Page 155 of Catch Me
When he passed it to me, I ran my fingers over the metal. “Do we need the other half or something?”
“No idea, man. Maybe you can put in some effort this time.”
He sounded lighthearted, but when I looked at him, his jaw was tight and he was staring at the floor.
“You okay?” I asked cautiously.
“Why?”
“Sen mentioned you’re going through some shit.”
His expression shifted from indifferent to annoyed. “I am.”
When he walked away to join the others, I shook my head. It was a mistake to ask about it. I was already starting to feel tired and we weren’t even out of the first room.
Chapter 51
Roman
He was always too nice. Too fucking nice. He obviously couldn’t stand being around me, but he asked if I was okay. He wanted to know what I was going through.
Except he didn’t. He was curious and generally cared too much about things. I wanted to lean into it so badly, but if I did, I’d find myself begging for something he wasn’t willing to give me anymore.
“You okay?” Sen asked.
I shook my head. “I don’t want to be here.”
“Well, I think this is the last room.”
“No, I don’t want to behere. I was fine, but just being around him is fucking up my head again. I didn’t sleep last night.”
“Hey.” He stroked his hand down my arm, but I shrugged him off.
My defenses were going back up, and that was part of why I shouldn’t have come. I’d spent months learning how to be open with people, with these friends I’d never deserved. When I felt the anger start to rise, I should’ve pushed it away, but it was so familiar and it kept me safe.
“Roman,” he said softly. “I’m sorry. Kai shouldn’t have done this, but just try to think through it, okay? There’s history. That’s it. If you still feel it, that’s fine, but don’t start to shut down.”
“I’m trying. Maybe I’ll just go home.”
“No, you’re already here. You don’t have to be around each other. Just watch the games with us, and I’m sure we can find things to do with just the group.”
“It’s fine. We don’t need to be separated like dogs. I just have to get myself together.”
“Do you think you guys need to talk about it?”
I let out a dry laugh. It drew Travis’ attention, so I looked at Sen. “No. I’m not interested in being his friend or smoothing things over, so it’d be pointless.”
“Not trying to be a dick, but why are you so mad about this? Ever since it happened, you’ve said it was your mistake and you didn’t blame him.”
“I don’t blame him,” I said with a sigh. “I’m mad because I didn’t know that it would hurt, but it does. And I’m mad because that’s my fault, so who else am I going to be angry at?”
I looked at where Kai and Travis were messing with a lock. Marching over to them, I swiped the metal piece Travis was holding, then slid it into a hole at the end of the one Kai had. It changed the shape at the tip, which fit perfectly into the lock. After I turned it, the lights came on and I heard the door unlock.
The game hadn’t been hard, but I didn’t want to be the dick who went and solved all the puzzles. The way things were set up made sense, but it was predictable. They tried to hide clues, and I saw them because they didn’t fit in with what was around them. The crack in the wall was one of the first things I noticed. I guess it was about the process or something, but now we were done, so I had no reason to be here.
Without a word, I exited the room and returned to the front desk.
“Congratulations!” the guy behind it exclaimed, making me wince. “You finished with seven minutes to spare. That means you get to go on the wall."
