Cara mutters, hand pressed to her chest.
Jonas smirks and pushes his glasses up his nose. “The walls are glass, Cara. Sneaking implies I
made an effort to hide. I just walked.” He frowns, gaze traveling over all three of us, lingering just a
moment longer on Janey. “You should all be coming to Becca’s class. Your complete lack of
situational awareness is concerning.” It comes out a little condescending, but I can see the concern in
his tone.
“We’re at work,” Cara says with a scowl. “We’re not supposed to have our guard up at work.
Besides, from everything I’ve seen, there’s nowhere safer in the world to be than here…unless maybe
the White House bunker. You guys would never let anything happen to us.”
Jonas’s face hardens. “No, we’d never let anything harm you. But asyouwell know, outside of
these walls, there are a lot of dangers we can not protect you against.” Cara’s face falls at the
reminder of what happened to her and Bree.
“I hear you. I promise we’ll go to the class…but could you please try humming or something, to
let people know you’re there? I swear a tiny mouse makes more noise than you do when you walk.”
He flashes a smile full of mischief but doesn’t agree. I have a feeling he’ll be walking even softer
from now on, just to annoy Cara. They seem to have a wonderful dynamic. Both very comfortable
with each other, but without the overt teasing and annoyance she and Colton seem to have. People…
these people especially…are infinitely interesting.
His smile falls as he looks at Janey. “You should go too. You need to be safe.”
Janey smiles at him warmly, and Jonas seems dazzled by it. “I will, I promise. I was just
complaining that they didn’t include me last time.” She curls her hands into fists and puts them up like
a boxer. “I’m ready.”
Jonas steps forward until Janey’s fists are nearly touching his chest. Something about the moment
makes me want to look away. It’s too charged, too intimate. He brings his hands up, wrapping one of
her fists in his, covering it completely. He inhales sharply, and his eyes close for a moment. Carefully,
gently, he peels her fist open, moving her thumb from inside, and wraps it up again. “Like this. If you
keep your thumb inside, you will break it when you hit someone.” He rubs his thumb across her
knuckles and steps away. “There are more effective ways to defend yourself, though. Becca will teach
you.”
Janey, looking a little dazed and blushing furiously, nods. Jonas seems satisfied, turning to leave,
