Page 52 of Mayhem

He yells for a few more seconds before I hang up the phone and plop down on my bed. This isn’t how I thought my night would go, but at least it’s almost over. Hopefully.

A knock at my door has me sitting up. Before I can answer, telling whoever is at my door that I don’t want them to come in, the door opens. Zane is standing there.

It’s still crazy how much Midas looks like him. In the dark, I would almost think they are the same person. Zane walks in and sits down on the bed next to me. He is trying to give off a supportive father figure, but I know better.

“Is everything all right, sweetheart?” His hand lands on my thigh. I suddenly really hate that move. If no one ever touches my thigh again, it would be too soon.

I peel his hand off me. “I’m fine. Just my ex-boyfriend calling. Nothing I can’t handle.”

Zane tenses beside me. He nods his head at me before leaving my room. That was fucking weird. I don’t understand their fascination with me, and I don’t want to. The less time I spend with them, the better.

A couple of hours later, I heard the front door closing. Finally, they are gone, and I feel like I can leave my room, but I don’t. I open my curtains and sit back on my bed, waiting to see when they come home. I know I am torturing myself, but I can’t stop it. I turn the TV on to some random show, not paying attention.

It’s almost midnight when Midas’s light turns on. I roll over on my bed and look out the window. He is alone and looks pissed off. He pushes everything off his desk in a rage. His breathing ragged while he destroys his room. I watch in silence, wanting to comfort him but also wanting him to hurt. He hurt me first. I know that’s petty, but everyone gets to be petty every once in a while.

I get up and walk to my window. Midas's back is to me. His hands were in his hair, pulling hard. A scream leaving his mouth that I can hear even through both our closed windows. I grab my phone and open the message thread between us.

I hit send and watch as he angrily takes out his phone. He reads the message before turning around to me. A look of longing and hurt in his eyes. He starts typing something out of a message. My phone dings a second later.

Tears fill my eyes, but I wipe them away, hoping he didn’t see the motion.

I look back at him, his eyes never leaving me. I shake my head at him and close the curtains. I won’t open them again.

Serena

It’s Monday morning after a quiet weekend. I spent most of it with Evie. I decided to sleep at her house Saturday night. After watching Midas freak out in his room, I needed to keep more distance between us because I wanted to comfort him. I wanted to rush over and hold him until he was calm. I wanted to be a shoulder for him to cry on if he needed it.

We drove into Richmond to find our costumes for the party that was coming up this weekend. I can’t believe it is almost Halloween already. So much has happened in such a short time. Thankfully, I haven’t noticed anything else of mine missing, weird text messages, or any more creepy notes in my room.

I’m starting to think it’s the Kings, but I can’t prove anything. It’s stopped for now, so I try to forget about it.

I pull into the café to get my morning coffee before school. I park my car and want to pull right back out again. Odin is leaning against his bike. If I didn’t desperately need caffeine before school, I would leave. Groaning, I get out of my car and walk past him. Of course, he follows me in.

“Good morning, princess. Did you have a nice weekend?” He asks while I wait in line.

I roll my eyes at him but can’t hide the smirk that follows. He is ridiculous, but that's one of my favorite things about him. I turn back to face the front of the line, but I look up at him from the corner of my eye. His blue eyes remind me of the first morning light shining on the ocean. So bright and full of hope. I used to get lost when I looked into the ocean, and now I am getting lost in Odin’s eyes.

“I’m guessing not as good as yours.” The words are like acid on my tongue. I don’t understand how he can say the things he does to me and treat me the way he does, but he still takes them on a date. I thought we were connecting and getting closer.

“What the fuck are you talking about.” He grabs my shoulder and turns me around to face him.

“Your date with Valerie and Melanie,” I say plainly.

“Who told you that?” Odin looks confused.

“Zane, Ryker, and Axel. They all came over for dinner on Friday night. I thought you knew.” I pinch my brows, confused. “They said you three went on a date. I assumed they were talking about Valerie and Melanie.”

“If I had known my dad was at your house, I wouldneverhave left you there with them. You need to promise me to stay away from our dads.” He looks so vulnerable. I rest my hand on his cheek, and he leans into my touch. “Plus, we weren’t on a date. We would never go out with them. The only one we want is you.”

“You promise?” I whisper to him. His body relaxes, and he looks happy again as he nods. “What were you doing then?”

“Our dads sent us on an errand. No, I won’t tell you what it was, Club business. But I promise there is nothing with Valerie and Melanie.” His tone is final, brokering no argument from me.

What I don’t understand is why their dads lied to me. Why would they do that if they knew exactly where they were? Everything is too much to process before my first cup of coffee. We are finally at the front of the line, I order my coffee. Odin orders his own and then pays for both drinks. How does he plan to hold on to that while he rides his bike?

We wait in silence while the barista makes our drinks. Odin’s eyes scanned the coffee shop, watching everyone around us. When he doesn’t see anything, his eyes dart to me.

I feel so hot under his gaze. It’s like he is looking through the bullshit exterior I am trying to keep up with them. He sees through everything. I turn towards the counter to hide my increasingly rosy cheeks. I thank the barista and leave the café, Odin hot on my tail. I unlock my car and sit in the driver's seat as he opens the passenger door. I stare as he leans over, puts his coffee in the cup holder, and gets out.

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