Page 20 of Cannon
My stomach revolts again. Still nothing. It hurts worse to bring upnothingthansomething.Ugh.I take several deep breaths and wait on the floor in front of the toilet until my stomach finally settles.Dammit.My research is going to have to wait. The doctor really wasn’t joking when he said the backlighting on most screens wasn’t a good idea for post-concussive patients. I’ll have to give it a few days. I keep having to remind myself it’s only Thursday, four days since I got knocked on the head.
When I’m not terrified any longer that I’m going to throw up, I stand. Pause. Take a few more breaths. Then carefully, so as to not jar my head, I walk slowly to the sink. I give my teeth a quick brush, rinse my mouth out, and while doing so, decide there’s no way I’m going to manage coffee right now. But all the same, I haven’t had my morning hit of caffeine so that might not be helping my head either. My best course of action is probably to check the fridge downstairs for a Coke. There’s something soothing about the bubbles. I dunno. My mom always used to give me a soda when I wasn’t feeling well, and it kinda stuck.
Exiting my room, I make my way down the hall. It’s late enough that most of the brothers will be in class. I pause, thinking back. I can’t remember if anyone is here or not, but I’m dressed, not in my pajamas this time, so fuck ’em. I’ll do what I want.
A few minutes later, I’m curled up on the couch, mostly comfortable. Several sips of my drink later, I’m feeling substantially better, but there’s no real reason for me to get up from this spot. It’s quiet during the day when the rest of the brotherhood is on campus.
I set the can on the floor beside me and hug a soft decorative pillow to my chest. My eyes drift shut, and I’m on the verge of sleep when a floorboard creaks beside me.
Before I can fully rouse myself, Stuart’s sharp voice barks, “Wake the fuck up, initiate.”
My eyes shoot open, and I gasp, blinking up at him. What the hell? “I-I’m awake. What’s wrong?”
“Get up.” The way Stuart’s jaw twitches leaves no room for argument, but it makes me frown, a deep groove forming on my forehead. I don’t have a chance to move before he snaps again, “Did you not hear me? I said get off your ass. Stand up.”
Panic as his tone registers floods through me. Stuart isn’t a senior in the brotherhood, but heisan upperclassman. And a mean one, at that. I’m supposed to follow the instructions of the brothers. I haven’t been in this position before, though, where anyone other than Kingston, Cannon, or Archer has demanded anything of me.
“I’m sorry. What did I do?” I slowly stand, grimacing because my head is still achy.
“Oh, you’ve done plenty.” He lunges forward, super close to my face, his words biting and unforgiving. “I’ve been waiting a hot minute to be alone with you, initiate.”
My heart takes a dive into my stomach where it churns, and the earlier nausea roars back to life, only for a completely different reason this time. As far as I know, there is no one to call out to. I’m all alone in the house with this asshole.
I hold my hands up in front of me in surrender, but also so I can try to stop him if he comes any closer. Because right now, he’s up in my space and staring me down. My gaze flicks over the mottled angry-red of his face, the ginger beard, which now that he’s right on top of me, I can see there’s actually a lot of blond and brown mixed in, too. Unsure of his angle, I murmur, “I’ve done nothing. I don’t understand what brought this on.”
He leans in so he can hiss in my face, so close that his chest meets my hands, which are still up in front of me. “Do you realize how bad it was in that house the other night?” He scrubs his hands over his scalp, practically clawing at himself, a terrifying, wild look in his eyes. “It was worse than our initiation, and that’s saying a whole fucking lot!” Spit flies from his mouth in his tirade and lands on my cheek.
