Chapter Twenty Nine - An Unsolicited Peep Show

"You bitch."

Rebecca's eyes were red and bloodshot but it wasn't from crying. They were burning with murderous wrath and set deadly on me. Maybe her inner demon was finally taking over.

"What do you want?" I scowled at her a bit warily, expecting her to drop her meat suit any second and unleash the demon she truly was. "Well, forget I asked. I'm not gonna wait to find out."

I spun on my heel and started to walk at an unbearably slow pace. "Dammit! Why can't I run?"

The fact that she was somewhere behind me was giving me goosebumps and I did not want to look over my shoulder.

That was until I heard her chuckle.

I risked a glance back to find that her attention wasn't on me anymore. It was on Matt. He was standing beside her and letting her run her finger down his chest seductively.

But his eyes were fixed on me.

I felt an ache in my heart when she drifted closer to him, and just as she started to lean up on her tiptoes, my feet started moving of their own volition.

"I don't think so," I declared and pushed her away from him, witnessing the surprise on her face as she slowly faded into nothing and disappeared.

Feeling a sense of relief, I turned to Matt and butterflies erupted in my stomach at the sight of him watching me with an amused little smile.

"Don't go back to her," I told him.

"Why not?"

"Because I don't like it."

He slowly closed the gap between us. "Why not?"

"Because I hate her."

"I thought you hated me too."

Something broke inside my chest, and I found myself lifting my fingers to his face to caress it. And when a soft look reached his eyes, I knew he'd liked that. "I don't. I don't hate you at all."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

He backed me up against the wall that I didn't know existed and trailed his hand down to the hem of my t-shirt. I shuddered when it slipped under my clothes and fell flat against my stomach. His touch was insanely igniting, and I found myself craving it all over me.

He brought his mouth to my ear and whispered, "I know you want this, Becks."

"I do," I whimpered.

"Rebekah?"

I peeked over Matt's shoulder at the source of voice, and my eyes widened.

"Sean?"

"What are you doing?" He gasped, hurt clear in his eyes.

"I'm sorry. I..." I trailed off when Matt tilted his head at me, and with quick resolve, I said without taking my eyes off him, "actually, no. I'm not."

And Sean disappeared too.

"That was easy." I smiled.

"It was." His brown eyes bored into mine. "It is."

I pondered over his words as my eyes drifted down to his lips. Then, I slowly leaned in.

"Rebekah?" I heard another familiar voice and with a groan, I looked over his shoulder to find my mother watching me with wide eyes. "What about music?"

Scared to lose this moment yet again, I grabbed Matt's collar and pulled him so close that I wouldn't be able to see or focus on anything else. "Sorry, mother. Not right now."

"What? Rebekah?"

"Rebekah?"

"Rebekah?"

My eyes snapped open and met the neat white ceiling of my room. Mrs. Brooke stepped into the frame when she hovered over me, and I quickly sat up on the bed in surprise.

She was standing beside my bed, looking half concerned and half weirded out. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." My voice came out squeaky, so I cleared my throat. "What happened? What time is it? Am I late for school?"

She pressed her lips together. "No. It's evening. It was your afternoon nap."

I looked around, inhaling. Why the hell was I breathing heavily?

"Oh."

"I just wanted to tell you that Matt's here to see you."

When she mentioned Matt, I should've remembered the fact that I hadn't gone for training in three days because I was worried things were still awkward between us and deep down, I felt like I had been hanging out with him too much and needed a Matthew Williams cleanse to clear my head.

But instead, all I remembered was my dream. And it made me freaking blush.

"He's here?" I blinked. "I'll be right..." I trailed off when Matt entered my room like he was just waiting to be announced, and Mrs. Brooke walked right out and disappeared.

It felt like I was seeing him after weeks when it had been just three days. That's how much I'd grown used to seeing him every day. Hence, the cleanse.

His eyes were silently accusing me, and every moment that he spent staring me down and not saying anything, I grew more tense.

"Are you coming?" he finally asked, raising a brow.

"E-excuse me?" I clutched the sheets in my fist.

"To my house?" He folded his arms. "Just in case you've forgotten, you learn music. Thought you needed a reminder since you haven't showed up for it in three days just so you can avoid me."

Oh shit!

I scoffed out loud. "Avoid you? Don't be ridiculous. I texted you every single day that I had homework and couldn't show up, didn't I?"

His eyes narrowed, clearly stating that he wasn't buying it. I looked down at the covers and circled a spot with my index finger, stealing a glance at him.

