Chapter Four
Four
Reece
“Motherfucker!” I yelled the minute I slammed my front door shut.
What in the ever-loving fuck is wrong with me?
Since my abrupt exit from Atlas and Tegan’s engagement party, I’d been in an absolute state of panic. For the most part, I’d managed to keep my cool, but my interaction with Cyrus had me rattled.
When he reached out and touched me with his tentacle, it felt like little bolts of lightning lit me up from the inside out. I couldn’t help but pull away. It was hard enough for me to accept a casual touch from people I was close to, but someone I just met?
Hard no.
I really hoped he wouldn’t tell Atlas or Tegan what happened. Until that moment, everything had gone so well. We were getting along and then I had to go and do something to fuck it up.
Why did he have to touch me?
And why the fuck did I have to react that way?
“Shit,” I huffed under my breath and threw myself down onto the couch.
My head whirled with thoughts of the party, and I replayed the interaction between Cyrus and me on a loop.
Gods, I needed to expend some energy and clear my thoughts. There wasn’t a better way to do that than a bike ride.
I got all my gear on, rolled my bike out of the garage, and pedaled off toward the perfect place to clear my head: the lake.
The sun was starting to set as I rode down the winding back roads, lowering the temperature.
Trees whizzed by on either side of me, and the evening breeze felt cool against my skin as it rushed by.
My heart rate soared, but my thoughts slowed to a crawl, giving me the time I needed to process things.
There was one thing I kept coming back to, though—the fact that I was a fucking idiot.
Was it true what Cyrus said? About people who curse being more intelligent. I mean, I wasn’t a rocket scientist, but I’d always done well in school. I excelled at pretty much anything I put my mind to.
Since childhood, my father had drilled it into my head that I had to be the best. I was pushed to be the fastest and the strongest. If I was anything less, I was worthless to him.
A disappointment. Maybe that’s why the whole slow swimmer thing was throwing me for a loop.
It’s the first time I wasn’t good at something right away.
For a kraken like Cyrus, though, swimming was second nature. If I had tentacles to propel me along and a streamlined body that cut through the water, I’d be golden.
Krakens.
Why weren’t there more of his kind?
I could have asked if I hadn’t completely offended him.
What in the actual fuck was that?
Why couldn’t I be normal about a little friendly gesture?
Sweat dripped down my face as I pulled my bike to a stop in front of the lake.
The sun was setting, its bright red rays reflecting off the lake’s surface, almost like it was on fire.
In a few short months, I’d be jumping into that cold water and swimming like my life depended on it, and I was wildly unprepared.
I needed to get my ass in gear and get in the pool.
Atlas wouldn’t have offered to let me train at Leviathan if he didn’t mean it. It wasn’t like my sister put him up to that shit.
But swimming at Leviathan meant I’d run into Cyrus at some point.
And when I did, I’d have to apologize for my behavior at the party.
I saw the hurt flash over his face at my reaction, but in the moment, I was too much of a prick to care.
I unhooked my phone from where I had it clipped to my handlebars and typed out a text to my baby sister.
Reece: Hey, Teg. Had a great time at the party. Can you ask Atlas when I should stop by Leviathan and see him about swimming there?
I puffed out a breath and hit send. My sister would probably see this as me being selfish and taking advantage of her mate—and in a way it was—but it would also give me an opportunity to chat with Atlas some more. And even Fallon, although the griffin gave off major gym-bro vibes.
They were important to her, though. Therefore, they had to be important to me.
My phone buzzed with a notification.
Tegan: We were really glad you came, and I know Mom was too. Atlas said to stop by next Wednesday and he’ll get you signed up. Have a good night, Reecie!
Reecie.
That was what Tegan called me when we were kids. Shit, it had been years since she’d referred to me as Reecie.
It was my fault that things were like this between us. I’d been such a stubborn, insufferable ass since Dad died—about Atlas, about a lot of things, really.
I was so tired of letting the past dictate my life.
It was time for me to work on moving forward.