Chapter 6: A Not-So-Innocent Hangout

Zane didn’t wait for Jake to process what had just happened. The moment Lena disappeared into the crowd, he grabbed Jake’s wrist and tugged him in the opposite direction.

"We’re leaving," Zane muttered, his grip firm but not painful.

Jake hesitated. "Where?"

"Anywhere but here."

They sprinted, bulldozing through clusters of students on campus to the outskirts, where stragglers were scarce. Lena's caution was second nature to Jake as well, and he jumped at every noise behind them, anticipating that they were being attacked. A small distance between themselves and curious glances passed before Zane settled into his rhythm.

"This way," Zane told Jake, leading him off the blacktopped road and into the heavy woods that encircle the campus.

Jake's brow shot up. "You're going to the woods?"

Zane snorted a laugh. "Not so much the woods. I have a place where I relax. You'll like it."

Jake had no clue whether it was there or not, but since everything that had occurred prior actually did occur, he was definitely going to get some air. He agreed and accompanied Zane into the woods.

Perhaps they'd only been walking for a quarter hour, water pounding in Jake's ears. Pushing through a grove of close-set trees, Jake was out of breath. There was a river before them, moonlight flashing over disturbed water. Flat rocks protruded over the water, the ideal place to sit back and watch the world fade.

"Whoa," Jake crawled, his eyes unblinking. "This is."

"Shh?" Zane provided. He'd climbed up onto one of the big rocks and sat, legs splayed out in front of him. "I said so."

Jake hesitated, then sat beside him. The wind was cold, and an owl hooted off in the distance.

They sat in silence for a minute. Tension still across Jake's chest, but sitting outside of it there, it was just a percentage point easier to do so.

Zane broke the silence at last. "You never speak about your mom."

Jake tightened up. "There is nothing."

Zane snorted in a disbelieving manner. "Bullshit, and you know it."

Jake took a deep breath, looking out at the sea. "Lisa always controls. Since I was little, she's had some scheme for me. Be tough. Be compliant. Be the ideal heir."

Zane inched forward, his gaze locked on Jake's. "And being.you not part of her plan?"

Jake sneered, laughing. "Not at all."

Zane hesitated before commenting, "She does resemble Max quite a lot, actually."

Jake stood there with his jaw open, aghast. "I thought that you and your dad were close."

Zane's expression contorted. "The face he presented to the rest of the world. But life?" He struggled out a hoarse gasp. "I wasn't important to him. I wasn't strong enough for him. I wasn't strong enough for the warrior he was required to be. So he bullied me—harder and uglier—until I became a man I didn't particularly care for."

Jake bristled. "What did he do to you?"

Zane smiled, but it wasn't reaching his eyes. "I walked away. And for the first time in my life, I felt like I'd be the me that I really liked being."

A cramp twisted up in Jake's chest. "Must be nice."

Zane moved around and stood in front of him. "You could do the same, you know. Walk away."

Jake raked a hand through his hair. "It's not that easy. She'd never let me go."

"Then fight for it," Zane replied, his voice soft but insistent. "You're entitled to be free, Jake. You're entitled to be happy."

Jake's mouth went dry, his heart pounding in his chest. No one ever actually looked at him the way Zane looked at him then—like he was. Like he was something greater than the pawn on another man's game board.

Jake took a step closer before he could shift gears, before he could reason himself out of it.

So did Zane.

They shared a slow, tender kiss. This wasn't the first raw, primal kiss they'd ever shared. This was a slow, smoldering, sensual kiss that didn't compute. Fingers are curled around the lines of Jake's face, fingers bunched in black hair, pulling him deeper in. The lines of Jake reacted naturally, hardening to curl around Zane's coat, fist cradling tight on fabric as if otherwise he'd let him go.

All faded. All that was this—this, this kiss, this burning seared Jake's skin like flames.

Zane drew back first, far enough that his forehead rested against Jake's. "That was."

Jake struggled back into sync. "Yeah."

They swayed there for a moment or two, neither of them willing to be the one to shatter the magic. That was when they both heard the gentle rustling sound to do it, the jolting shock to Jake's system. He was awake. They were not alone.

Zane felt it, too. His head jerked up, his eyes scanning the trees. "Did you hear that?"

Jake's muscles contracted, and he nodded. He rolled towards the sound just as something was seen—its shadow disappearing into thin air.

"Who—"

And his blood turned cold as ice.

Mia.

She was already gone when he could scream at her to come back, but he did not have to. He knew what had happened exactly.

Zane braced beside him. "Jake, who was that?"

Jake gasped, his pounding heart. "Mia."

Zane swore. "Damn it."

Jake's reality was spinning. Mia'd seen it. And if she'd seen it, she'd seen everything. The kiss. Jake collapsing into Zane's arms.

The indelible proof that Jake'd broken Lisa's rules.

And worse—he didn't know what to do about this proof.

Jake'd never been backed against the wall in his life.