"And is that also the reason why you've been passing up on watching the practice every morning that you used to show up for without a fail? It's obviously not because you'll have to ride with me, right?"

I bit down on my lip. Lately, I'd had to choose between facing Matt or watching Sean play football every morning. And I didn't mind sacrificing my prince charming temporarily if I could avoid the awkwardness with my enemy. So, I just went to school at usual hours with Mack and Cheryl.

But Matt was no idiot. I knew I couldn't fool him, but as long as I didn't admit it, it wasn't true.

So, with as much courage as I could muster, I lifted my chin up to face him and crossed my arms. "Obviously. Like I said, I've had a lot of homework and reading to catch up on, so I skip watching the practice. I'm not gonna give up on a chance to be around him because of you. Besides, it's not the only place where I can meet him."

It was, actually. I rarely ran into him at school.

Matt's eye twitched for a moment, and he looked out of my window, inhaling sharply. Then, he clenched his jaw before snapping his eyes back to mine.

"Are you coming or not?"

"No." I scratched my forehead to avoid his direct glare. "I mean, not yet. I just woke up, and I was eating crackers before my nap. There're tiny cracker shards still scattered all over my bed and, as gross as it is, on me. You better not tell anyone, Williams."

I could now feel the bits of them prickling my arms and neck. Eating crackers always got messy.

His eyes averted from my bed to me in silence.

"So, I'm gonna need a shower." I stepped out of bed and slowly neared my bathroom. "And I obviously don't expect you to wait. So, I'll see you at your house for training tomorrow, okay?"

"Actually..." He sat down on the edge of my bed and shrugged. "I don't mind."

My eyes narrowed. "I also need to wash my hair. Actually, it's more of an everything shower, with exfoliating, conditioning, applying a hair mask, you know? It takes a lot of time."

"Like I said, I don't mind." He crossed his arms stubbornly.

I pressed my lips into a straight line. He was adamant, so I knew he wasn't going anywhere even if I took an hour in the shower.

"Fine." I exhaled. "I thought you had better things to do, but clearly I was wrong. Tormenting me is your top priority. I'll be there at your house in a while."

A satisfied look reached his eyes and he got up. "If you don't show up in thirty minutes, I'll come back."

"Forty. I wasn't kidding about the everything shower." With a sarcastic smile, I shifted back in the bathroom and slammed the door shut while he watched.

After letting out a frustrated groan and cursing him silently, I took off my clothes. I always found bathing therapeutic for some reason, so I eased up a little and started humming a tune while adjusting the water temperature and lathering my body with soap after applying the hair mask.

"Yeah, I was so stupid to give you all my attention..." I sang, shimmying my shoulders at my reflection in the glass whenever I remembered a beat.

"Rebekah?"

I turned the water off with a frown. "Mom?"

"Yes, it's me."

"How are you home right now?"

"I'm bringing a file to your father. Just wanted to say hi. See you at dinner, okay?"

"Okay! See ya." Smiling, I turned the water back on until I remembered something and turned it off again. "Oh wait! Could you please hand me a towel? It's on my study chair. I forgot to grab it in a hurry."

Her footsteps reached the bathroom door, and I opened it a fraction to take it from her.

And while doing so, I frowned again.

That is not my mother's hand. Unless she's started to hit the gym without me knowing about it.

I peeked outside and screamed at the person standing there, my hands flying to the door to quickly slam it shut. After taking a moment to regroup, I wrapped the towel around myself and pulled the door open slowly.

My enemy stood there, a little far from the door now, with a hint of amusement in his eyes, but it only lasted until I stepped out completely from behind the door. Because then, all humour drained from his face as his gaze swept across me, and I heard his sharp intake of breath before he swallowed and set his eyes on mine.

"You've been here this whole time?" I asked in disbelief. "I thought you went home. What if I'd walked out naked?"

He remained silent, but it was different than the kind of silence I was used to seeing on him. There was a struggle behind his eyes. Or I could be mistaken.

"No," he finally choked out. "Your phone's switched off. So, I had to come back to tell you that there's a slight change in the plan."

"What change?" I frowned.

"Rebekah, what's wrong?" Mom's voice echoed from the hallway as her footsteps approached my room, and my eyes widened.

Gasping loudly, I looked around in a panic and did the first thing I could think of. I grabbed Matt by his collar and pulled him into the bathroom with me, slamming the door shut behind us.

His back was against the door while I was leaning over him, holding his shirt in a frustrated grip. I could tell I'd thrown him off balance when he looked down between us, then up at my face. There was so much incredulity in his eyes.

