Page 30 of Operation: Ogre

A small smile quirked on Aaron’s lips. “You can bring Jaxon.”

My expression instantly hardened. Aaron would like that, wouldn’t he? Me bringing Jaxon. Making Jaxon talk to him. And I should. I’d promised to help Jaxon. I’d told myself this feeling, this crush, would pass. That we were just friends. And yet, something deep inside of me didn’t want to bring Jaxon around Aaron.

“We’ll see,” was all I said.

I darted out of the locker room without a backward glance and saw Jaxon huddling near the wall just outside. Without thinking about it, I launched myself at him, and he caught me with ease, his arms surrounding me and pulling me firmly against his solid chest. I curled my arms around his neck and buried my face against him.

“Good job on the win,” he whispered, then kissed the top of my head.

“I didn’t do anything.” Like always, I’d sat on the bench. I was working hard, though. Perhaps this spring or next year, I would be a starter. I wasn’t good enough to go pro, so this was my one chance to play on some level. I craved it so bad I could almost taste it.

“You’re part of the team, which means it’s your win too.”

“Thanks, big guy.” I might not say it, but his words meant so much to me, just like his presence here. Jaxon had never come before, and seeing him on the pitch, wearing my number… It was hard to put into words how amazing it felt. But it was like everything in my world was finally in the right place. We were all where we belonged.

Without putting me down, Jaxon turned around and headed toward the dorms, and I didn’t fight him, simply hooked my legs around his waist. What was the point of dating someone so much bigger than me if I couldn’t be carried around? Not that we were dating. Not really. Fake dating. I squeezed him all the tighter, refusing to acknowledge how much I hated the sound of that.

“So we’re chopped liver now? All these years of support for this bullshit?” Sam called from behind me, and I flipped her the bird, not even looking. She shouted, “Asshole.”

If the shoe fit, then I was going to fucking wear it like a badass bitch. I didn’t care if I was an ass right now. I wanted to be alone with Jaxon. Besides, I had class later. It wasn’t like I had all day to just chill with him, so I needed to seize the time I did have.

After the game, Jaxon bought me coffee, and we just talked about nothing important before we both had to go to class. All through class, I struggled to pay attention, not anything new, but this time was worse than normal. I just wanted Jaxon right beside me, holding my hand, silently supporting me, or just being his normal steady presence. But we didn’t share any classes today, which sucked.

Now, though, I was heading to the cafeteria where I would meet Jaxon. Sure, Carter and Sam would probably be there, and whoever else they brought along—there was often someone new with them—but I would still be with Jaxon. I’d missed him. Only because we were best friends. No other reason. None. Not for this crush that I was clearly getting over for damn sure.

It was easy to spot Jaxon; he was one of the tallest students here. He was sitting with Carter, Sam, and Penelope. I hadn’t seen Penelope this year—we had very different classes, as she was on track to be a teacher. Her warm ochre skin looked even richer against the orange of her sundress, and her black hair was a lovely afro. I’d had a crush on her in high school. She was so nice, cool, and smart—it had been impossible not to like her. But she hadn’t liked me as more than a friend, which was for the best. We were much better as friends.

I slid into the chair beside Jaxon, and he grinned at me. I said, my voice rather tight with emotions crowding it, “Hey.”

“Hey, babe.” Jaxon snagged my hand, like it was normal, like it was nothing. Maybe it was nothing to him. I mean, we did hold hands a lot—this wasn’t new—though this wasn’t the same. Of course, I was the only one with a… Nope. Not a crush. Not anything. I was basically over it.

“Penelope,” I cried, giving her a huge smile. “Where have you been?”

“Here at school. Where else?” She smirked. “I think you’ve been too busy to socialize.”

“Me? Never.”

“Right.” Penelope blatantly looked at mine and Jaxon’s interlaced fingers that were resting on the table. “Nothing has changed that’s kept you busier than usual.”

“So you heard,” I commented.

“Jaxon just told me. Well, Carter actually said the words, but Jaxon nodded in agreement.”

I glanced at Jaxon, and he just met my gaze with an unreadable expression. I hated that I didn’t know what he was feeling. I was unused to it. He was like a book, one I was very fond of rereading, and I didn’t like that he’d been so mysterious lately. All I said was, “Cool.”

“It makes sense,” she remarked with a shrug, leaning back to cross her long legs. “I think everyone was waiting for it last year. I figured you would be one of the many human/monster couples, but it seemed to take you a minute to get your shit together.”

“I guess.” Why was everyone saying that?

“You are a player,” Penelope continued, and I winced. That fucking lie.

Both Carter and Sam shook their heads as they gave me identical expressions: narrowed eyes and pursed lips. I cocked my eyebrow in response. Yeah, they didn’t need to say it. I knew already. I shouldn’t have lied. Blah blah blah. Siblings. You’d take a bullet for them… but you also wanted to chuck them off a cliff at the same time.

“Not anymore,” Jaxon said. His voice was quiet, barely more than a whisper, as he didn’t usually talk in front of Penelope, but it was utterly firm. “He’s mine now.”

I swallowed, hoping to the monster god that my heart wasn’t in my eyes as I stared at him. My crush was right back to full throttle. Damn him.

“I can see that,” Penelope replied, grinning and showing off her tooth gap that made her even prettier.