Page 54 of Cannon
Pulling on my joggers, I scramble for the door, anxious to grab some essentials. I seriously hope I don’t run into anyone down there. I don’t even know what fuckin’ time it is.
Unfortunately, luck is not on my side. Striding into the kitchen, I find Dane, Zeke, and Taggart sitting at the kitchen counter having a leisurely breakfast.
Dane looks up from his bowl of cereal when he spots me. “Hey, Cannon.” He pushes his glasses up on his nose, giving me a quick smile before shoveling more cereal into his mouth. Cap’n Crunch, I think. Totally not good for him, but even when he was our initiate, he’d eat it in front of me and smile.
Zeke gives me a slight head tilt, raising his brows over his coffee cup. Who knows what that dude is thinking sometimes, and because his initiation was in the midst of all the shit with Will going missing, I feel like I didn’t get to know him as well as I know most of the other brothers.
And, funny, but I feel like that’s happening again with Taggart because Elliot has been occupying ninety-nine percent of my headspace since the three of them arrived on the scene. Bridger, I’ve got on lock. He’s a total dick. Taggart is way quieter, and he’s been off my radar the entire time. He’s average. Running right in the middle in terms of points for The Games. Hasn’t freaked out yet, but also hasn’t shown us any real sign that he’s ready for this. I’ll have to get with Dane about him later.
As if he senses my eyes on him, Taggart gives me a tight smile and goes back to his breakfast.Yeah.Not sure what to make of him.
I wave hello, then turn around to get the bottles of water from the fridge. After pulling out four, I set them on the counter and go back for a few of the flexible freezer packs we keep in here.
I wrinkle my nose, breathing slowly. It fuckin’ smells weird in here. I eye the three of them. Is that god-awful smell Dane’s cereal? Or maybe the coffee?
“You okay?” Dane cocks his head to the side, watching me curiously over the rims of his glasses.
With my jaw locked up tight, I nod, grimacing.
“That was quite the time last night. Elliot okay? That must have been tough for her.”
Zeke and Tag both give Dane the side-eye, but I nod, gathering all four bottles of water with my good arm against my ribs, and pick up the ice packs with the other hand.
“Cool. Um—” Dane grits his teeth, as if whatever question is about to pop out of his mouth, he’s a little afraid to ask.Weird.“Is she going to participate tonight?”
My brow furrows.
He licks a drop of milk from his lower lip before expanding on his question. “The Games, I mean?”
Jesus, I forgot it was Sunday. I nod again, then flick my gaze toward the upper floor, letting him know I’ve gotta go.
“Okay. we’ll see you later, then.” Dane’s eyes narrow. He’s always been good at reading me, just like Archer, but I have no idea what information he’s gathered from my actions or body language.Shit.Do I look like a dude making a water run for the people he spent last night naked with?
Well,fuck it.Can’t worry about that now.
I hurry back upstairs, and as I approach our rooms, I pause in the middle of the hallway for a moment, straining to hear.Yep.There’s a phone ringing somewhere in Elle’s room. My first inclination is to mention it to her, but ten seconds after her ringtone silences, there are several bursts of unmistakable buzzes—a bunch of text messages coming in.
Oh.Fuck.Archer has been monitoring Elliot’s phone messages… and there’s really been nothing of note except the nastiness from Nick, which is what caused the uproar early Friday morning. We’ve let it slide for about forty-eight hours as we’ve debated back and forth how to handle the situation. Doesn’t help that we were distracted by Elliot’s upset over whether we’d allow her to participate in The Games tonight, and also the auction yesterday. Anyway, we still haven’t come to a consensus about what to do with Nick the Prick, but I think it’s about time we discussed it in earnest.
Elliot’s room is unlocked, seeing as how she was with us last night, so I stride in, juggle everything in my arms for a moment to get the phone into my pocket, and quickly head back across the hall.
I poke my head into Archer’s room and am surprised to see everyone awake, quietly talking as they lie there together.
Tossing the ice packs on the end of the bed, I gesture to them before handing out the bottles of water. I turn around and sit, one leg on the bed, the other off, as a wave of nausea overtakes me. I freeze in place, staring at the duvet where my hand rests on it, trying to give myself a focal point to steady myself. After breathing slowly and carefully for a few seconds, it passes.
“All good, Cannon?” Archer’s eyes narrow.
I hold up one hand while tipping the water to my lips with the other. I’m good.But I’m not.Anxiety ripples through me… and not only about The Games tonight. I’m definitely feeling a little off, obviously not getting enough sleep, which is a contributing factor when I have issues. I pick up one of the ice packs and put it on my shoulder and deny to myself what I sense is coming. I should say something. But I can’t bring myself to do it. My stomach roils.
“So, I don’t know exactly what’s going to come of that mess last night. But those Bainbridge fucks had better watch their backs.” Kingston takes a swig of the water, caps it, and sets it on the bed beside him. Eyeing me, he gestures to my shoulder. “Still hurting?” He picks up one of the packs and presses it to his ribs on his left side. None of us escaped completely unharmed last night. Kingston hands a third pack to Archer, who holds it to the ugly purple bruise on his face.
Kingston grits out, “So, from what Duke said to us and what was said to Elliot while his goons had her, it’s clear the guys at Bainbridge already knew who Elliot was. They were trying to get a rise out of us. Or, more specifically, Duke was attempting to do something that would rileme.”He presses his lips together.
If that’s what they were after, it worked.I roll my eyes, shifting sideways on the end of the bed to face them.
Elliot frowns. “But why? I don’t understand. They told me that it was ‘my brothers’ who sent them to find me. I think they meant to imply it was you all.”
“Lies.” Archer shakes his head warily.
