Beyond

Chapter 17

Jesse

"You must be Jesse! Wow, you're so pretty!"

She positioned herself next to Payne and held his arm, and blood instantly rushed to my brain. I know for sure that she squeezed his arm because I saw it with my own eyes!

I suddenly have an urge to throw the lady away.

"Cal—"

"Please move your hand away. He doesn't like to be touched," I said, cutting Payne off from whatever he was going to say.

Payne doesn't like to be touched casually by people, and the lady just barged in on our moment and clasped on to him like a leech.

She grinned wider and gripped Payne's arm tightly, and my man was struggling to escape from her hold. "Who are you to tell me that anyway?" she asked.

"Who am I?" I crossed my arms. "I'm his... friend... Right, friend! Don't be such a leech. He's getting uncomfortable."

"We're lovers," Payne straight up said.

The girl was taken aback that her grip on Payne had loosened. Payne used the opportunity to get away from her.

"Lovers..." the girl repeated. "Darn! You should've made him chase you!" she said. My brow rose in confusion. "It would've been fun seeing him sulk and suffer because you're playing hard to get!"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Payne cleared his throat. He was about to speak up, but the lady cut him off. "I haven't received any updates for days, so I thought you turned him down, and he's bawling his eyes out in his room.

"That's why I dressed up as a lady so that I could make you feel a little jealous, but still... why? Why did you give in?! Even though he's handsome, you're not supposed to give in!" She touched both of my shoulders and shook me aggressively.

Payne got in between us. "Jesse, this is Pierre. My childhood friend," he said. My eyes widened, looking closely at the 'lady' in front of me.

"What? Never seen a man this pretty?" He winked at me.

"I'm pretty too you know," I said.

Pierre chuckled. "At last, Payne finally let me in here, and I finally got to see what you looked like. And I could say that it went far from my expectations." Pierre smiled and lent his hand. "My name is Pierre Callysta. It's a pleasure to finally meet you," he said. I shook his hand.

"Do you want to eat with us?" Payne asked.

"Eat?" Pierre furrowed his brows before his face lighted up. "Sure!"

The walk on our way to the dining hall was loud and noisy, and it was all because of Pierre's mouth. Ever since we started walking, he hasn't stopped talking and teasing the both of us.

"Uh... you must be a noble, so how should I address you?" I asked him.

"Just call me Pierre! Since you're Payne's boyfriend, you get a free pass from the formalities since you're also part of the family now," Pierre said, winking at me. I slowly nodded my head.

"Anyways, you're kind of funny Jesse. When you were at the dungeon, I heard that you stabbed the guard and threw a hot soup at him," Pierre said as he sliced the roasted chicken.

"Well... the guard spit on it. I actually thought I was going to die back there," I said.

Pierre chuckled. "Believe me, you won't." He glanced at Payne and back at me. "Even though you weren't innocent, Payne would've helped you get out," Pierre said.