As Beck appears to be right now.
“Alex,” Beck says slowly, his head leaning in ever so slightly, and his voice so soft and low it’s almost unrecognizable.
His eyes flicker down to my lips so briefly, I almost think I imagine it.
What’s happening? I think, my heart hammering in my chest.
He leans in again, just a bit, his eyes once again dropping to my parted cupid’s-bow lips—this time, for long enough that I know I’m not imagining it.
He’s … he’s …
Not going to do anything, apparently. We’re interrupted with the echo of a faraway shout.
“BECK!”
I’m startled. Beck’s startled. The deer is startled, but unlike us she doesn’t stand still. She bolts away into the woods, fueled by the need to flee that I should feel, but don’t. Beck and I immediately straighten, and he whirls to search for the source of the shout.
It only takes a second to spot the source of our interruption.
Heath is jogging toward us from the town. He shouts his friend’s name again, his arms waving above his head in excitement.
“What?” Beck shouts back, his shoulders hunching as he shrinks into himself a bit. A little color has risen into his cheeks, and he isn’t looking at me anymore.
Heath doesn’t answer. Instead, he breaks into a sprint and pelts toward us, stopping only once he gets to us on the footbridge. He isn’t even panting.
“Me and Jasper were gonna get some beers. Wanna come?” he asks, then glances over at me. “Oh, Alex. I didn’t see you there. You can come too, if you want.” His voice is considerably flatter when he addresses me.
I shrug. “It’s fine. You don’t have to pretend we’re friends.” I shove my hands into my pockets as both boys stare at me. “I can just head back to the school. It’s not a long walk.”
I could use a moment to clear my head.
And to force the decidedly disappointed feeling away. I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if Heath hadn’t arrived just now, at such a perfectly inopportune moment.
“No, I invited you,” Heath snaps, surprising both me and Beck apparently, because Beck starts at his tone. I just narrow my eyes at him a bit. How is he irritated at me in this situation?
Heath doesn’t back down. “I’m not gonna take it back now. You’re coming.”
Beck shrugs, and with it, any sign of his earlier behavior disappears. “Don’t go forgetting who we are, now, Alex,” he says. “When The Brotherhood invites you to something, you come.” Just like that, he’s suddenly Beck again … and I’m not sure how I feel about that.
But when the two of them turn and walk off with me following in their wake, Beck’s shoulders look unusually stiff. His walk seems more jerky than usual, less smooth. Whatever happened between us just now has affected him after all.
Every so often, Heath glances back my way and makes a beckoning motion for me to follow them, as if he’s making sure I don’t try to slip away at the next possible moment. I guess I should feel suspicious, after all it wouldn’t be above these boys to lay some kind of trap like this, but for some reason I don’t think that’s the case.
At least, not today.
I guess I’m just supposed to pretend to be somewhat friends with these guys now, I realize as I drift behind them toward Beck’s Aston Martin. Jasper did pay for me to go home over the mid-term break, after all. He even said something about me not being a “true member” of The Brotherhood. Does this mean I’m an honorary member?
I find myself grinning as we climb into the car. Right. Me, a member of The Brotherhood. I’m not even a Brother.
Jasper’s standing outside the pub where I met Olive when we arrive. I feel my stomach flip upside-down. I hope she won’t be joining us. Then again, I don’t even like that I’m joining us.
I meet Jasper’s gaze as I slide out of the backseat. He frowns, but it’s more confusion than anger as the three of us walk up to him.
“We were working on our literature project,” Beck says by way of explanation, one thumb jabbing in my direction.
Jasper nods, and I’m surprised not to see anything other than bland disinterest settle in his expression.
“I’ve got us a table,” he says, nodding back towards the pub. “And I’m freezing my ass off out here, so let’s go on in.” He opens the door, his eyes finally settling on me as we file inside the crowded pub.