Within These Walls

Chapter 23

I cross the gym with angry strides and grimace when I get a clearer view of the two making out. Clearing my throat doesn't break them apart, so I snap, "Janie."

She looks at me but doesn't get off his lap. "Come here to watch the show, Rose?"

On her lips, the name sounds dirty. "You have no right using your power to make Marcus do things against his will."

She takes a seat next to him on the bench, crossing her legs. "What makes you think I'm forcing Marcus to do anything he doesn't want to?"

I point a finger at him. "The way he's acting—that's not him. You did this, so stop it. You can't have everything you want. That includes my case, by the way."

Janie's sneer fades. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You stole my case. I want it back or else—" Or else what, April? I should have thought this through. But with the way the blood drains from her face, turning it sheet-white, you'd think I threatened to knife her in her sleep.

"I didn't take your case. I would never—they gave it to you for a reason." She jumps to her feet. "Whatever. I don't want your stupid toy, alright? Not everything is about you."

I watch her dash across the shiny gym floor, not sure what to make of her. She wasn't just being defensive. She was terrified.

"I hope I'm not the toy she was talking about," Marcus says. "Though I am curious to know why you felt the need to break up the kiss."

I spin around to face him. He looks like himself again. His amused, cocky self. "She didn't have you mesmerized when I walked in, did she? You were kissing her back."

He leans back. "Well, yeah."

Mortified doesn't begin to describe what I feel. I also feel anger, so vicious it battles oxygen for space in my chest. This is the reason I chose to ignore Carson? To stand before this person and let him mock me for caring enough to save his arrogant hide?

I turn on my heel and hurry away.

"Whoa, hey." Marcus circles around me and blocks my path. He lifts his hands as if to stop me, but he doesn't touch me. "You should let me explain before you get pissed off at me." His eyes crinkle when he smiles wider. "Even though I like seeing you jealous."

I've never wanted to punch someone as much as I do now. I try to slip past him, but he backs up and steps into my path again.

"The truth is there's something about Janie," he says before I try to storm past him again. "That's why I kissed her. To figure out what I feel around her."

"I really don't want to hear about your attraction to Janie."

He laughs. "It's not like that. I just feel like I know her from somewhere—like how I know Sam. She crawled into my bed late last night, and I swear she did something like that in the past. I had all these images in my head about me and her. She felt familiar."

I definitely don't want details about Marcus and Janie together in his bed. Or anywhere else for that matter. "What's your point?"

"I didn't like what was going on, so I pushed her away. Then I started thinking if I want to get to the bottom of this, I'm going to have to play it out. See if kissing her brings up anything more."

"And?" I ask.

"It's nothing I can understand. First, I see Alec and Camille together, then the tattoo I thought I had for over a year starts to disappear. Next thing I'm talking about knowing your stepdad, and now this? What the hell is going on?"

The frustration in his voice makes it hard to hold onto my anger. I let it wash out of me, my mind revving up as I attempt to piece together everything he just said.

"Maybe these changes you're going through—becoming stronger—are making your body reject the ink," I suggest. "As for Sam, I've suspected for a while that he's involved in our kidnapping. It's not crazy to imagine you really did meet him when you were younger."

"Alec and Camille? And Janie?"

I shrug. "A product of your imagination. Sometimes people in stressful environments have a harder time holding onto reality."

"I'm not some soldier experiencing PTSD, Rose," he says in a dry tone. "I know what sort of hellhole we're in. Nothing wrong with my perception of reality."

I shrug. "The alternative is that you knew them sometime in the past few years and you've forgotten them somehow. So how do they fit into your life?"

"They don't." He cocks his head and gives me a contemplative look. "I should make out with Janie some more. See if that shakes something in my head loose."

"Yeah, your brain," I say and succeed in brushing past him.

That doesn't stop him from falling into step with me. He sticks his hands in his pockets, surpassing my long strides with his longer ones. "I get the sense you're not going to the shower room because nature calls. Where's the fire?"

"I'm going to Carson."

"The hillbilly? Thought he'd be potty-trained by now."

I turn to face him. "Look. He just found out his parents aren't actually his parents and he's upset. The last thing he needs is to put up with your games, so go . . . find Janie or someone else to keep you occupied."

"Your lip curls up when you say her name."

"My dislike for her has nothing to do with you."

"Damn." He lays a hand over his heart and pretends to stumble back a step. "You sure know how to crush a guy's ego."

I swallow my retort, knowing he's enjoying getting me worked up.

"I can help you," he says as if he realizes I'm at the end of my rope.

"What?"

"I know just the thing to get your friend out of his funk. What he needs is a man-to-man. Treating him with kid gloves isn't doing him any favors."

He has a point. Carson has made it clear he hates it when I try to protect him. If I go in there now, who's to say he won't reject my support? But coming from Marcus, someone who embodies the strength that he craves, he might actually listen.

"Tough guys like you don't usually go out of their way to help the underdog, so what changed?"

"I spent most of my life looking out for Frankie. Your boy reminds me of him."

More revelations about the mysterious Frankie. "Why did you have to look out for him?"

"How about we leave the storytelling for another time?"

I hesitate and then relent. "Just go easy on him, okay?"

"Relax, Rose." He resumes walking. "Easy is my middle name."

And apparently Naïve is mine.