Resist Me

Chapter 13

West

It was dark when I woke up, which told me that Lincoln either had some of those dope blackout curtains or it was late. When I rolled onto my back, I stared up at the ceiling. It took a few minutes for my eyes to adjust enough to see any of its details. It was blessedly free of dark, moving shapes.

My stomach growled and I put a hand over it. That was a good sign. For the past couple of days, I’d been too tired to feel hungry.

I sat up and looked around. Lincoln wasn’t in the bed, which shouldn’t have been surprising. It was more of a shock that he’d even invited me here to sleep. It was out of character and… nice.

When I looked over at the couch, I saw him lying on his side with his eyes closed. He looked cramped with his legs poised over the arm to accommodate his height and his arms folded at his chest. There was a blanket over me, which I didn’t remember having when I fell asleep, and the ice pack was gone.

Throwing off the blanket, I got to my feet. I stared down at Lincoln for a moment. I’d taken over his bed by accident and he hadn’t woken me up. That was weird. I almost felt bad, but I was still too tired. All I wanted was something in my stomach before I knocked out again.

I turned on the light above the sink, which cast enough of a glow in the kitchen for me to avoid running into something. As I browsed the cabinets, I wrinkled my nose. He had so much healthy food. Quinoa- I didn’t even know how to say that. Cashew butter, steel cut oats, nuts in sealed glass jars, and bread that was too brown for my liking with seeds and shit on the crust.

Lincoln was a psychopath. I knew it.

Swinging open the fridge, I found much of the same. Oat milk? How the fuck did you milk an oat? He had berries galore, the leafiest vegetables I’d ever seen, and brown eggs. I’d always wondered if there was any difference. I bet they were organic, but he had them in a fancy egg holder instead of the carton, so I couldn’t confirm it.

A gasp escaped me when I saw a round, chocolate cake. It was half gone, which made no sense to me. If I sat down with this, there was no way any would be left to put away for later.

Apparently, this was Lincoln’s naughty indulgence food. It was also the only thing that didn’t require cooking and since I couldn’t start whipping something up in his kitchen at two in the morning, I found a fork in a meticulously organized drawer and carried the cake to the bed.

After I took my first bite, I wondered if ganache was actually better than sex. Probably. I checked my messages and quickly responded to a slightly worried text from Kai. All I told him was that I was crashing with a friend, otherwise I’d be hit with a ton of questions. Lincoln was my arch nemesis and I didn’t want Kai to think otherwise.

As I scrolled on Instagram, I mindlessly ate my way through the cake. I’d kill for a party pack of tacos right now, but I couldn’t have everything. Now that I wasn’t delirious from sleep deprivation, I thought about how I was going to solve this problem so that I didn’t reach this point again. Clearly, the manager at my apartment wasn’t going to be any help, so I’d have to figure it out on my own.

I typed ‘cockroach extermination DIY’ into Google. It popped up with a much too large image of one of them. I clicked on the first article and quickly became overwhelmed by all of the remedies it suggested. When I checked the cost of hiring someone myself, I navigated back to the first page. It looked like I’d be lacing up my exterminator boots, which would double as roach-stompers.

When I got bored on my phone, I glanced around. There was a book on his nightstand and I couldn’t help but pick it up. What kinds of things did Lincoln Porter like to read about?

From the cover and title, it looked like fantasy. I would’ve taken him for more of a nonfiction kind of guy. There were two men on the cover, which intrigued me, so I started reading it. By the second chapter, I’d almost forgotten the cake. When I made it further, my mouth dropped open. These dudes were getting naked. Naked .

“His hard length,” I muttered aloud. My innocence had effectively been shattered. One of the guys was about to take him into his mouth. I was enraptured. Kai claimed that men sucked dick better, but there was no way for him to know since he’d never been with a woman. Reading this, though, I wondered if it was true. A guy would know best what to do with it, in theory.

“Did you eat my cake?”

Pursing my lips, I turned toward Lincoln. He was still lying on the couch, but his head was raised. His eyes were heavy-lidded and there were lines on his face from the cushion.

“Everything else was some Whole Foods, white soccer mom shit,” I replied simply.

I couldn’t tell if he was annoyed or amused. When he sat up, his eyes fell to the book in my hand. His lips parted, but no sound came out.

“I was bored,” I explained.

“That’s… You shouldn’t read that.”

“Because there are guys doing unholy things in it? Yeah, I’m in the middle of one of those scenes, so kindly go back to sleep.”

“Oh my god,” he groaned. “Please put it back.”

“But the knight is about to show him how much skill he has with his sword.”

He got to his feet and snatched the book. When he shoved it into the nightstand drawer, I pouted.

“I was invested.”

“You’ll survive.”

