James licked his lips. “Because in your opinion, Jackson, would there ever be anything”—he bent down and got up in my face, his blue eyes staring into mine—“that you wouldn’t do for me?”
My lower lip trembled, and I held it still under my incisors, hoping to hide my mood.
“I—”
“You’d do anything for me, wouldn’t you?”
James was so close to me that I could smell the mint and beer on his breath.
I looked down. He smiled victoriously.
“Good. And now that Jackson’s one of us . . .”
William and I exchanged a worried look. I wondered what was going through his head, and I was sure he wondered the same thing about me.
“Principal Manor.”
James’s solemn, raspy voice broke the ice.
“What’d he do?” asked Marvin.
“Nothing yet,” replied William.
“The issue is what that asshole wants to do. We have to stop him.”
“I don’t know,” I mumbled. I jumped to my feet, but an invisible force made me sit back down.
All this made me nervous. James made me nervous.
“What is there to know, Jax? Are you trying to tell me that if you had a problem, I wouldn’t help you solve it?”
He sure knew how to be convincing.
“James, you can’t fault me for having a few doubts after what happened the last time you wanted to solve a problem.” I mimicked air quotes as I saidproblem. My remark shut them all up.
They knew I was right.
“You’re coming, Jax. And as usual, you shouldn’t have to do shit,” he commanded before storming out and slamming the door.
He made it easy, but it wasn’t easy for me at all. We were talking about the principal. We were talking about Blaze’s dad.
>> <<
Present Day
“I’ve been waiting for you for a fucking hour, Blaze.”
I used the passing period to chase after him in the hallway. The bell had already rung but we stayed and glared at each other in front of the lockers as the students went back to class.
“You could wait for me until tomorrow. I don’t care.”
His reaction surprised me.
“What the hell is wrong with you?”
I shot him a quick glance. His inky black eyes glowed under his cascade of dark hair. “I already told you, I’m sick of being at your beck and call. I’m not there when you call anymore.”
I let out a derisive sneer. “Why? You think that just because James started talking to you that he likes you now?” I snarled, grabbing his arm.
