Page 125 of The Haunting of Lockton

When we went back inside a while later, Julian had cleaned up his dishes and sat in the living room on his laptop. Curled up on the couch and focused on the computer screen, he wore an oversized hoodie and pajama pants with Levi Ackerman on them.

Attack on Titanwas his favorite anime. I preferred the funnier and less gory ones likeOne Piece.

“What’cha doing?” I asked, plopping down beside him on the couch.

“Catching up on messages and sorting the rewards for the top-tier subscribers.” Julian stopped typing mid-sentence and rubbed at his chest. “I’m nearly done.”

“Are you feeling okay?”

He looked at me. “Yeah. Why?”

“Just seemed like you had a pain,” I said, glancing at the hand that was still on his chest.

He quickly lowered it. “I didn’t realize I was doing it. I’m fine. I promise.”

I didn’t believe him but wasn’t in the mood to fight him on it. If he was still feeling the aftereffects of his encounter with Owen, resting his body was the best thing for him to do anyway. And judging by the snowy weather, I knew we wouldn’t be going anywhere that day, giving him nothing but time to rest.

However, as the afternoon dragged on, Julian only seemed to become more exhausted. Exhausted and… something else. Distracted, maybe. Catching him staring at the wall, I counted to sixty. It didn’t even look like he blinked.

“Is that spot that interesting?” I asked, using a playful tone. “You’ve been staring at it for a hot minute.”

Julian’s gaze was pinned to that same spot for several more beats before slowly focusing on me. “Huh? Did you say something?” His voice veered on monotone, lacking all emotion.

“Were you sleeping with your eyes open? Dude, that’s creepy.”

He only stared at me with that same blank expression.

“Is your head hurting again?” I asked. He was worrying me now.

His hand went to his chest and rubbed before moving to his jaw and squeezing. Enough that his nails left an indent in his skin. They then dug in deeper, drawing blood.

“Jules?” I yanked his hand from his jaw. “What the hell?”

“Don’t touch me!”

Hurt flared in my chest when he jerked away from me. What hurt even more than that? The sudden hatred in his eyes as they narrowed at me. Well, at least there was emotion on his face again.

“Stop looking at me like that,” he snapped. “I’m fine.”

“You just dug your nails into your jaw and made yourself bleed. What soundsfineabout that, Julian? Shit.”

“Will you stop hovering? It’s pissing me off.”

“I’m not hovering.” My voice shook. “I’m just worried. You don’t seem like you’re feeling well.”

“I’d feel much better if you stayed out of my business,” Julian snarled. “Fuck, this is annoying.” He rose from the couch, flinging his laptop to the side in the process. It crashed to the floor. “I’m going to bed. Don’t follow me, or I swear to god I’ll punch your lights out.”

I stared in shock as he stormed from the living room and went upstairs. A door slammed moments later.

“Was that Julian?” Paxton asked, entering the room with a steaming mug of fresh coffee in his hand. He carried a second and handed it to me.

I accepted the coffee in a sort of daze and then just stared at it. The shade of liquid was a lot lighter than Paxton’s. I tried to respond, but even if I’d known the words, my throat wouldn’t have let me speak them. It was clamped so tight I could barely even breathe.

“Sky?” Paxton set his mug on the coffee table and dropped down on the cushion beside me.

When he placed his hand on my thigh, I felt the coolness of his fingertips through the material of my sweats. His hands were always cold, even if the rest of him was warm. Poor circulation, he’d said. I was the total opposite. I was always warm. Julian said it was because I was full of hot air.

“Hey, you’re worrying me.”