Page 38 of Hide and Seek

I jerk him through it, not stopping until he’s pushing against me with his bound hands and begging me to stop.

When I do, he sags against the tree, a goofy grin splitting his lips, and I find myself smiling as I undo the belt around his hands. He mumbles something and presses his palms into the tree behind him.

We stay like that for a long while, with me holding him up as he comes down from his orgasm. When it seems to have passed, I let go and step back.

He stares at me in wide-eyed wonder, then clears his throat and tucks himself away. “I think we’re lost.”

I chuckle and put my belt back on. “I know where we are.”

“You do?” He looks around. “Are you going to leave me out here to find my way back?” he asks tentatively.

“No.” I point toward the school. “That’s north.”

He follows my hand. “That’s simple enough.” He looks back at me and lets out a bewildered laugh. “I guess I should…” He motions in the direction I was just pointing.

I nod.

“Um, thanks?” He laughs again. “Yeah, I’m going to go before I make things even weirder.” He gives me a little wave, then laughs again as he shakes his head and starts walking back toward campus.

I follow him at a distance, not bothering to hide but staying far enough back that he has to search me out in the dark when he looks behind him. I stay with him until he’s stepping through the tree line at the back of Boone House and watch as he cuts across the small backyard and pulls his ID out of a pocket in hisleggings. He pauses after he swipes it over the lock and looks around one more time, then disappears inside.

I wait a few beats, then head toward Hamilton House and Rebel territory.

It seems Myles is just full of surprises.

Does he have any more games he wants to play? Because I sure as hell do.

10

MYLES

I’m just closingthe door to my room behind me when my phone pings with a text. Letting out a deep sigh, I flip on the lights and toss my bag onto the floor next to my bed.

I’m exhausted after a day of traveling, and as weird as it is, I’m actually glad to be back at school after spending the week at home celebrating Christmas with my family.

Before we got rich, my siblings and I went to a small, semi-rural public school, and we did all the things normal families do, like have dinner together and go to my brother’s sports games or my sister’s dance recitals. My extracurriculars were a little less exciting, but my parents still made a point to show up with my siblings and support my robotics team competitions.

Then we got rich, and our parents got paranoid, and we moved away from our small town and into a gated community on the outskirts of a major city. And if that wasn’t enough, the three of us were shipped off to different boarding schools and for the past three years have only really seen each other over major holidays and the summer.

I love my family, and I love my siblings, but they’re loud and chaotic and extroverts, while I’m the opposite, and I definitely need to decompress after a week of family bonding.

Another text comes in while I’m pulling my phone out of my jacket pocket, and a third lands as I check my notifications.

I’m not surprised to see my sister’s name, and I open our text thread as I sink down on the edge of my bed.

Lily: are you back at school yet?

Lily: what does it mean when a boy tells you that they don’t want you to wait for them?

Lily: that’s a green flag right?

Myles: did Thomas tell you that?

Lily: yeah, well, he texted it

Myles: what was the context?

Lily: he said he doesn’t want me to wait for him while he’s in Paris