Page 19 of Claimed By Ruin

She almost looked disappointed but she blinked, and her implacable mask was back in place. She just stared at my hand when I reached out to help her up. I thought she would pull away when I grabbed her arm, but she let me pull her to her feet. She didn’t look at me as she wiped her chest with paper towels and put her shirt back on.

She turned in my direction, preoccupied with something over my left shoulder. “See, aren’t games fun?”

“I meant what I said, Asia.”

Her lips lifted into a ghost of a smile. “You always do, don’t you?” She looked at me without blinking. “Don’t come back into my room, Jack.”

Then she was gone.

FIVE

Asia

I was serious about Jack coming to my room.

He, however, wasn’t.

I shouldn’t have been surprised when I walked into my bedroom and found Jack’s backpack and boots neatly lined up at the foot of my bed, a tattered copy of Dune on what I assumed he’d taken as his side.

My stomach twisted, but I refused to imagine or even consider the reasons why. Instead, I went about my usual routine, and then lay in bed, reminding myself that a petty turf war with Jack was a waste of time and energy. He could sleep in my bed. He could sleep on the fucking moon. It made no difference to me.

I drifted off. Woke up to something warm and hard around me.

Jack.

I sank into that feeling, but then stiffened and pulled away. Or at least I tried to. The source of that warmth, Jack’s strong arms, held me in place. I didn’t try to fight him. And I didn’t try to pull away again, either.

As shameful as it was, like this, I felt…safe.

Safe.

Something as fake as unicorns, leprechauns.

Zombies.

I relaxed my rigid body and sank against him.

Would have stayed there, but when he smoothed his palm up my hip, reaching for my stomach, I twisted away.

Let the cold seep into my skin.

Told myself I welcomed it.

In some ways, I did.

Because the cold was the truth. But I didn’t want the truth right now.

I wanted the lies.

I wanted Jack.

I shifted and faced him. Wasn’t surprised when I found him staring at me. He didn’t move, didn’t ask anything at all.

From the outside he looked unsure. But I saw beyond that. Saw his silence was a weapon that highlighted my weakness with every second that ticked by.

He was going to make me ask.

He was going to make me choose him.