Page 29 of Firestorm
That wasn’t jealousy, right?
But then, everything in me went still. The same presence from earlier closed in on me, and the softest stroke brushed against my mind. It was like whoever this was, was trying to remind me they were still close by, watching me.
Like a shadow.
I almost smiled.I had a shadow.
The presence didn’t leave, staying close enough for me to feel even as I settled into bed once Willow and Mia left for Mia’s room, and I still didn’t feel uncomfortable.
And when I woke up from a nightmare sometime in the early morning, sweating and panting in fear, the shadow remained, a comforting presence watching over me.
Chapter 9
Skye
I was in a nightmare scenario.
It was the second week of my ‘Health’ class, which I learned meant health and fitness andcombat. We trained to fight both physically and with our affinities. Apparently, the government required it so they could pick out the highest scorers in combat and send them into the military.
I’d successfully hidden my sparring skills on day one, but I couldn’t hide shit during physical training. Coach was onto me, his keen eyes watching me like he knew exactly what I was hiding. He’d caught me running on the treadmill, alone in the rec center early one morning after I’d woken from a nightmare, and now he wouldn’t stop watching my training in class.
Now, I was at the back of the group in the gym, trying not to have a panic attack.
Aiden was here. He was older than the other students, like me, but was stuck in all the beginning classes. I hadn’t asked why. I kept telling myself it was because I didn’t care, but…I definitely did.
Aiden was a complete mystery. He was a ball of energy, always bouncing on the balls of his feet as if he were about to sprint off like some comic book hero with superspeed.
I nervously wrapped my hair into a messy bun, ignoring Aiden’sheated stare, while I glanced around the room as the coach partnered people up.
Aiden had a thing for my hair being up, I’d figured that out pretty quickly. At first, I’d thought it was some weird thing he cared about when he was high, as he’d only stared at me with blown out pupils. But then he’d done a double take at my bare neck one day when he was clearly sober, and I caught him staring any time I tossed my hair over my shoulder in our other classes.
My new nemesis, Landon Iykos, was the GTA for this class, of course. The man was built like a brick house, whywouldn’the be a GTA for a health slash combat class? And he’d been trying to burn a hole in the side of my face with nothing but his glare. I was pointedly ignoring him, focusing on my panic, instead. As soon as Coach had announced we were practicing affinities today…
My affinity was controlled, except in high-stress situations, which in turn, stressed me out. I was good in a crisis…but my affinity was not. Hence why I was in this mess to begin with. If my affinity could chill the fuck out and follow my lead, I wouldn’t have pushed the water out of the café, wouldn’t have been caught by the authorities, wouldn’t be in this stupid class next to stupid Aiden and his stupid muscles that were flexing through his stupid-tight gym tee…
And I mean,good Lord. The man was carved from stone.
And I wasn’t the only one who noticed.
Over the past week, as Aiden followed me around between classes, I’d seen too many of his current or past flings. They seemed to follow him around, approaching him in the halls and at lunch. He seemed bored, claiming not to know a few of their names, but too many girls knew him.
And I wasn’t jealous. No, not at all.
I most certainly was not thinking about how every one of those girls had probably seen his dick and got to think about it whenever they wanted. AndImost certainly was not thinking about his dick. Or how pretty it probably was.
Of courseI wasn’t thinking about that. Because that would beinsane. And I didn’t want a boyfriend, let alone two. I groaned internally. I couldn’t stop thinking about stupid Wyatt.
I stretched my arm for the tenth time, gulping anxiously as Coach drew nearer. The class was at an odd number, meaning Landon, as the GTA, would probably be paired with someone to make it even. Anton was still singled out among another group of kids, and I hoped that meant Landon would pair with him, since they seemed like friends.
But then Coach looked back and forth between Aiden and Landon like he was about to pair them up, and I relaxed slightly.Good, I didn’t want to be paired with Landon.
But…shit. I wanted to be paired with Aiden.
“Brandt, Aria, pair up.” Coach called out, and I jolted back to the present.
Aiden shot me a grin while Landon continued to scowl in my direction. I ignored both of them and strode over to an empty corner of the gym, Aiden following after me like a puppy.
He grinned at me again, stretching even though he didn’t need to, revealing a small sliver of his abs as his t-shirt rode up. I stared at those beautiful, corded muscles for just a beat too long. When I looked up, Aiden wasn’t grinning. He was staring at me intensely, his eyes filled with heat.
