Page 20 of Ruined

I shake my head, trying to drop my hand from his. Only Jace doesn’t allow that. He tightens his grip and nods his head towards me.

“She goes first, I can do my own,” he says, leading me towards the kitchen. He pushes me into the chair at the tiny dining table. Glaring up at him, I use my right hand to flip him off. At least he’ll understand that.

Jace only smirks, which makes me even more irritated. How dare he just stand there with my knife in his leg and demand my shoulder be fixed first. I’ve stopped bleeding for the most part, and I don’t mind the pain so much anymore.

“Come on, Jacey. Move,” the girlmumbles.

Excuse me?

I snap my head towards the girl, the blonde, who stands off to the side with some medical bag over her shoulder. I have no reason to be jealous of her calling him Jacey. He’s not mine. But fuck, does it hurt that she can speak and call him pet names.

“Stitch her shoulder so she can shower,” Jace says, backing away. I watch him head towards the room she had disappeared into.

He’s leaving me.

He’s dropping me off with this girl and leaving.

Why is he leaving?

Am I too much?

My breathing picks up and I can feel my heart race. Sucking my lip in between my teeth, I can’t think straight. Why is he leaving me?

“Hey, Jace?” Blondie calls. Her voice grinds a certain nerve inside me.

“What’s wrong?”

“I think you should uh, stay in here?”

“Why?” His voice brings some sort of calmness. I can breathe a little better, and my skin no longer feels like it’s going to melt off my bones.

“She’s either going to murder me or you, and since I’m the one who has to be near her right now, I’m guessing she’s going to stab me.”

She’s not wrong. If I had something on me, I’d probably stab her. First, because she called him some stupid pet name, and second, because if she thinks she can just touch me, well she better think again. No one can touch me.

No one.

Except Jace.

His touch isn’t so bad.

“Blake?” Jace suddenly fills my vision.

Tilting my head to the side, I wait for him to continue.

“You’re freaking out,” he says. Jace seems to know me better than those whom I call family. Besides Gabriel, Jace is the only one who’s noticed when I panic in silence. “Tap once if it’s because I was leaving or twice because she was going to touch you.”

Reaching forward, I place my palm against his chest.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Jace frowns, looking down at my hand. I go to lift my hand, maybe he doesn’t like being touched either. This was the first time I initiated touch and now that I think about it, I might have messed up. Jace slams his hand over mine, our gazes meet, and I nearly melt on the spot. He has got to stop doing that or I’m truly going to place my trust in him.

And when he breaks my heart, it’s going really break.

“I… I’m not sure…” he trails off, searching my eyes for the answer. I hate this communication. “It’s both,” he finally says.

Slowly blinking, I give him a smile and a nod. Maybe it wasn’t so bad, it just took a little longer for him to understand me.

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