"Andrews—"

I slapped my hand over his mouth and shook my head with a warning.

"Shut up," I whispered.

"What's wrong, Rebekah? I heard you scream." Mom was right outside the bathroom.

"I-I almost slipped."

"Are you okay now?"

"Yes, I am."

"Where's Matt? I just met him outside your room."

A sheer wave of horror struck me as I stared at him with an open mouth. He only rolled his eyes. Why the hell didn't he tell me mom knew he was here? Oh, right! I didn't give him a chance to. God! Why did I have to pull him into the bathroom?

"Uh, I-I don't know. Matt's here? I have no idea. Are you sure you met him?"

"Of course, I'm sure. Just outside your room. He said hi."

"Maybe he changed his mind and went downstairs to meet Mrs. Brooke. To probably ask about her chocolate cake recipe. He's crazy about it."

Matt raised a brow.

Mom chuckled. "Okay. I better get going—oh by the way, you were sounding great earlier. If your singing out there is as good as your bathroom singing, no one's beating you at that challenge, sweetie."

I could feel a certain pair of lips curling against my palm. His eyes were full of pride. I sneered at him.

"Thanks, mom."

"See you at dinner."

"See you. Bye."

I sighed in relief once she was out of my room and glared at Matt again, whose eyes were sneaking down to restricted territory. Jerk! But when he exhaled against my palm, I felt tingles on my hand. And when he shut his eyes for a moment as if holding himself back from something, I felt like my legs were turning to jelly.

Then, those deep brown eyes opened and struck me with a soul piercing stare. And suddenly, my hand against his mouth started to feel powerless.

Snap out of it, Becks. You were annoyed with him.

"You..." I started.

"Mhm..." he mumbled, and I withdrew my hand.

"What?" I snapped.

"Grab your fucking towel. It's slipping."

I blinked, then looked down.

"Oh God!" I turned around to tighten it with a blush but realized he could now see me through the mirror so I grabbed the towel securely and snapped, "get out."

"Drop the attitude, Andrews. I'm not the one who dragged me in here," he said while twisting the knob. As if I hadn't embarrassed myself enough, him saying that only added to it as I could feel my face heating.

As a self-proclaimed clumsy airhead, I did ten things wrong in a day and happened to do eight of those when I was around him.

Right before he could walk out, he remembered something and added smugly, "you're welcome by the way. Your mom's impressed with you."

"Let's not hog all the credit, Williams." I smiled sarcastically. "I've been working twice as hard by putting up with your perfectionist ass every day."

A statement like that would have normally annoyed him but he only shrugged, throwing me a little smirk before he walked out and shut the door after himself.

I just leaned against it for a moment, breathing.

"What change of plans?" I asked.

"We can train tomorrow." His voice sounded close, like he was right behind the door too.

"Why?"

"My gig got moved up an hour. So, I have to leave."

"Gig?" I thought for a second. "The one Will was talking about that day at your house?"

"Yes."

Since I had no fresh clothes in there, I put on the ones I was wearing earlier and walked out. He'd moved a little away from the door but was still close.

"I wanna come," I announced.

His brows pulled together. "Why?"

"You said it yourself last time. To watch and learn. I won't be setting up the instruments again, just to be clear."

He thought for a second, then shook his head. "No. Not today. You can come at the next one."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want you there."

Wow. He sure knew how to be subtle about things.

"Fine. Just text me the address and I'll get myself a cab. I'm sure Will and Parker would love to see me there."

"That is not what I meant."

"I don't care what you meant. I'm going. If you don't tell me, I'll ask them the address and they won't say no to me."

"Why are you being stubborn about this? You don't even care about our gigs."

"Just like you don't care if I train or not, or lose or win the challenge but you convinced me to come and learn today. Today is all about satisfying our egos and winning, isn't it?"

He became serious all of a sudden as he looked me dead in the eye while saying, "not everything is a game."

"Then give up and take me with you."

He considered me for a moment, then let out a sigh and nodded. "Fine. Meet me outside in ten."

He started to leave but I blocked his way. Obviously, I had a bit of trust issues when it came to him agreeing to something I wanted so easily.

"How do I know you won't leave without me?"

"You don't."

With narrowed eyes, I leaned against the door to block his exit and pointed towards my bed. "Sit down."

He scanned me head to toe as if cutting me down to size, and once he was sure I was trying to stop him, a devious look flashed in his eyes.

"You think you can actually stop me?"

