All Chapters of A Love Mess: Who loves who?: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

The engagement hall was filled with different categories of people. Family, friends, and business Associates. They all came dressed in their best outfit yet, to the engagement party of the sons of two prominent men; the stones and the mayor. Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, throwing soft, golden light across the marble floor, while waiters in crisp black-and-white uniforms wove between clusters of guests with trays of champagne balanced perfectly on their palms. Cade and Arlen were getting engaged today.Arlen glanced at the silver ring that sat on his slender fingers, his engagement ring. That thought left a bitter taste in his mouth even as the sweet wine slid down his throat. Though the ring was his choice, the engagement wasn't and definitely not the man he was getting engaged to. Their parents had played their role well, hiring the best event planner in the state as well as caterers for the food and drinks. Everything was going well and it was perfect. But none of it w

Just like the ride to Arlen's house was quiet, so was the ride back to Cade's house. Cade had his eyes on the road as he focused on driving. Not totally, because he was thinking about last night. About the moment when he woke up to see a blanket draped over him. The soft cloth brought warmth to his body in the chilling room, and so was the action itself because he hadn't asked Arlen for a blanket. And in addition, he had been rude to the man all day. He was highly surprised that Arlen was thoughtful. The memory of it kept resurfacing at the most inconvenient moments, no matter how many times he tried to shove it aside and focus on the road ahead.But that surprise turned into guilt then anger. He was pissed because Arlen now made him seem like a jerk. Arlen could've kept the same energy and just totally ignored him, whether he was dying of cold or not. Arlen's kindness only made obvious how rude and mean he was. He was pissed at the warmth that blanket brought. His grip on the steeri

By 6:30 am, Arlen had taken out his first pan of cookies from the oven when he heard footsteps descending the stairs. The kitchen was already warm, sunlight barely breaking through the curtains, and the counters were dusted with a fine layer of flour he hadn't bothered cleaning up. Arlen knew that Cade was coming to meet him but he didn't care, because he was frustrated and jealous, and some reckless part of him almost welcomed the confrontation. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew he was making more of a mess than usual, but he couldn't quite bring himself to care about that either. After the call from Nick, he was left feeling jealous about his boyfriend and Cade hanging out alone. The words had settled into his chest, so heavy that he couldn't shake loose, no matter how many times he tried to talk himself out of the feeling. He didn't know if texting Justin about it would make him look obsessive and annoying. Because a voice kept telling him that Justin didn't have to report

The warmth spread across Cade's thigh before the shock of it even registered, and for a second he just sat there, staring down at the dark stain blooming across the grey fabric of his trousers like it belonged to someone else's body. Then the heat caught up with the sting, and he shot up from his seat so fast the chair scraped hard against the floor, drawing a few heads from nearby tables."Are you fucking kidding me?" Cade's voice came out low and sharp, his hand instinctively pressing against the wet patch as if that would somehow undo it. He looked down at himself, at the ruined fabric clinging uncomfortably to his skin, and felt something in him that had been simmering all day finally start to boil over.Arlen froze, coffee in his other hand mid air as the content in the other cup dripped steadily off the edge of the table onto the tile. "I'm sorry, someone bumped into me, I didn't-""You didn't what? Are you fucking blind?" Cade cut him off, stepping back from the table like the

By the time Arlen came out from the bathroom, the argument from earlier had settled into something quieter, not resolved so much as shelved. Cade was already stretched out on the sofa, one arm behind his head, scrolling through his phone with the kind of forced casualness that meant he wasn't really reading anything.The silence sat between them for the rest of the evening like something neither of them was willing to touch. Room service had come and gone untouched by conversation. The television had been on, then off, then on again, neither of them actually watching it, just needing something to fill the space where words would be hard to exchange.When dinner came, they both ate together in silence. They realized their stomachs were more important than the tension that had come to stay. Cade remembered the rules he had set of them not eating at the same time at the dining room. Now, in a suite, together with one bed, he couldn't help but internally shake his head. The two day vacati