Page 11 of Hide and Seek
It almost feels like excitement, but that’s impossible. It’s just adrenaline. There’s no way that I’m excited about the possibility of someone watching me from the shadows while I run. It’s crazy to even consider that the idea of being stalked, maybe even chased, while I’m alone and vulnerable is anything other than terrifying.
I’m imagining things. That’s it. I’m just freaked out about everything that’s been going on, and my mind is playing tricks on me.
No one is watching me. I just need to get over this sudden main character syndrome or whatever is making me think I’m important enough for anyone to notice, let alone watch.
I’m a panting, exhausted mess when I finally break through the trees near the back door to Boone House.
Before I can stop myself, I whirl around and scan the woods behind me. There’s nothing there—and no sign that anything ever was.
3
JAX
I watchMyles’s eyes dart around, his face flushed from exertion and probably fear, as he scans the woods for any sign of me. After about thirty seconds of searching, he hastily pulls his ID out of his running pouch, taps it against the sensor next to the back door, and disappears inside the building.
When the door closes behind him, I make my way through the woods to the tree across from his window and climb up to the branch that’s beginning to feel like a second home from how much time I’ve spent on it over the past week.
I have no idea why I let him see me on the trail or why watching him sprint away from me like his ass was on fire after he did was so damn thrilling.
I don’t even remember deciding to step out from my hiding place; I just did it, which is fucking weird. I’m not an impulsive person, not anymore, and I’m not the spontaneous type, but I can’t deny how much I enjoyed messing with him just now.
Which, again, is fucking weird. I’ve never revealed myself to a mark, but then again, I’ve never had a mark like him.
Most of the people I’ve tailed have eventually realized they’re being watched on some level, but a few have been completelyoblivious the entire time. Myles is the only one who’s ever immediately clocked my presence and sensed that something was going on from the first day.
I see it every time he tenses his shoulders or a little shiver runs up his spine. It’s in the furtive way he scans his surroundings as he tries to spot me, and there’s something incredibly satisfying about the times when he stares right at where I’m hiding, but he can’t see me.
He knows I’m there. He can feel me watching, but he hasn’t done anything tostopme from watching him.
He hasn’t altered his routines at all, doesn’t make any effort to sneak around or hide, and he’s kept his curtains wide open, giving me the perfect view of him from my perch.
That sets him apart, and it makes him interesting.
Before I can get too deep into those thoughts, the door to his room opens, and he rushes inside.
He doesn’t spare the window a glance as he unclips his running belt and tosses it on his bed, then peels off his running clothes and drops them in a pile on the floor.
Something strange prickles at my chest as he pads across his room naked and disappears out of sight, then reappears a moment later with a towel wrapped around his waist and his shower kit clutched in his hand.
I know he’s just getting ready to take a shower after his run, but I can’t shake the feeling that he’s taunting me. Like he wants me to see him vulnerable and stripped down.
Like he’s showing me what could be mine.
I blink a few times at that thought. Myles is a mark and nothing more. My entire reason for being here is to figure out if he’s a threat to us and if he had any part in planning the hits on Felix.
That’s it. It doesn’t matter if he’s interesting or that I’m enjoying this job more than any other. It’s just a job, and he’s just a mark.
Myles pauses near his door to shove his feet into his shower slides, then he slips out of the room.
As soon as he leaves his room, I climb down from the tree and slip deeper into the woods, heading toward a rock wall Jace and I discovered during our freshman year.
I need to get out of my head for a while, and the only way to do that is to climb.
The school has a climbing gym, but even the most difficult section of it doesn’t pose any sort of challenge for me or Jace, especially since the gym staff won’t let anyone near the walls without full safety gear and someone to act as your belayer. That’s not the kind of climbing we enjoy, so we found our own spot.
No point climbing if there’s no challenge or danger, same with pretty much everything else we do.
“Why does your face look like that?” my brother asks as I close the door to our room behind me.
