tricks of time ― grayson hawthorne [the inheritance games]

008. SLUMBER PARTY

"Pinned you!" Xander declared triumphantly.

Nash hooked his ankle around Xander's leg and flipped him, pinning him to the ground.

"Not today, little brother." Nash grinned, then flashed a much darker look at the other two brothers. "Not today."

They were— the four of them— a unit. They were Hawthorne's. I wasn't. I felt that  now,  in  a  physical  way.  They  shared  a  bond  that  was  impervious  to outsiders.

"I should go," I said. I didn't belong here, and if I stayed, I was unnecessary; all I would do was stare.

Xander looks up. "Oh, please, don't think we forgot about you staying with Gray," he says as he eyes the rest of the brothers with a devilish grin.

Jameson nods his head. "You know what? I'm feeling generous. Let's let her off. Come back at nighttime. Now, just spend the night with Gray. How's that?"

I look at Nash for help. He doesn't say anything. "Whatever Jameson wants, Jameson gets. Better ditch the fighting and just do what he wants now."

"I shouldn't be here. I should be in my room and in my bed."

"She shouldn't be here at all," Grayson replied tersely.

"Stuff a sock in it, Gray," Nash said. "What's done is done, and you know as well as I do that if the old man did it, there's no undoing it."

Nash swiveled his head toward Jameson. "And as for you: Self-destructive tendencies aren't nearly as adorable as you think they are."

There's an awkward silence for a few seconds before Jameson perks up again. "You know she got a full score on the AEIS. She's not the type of girl you think she is."

Nash's eyebrows are raised, Xander's mouth is slightly open and he's staring at me like I'm a Grayson's eyes widen, just barely enough for me to know he's shocked.

I feel too exposed.

For the first time since I entered the room, all four brothers were silent for a long period. I was perplexed. The atmosphere was tight, electric, and on the verge of becoming unbearable, and then—

"How do you know that?" I demand, breaking the silence.

Jameson eyes Grayson nervously, as if he's broken a promise.

"Well— Gray— uh, he—" Jameson is stuttering too much for his usually cool composure.

"He— He ordered a case history—"

I cut Jameson off. "A case history? As in a dossier?"

He nods. "So you still don't trust me," I tell him with narrowed eyes. It's more of a statement rather a question.

He stands out of his chair, finally, approaching me carefully.

"I don't," he seethes. "And I never will."

"I'm not who you think I am," I say, advancing at his towering figure.

Xander takes the moment to run up between us, outstretching his long arms, making sure we don't reach any closer to each other.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," he says, looking at both of us. "You guys gotta calm down," he says casually, especially eyeing Grayson.

Grayson pushes Xander's arm away.

"What part do you guys not get?" He says, looking at his three brothers. "We have no clue who she is! We can't go and trust her and become her best friends! She...you know this inheritance isn't hers," he says, eyeing me with steel coated eyes.