Page 8 of Jace

As I entered and turned around to flip the lock, my entire body jerked in response to the sound of Olivers’ voice echoing over the dark shop.

“Do you know how fucking worried we’ve all been?” He stood outside the break room, his hands on his hips, an irritated look in his eyes. His mouth pressed in a tight line, his nostrils flaring.

“I’m fine,” I wave him off, wishing everyone would just let me be what I need to be right now. Let me fall, let me crumble.

“You’re so far away from fine, man.” He shakes his head. “This shit you got going through your mind, this need to self-destruct, it needs to stop. We are all here, even Zac, and I know you may not want to hear this shit right now but earlier today, that was fucked up. That guy would never hurt you and you know this.”

I get what he’s saying but I’m far too fucked up right now to have this conversation.

“Can we talk about this tomorrow?” I start walking to the couch and he steps in front of me to block my path. “My heads pounding.”

“Because you’re a fucking idiot.”

“So I’m told,” I grumble.

“You need to figure out what the fuck you want in life. If you want to keep bouncing around sharing meaningless nights with strangers then do it. If you want something more, something worth fighting for, something that gives you purpose, then grab hold. There is a woman that I think we all know has waited long enough for you to be that guy. But if the idea of forever has you running for the mountains in fear, then you need to let her go. You need to let her find her forever, and you need to stay out of the way while she does.”

Oliver steps around me, walks for the back door and steps outside before closing the door behind him. The sound of him locking the door can be heard as I flop down on the couch and pull my phone out of my pocket.

Ignoring the missed calls I pull up a picture of Aurora. The same picture I’ve looked at for hours on end. A side profile of Aurora, hunched over the chair in Luna’s room. Her shirt is off, as Luna inks her back and her face is turned toward the camera. A hint of a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth, a seductive look in her eyes.

My mouth goes dry, my chest grows tight and I fight the urge to call her. Until I can say without a shadow of a doubt that I’m open to forever, I need to do what Olly said and leave her be.

Dropping the phone to my chest I close my eyes and fight the demons that threaten to carry me off to the deepest darkest places.

Chapter Six

Aurora

“No,” I flop down on the couch and tuck my legs in close, pulling the blanket off the back of the couch.

“Why not?” Zac asks grabbing a handful of popcorn and pushing it into his mouth, dropping half of it on the floor.

"Because I’d like to sleep peacefully tonight and that is already a struggle, that’s why.” Reaching out for the controller, he tucks it in closer to his chest and turns his body away from me.

“Please,” Zac chuckles swatting away my hand. “This isn’t even scary.”

I can only stare at him.

“Seriously, how do you find this scary?” He scoffs. “It’s hilarious.”

“Says the guy that listens to murder mystery podcasts.” I roll my eyes at him, ‘“and is fascinated by unsolved crimes.”

He shrugs not even attempting to deny it, before settling in and hitting play.

“Is there something you want to tell me?” I ask and notice how his shoulders tense. “Do you have human remains hidden in your closet or behind the frozen pizza’s in your freezer?” I chose to ignore the obvious tension he’s been carrying. He’s been different that last few days, staring off as if lost in thought.

“How do you know I have frozen pizza’s in my fridge?”

“Because you are a guy and guys don’t cook.”

“Some guys cook,” he doesn’t look at me when saying this, only continues to watch the opening credits to the horror movie he’s chosen.

“So you can cook?” I already know the answer to this, he burns everything.

“I said some guys, babe,” his voice is low and steady, “never said it was me.”

He grows quiet and settles back into the couch cushion, bringing his hand to his mouth and pressing his knuckles to the center of his lower lip. He sits in this same position throughout the entirety of the movie with a perplexed look on his face.

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