Page 97 of The Deceptions
"You're going to get yourself killed," Hux grits out, slumping in his seat with a look of defeat.
What the hell? Did he want me to run away scared? Why is he so damn concerned about my wellbeing?
"His fucking funeral, bro!" Mack quips, knocking Hux on the shoulder twice. "You're on in five minutes. There's a locker room over there. Take everything off and put on a pair of gym shorts. There's a selection back there. Pick your size. Then, when your name is called, you're on, asshole." He gives me a cocky grin. “Oh, also. Good luck.”
“You’ll fucking need it,” Hux grumbles, running a hand down his face and shaking his head.
"I'm not taking my fucking clothes off," I say, taking a step back. “I’ll wear the shorts, but the shirt stays.”
"Are you forfeiting?" Mack asks with a smirk. "It's no shirt or no fight. The choice is yours.” He looks me up and down. “Are you afraid that we will see just how little muscle you have under those baggy clothes?”
“I’m not fucking afraid,” I bite out, rolling my shoulders back.
"It's fucking fine," Hux grits out. "It'll only slow his ass down. Maybe he'll remember not to put his hands on other people outside of fight nights."
"Dude," Mack groans, glaring at Hux. “Fine. You wear the shirt, it’s an immediate five points off.”
“Fine,” I say, shrugging.
"Just fucking get ready. You got ten minutes," Hux grunts, waving a hand for me to leave his sight.
I release a breath, finally pulling in oxygen for the first time in five minutes. That was close.
"Holy fucking shit," Simon whispers, following behind me and Jordy. "You're really going to fight. If it's something I said. If it’s..." I stop dead, turning to put a hand on his shoulder. His mouth closes, but worry hangs in his gaze.
"Don't worry. I practically grew up with only boys. I can handle myself, okay?" I raise a brow, but it does nothing to ease the worry lines forming on his forehead.
"I don't think I can watch," he murmurs, shaking his head. "But I believe in you! You're better than me, Oli. I would have tucked my tail and run home." His lips form a tense line.
"Tomorrow we'll celebrate at a party." I grin, earning a snort from him.
"Fine. Just… don't die, okay? I kinda like having you as a roommate." Yeah, and having a hotcousinfor him to ogle isn't too bad, either.
"If I die, you can have Jordy," I say with a snort, turning on my heels and heading through a pair of swinging doors that say locker room above me. I try not to think about the impending fight. How big will my opponent be? Will they obliterate me? They might. I’m muscular and fit, but nothing compared to some of the guys on campus.
"He can have me either way," Jordy quips, stepping into the locker room beside me. "Damn. They have everything, don't they?" he whistles, looking up at the tall ceilings that weren’t there before.
“There’s no roof here.” I lean back, staring up at the stars twinkling above Mack and me.
“One day, we’ll fix it up.” Mack grins, shoving his hand in mine and squeezing. “This is ours.”
It was our space. Something we discovered together in our hunt for treasure and peace. Now, it’s theirs. They’ve turned it into something profitable for them. Something I can’t wrap my mind around.
"You can't die." Simon’s words drag me out of the painful memory of this room. This place. Half of me wants to beg Jordy to take me back to base camp and drop me off. The other half wants to discover the many mysteries surrounding Greenwood University. The missing body parts. Where Meredith went off to? Also, what Franco is up to these days.
"I won't,” I breathe, taking the filled space in. It once resembled a crumbling room, and now, they’ve built it into something extraordinary. It makes me wonder what the state of our treehouse is. The place we snuck off to in the middle of the night was close to our homes.
“Oli,” Jordy clears his throat, nodding toward a table filled with stacks of gym shorts. “Small, right?” he smirks, picking up a worn pair of green shorts, sporting a GU on them. “They’re niceand tight, too. Perfect for movement.” He stretches the material a few times.
I lick my lips, looking back at Simon, who is lost in thought, looking around the locker room in awe. He’s obviously never been called to fight, so he’d have no reason to be here. I use this to my advantage and step up to Jordy.
"Won't they be able to tell?" I whisper, gesturing to my crotch with a frown. If I had a package to show off, it’d be noticeably absent in that pair of shorts. "Won't they expect it to..." I flop my arm around a bit, earning a small snort.
"You'll move better in these..." Jordy shrugs, picking up a longer pair of shorts. "But these will hide that..." His eyes fall to my crotch, and he shivers. "You know they have di...."
"Shut up," I groan, yanking the gym shorts out of his hands. "I don't even want to hear it." Because I won't be here long enough to know. I need to get this done and over with so I can move on from whatever the hell this is.
"Wow, this place," Simon murmurs. "How do you think they found it?"
