Veils of Rivalry Chapter 65

Blaise's POV

Cole is gone. I don’t think much of it at first, but when he fails to respond to my third message, my stomach churns with unease. I can’t put my finger on the emotion. It’s eating me up from the inside, like a parasitic invader.

Toxic thoughts whisper, ‘Something is wrong.’

Seated on my bed with my elbows on my knees and the phone in my hand, I stare at the screen. Stare and fucking stare.

Unread.

Why won’t the two ticks turn blue? Where the hell is he? I think back to this morning when I exited the shower. He looked spooked, pale as a ghost. Something is wrong. I knew it then. I sure as hell know it now. His silence drives the feeling home further, a nail in the coffin.

I shoot to my feet and pace the room. Rain splatters on the window to my left, but I barely notice the soothing sound. My heart is thudding too hard. I want to crawl out of my skin or climb the fucking walls. Where is he? Is he with Samson?

Chewing on my thumbnail, I bring up Cole’s number and try to call him again. It rings and rings and fucking rings. I’m trembling by the time I lower the phone before tossing it on the bed and pulling at my hair. My scalp prickles, but the sharp pain does little to soothe this raging storm.

Why won’t he talk to me?

Fuck this. I can’t wait around all day to hear from him. I’ll go insane, tormented by my destructive thoughts until I’m rocking in a corner, ready to be shipped off in a straitjacket.

Snatching up my phone and my jacket, I exit the house. The drive to Tiago’s is a blur. The wipers swish, swish, swish. My thoughts are a jumble of fucked up, and by the time I pull up in Tiago’s driveway, I’m sure I’ve aged ten years.

Cutting the engine, I stare out the windshield. Tiago’s five-year-old sister waves at me on the porch, her dark piggy tails swaying in the wind, her flowery red dress whirling around her ankles. She calls me her ‘superhéroe.’ It’s nice to be a hero in someone’s story.

My smile is weak when I exit the car and shut the door. The little girl runs down the steps, and I swoop her up in my arms and spin her around like I always do before setting her on her feet and patting her little head. I’m cold in many ways, but it would take a heart of stone not to smile around Lucía. “Run back inside. It’s raining.”

“Want to play Café with me?”

“Some other time. I’m here to see your brother.”

She takes my hand in her small one and leads me inside. The moment we enter the hallway, I’m greeted by the mouth-watering scent of freshly baked bread. Tiago’s mom, Camila, shuts the oven door and looks up as we pass the kitchen. Her face brightens with one of her signature smiles, which highlights the crow’s feet around her eyes. “How lovely to see you, Blaise. It’s been too long.”

She hugs me, too. They’re big on them in this household. No one escapes Camila’s warm hugs or affectionate smiles. She rustles my hair like I’m still a kid, and the niggling sensation in my chest eases a little. I can finally breathe easier. “Tiago is in his room.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to play Café with me?” Lucía asks, batting her long lashes.

Tiago’s mom ushers her into the kitchen. “Vamos, cariño. Blaise vino aquí para ver a su amigo.”

“Some other time,” I say to the girl before heading upstairs.

Tiago looks over his shoulder, pausing the game on the fifty-inch TV as I enter his room. Tossing the controller beside him on the couch, he removes his headphones and smiles. I plop down on the armchair and waste no time pressing the little button that makes the chair recline.

It whirrs, and I wait. And wait.

When I’m finally lying flat on my back, staring at the ceiling, Tiago covers a laugh with a cough and gets into character. “What brings you here today?”

“If you text someone and they don’t text you back…it’s bad news, right?”

“Maybe the person is busy?”

“The person lives on his phone. I’ve texted three times. No response.”

“Are you sure you’re not overly clingy?”

“Of course, I’m fucking clingy.” Frustration bleeds into my tone. “He always responds… Well, not always. But most of the time.”

“Most of the time?”

“Okay, so maybe he’s terrible at responding on time. Something is different this time. I can feel it in my fucking gut.”

“Did something happen?”

I shake my head. There’s a stain on the ceiling from the time we shook a bottle of pop, underestimating how high it would spray when we uncapped it. I don’t remember ever laughing so hard. “I don’t know. We were good this morning. I had a shower, and when I walked back into the bedroom, he looked like he’d seen a ghost.”

“Did you ask him if he was okay?”

I roll my head and look at Tiago. “You’re a shit therapist. Of course, I did.”

“Ask him again.”

“I don’t know where he is.”

Tiago smiles as he rubs his chin, and I frown as I sit up. “What’s so funny?”

“I’ve never seen you so hung up on someone before.”

