Page 735 of The Bonding Games: Part 1

“She’s going to love me. She’ll love me so hard, she won’t be able to think about anything other than me.”

Frowning, I keep my mouth shut so as to not get beaten to a pulp like everyone else who gets in the way of Tate’s fantasies about the Champion does, keeping my eyes focused ahead as we near the door marked with a ‘14’.

“Of course she will. We’re going to woo her.” Tiger pats Tate’s shoulder, who snaps his head to the left to growl at the younger Gold brother menacingly.

Some of us aren’t as good at keeping their mouths shut as others.

Blocking out the argument that ensues but thankfully, by some miracle, doesn’t involve fists or Avri weapons as we enter the washroom, I let myself fall into my head, thinking about how I got here:

I’d planned to bond the least violent Exot I could find, but the problem is, they’re all violent. And it was much harder than anticipated to bond when a good chunk of them were going straight for my vital organs, trying to kill me off the second they could. Not to mention the many small groups who’d been helping each other avoid a bonding, leaving me on the defence, which was not helped by the fact I hadn’t paired up with any Evots to aid me; I’d considered looking for one to work with, but I didn’t like the idea of being stuck with any more people than necessary. Not when there’s so few good people in this world who you can genuinely trust.

Even those closest to you can be the most detrimental.

A roar from Tate yanks me back to the present.

“SHE’S BEEN MINE FOR FIVE YEARS! I WON’T HAVE YOU TAKE HER FROM ME! THIS IS MY CHANCE TO BE WITH THE WOMAN I LOVE!”

A stunned silence follows.

Even I stare at him, blinking once.

To no one’s surprise, it’s Tiger who speaks first. “You . . . Five years?!”

“Love?” Scotty says incredulously a moment later. “Obsession I understand, but you don’t even know her.”

Tate’s eyes turn inhumanly murderous, and he takes a threatening step towards him. “Say that again, and I will kill you. I do love her. And the better I get to know her, I’ll only love her more. People like you would never understand,” he spits out the last part, fists white-knuckled like they’re begging to meet Scotty’s face as hard as they possibly can.

Scotty’s hands raise up in the universal gesture of defence beside his head. I don’t think he’s afraid of Tate, but he’s aware that the other man is both larger in size and with his Score. It would be stupid to get into a physical fight with him. “Okay, sure. You love her.”

Tate nods firmly.

“Okay . . .” Tiger’s voice has both Scotty’s warning look and mine trained on him this time. Not that he cares. “So you love her. I respect that. I get that. But—and I genuinely just want to understand—why does that mean we can’t pursue her too? We wouldn’t be taking her away from you.”

Despite not actually knowing how I feel about this particular topic that’s been brought up quite a few times now, I offer no words on the matter. I think it’s clear to me that I wouldn’t be opposed, and she’s . . . My temperature steadily rises as I picture my Bonded in my mind.

Yeah, she’s not bad to look at at all—from what I can actually see with her head always covered anyway.

But it’s not just that, and I’m not lying when I say it doesn’t matter what she looks like when she has this odd effect on me that she never had when I used to see her on TV. Before I met her, I’d watch with horror and mild disgust, honestly.

Before she killed my abusive brother.

After that, I didn’t know what to think; she’d made my life so much better, yet she carried out the same violence I hated so much, the same violence I experienced every single day. And I could tell she enjoyed it, too—even more than my sadistic brother did.

That was two years ago, and since then, I’ve had too many feelings on the matter to understand.

I hate violence, but I don’t hate her. Not at all.

In fact, I find myself drawn to her. It’s like I . . . recognise something in her. That brutality . . . the familiarity of the anger I sometimes catch a glimpse of through the bond . . .

I shake my head to try and clear it. There’s so much more to her than meets the eye.

And I intend to find out exactly what’s hidden beneath all that ruthlessness.

I focus back on the conversation as Tate answers roughly, “Because she’s mine.”

Tiger sighs dramatically. “You’re not thinking about this right! It’s like—it’s like if you and I shared an ice cream sundae!”

I look at him in disbelief at the comparison, as does everyone else.