Jaded

Held

The next few days were a blur of stolen glances and half-hearted conversations with Arlo. She was, as he'd suspected, extremely interested in him, going so far as to try and cop a feel as he hugged her goodbye after their date. He'd just raised an eyebrow at her.

Suresh avoided Jade as much as possible, making a point of not looking at her unless she asked him something directly. He avoided Alfie, too, the stupid fucking grin on his stupid fucking face making him irrationally angry as the stupid little fuck floated around the room, high on Jade.

He knew the feeling. And knowing that someone else was feeling it was torture.

The text came through for the recoupling, and Suresh smiled sadly at Jade from across the kitchen. She didn't look at him, instead, she looked directly at Alfie, who stared at his feet.

Suresh furrowed his brow, and as everyone dispersed to get ready, he caught Eddie's arm.

"Hey... what's going on with Alfie?"

Eddie looked over his shoulder, putting his arm around Suresh, and pulling him into a huddle.

"He's not sure who he's going to pick."

"What?" Suresh yelled, far louder and angrier than he expected. He looked around, before whispering to Eddie again. "Are you fucking serious? He's thinking about not picking Jade?"

Eddie shrugged. "He said his ' head's all messed up' . He's worried about the drama between you and her. He thinks Meera might be a fresh start."

Suresh thanked him, and stormed off toward the stairs, prepared to simultaneously rip Alfie a new one and reassure him that he was backing off from Jade. But before he could take a step, he felt a hard tug at his arm, and he practically fell into a small closet.

"Hey," Arlo whispered, grinning widely at him, as she reached down and turned his mic off.

"Uhh... what are you doing?" he asked, as she gently wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Wanted to talk to you," she grinned, kissing his chest, as she slowly dropped to her knees. "About who you're picking."

Her hands nimbly tugged at the tie on his swim shorts, flicking them open as her hand traced down his abs.

"Arlo," Suresh warned, hoisting her back to her feet. "I'm going to pick you regardless. You don't have to do that to get me to pick you. Don't be ridiculous."

"Consider it an early thank you, then," she whispered, standing up on her tip toes to kiss his neck, trying to turn him on.

Jesus, her lips felt so good on his skin, and it'd been so long since he'd let someone else get him off. It would be nice to just sit back and let her blow him, but he sighed, and brought his hands to her face, gently pulling her back. "Arlo.... Stop."

She frowned. "Weird, you struck me as the kind of guy who liked blowjobs."

Suresh laughed softly. "Oh, believe me, I do. I just.... Not now."

Arlo scoffed. "Alright, well, once we're coupled up, you're gonna have to play it up a bit more."

For what felt like the hundredth time in the past week, he was utterly confused.

Even in the low light, he saw Arlo roll her eyes. "Have you not been listening at all? Jeez, I thought you were picking up on the hints."

"Hints?"

Arlo sighed deeply. "I told you about boxing, about building a persona. Mine is the villain . Nobody wants to punch a nice girl in the face. Being the villain in here is going to score me thousands in prize fights."