Page 51 of Dissent

What was it that hewantedfrom me? What did I have that he so desperatelylongedfor? And if this was the way hereallyfelt about me, why did he push me away? Why did he constantly tell me to leave and disappear?

It made no sense!

But the confusion had me hyped up, on edge, and totally crazed because Icravedhim. My stupid, stupid traitorous heartcravedthis man, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t shut it off. I felt totally entranced as he shifted his gaze, glancing down at my lips, making my heart thrum in a way that stole my breath.

“Mara…” My name fell off his lips in a gentle whisper, and the way it sounded to my ears caused me to shudder. His eyes shifted back up to mine, and the intensity climbed, my entire body pulsating with the force of my thundering heart. And then those eyes glimmered, the emotion disappearing, replaced by that emptiness that made my skin crawl and my chest hollow. His expression shifted, hardening. And slowly, he drew his face closer to mine, our lips almost touching as he whispered, “Stay away from me.”

“What?”

He released me, stepping back several feet, putting space between us. “Stay away from me, Mara.” There was no scowl this time, but the cold, empty look in his eyes stung my heart.

“Mara?”

I heard another voice, a deep one I recognized, but I couldn’t turn to face him. All I could do was stare at Wes, stunned and confused. Matias was at my side in a moment, taking my shoulders into his hands and swiveling me to face him.

“Are you okay? What happened?” The spell was broken then, and I looked into those brown eyes.

“I’m fine. I just got lost.”

“Edith told me you were out here.” He looked back at Wes. “Did Edith send you too?”

Wes continued to stare at me, his mask of indifference back in place. “Yeah, she sent me. But now that you’re here, you can take care of her. I’m tired of being the babysitter.”

It was a stab to the chest, and I narrowed my eyes at him as hurt laced my rage. I couldn’t think of anything to say, and frankly, I didn’t care anymore. I was so tired of Wes’s moody roller-coaster. If he wanted to be that way, then fine. But I was sick of being taken for the ride. My glare deepened, and in my peripheral vision, I saw Matias glance from Wes to me, and then back at Wes.

Matias cleared his throat. “Yeah, I can take it from here.” Without another word to Wes, he took my hand—his fingers entwining with mine—knocking the anger right out of me. Sweet butterflies and tingles replaced my rage, making me feel like a schoolgirl with a crush. “Come on, Mara,” he coaxed gently, pulling my hand to follow him back to the trail. I did. I followed him, leaving Wes alone in the woods, never looking back.

25: Damn Chelsea

“Areyoureallyokay?Are you sure it didn’t hurt you?”

He’d already asked me these questions a few times as we hiked back to camp. We were supposed to be practicing marksmanship, but Matias could tell I was shaken by what happened, and he decided that having the rest of the day off was in order. All he knew was that Wes and I had gotten into an argument in the gym, I left, got lost, and then found myself a mountain lion. And of course, said mountain lion would have eaten me for lunch had Wes not arrived when he did, thanks to Edith. Then, the whole thing blew up again with Wes and I getting into another fight. I intentionally left out the wholeme-almost-kissing-himpart and the super awkward exchange involving me, Wes, and an inconveniently placed tree. Matias did not need to know any of that.

“I’m fine, I promise.” I gave him a quick smile before returning my attention to the ground before me.

“This clearly isn’t working.”

“What’s not working?”

“You and Wes.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I’ll take care of it.”

Dread filled me. “No! No, that’s okay.” The last thing I needed was him talking to Wes and discovering all those little details I had purposefully failed to mention. “You don’t need to talk to him about it. I can figure it out.”

He grinned, bumping my shoulder with his own. “Relax. I’m going to talk to Sasha about it. Wynters is in charge of the assignments, but nobody’s above Sasha. I’ll see if I can get your training reassigned to me.”

My heart fluttered. “What? Really?”

“It only makes sense. I’m already training you in marksmanship.” A stern look swept across his features for a fraction of a second before he turned his face away from me. “Besides, I’m your PSD, anyway.”

“Yeah, you mentioned that before to Wynters, but no one ever explained it to me.”

“It means I’m your personal security detail. Like your bodyguard, basically. So, there’s no need for Wes to be involved, and it’s obviously not a good match anyway.”

Curious. There was something in his expression I couldn’t quite place. A part of me detected a hint of…jealousy?

“I’d like that,” I shared with a grin.

He glanced at me then, his sweet smile returning, causing my heart to melt. “Consider it done. I’ll talk to Sasha about it when we’re back at camp.”

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