My eyes narrow, disgusted by both the spit on my face and the fact that he doesn’t see the irony here. Alsoit’s definite confirmation as to where those assholes were taken. I shove him hard, swiping at the wetness. I don’t want him to know that I didn’t have a clue what happened, so I boldly shift to attack mode. “You realize that’s exactly how I felt, right? Someone shut me in a closet and didn’t let me out for who knows how long. Then when they did, they shoved me to the floor, pulled my hair so hard I could feel strands coming out by the root. Did you know that, Stuart?” I bite my lip staring at his hard expression, my face heating the angrier I get. Maybe if I out and out accuse him. “Did you knock me out? Was it you? Because I’m beginning to think you wouldn’t be doing this now if it wasn’t.”
His jaw clenches down hard, and I wonder if it’s because he didn’t do it or because he did. One thing’s for certain—he doesn’t like being accused. He’s like a predator primed to pounce.“Fuck,no. I did nothing to you.”
I’m so mad, my hands are shaking. “But that’s the name of the game—deny, deny, deny. Why the hell are you in my face if you’re so goddamn innocent of any wrongdoing?” I feel the maniacal grin cross my face, I’m so worked up, and I don’t care if I look crazy to him. My head throbs. “You know what? It doesn’t even matter. You and the others were tasked with keeping the initiates safe inside that house. And I wasn’t safe at all. That’s why they decided to fuck with you like that. It wasn’t unwarranted.”
He throws his head back, laughing. “Whatever. Because you couldn’t hack it in there like the other two did—”
I cut him off. “I was hacking it just fine, thanks. Until someone knocked me out when I was on the verge of winning again. I wouldn’t say that’s exactly fair play, would you, Stuart?”
He wets his lips, shaking his head with disdain. “Unfair is fucking all three of your sponsors to gain favor with them.” He pauses, chuckling darkly. “Great plan, honey. Let them play with that pretty little cunt you showed us on the video, and in exchange, I’m sure they’ll help you get through your initiation. You’ve become their little slut.” His smile is cruel, the odd light in his eyes scary as hell. “Who knows how far you’ll go to get into the brotherhood. The question is… why? I don’t buy the wholeprove it to myself because daddy was hard on me for not being the son he wanted.”
I freeze, blinking at him. I have no way of knowing what he meant about not believing me. My mouth has suddenly gone dry, and I swallow hard so I can divert the way the conversation is going to safer ground. “Getting in my face like this isn’t going to help you, so I don’t know what the point of this is. You think the minute I say something to Kingston, all three won’t have your head?”
His eyes flash in anger, and he jabs a finger right near my face. “You’ll keep your fucking mouth shut. If you don’t, I’ll make sure you never disobey me again. I’ll make it fucking hurt, princess. You’d better keep that door of yours dead bolted. You won’t know when I’m coming for you,initiate.”
I remain as calm as I can, trying not to give him anything to feed on. I need this conversation over with. “Understood,” I grit, unable to stop myself when my lips form the faintest of smirks.
His eyes narrow on me, his stare holding for several more seconds as he sneers at me, then turns on his heel and stalks away.
Panicked breaths heave from my chest as soon as he’s far enough away that he can’t hear me. Completely overwhelmed, I sink back onto the couch. I don’t know if it’s in my best interests to say something or keep my mouth shut. Running to Kingston now would negate the idea that I can do this on my own. I’ll have to hope I’m simply reading way too much into what Stuart said. Because if I’m not… I’m in serious trouble.
I also can’t help but think that I was absolutely right. I currently have a neon sign stamped on my forehead that readsCome fuck with me.
TEN
CANNON
Tap.Tap, tap, tap. Confused, my brain takes a moment to wake up. I glance at my phone where it sits in its charging stand on the table. Three in the morning. I run a hand over my face, wondering if I actually heard something or if I dreamed it.
Tap. Tap, tap, tap. One tap, a pause, then a faster series of three. I sit up, more alert now. What the hell? That’smyknock. Swinging my legs from the bed, I take a second to snatch the boxer briefs from the floor where I’d left them when I peeled them off and climbed into the bed a few hours ago. I tend to sleep naked. Can’t handle the feeling of clothing on my skin while I sleep. Yanking them up, I cross to the door and crack it open.
