Page 71 of Hide and Seek

“Youarean idiot, and thisisstupid,” he says bluntly. “But it is what it is. And maybe you’ll get over your obsession once it’s all said and done.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Then you don’t.” Jace picks up a pen and twirls it around his fingers. “I don’t get it, but whatever. This guy means something to you, so he means something to me, and we protect what’s ours.”

I nod, and some of the tightness in my chest lessens at my brother’s words. We might not always see eye to eye on things, but we’ll always have each other’s backs, no matter what.

“I’ll start going through the files Carter sent me.” Jace turns his desk chair around and faces his computer. “I put copies of them on your computer so you can look through them too instead of asking me for updates every twelve seconds.”

“Thanks,” I say as I stand.

“Hey, bro?” Jace says, his attention on his computer.

“Yeah?”

“If you found someone who makes you feel something, then maybe that’s worth holding on to. Just saying.”

I stare at his back for a few beats as his fingers fly over the keyboard, the soft click of the keys filling the air between us.

“Yeah,” I say softly. “Maybe it is.”

17

JAX

“I’m meeting up with Xave,”Jace says as he grabs a hoodie from the foot of his bed. “And I’m guessing there’s nothing I can say or do to entice you away from this room for the night?”

I shake my head.

“Figured as much.” He blows a bubble with his gum and pops it.

“Are you going into town?” I ask as he shakes out his hoodie and slips his arms through the sleeves.

He nods and pulls it on.

“Have fun fucking with the locals.”

He smirks and adjusts his hair, smoothing it back from his face. “Always do. Have fun staring at blank screens all night.”

I flip him off, but he just blows me a kiss and sweeps out of the room.

I stretch my arms over my head, then stand and walk across the space a few times to get the blood flowing in my legs.

I’ve spent the past few hours poring over the files Jace sent me, but there’s nothing new or useful in them, not that I’ve found so far. It’s starting to feel like I’m going around in circles,and every time we find what we think is a lead, it’s either a dead end or another twist that leads us to a new pile of leads.

Letting out a weary sigh, I scrub my hand through my hair to push the strands back from where they’ve fallen into my face. I’m feeling restless again, but it’s not from boredom or being cooped up in my room.

I didn’t tell my brother this, but today in the woods was different. It started the same as every other game of hide and seek, where Myles flipped the statue around and let me watch him get ready. Then he gave the camera the same sassy smirk I’ve seen every day since we started this routine, and he went just as hard when he was running from me, but things changed when I finally caught him.

He seemed to retreat into himself when I pulled my rope free of my belt, and all the fight went out of him the moment I uncoiled it.

The change in him was stark, and instead of the feisty and desperate guy I’m used to, he was withdrawn and compliant.

I could have just kept going since he didn’t give any real indication that he didn’t want it anymore, but it wasn’t the same.

So, instead of tying him to the tree, I put him on his hands and knees. That seemed to revitalize him, and I fucked him on the forest floor until he finally came.

The other thing I hid from Jace, and I’m still not even sure why I did, was that I’ve broken into his room every day since we started this to continue our chess game. And I definitely didn’t tell him how Myles immediately looks toward the chess set every time he comes back to his room or how he smiles when he sees I’ve been there.