“I’m not fucking hung up on him.”

His lips twitch as he lowers his hand. “Are you kidding? Look at you.”

I peer down at myself as if my clothing will magically give me the answers I need. Tiago chuckles and reaches for the controller. The game starts back up. He puts his sock-clad feet on the table, crossing them at the ankle. “Mia wasn’t right for you.”

Pressing the button again, I wait a millennia for the chair to return to a seating position.

Whiiiir.

“I’m scared,” I admit, and Tiago sits forward as the race on the screen gets intense.

“Why are you scared?”

“I don’t know how to handle these emotions. I want to punch him one minute and fuck him the next.”

Tiago barks a laugh.

“I love his smart mouth and his prickly attitude, but I fucking hate how he’s so quick to retreat and hide behind his fucking walls.” I flop back and release a frustrated groan as I sink lower on the couch. “Why the fuck won’t he answer my texts? What the hell did I do?”

“Welcome to the world of chicks.” As if he realizes what he just said, he pauses, then shrugs. “I mean, he’s a guy… I have no experience with men, but it can’t be that different, right? Relationships are relationships. It’s like walking on eggshells. One minute, they’re happy, and you’re the man of their dreams. Then, the next, they’re screaming in your face, and you’re apologizing for shit you haven’t done.”

“He’s not screaming, though. And I don’t know what I’ve done wrong. I would prefer it if he yelled at me. At least then, I could fix…this. Whatever this is…”

Tiago curses at the game, then looks at me, but his attention soon gets diverted back to the action on the screen. I blow out a breath and stare up at the ceiling, half lying on his armchair. The T-shirt has ridden halfway up my back—that’s how far down I’ve slid on this piece of furniture. Fuck my life. Why can’t he return home so I can fuck it better? I bet if I suck him off, he’ll smile at me again.

“How do you handle emotions?” I ask Tiago, and he frowns, sparing me a brief glance. Another car rams into him from behind, and he lets out a string of expletives. “You just learn to handle them with time.” Giving up on the game, he tosses the controller beside him. “Look…I get it. You haven’t been in love before, and it’s frustrating and scary as fuck. Remember Amber?”

I wrack my brain. “High school?”

“That’s the one. She had big tits and braces.”

“I vaguely remember.”

“You’re a shit friend…” Tiago chuckles. “She was my girlfriend for seven months.”

My lips spread into a smile, and I snicker too. “Sorry, I’m a mess.”

“My point is that I was crazy about her. She was the first girl I ever fell in love with. We’re talking cheesy shit like butterflies and all that stuff guys don’t talk about.”

I hum an agreeing sound.

“I didn’t know how to behave around her. It was scary as hell.” He sits straighter. “But I knew one thing. Whatever you do, Blaise, you can’t force Cole.”

“What do you mean?” I ask, and he gives me a pointed look.

“You can be very…full on when you want something.”

His comment makes me bristle. I scoff and shake my head, ignoring the niggling voice that knows he’s right. “Don’t you think I’ve tried to be…better? This is who I am, Tiago.”

“I’m not attacking you. I’m just saying. Give him space. Don’t blow up his phone. Wait for him to come to you, and then ask him what’s wrong.”

My heart squeezes uncomfortably, and I have to clear my throat. “What if he doesn’t come to me?”

Tiago’s eyes soften. He feels sorry for me. I’m too vulnerable to take offense. Normally, I don’t like to show weakness or even admit that I have any. But this need, this desire to own and possess someone while also making them happy, is new to me. I don’t know how to handle it. I don’t have any previous experience to draw from. It was so much easier when I just wanted to ruin Cole and watch him squirm like a dying worm. Not buy him chocolates to make him smile and cuddle him like a koala bear at night so I can listen to his heartbeat beneath my ear.

“If he loves you, he’ll come to you.”

I stare at him until my eyes water, either from not blinking enough or from the strange ache in my chest. Whatever it is, I don’t like it. A damaged car can be fixed. A broken leg can be put in a cast. But this… I don’t know what the hell to do.

“I don’t know what I’ve done wrong.” I sound whiny.

I hate that, too.

Tiago hands me the controller. “Want to race?”

Clenching my jaw, I wiggle the stick with my thumb, then nod before sitting up properly in the chair. “Okay…”

“Okay?”

The lump is back in my throat, and it’s so damn hard to dislodge. I swallow and then swallow again, but nothing fucking happens. I rub my wet eyes, then sniffle and attempt a shaky, fake as fuck smile. “Let’s race.”

Leaning over the side of the couch, Tiago affectionately jostles my shoulder. “You’ll be fine. Trust me.”