“Maybe I can borrow it. ”

He looked ready to explode. After a moment, he let out a breath and pushed his fingers through his hair. It was unkempt, the curls going in different directions and falling over his forehead. They looked springy and I kind of wanted to know what they felt like.

“You took my bed, ate my cake, and read my book. Do you want to wear my clothes too?”

I cocked my head. “Would you let me?”

“No. I’m being facetious.”

“Fancy.”

“It’s three in the morning. I’d like to go back to sleep, but apparently, I’ve invited a toddler into my home.”

“Then go to sleep,” I suggested.

I stood and dumped the empty carton into the trash, then washed the fork. After I put it away, I turned back to him. He was watching me with a furrowed brow.

“What?”

“Nothing,” he replied with a shake of his head.

Now that he was awake, I wasn’t sure what to do. I assumed he’d want me to sleep on the couch, but goddamn, that bed was comfortable. If I had a car, I’d probably just go home. Instead, I was stuck here unless I paid an ungodly amount for an Uber. I felt like a helpless child.

I could call Kai, but that felt shameful. Besides, I didn’t want to wake him up. He’d come get me; of that I had no doubt, but he shouldn’t have to.

“I’m sorry,” Lincoln said, startling me.

“For what?”

“Being rude, calling you a toddler.”

I shrugged. “I’m not an easy person to be around.”

He was supposed to laugh or agree, but he appeared contemplative. It was strange to see him like this, away from football and his place as quarterback. There, he exuded confidence and even arrogance at times. He filled the role flawlessly, the perfect picture of his station. Now, I wasn’t sure who he was.

Over the past couple of weeks, I’d learned things about Lincoln. I found out that he was gay, which didn’t change the way I saw him, but it was new information. He drove a cool motorcycle, had his own apartment that he didn’t really need, was a health freak, could sing like a pro, and he read smutty books. Oh, and he gave me a place to sleep when he had no reason to.

Who the hell was Lincoln Porter?

Didn’t matter. I still couldn’t stand the guy half the time.

Returning to the bed, I plopped down on it and stretched. “You can sleep here too. That couch did not look comfortable.”

When he didn’t respond, I glanced at him and raised a brow. A challenge. It was funny to watch the indecision flicker across his face.

“I don’t bite,” I went on. “And I’m not gonna try to bone you if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“That wasn’t even a concern. You’re straight.”

“I never said that.”

He blanched and it took everything in me not to laugh. Instead of responding, he laid down on the couch. It seemed ridiculous when there was a perfectly good bed that was big enough for us to sleep in without touching. I’d slept with Kai plenty of times.

“Suit yourself,” I said, pulling the covers up to my chest. With my stomach a little less empty, exhaustion was creeping in again.

“What do you mean?” Lincoln asked after a few minutes.

I opened my eyes and rolled to my side. He was facing me with his hand underneath his cheek. When he met my eyes, he held my gaze.

“About what?” I knew what he was asking, but the game was entertaining.

“Are you not straight?”

“I never said that either.”

He let out an angry breath through his nose. “I don’t know why I try talking to you. You’re impossible.”

“Jesus,” I groaned. “Fine. I just don’t call myself anything.”

“I don’t understand.”

“To me, life is fluid. It’s constantly changing and I don’t think we’re locked into who we are at any given point in time. I’ve only been with women, but I can easily admit that Kai is hot as hell and if I felt some sort of sexual attraction to him, I wouldn’t fight it. I don’t, obviously. He’s my best friend and I’ve never thought about him like that.”

“So…” His face was pinched as he tried to process my words. “You’re straight but open to more? ”

“I guess what it comes down to is this: If I found myself attracted to someone, a guy, why would I try to fight it? When I look at you, do I want to fuck you? No. But if I did, I wouldn’t question it. We get one life, man. I’m not gonna agonize over who I fall in love with.”

“That makes sense but doesn’t.”

“I can’t claim that love is love if I wouldn’t see it the same way in my own life. That doesn’t mean I think I’ll ever like a guy,” I added quickly. “Just that I wouldn’t give a shit if I did.”

“You’re a strange person, West.”

“I know. Now, can you please stop being weird and just sleep in the goddamn bed? This isn’t your book. One bed won’t make us screw each other’s brains out.”

His annoyed growl made me smile. When he got up, I felt a twinge of satisfaction. He laid on the other side, as far away from me as possible.

“If it’ll make you feel better, we can say ‘no homo.’”

He ignored me, which was fine. I was on the verge of falling asleep already. If the me from a few weeks ago could see me right now, he’d be revolted. I was sleeping a foot away from the man I’d thought about strangling in his sleep on multiple occasions. It was the perfect opportunity, but I’d let him live tonight. I did eat his cake, after all.