Page 12 of Fight or Flight
“What?” I ask. “You forgot about the eyes in the sky?” I point to the ceiling, even though our personal rooms are the only parts of the house that aren’t under heavy surveillance and there are no cameras in the room. “Remember, Big Brother is always watching.”
Felix’s cheeks go bright red. “I hate all of you.”
“No, you don’t.” I blow him a kiss.
The corners of his mouth tick up. “Maybe not, but I have no clue why I put up with you.”
“Because we’re the best,” Jax tells him.
“And because you’d be lost without us,” I add.
“So lost.” Jax nods solemnly.
“Lost my ass.” Felix snickers as both he and Killian stand. “We’ll see you tomorrow?” He glances around the room.
I nod as the others say their goodbyes.
When Killian and Felix have left, I turn my attention to Jax and Myles. “Are you peacing out so you can get some too?”
“Yup.” Jax stands and holds his hand out for Myles.
Myles takes it, his cheeks pink with a blush, and lets Jax pull him off the couch.
“You coming home tonight?” I ask my brother.
He shakes his head.
“Have a good one.” I give them a little wave. “See ya in the a.m.”
“Bye,” Myles says with a wave as Jax gives me an upnod.
I wave again as they leave the room, but the silence that follows when the door closes behind them is stifling, almost oppressive.
Turning back to my computer, I wiggle my mouse to wake it back up, but my mind is already wandering as my multiple screens flash back to life.
I like Myles, and I’d take a bullet for the kid without a second thought, but I don’t like how Jax’s priorities have shifted now that Myles is in his life.
For twenty-one years, Jax and I have basically been a single unit, and after spending my entire life with him by my side, it’s weird to be alone so much now that he has a boyfriend.
I don’t do well with idle time, and I tend to get in trouble when I don’t have Jax around to ground me. It wouldn’t be so bad if Killian were still single, but now that he and Felix are the world’s most nauseatingly adorable couple to ever exist, I don’t even have him around to rein me in and have to rely on Xave to do it, which is pretty much the same as relying on a thief to protect your valuables.
Shaking off those thoughts, I try and focus on the screens in front of me, but the lines of code look like gibberish. I’m too distracted by the meeting earlier to concentrate, and I’m too restless to sit still.
I need to do something. To move around and work up a sweat and get some of my energy out before I do something stupid, but my options are limited. I’m not in the right headspace to pretend to be interested in people right now, so that means the multitude of parties and events going on around campus aren’t an option.
I could go to the cliffs, which is just a natural rock wall Jax and I found during our first year and go for a nighttime climb, but even that’s not appealing right now.
What I need to do is beat the fuck out of something, or someone. But going out and picking a fight isn’t an option either.With the mood I’m in, I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to stop myself once I start, and that’s a complication I don’t want to deal with right now.
Making up my mind, I shut down my computer, then change out of my jeans and hoodie and into a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. Once I’m ready, I slip my school ID into my pocket and push my hair back from my face as I head out of my room and make my way down to the house gym.
Thank fuck it’s late enough that I should have the place to myself because the last thing I need right now is to have to put on my Jace mask and pretend to be the happy-go-lucky himbo everyone thinks I am.
2
SHANE
The silencethat surrounds me is a welcome break from the usual chaos and noise that comes with living in a frat house, but even that’s not enough to shake off the bad mood that’s starting to feel like my default setting.
