Chapter 198: The Past [4]

"Come on! Feel alive. It’s your birthday!" Clara pitched, holding out a cocktail as she took a seat beside me.

I smiled, accepting the glass and taking a sip through the straw.

Our birthday was held in the private courtyard. A party with a view, definitely something not to miss. We invited most of our classmates from the academy and Annabeth’s friends.

Annabeth had a lot of friends, and they swamped her as they laughed and talked.

I wasn’t feeling it, ever since the start of the party. I’ve been so nervous, and every time my eyes kept moving to Jacob sitting in a corner.

His whole focus was on her, even as he brought the cocktail to his lips. He looked at her as though he was waiting for that one moment when her eyes would wander his way.

Should it?

I quickly shook my head. No, don’t do that, not now! I’m only gonna make this worse, and my chances of confessing my feelings are gonna be in jeopardy.

Isn’t it already?

I took Annabeth’s advice to heart, but I don’t know... the once-strong drive I had to come clean with him had diminished.

"Annnna!" Clara drawled as she rested her head on my shoulder. "I wanna have funny."

"You mean fun? Wait... Are you drunk?"

"Maybe?" she murmured.

"God, you’ve got to get over this and stop trying to drown yourself." I pushed her gently to rest on the sofa, and she moaned, getting comfortable, before pinning her half-open eyes on me.

With that look, I felt so sorry for her. I knew how much her ex-boyfriend meant to her, even though it was a secret relationship because of her Father’s rules; she gave it her everything.

"You can’t keep doing this to yourself; you need to move on. I’m sure there’s someone out there for you."

"I should say the same for you."

"What do you mean?"

She nudged her head to where Jacob was seated.

I scoffed and pushed lightly on her forehead. "I think you have too much to drink."

"OW!"

"Come on, let’s get you to the room to rest, okay?"

I helped her up, but Clara wasn’t helping much.

"Need help?" Jacob offered.

I didn’t expect he would, given how concentrated he had been. A smile curled on my lips.

"I’d love that."

Clara was really chatty until we got to my room, and her drunk ass was fast asleep the moment she hit the bed.

I helped her take off her shoes before pulling the blanket over her.

I had a feeling she was gonna wake up in the middle of the night and possibly give me a headache.

I pray she gets over this.

I headed for the doorway and froze when I saw Jacob still waiting.

"I-I thought you left."

"Not yet."

I cleared my throat. "Waiting for me?"

He shrugged. "Obvious, right. Is she gonna be alright?"

I spared a look over my shoulder. "I hope so."

"So um, Annabeth told me you had something you wanna tell me."

Annabeth!

"D-Did she?"

"Yeah, said it was important."

"Oh, um." I nervously tucked some of my shoulder-length dark hair behind my ear.

There was no escaping this.

"Yeah, there is something I wanna talk to you about."

He waited, and I could tell as the seconds passed that he was getting impatient.

Say something, Ana!

"Ana?"

"Jacob, I..." I paused for a really long time before I found the will to speak. "I-I was just wondering if you wanna go shopping with me."

He blinked, confused. "We always go shopping together. I’m your bodyguard, remember?"

Ouch. He said it as though that was the only reason he would go out with me.

I figured as much. Maybe there were mixed signals after all. Jacob and I grew up together. The affection he showed me could have been nothing more than that.

"I know that... I just mean the two of us, since you know... Annabeth’s always with us when we shop."

"Sure, you should have just said so from the start."

I chuckled nervously. "Yeah, I should have."

He nodded. "Alright then... It’s a date."

I wished he hadn’t said that in a playful way.

"I should head back. Gotta make sure everything’s going well. And, more importantly, that no one’s broken anything."

"O-Okay, I’ll just head back after I make sure C-Clara’s um..." I stammered over my words so badly, I prayed for the ground to swallow me whole right there.

Thankfully, Jacob smiled at me and adjusted his baseball cap.

"Just be back in time for the cake cutting."

"I wouldn’t miss it."

He left.

I gulped down a lump in my throat and sat down, in awe of myself. I think I handled that pretty well... even though I did nothing.

Better than a flat-out rejection if you ask me. I scoff at that thought, burying my face in my hands.

"Dammit."

This is my life, forever wishing and pondering what could have been if I had just sucked it up and told him how I feel.

But I guess now I’ll never know.

I looked at a sleeping Clara. "You and me both," I replied to her earlier words.

After I was done self-loathing and criticizing myself, I was back at the party, but Annabeth wasn’t there, and it was almost time to cut the cake.

"Hey, have you seen my sister?" I asked one of her friends.

"No, she left like an hour ago."

I nodded, leaving. My heels clicked sharply as I walked through the lobby. I wish I could just escape the party, but I can’t.

I always looked forward to the cake cutting, because it was one of the best moments. Annabeth gotta be in her room, powdering her face or something.

I reached for the door, wrapping my hand around the doorknob, freezing when I heard muffled moaning sounds.

My fingers tightened around the cold iron as I slowly pushed the door open, my gaze sweeping across the room until I found them on the couch.

Annabeth bounced on Jacob’s cock eagerly, moans unrestrained and wild. Jacob’s hand clawed her ass as he aided her, hastening the friction between them.

Her dark wavy hair hopped, her nails digging into his shoulders as she picked up the pace and her moans skyrocket.

Jacob called her name over and over again, completely lost and completely swallowed in pleasure.

I freed my hand from the doorknob, turned on my heels, and left.