Memory

Chapter Eleven- Trystan

As I am receiving the instructions from Jake, I realize that I am starting to like Jake's closeness even more than before. And I hated him earlier.

I hover my finger over the trigger, hands tense and ready for the force of the shot to whip my hands backwards. These guns are so...weird. They're incredibly light. They're not even real guns. They're tranq guns, but with empty vials in the projectile.

Jake quickly lays his hands over mine, and I close my eyes for a few seconds at the soft touch of his fingers. "Don't tense up here. You'll have bunched up tendons later." Immediately, my hands relax as he speaks, and I nod in return.

"Now, you're ready to shoot. Go ahead, and keep your eyes on the target," says Jake. He presses himself against my back, leaning his chin on my shoulder and his hands on my waist. I force myself to focus on the target instead on Jake's close proximity.

The black and white target seems to mock me as I prepare to shoot, and I relax my arms and hands when I remember Jake's words.

I glare at the bullseye, then I pull the trigger.

The force makes me take a step back, and I unknowingly walk into Jake's arms. I lift the goggles to see where the bullet hit.

A few inches away from the center of the head; a ring away from the bullseye point.

"Yes!" I put the gun down carefully and jump up and down in excitement. "I did it! Well, almost. But it was close to a bullseye." I glance up at Jake, and he is nodding with a grin on his handsome face.

"Good job," he says. "My work has paid off immensely." Jake brushes his hands on his thighs quickly, as if he had been working at something hard and he had finally finished it. "See what I told you?"

I shake my head, slipping my goggles off my head. I bend my knuckles swiftly, hearing the splitting, clean cracking of my fingers. Jake doesn't cringe, much to my surprise. Usually, people would curl away from me whenever I did that.

I then a muscle pulls uncomfortably in my shoulder, so I roll it a couple of times to rid of the feeling.

"Oh, do come on," Jake mutters, prodding my shoulder. "You can't be tensed after what I told you!"

I shake my head. "Not all your advice is true, you know." I rake my fingers through my hair, clearing my throat to act indifferent. Rubbing my hands together for a moment, I push the button that brings my paper target towards me.

I notice that Jake is still behind me, so I gently elbow him, and I sort of feel Jake flexing the muscles in his stomach, so his now prominent abs is visible.

So much like Dimitri's that I saw last night.

Trystan, get a hold of yourself! What did I tell you, forget about him now! Sheesh.

Jake chuckles softly and sighs, stepping away from me. "Fine. But you know that you enjoyed being close to me."

Oh, heck no. I will not give him the satisfaction of knowing that I enjoyed his closeness.

But I know I did.

"Please, Jake," I tell him. "I just let you be that close to me. I did not like it, not for one second." I rub my arms, then turn around to retrieve the paper target. I unclip it from its hold, them I fold it up and slip it into the inside pocket of my leather jacket.

Jake looks down at me. "Don't lie, Trystan. I can tell if you are." He turns me around by the shoulder and I am utterly taken aback as he wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me slightly tight against his body.