definitely going, I already got us invited." Ken said.

Sammy and Ken were party boys, although we could never really get drunk because of training.

"In a few months? Dude are you sure it isn't a five year old's party?" Sammy called Ken out. I laughed along with him at Ken's excitement.

"Shut up guys.... The dude is my cousin's best friend so I just got informed extra early, gotta secure a spot on the entry list." Ken defended himself while Sammy and I shared a triumphant glance.

Sammy and Ken walked me to my first period class, I had legal studies in room 46 while they had P.E out on the school oval. I waved them goodbye and sat at the back of the classroom. It was a room with dark-stained wooden floors and desks with cushioned chairs. The luxuries of scholarships...

There was a commotion at the entrance to the classroom that grabbed my attention. The deputy principal poked his head around the door, and then entered the classroom. A figure followed him, the same guy that was with him earlier. The deputy made a beeline to me at the back of the room. Finally the new kid came into view and the world went into slow motion.

He was a brunette god with a chiselled face and the warmest little blush I had ever seen. But somehow the femininity of his demeanour contrasted his masculine, sculpted body that made the pretentious private school uniform look so effortlessly sexy. The top two buttons of his schoolshirt were undone like mine, exposing his collarbones and he ran his hand through his curls and smiled at the ground as he approached my desk by the deputy's side.

Finally his brilliant eyes met mine. I bit my lip instantly and shuffled in my seat and tensed my calves to distract myself from the blood rushing to my crotch.

Fuck. We hadn't even met yet.

"Max Milten, this is Jake Bradfield. He's just transferred from a school in Melbourne to finish the rest of year 11 and year 12 at Rosehaven Boys'. Jake, Max is one of our sport scholarship students and I think he'll do a great job of helping you settle into our school. I have quite a lot of officework to catch up with, but feel free to drop by and let me know if you need anything or want to ask any questions, Jake. Anyways, I'll see you guys later." Deputy Mckinnon smiled and hurried off out of the classroom.
"Hey, I'm James." Jake sent a melting smile to me and we shook hands.

"I'm Max, as you heard. And yeah of course I'll help you out, show you around. It's a pretty good school if you're with the right people." I smiled and gestured for Jake to take the seat next to me. He sat down and turned to me, and spoke softly, eyes on the exposed skin of my collarbone.

"I think I'm in pretty good hands for now." His smile became something else, his blushed mouth parting and it sent butterflies fluttering all over my body.

I had never really flirted with guys before. I had only recently accepted that I was into guys and came out to my close friends and family, who were accepting thankfully. It was no big deal. But it was a fucking big deal.

Over the next few weeks, I introduced Jake to my group. We were all sport scholarship kids, not quite rich enough to be popular, but smart enough to respectfully co-exist among Rosehaven's trust fund babies. Sammy, Ken and I instantly fell into a good friendship with Jake and while we hadn't flirted again since the first time we met, I had certainly developed a crush. He was easily the most attractive person I had ever met and from getting to know him better, I felt bashfully outnumbered by his naturally cool aura.

He had moved from living with his dad in Melbourne to live with his mother and step-sister, and his biological dad was paying for his tuition. He was an artist, specifically a painter and he refused to show us anything that he had painted. Jake Bradfield liked playing soccer for fun and had an interest in men's fashion.

Everything about him was mesmerising to me.

The rest of the scholarship kids gradually began to form friendships with Jake and after a while everyone became comfortable around him.

It was the last period of a Friday afternoon two months after Jake's arrival and Jake, Sammy, Ken and all had free time.

"What should we do guys?" Sammy asked.

"I reckon we should play a friendly little game of soccer." Ken answered.

Sammy and Ken shared a look before looking between Jake and I.

"Two v two? Sammy and Jake against me and Ken?" I suggested.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Get ready to be destroyed." Jake's competitive gaze landed on me and his fierceness was shocking, but really fucking hot. I huffed, pretending to be unimpressed.

Jake kicked off and I was immediately on offence. I slid myself right up next to him, pulling out my tricks to confuse and steal the ball. We danced around the field, our bodies almost touching and I could no longer tell if the heat on my cheeks was from the hot sun or from being in such close proximity to Jake.

I had put my feelings for him in the back of my mind for the last few weeks. I enjoyed getting to know him and building a friendship. My last interactions with Kendrick had cast a strange feeling that settled in my stomach for far too long, and it didn't help that we were working together constantly. But finally, today I felt my spirits had lifted, and fuck did Jake Bradfield look hot when he raked his hand through his hair, panting.

I was millimetres behind him as he dribbled towards the goal, and I yelled for Ken to stay alert. I took my chance and tried to swipe the ball from under Jake's feet, but I tripped him over and lost my balance too.

"Guys! Stop flirting and get up Max! We're about to fucking lose, we severly underestimated Jake's soccer skills." Ken approached us.

I ignored Ken's comment and reached out to Jake to pull him up onto his feet, right into my chest. We ran back into position. Jake and I took the rest of the game seriously, still maintaining eye contact, and maybe I was imagining it, but there was an emotion I couldn't quite read washed over his face.

Jake and Sammy won, and basked in the glory. I pretended to be mad but I knew it was only because I was distracted and entranced by being so close to Jake the whole game. Fuck.

We stumbled back to our lockers, ready to go home and exhausted by the heat.

"So, who's gonna come to that party tomorrow night?" Sammy asked and took a swig from his drink bottle. His dark hair was damp and his dark skin gleamed with sweat under the fluorescent hallway lights.

I looked at him, confused until I remembered that I had already agreed to go months ago. I guess the party got pushed forward a little.

"Yeah I'm going. Jake, you interested?" I answered. I wanted Jake to come. Maybe we could finally get some time alone together and... I don't know what. But I could barely handle my feelings for him, they were bubbling over and soon enough I wouldn't be able to hold myself back. At least if we got a chance to talk at the party I would feel in control of it.

Jake's brown eyes flickered between us all and then confirmed he would be going with an easy smile.