Heart for Three

13

Jax

Brandy let out a small shriek as I fell back against the lockers behind me. Their metallic rattle echoed through the hall and other students paused to watch the commotion.

I pressed a hand to my throbbing jaw and glared at Arsen where he stood, scowling at me.

"You done now? Got that out of your system?" I snapped, pushing myself off of the lockers.

"I told you if you hurt her I'll kill you." He growled, shoving me back against the locker again.

"Arsen, he wasn't hurting me." Brandy said softly, taking a tentative step closer.

He scoffed, looking her up and down abhorrently. "I'm not fucking talking about you." He spat at her. Her eyes went wide and she retreated again.

"Don't talk to her like that, dude." I said calmly, bringing his attention back to me. Brandy looked terrified, and any other day Arsen would have never talked to a female the way he just had. "Your problem is with me, alright?" I glanced at the blonde. "Brandy, I'll talk to you later."

She looked between the two of us before scampering off down the hallway.

Once she was farther away, and the rest of the students who had paused moved on, I glared at him again.

"You want me to stay away from her, I'm staying away from her. What else do you want me to do?" I asked, throwing my hands in the air in frustration.

"Don't fucking rub it in her face!" He fumed. I stared at him, confused, as he raked a hand through his hair.

"She feels the mate bond already." He said through the mind link, glancing around at the other students. "When we walked around the corner to see that..." he winced. "She tried to hide it, but god dammit Jax, we aren't even mated and I could feel how bad it hurt her."

I cringed. In any normal circumstance, the fact that he could already feel her emotions would be a good thing. It meant that their bond was strong. But the fact that it hurt her just to see me kissing Brandy meant that ours was strong too.

"Have you told her yet? Does she know anything?" I asked.

His shoulders slouched as the fight left his eyes. "No. I have no idea how to do this. Maybe if it was just me it'd be easier, but obviously she already cares about you. And then there's the third one. She could have already met him for all I know. And then there's the prophecy..."

He looked up at the ceiling, trying to collect himself.

"We're gonna figure this out, ok?" I laid a hand on his shoulder. He frowned but nodded his head, shaking off my hand.

"Just.. don't pull shit like that again. She doesn't deserve it."

I had no argument. He was right. She didn't deserve that. She deserved better than me.

"I know." I admitted as he huffed out a sigh, he was just as stressed out as I was. "The guys want to play a game of touch football later, you should come. And maybe we could go for a run after. I think we both could use it"

"Yea..." he glanced back at the door of the classroom Ava was in. "Yea, I can do that."

"Alright." I nodded. "I'll see you at the field after school."

I watched him turn to leave, his shoulders rigid with tension as he walked away.

When I grabbed the classroom door handle, butterflies erupted in my stomach, making me pause. I couldn't remember the last time just the thought of seeing a girl had caused that reaction in me.