WARNING; MATURE CONTENT
"I like you, Rai- bullshit!"
The words echoed violently in Rai's head as he kicked the sturdy wooden frame of his bed. A sharp, jarring impact shuddered straight up his leg, but he ignored the throbbing pain, throwing himself face-first onto the mattress with a muffled groan.
He was agitated. Furious, even. Though, if he were being brutally honest with himself, he was mostly just completely, utterly flustered.
How was he supposed to explain to anyone, let alone himself, why he felt so damn weird?
Usually, when Zade tossed out insults or offhandedly claimed to hate his guts, Rai didn't bat an eye. That was familiar territory; hostility was their natural default setting.
They clashed, they snapped, they moved on. But when Zade had looked at him earlier with that soft, teasing smile and uttered those unsettling words... It had given Rai full-blown goosebumps.
