Landon
M ax Dread.
I stared at my self-proclaimed mortal enemy as we finished clearing out the first escape room. Warring with myself over when and how to approach a conversation I might regret. Eyes narrowing on his back.
The question of how we’d gotten into bed together reared its ugly head again.
Him—of all people, I didn’t know why it had to be him. Or why fate seemed hell-bent on dragging us together.
It chipped away at a block in my mind.
But I’d accepted it.
It was because of me that she’d been open to his charm, and he made her happy. But still, some days, I couldn’t wrap my mind around it. There was something about Max Dread I still couldn’t pin down.
Like a nail tapping on a chalkboard, it unsettled me. Not understanding his motives or his hatred.
The more I thought about it, the more it bothered me. Because of what happened in Kingston’s room the other night. A night burned into my brain, replaying like a song left on repeat. One whose words I’d remember long after the music stopped.
It grew louder with every passing replay. Louder when the question of Max Dread shuffled in. My uncertainty over him and what he might do threatened the delicate balance we’d found.
I’d been trying not to think about it, because the pain in my head grew unbearable each time I did.
But I wanted to think about it.
Quinn, me, and Kingston...
How would that work with him there?
He’d been right that night in the cabin. We’d taken the same sex ed class, so I understood the logistics of it to a certain degree, but the dynamics—Putting aside his feelings for us, Max Dread didn’t follow orders unless he had no other choice.
I huffed a laugh at the thought of Kingston telling Max what to do in bed and imagined how he’d respond to that.
But then, I thought of Quinn. How much the divide between us hurt her, even though she tried not to show it.
Losing him…
It worried her.
I didn’t want it to come to that, for her , so I’d promised to try. But the sound of even a quiet laugh leaving my mouth set Max Dread on edge.
“What’s so funny, Golden Boy?” He swept up the bits of paper that had fallen to the floor as the girls tore through envelopes. When he saw me staring at him, he stalked over and thrust the broom into my hand. “Less laughing. More cleaning, so we can get out of here. Think you can handle that?”
My eyes narrowed.
Max Dread, while volatile, was at least predictable in when his bursts of attitude came. He despised being alone with me, despised seeing me with Kingston, despised my existence.
I hadn’t done anything to warrant it. At least, not that I remembered, and yet, he was always there, glaring at me like I’d ruin his day simply by…being.
But I focused on what Quinn had shared.
About how I reminded him of what had happened last year, and the way he brought up the memories for me. About how he struggled with guilt, blaming himself because he didn’t save her— Desi .
And I needed to do this because I’d promised Quinn.
I had to broach the subject before we finished tonight. But I had a feeling he’d be more agreeable to my attempts to ease his conscience if I cleaned up more before I did it, so I swept the rest of the clippings into a pile.
It wasn’t stalling. It was attacking—no, approaching —a problem proactively.
“How’d she do?”
Max’s question came out of nowhere. He didn’t look at me. Refused to make eye contact when I turned to face him, but he’d asked me a question not laced with his normal derision.
That was good, right?
Things had been simpler before my memories started returning. Now, I had all these thoughts and extra feelings clouding my awareness. Analyzing situations and people had taken little effort at all before, but now…
“You deaf, Golden Boy?”
“Shit. Sorry.” I shook my head to clear it, forcing myself not to get lost in my thoughts, again. “She was…”
I pictured her at the table and smiled at the excitement that had been in her eyes, the fierce expression on her face when she defended her stance on the costar, and the way she’d worked with the other girls.
Aside from Elaine.
“She was perfect.”
Max narrowed his eyes. “They solved it all?”
“Yeah, they figured out every clue. Quinn took the lead on a lot of it. She pieced together a few of the bigger clues, too. How’d it go in yours?”
The second group of Ladies had been in a different cabin, overseen by Max, and with one of Quinn’s biggest rivals being on that team, I hoped he said they failed miserably.
“Every clue but one.”
“Damn.” That meant the scores would be close. Too close. “Well, I guess we’ll see what happens through the next two rooms. Quinn might get more points for time if Elaine ends up on the other team.”
Max chortled, barely suppressing his glee over my choices. “Still can’t believe you fucked that up.”
I kept my mouth shut because I still had to ride back with the jerk, and I didn’t need to go down that path again. Warring with myself. Racked with guilt over Elaine. In the end, I couldn’t regret the choices I’d made.
Max Dread could think whatever he wanted about that. About me. That was what he was good at, anyway.
“What? Got nothing to say about that?”
“I don’t regret what I did, Dread.”
“Of course, you don’t.” He scoffed. “If Elaine sticks around and takes your bestie out of the running, that means you only have one more obstacle to remove to get what you want.”
“If that’s what you think, you don’t know me.”
“Oh, that’s right. I forgot. You’re his right hand . You’d give up anything for him . And I’ll be waiting when you do.”
“Yep. You’ll get to be the hero you’ve always wanted to be,” I snapped and tossed down my supplies. Cursing myself for doing the opposite of what I’d promised.
But Max Dread didn’t know me. Or my history with Kingston. He created more problems and left Kingston to deal with the repercussions of his choices. He didn’t know anything.
The only problem was...neither did I.
“Is that what this is about for you?” I crossed my arms over my chest. “Save her from us because of what happened last?—”
He rushed forward and got in my face. Seething, he stared down at me. “Don’t you fucking dare.”
“You think you know everything, but you don’t.”
His response punched out between his clenched teeth. “Shut. Your. Fucking. Mouth.”
I lifted my chin. “You wouldn’t have been able to save her. It wasn’t?—”
Clenching his jaw, anger radiated off him in waves. “Yeah, well. At least I would’ve tried,” he spat.
“So, you’re pissed because you think I did nothing?”
“Doesn’t matter, either way. Not to me, White Knight. But if I had tried, I wouldn’t have failed.”
My eyes narrowed, but before I could defend myself, he stormed out of the room. Old doubts swept in like rushing water, clearing away any hope in its path.
I wasn’t strong enough to push through it. I couldn’t fight against it. What they had done?—
Maybe he was right.
Maybe it should have been him all along.
So, I swallowed my regrets and let the secret lie with the words clogging my throat.