Page 40 of Knox Academy Omnibus
Onyx decides to join us, wearing some loose-fitting shorts and no shirt. The shorts hang low on his hips, not leaving much to the imagination, and showing the hint of a tattoo on his left hip bone. Curiosity piqued, I want to see more.
“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” I say.
“No, fucking is what you and Kalen were about to do on school premises before you were caught...and I don’t kid,” Sawyer says.
“Have fun on your date Mr Knox, I’m sure it has big shoes to fill.” I wink, but he just shakes his head. He doesn’t respond. If I’m being truthful with myself, it stings a little to know he’s going out with someone else. Which is stupid, considering the game I’m playing right now with them all. Still, it makes me madder than hell that I can’t get a reaction out of him.
“Let's get a move on, I don’t have all night,” Onyx snaps.
I take off running and Onyx follows behind.
“Look ahead when you're running, you want to look about ten feet ahead.”
Jesus Christ if I don’t look down, I may fall on my ass from tripping over my own feet. My getaway from trouble is hiding,not running. I have a talent of squishing my body into small tight places.
“That’s it...no, relax your hands and shoulders, keep your arms at your side.”
“Relax? I’m about to go into cardiac arrest. The only exercise I do that involves running is chasing the ice cream truck down the street, all because the asshole wants to see my tits bounce.”
“Nice story, keep jogging.”
We jog in silence and keep going. Sweat pours from my entire body, my lungs feel like they are on fire. I stop. I don't even care; what can he do, drag me along? I drop to the ground and lay flat on my back, drawing in big breaths.
“Is that all you got?” he says, casting a slight shadow over me.
“I can’t breathe,” I gasp, drawing in deep breaths. He squats down beside me.
“Breathe in through your nose, and out through your mouth. Focus on slowing your breathing down a little.”
For a few minutes, he almost seems normal.
“Let’s go stretch,” he says, holding out his hand for me. I take the friendly gesture and he pulls me to my feet, and we walk back slowly side by side.
“You know, no one wants you here.” Way to break the silence, give the man an A.
“And I care...because? I don’t want to be here, but unlucky for me, the court ordered me here for three fucking years, so you better get used to seeing my face.”
“We’ll see about that.”
“I guess we will.”
The rest of the walk we do in silence, and once we are back on the oval behind the sports building, he starts stretching, so I follow suit.
I attempt to copy him with a quad stretch, but my balance is shit. I wobble all over the place and almost faceplant the floor,when Onyx unexpectedly comes to my rescue. He places one hand on the small of my back and one on my abdomen to steady me and hold me straight.
“Focus on a point in the middle distance. It will help,” he tells me. He’s so close his breath tickles my neck.
His hands slide across my skin, and I never imagined in a million years that his touch would affect me the way it is.
When he realises what is happening, he steps back, shaking his hands like he just caught cooties from me.
Clearing his throat he says, “I run every day just as the sun starts to go down. I leave from the boys dorms if you want to join me. If you don’t want to, then don’t. Just thought since we’re stuck with each other, maybe we should try harder to be civil. I owe my father a lot and this is the least I can do, even if it kills me.”
Great! I thought today was too good to be true, that the twins would actually want to call a truce. Monty must have forced their hand to be nice to me. This makes me even more determined to take them down, along with the incubator. I’m just a pawn in some sick game to them all.
I nod at him and walk away. I need to find Kalen and explain. He at least deserves that; he’s been the only one to actually be genuinely nice to me, unless that’s all an act too. I hope it isn’t. Also, finding him will keep my mind off Sawyer and what he is doing.
Chapter Fifteen
