Love Is a Losing Game // Joel Pimentel

34 | Take Back

Chapter Thirty-Four

Blu's POV

Throughout the whole night I make a point to not come into close contact with Joel in order to grant him his wish. We begin by playing Just Dance, Parcheesi, and a couple of card games before plopping down to watch Alita.

I swaddle myself into a blanket and flop onto the couch that was against the back wall of the media room his home had. The movie begins and Joel offers me some candy with a smile. I grab a couple of the Twizzlers in his hand and continue to watch the movie intensely after I mumble a thanks.

We continue to watch the movie in silence and I smile as Alita begins to beat everyone up. At some parts I roll my eyes at the cheesiness and the end pisses me off on many levels.

"The sequel better come out soon because I think I will lose it if it doesn't," I tell Joel. I'm met with silence and when I look over to see if he was sleeping he is looking at me with a care filled gaze.

"I take it back," he whispers to me.

"Take what back?"

He smiles softly and shakes his head before mumbling, "Nothing." Joel gets up and goes to put in another movie but I begin to question his words in order to get a valid response back. "What do you mean by 'I take it back'?"

He laughs to himself at my question and stays quiet instead of responding. "Joel Pimentel," I say sternly as I cross my arms and get up from the couch. "Andrea Matthews," he muses. I cringe at his use of my full name and huff.

"What do you mean?" I ask yet again, placing my body firmly behind him.

He turns around and I can tell by his face that he is amused by the situation. "I mean I take back what I said earlier because if Yoandri wasn't your choice?"

I feel my ears turn pink as he laughs humorlessly then settles for a smile in order to look me dead in the eye, "I would push you up against a wall and kiss you senselessly."

My facial expression remains nonchalant but I know my cheeks are a warm pink by now. He leans forward and continues, "But of course, I'm not the one you want and I feel like you wouldn't like something like that since I'm not Yoandri."

I open my mouth to protest but he only shakes his head and walks back to the couch. "Don't get me wrong though, if you ask politely, I might consider it."

My body turns hot in irritation and I flip my body over to face his. "If I ask polite—I'm not your puppet," I frown as I march straight up to him. "Plus, if I wanted to kiss you," I yank him up from his seat and he smiles at me with some vice behind it.

"If you wanted to kiss me what?" he asks as he wraps an arm around my waist and presses our bodies together so that there is barely any space between us.

I wait for the butterflies to stop swirling around in my stomach to say, "I would," almost as breathlessly as his touch had left me. He looks down at my face and furrows his eyebrows in playful confusion, "So why don't you?"

Because you don't know.

"What makes you think I want to kiss you?" I say instead before smacking into his shoulder and sitting down in my seat on the couch. He laughs at me and I shove him away from me, biting back a smile.

"You're so irritating," I finally laugh as he plops down next to me and relaxes into the couch.

"You're so cute," he cooes before pinching my cheeks.

***

The final game of the night is one we both feel daring enough to do and I find myself excited to know what it was.

He plops down on the floor and smiles at me before explaining the rules. "So Joaquín wrote up a couple of truth or dares for us to play but he said there was a twist," he says before stopping to put the bowl of truth or dares in between us.

"He said if we don't answer, the other gets to choose the punishment for their opponent," he finishes with a smirk. I nod and ask, "Cool, who's going first?"

He gestures for me to pick and I slip my hand into the bowl before plucking a slip of paper. I open it carefully and on it read Rock, paper, scissors, shoot; Whoever wins has to give the other a kiss on the persons preferred body part.

I look up at an expectant Joel and I only have one thought as my eyes meet his, What the fuck is Joaquín on?

___________________

a/n

college is happening yikes