Once we made it to their apartment, they gave a quick tour. It was a decently sized place. Just a standard apartment, the perfect size for two college students. I hoped that one day soon I would be able to have a place like theirs. A place far away from my aunt, a place where I had my own space and could live in peace.
They turned on the game and put on Mario Kart. In the process, I saw that they had tons of other games to choose from. It was clear that they gamed often. That was evident in not only the number of games they had, but also by how good they were at them. I quickly realized that I was going to have trouble beating them at it.
"Fuck, fuck, no!" Killian yelled, slamming his free hand on the coffee table in fury.
I laughed obnoxiously at my victory against Killian. It was an incredibly close game, but I came out on top for the second time. “Ha, I won again! All the free time you have to play this and you still couldn’t beat me. You just don’t have the skill that I have!”
"Eli," Bella warned, her eyes telling me all I needed to know.
Sometimes, I would go a little overboard when it came to competitions. I constantly felt the need to win at literally everything, because it proved that I was good at something. And, honestly, who didn't like to win?
Bella was usually the one to tell me when I was being annoying about it. I wasn’t trying to brag, it just felt nice to win. Those wins felt rare, at times.
I chuckled sheepishly. "Sorry, I overdid it."
Alex snorted and Killian huffed, he found my competitiveness less funny than Alex. Alex put a hand on my shoulder. "Listen, Killian is just bad at the game. I promise I'd beat you ten times over."
I made a 'pfft' noise. "Is that a challenge?"
"God, please no more challenges with Eli," Bella facepalmed. "He does not need any more rivalries."
"Anymore?" Killian asked, his mouth full of chips that I didn't see him grab. "You don't seem like the type to have rivals, Eli."
Bella scoffed and then let out a knowing laugh, earning confused looks from Alex and Killian. I merely rolled my eyes, not wanting to talk about the bane of my existence.
Bella spoke for me, "He and this guy in our class have been competing with each other for years. Eli is constantly trying to be better than him at literally everything they do. It’s exhausting."
Alex was about to respond when the doorbell rang.
"Who is that?" Alex asked.
"He’s coming to drop off the shirt, remember?" Killian explained as he got up to go answer his front door. I did not know the ‘he’ Killian was speaking about, but Alex understood.
As Killian went toward the door, I took the opportunity to rant about my rival. "You two don't understand how insufferable this guy is, he makes me want to jump off of a bridge. He's super smart without even trying. It pisses me off. He's cocky, annoying, hot, and just all around a bad person."
Both Bella and Alex raised an eyebrow at me, it was as if I had grown two heads. My head tilted. "What?"
"Hot?" Alex asked me, stifling a smile.
Thankfully, Killian opened the door before I had the chance to respond. I let out a breath of relief because that was going to be awkward to explain. Why on God's green earth did I call Javier hot?
"Hey, man. Come inside," Killian said to the person on the opposite side of the door.
I hadn't looked at the person that had entered the apartment, I was too busy still trying to figure out why I would call Javier hot. Don’t get me wrong—I knew he had good looks.He was lean, but still had some muscle, his tanned-caramel skin would glow in the sunlight, and he had a white smile that could blind you if you stared for too long. My confusion was as to how I let that slip in front of people. What was wrong with me?
With my eyes focused on the ground, I could hear footsteps coming toward us. Then I felt someone nudge me in the shoulder. It was Bella trying to gain my attention. I looked at her with my eyes narrowed, silently asking her what it was that she wanted. She then nodded her head in the direction of the door. When I finally turned, I regretted doing so.
"Richardson?" Javier called, a smug grin on his face.
I internally groaned. What were the odds?
"How is it that I keep running into you?" Javier asked with a scoff as he moved closer to me. "You must be stalking me."
Ignoring him, I leaned over and whispered to Bella. "Is he actually here or am I dreaming?"
“You dream about me?” he teased.
“You wish.” I held a hard glare his way.
