Rival Lovers

| 011 |

Ten minutes passed, then twenty, then thirty, then forty—

Fuck it all. This guy was so annoying I couldn't even remember how long we were in here for. I couldn't even message anyone to let us out because I had inconveniently left my phone on the library desk, and apparently, so had Lucas.

Lucas paced back and forth in the tiny, cluttered storage closet like a restless animal. Every time he passed me, I could feel the waves of his annoyance radiating off of him, as if being stuck in here was my fault. Which, for the record, it wasn't.

"If you keep walking like that, you're gonna wear a hole in the floor," I said, leaning against a stack of old textbooks and crossing my arms.

"Maybe if I do, we can dig our way out of this hellhole," he snapped, shooting me a glare

He turned and gave the door another hard yank, grunting when it didn't budge. The handle rattled, mocking him.

"Do that one more time," I said, "and maybe it'll finally work. Fifth time's the charm, right?"

"Keep talking, and I'll show you what works: duct tape over your mouth."

I rolled my eyes, kicking at a loose textbook on the floor. The tiny space felt even smaller with his energy bouncing off the walls. It didn't help that the air was getting stuffy—or maybe that was just Lucas, breathing too much for two people.

Lucas's jaw tightened as he leaned against the door, glaring at it like he could will it to open out of sheer stubbornness. "I'd rather be locked in here alone than deal with your constant yapping."

"Right back at you, buddy. But let's face it, we're stuck together, so you might as well get used to it."

"Like hell I will," he muttered, crouching down to inspect the bottom of the door.

I leaned over, watching him fiddle with the lock. "What are you even doing?"

"Trying to fix this, obviously."

"Obviously failing."

"Do you ever shut up?"

"Do you ever succeed at anything?"

He froze, slowly turning his head to glare at me. "Say that again, and I dare you to see what happens."

I smirked, leaning back against the wall with my hands behind my head. "What's the worst you're gonna do? Lecture me to death?"

"No," he said, straightening up. "I'll make you useful. Since you're so full of ideas, why don't you figure out how to get us out of here?"

"Gladly," I said, grabbing a book off the shelf. I flipped through it like it held all the answers to life. "Step one: Find a dumbass to blame. Step two: Yell at him until the problem fixes itself."

Lucas snatched the book out of my hands and tossed it onto a pile. "Oh, look. That didn't work. Shocked."

"You didn't even give it a chance."

"You didn't give me a chance to ignore you."

We glared at each other, the air between us thick with annoyance and something else I didn't want to name. It was weird being this close to him, especially with nowhere to go.

"What's all that soccer muscle worth if you can't even break open a door? Pretty useless if you ask me," I said, smirking as I crossed my arms.

Lucas turned slowly, his glare sharp enough to cut through steel. "You wanna keep talking, or should I use your head as a battering ram to test that theory?"

"Oh, please. You couldn't handle that kind of impact. Don't hurt yourself trying."He let out a frustrated grunt, kicking the bottom of the door in a futile attempt to force it open. "This door is so old, I could sneeze on it and it should fall apart. What the hell is wrong with it?"