Page 4 of Jace

“It’s not a secret,” he says, holding his hands out at his sides. “Jace thinks he’s got some kind of claim over Aurora and—” I don’t let him finish. I move forward and immediately Oliver and Dax get in between the two of us.

“Why is she fucking calling you talking about dinner plans and shit?” My control snaps completely.

“I don’t know,” Zac counters back. “She’s a friend, we’re friends. We hang out sometimes.”

“Oh you hang out, sometimes.” I laugh and I’ll admit even I don’t understand my reaction. This is anything but funny. I’m teetering on the edge. Normally I’m the guy cracking a joke to ease a tense moment. I’m the guy trying my best to make a hard time better, I rarely get mad. Even I don’t recognize myself right now.

“Don’t get pissed at me if she finally got tired of waiting around.” Zac leans in toward me. “What the hell did you expect her to do, let you keep dragging her around by her hair, playing with her fucking heart.”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, so you pulling her in when you feel lonely and then pushing her away when you get spooked isn’t what we’ve all been seeing you do for months?”

“Enough of this,” Daxton tries to intervene.

“Using her,” Zac shoves at me, his own anger boiling over. He and I are never at odds, but this feels different. “She’s more than some piece of ass when you’re in need, Jace! We’ve never even slept together, you dick,” I fire back, shoving him in return, making him take a step back.

“You all think you know, but you don’t have a clue. We’ve messed around, yeah, I’ll admit that, but that’s it.” What we are is no one’s fucking business. It’s for me and Aurora to decide.

“So then why do you keep messing with her head?” I glare at him, I’ve never wanted to hit my best friend, until now. “It’s nobody’s fault but your own if you lose the chance with Aurora. But I’m not gonna ignore her to make you happy. I’m not gonna pretend to be busy when she calls. Like I said we’ve gotten close.”

“So you’re going after my girl.” My vision blurs from the anger coursing through me.

“See that’s the thing Jace, she’s not your girl,” he adds and the tether snaps.

“You’ve made sure of that.” I roar, swinging, and connecting with Zac’s jaw. A sickening crack echoes over the alley. Everything falls silent and I expect Zac to hit me back, only he doesn’t, he only stares at me. Looking at me as if he has no idea who the hell I am.

“If hitting me makes you feel better about throwing away a damn good thing, then so be it. You wanna blame me for the fact that you’ve got an amazing girl that’s been dangling on a string in front of you but you’re too big of a pussy to grab hold, then okay. I can take it, but tonight when you’re nailing some random girl, rememberyoudug that hole. You are the only person who can make the choice to stop being a fucking douche.”

“Fuck you!” I snarl but his words hit deep.

“Fuck you too man,” Zac holds his hands up and starts to back away. “If you’ll excuse me now, I’ve got a phone call to return.”

The sound of the door closing is the only sound that can be heard. Oliver, Daxton and even Luna all remain in the alley alongside me. Each one watching me with sadness in their eyes.

We are a family; we carry each other through thick and thin. But something about this feels dark. Zac and I are what they call two peas in a pod. We are yin and yang, twins in mischief. It’s been that way from the start.

Part of me wants to chase after him, suddenly feeling like I’m missing a part of my soul. He knows my secrets, things I’ve never told anyone else before. He’s picked me up off my bathroom floor when I’ve hit rock bottom. He’s sat beside my bed waiting for me to come down from whatever shit I’ve pumped into my body so I could forget my past.

Still to this day those secrets are only ours.

“She doesn’t need your permission to move on,” Daxton interrupts my thoughts. He’s the enforcer of the group. He also doesn’t give a shit if you like what he has to say or not, if it needs to be said he says it. “She’s an adult, and so is he.”

“Anyone but him,” my voice cracks as I speak the words. “That’s my brother.” I point toward the door feeling my emotions get the best of me. “Not him,” is all I can manage to say.

Looking at them, I see the pain in the eyes of each of them as I glance around the group. We’ve all been through some shit. We’ve bonded over our hardships and found the solid foundation within each other to stand after all we’ve lived through.

When one of us is hurting we all hurt.

I know if in the end Aurora ends up with Zac, I’ll be faced with a hard choice. I may be forced to walk away from the only family I’ve ever known and that terrifies me.

But more than that, it breaks my heart.

Chapter Three

Aurora

“I think we need a girls’ night,” I say low into the receiver as I look around to ensure no one is close enough to hear me. “Nothing heavy, just us girls, even Piper.”

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