"I'll fight you if I have to."

"That won't be necessary. I don't suppose you're planning to go to the gig in those clothes." He pointed out, and I looked down. He was right. There was no way I was going anywhere in those pajamas. I scowled at him, and he shrugged with half a smirk.

I grabbed his hand and dragged him all the way to my closet. Surprisingly, he didn't resist. I didn't see his face, but I could bet he was following me with amusement. With one hand, I sorted through my clothes and picked out a white button-down short dress with thin shoulder straps.

"What's next?" my enemy asked animatedly. "Are you gonna drag me into the bathroom as well?"

I swallowed, looking down at the dress. Then I walked over to the door to block his exit again and looked him right in the eyes. "No. But I will change right here."

"You don't mean that."

There was a challenging dismissal in his eyes, and just like always, it made me fearless instead of cowering away.

I reached for the hem of my t-shirt. His eyes didn't budge. He knew I wasn't going to do it. Even if I did, Matt Williams was obviously not the one to shy away from something that he'd already seen probably a hundred times before. I'd just be giving him an unsolicited peep show.

But are you willing to lose to him again, Becks?

I think not, I decided.

Without a second thought, I lifted my t-shirt over my head and tossed it on the floor. And I was standing in front of my enemy in my pajama bottoms and a nude bra. I'd never had a guy see me like that before, so I grew a little self-conscious, but none of that hesitation could win over the satisfaction I felt at the sight of his face.

All amusement wiped off it in the blink of an eye, and I could've sworn his jaw had slackened a little to suck in a breath before he quickly shut it and looked into my eyes. His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed, but he didn't let his eyes stray lower than my face. I was thankful for that.

I could've easily put on my dress before taking off my bottoms, but it must have been my nerves from being exposed like that because I started to reach for the waistband of my shorts as well.

My fingers froze over it when, to my utmost surprise, my enemy turned halfway to give me privacy. Matt Williams was a gentleman? Who could've thought?

I heard him clear his throat before he spoke up, "you're not giving up, are you?"

"No." I took off my bottoms and quickly got into the dress.

He ran a hand through his hair, and I realized there was a chance I'd left him flustered. But he'd already been with girls before, and seeing one in a bra couldn't take him by surprise, right? Maybe he was just caught off guard because he'd never expected me to actually act instead of just talking. That had to be it.

"Fine. You can come along. But hurry up. We're leaving in five minutes."

That made me grin. Did I just win?

He started to walk towards the door with that, but I quickly got in his way and put a hand on his chest to stop him, which made him exhale and eye me with exasperation.

"I don't think so, Williams. Sit down. You're not leaving this room without me."

Holding my gaze, he backed away and sat down on the edge of my bed without a word.

"Good boy." I nodded and barrelled across the room to look for matching accessories, finally settling for a nice ring, a little silver pendant, and a pair of white sneakers. While applying some lip gloss and mascara, I felt his eyes on me but didn't turn to look until I noticed some movement and found him pulling his phone out of his pocket.

"Ready!" I announced, and his eyes fell on me. They took a moment on my face, then glided down to my dress and further down to my bare legs.

"Is that what you're wearing?"

"What do you think, Einstein?"

"It's short."

"Oh?" I opened my eyes wide for exaggeration. "Welcome to the 21st century, Grandpa. You know what? Even my grandpa's more modern than you."

He rolled his eyes. "I know you're not gonna listen to me, but you're gonna have to change. You can't wear that."

"You're right." I pouted. "I'm not gonna listen to you."

He gritted his teeth together. "The gig. It's not at one of the best places, okay? I don't care what you wear any other day, but if I'm taking you there, you're my responsibility. And I'd like to have one less thing on my mind when I'm on the stage."

His responsibility...

"I'm not." I smiled sweetly, ignoring the flutter in my chest. "I'm my own responsibility."

He glared at me. "I can't convince you to change into something else?"

"Nope."

"Fine. Don't come running to me if you're chased by some creep."

"I won't." I kept my smile intact. "I can take care of myself."

Rolling his eyes, he walked out of my room, and I sprinted right after him just in case he was planning to leave me behind.

Once I was seated in his car, I sighed in relief and wiggled my brows at him while putting on my seatbelt. With a straight face, he started to drive.

I had a feeling this was going to be fun.

So, what did you guys think of that little peep show?

And where did Becks get all that courage from, right? I hope you guys are enjoying reading it as much as I'm enjoying writing it.

Please don't forget to vote, comment and share.

All the love,

Feisty ❤️