Forbidden Feast

Ch. 12: I got him

It wasn't often that Mathew felt inclined to listen to his older siblings, who were all their own flavors of ridiculous. However, when it came to relationships, Mathew was hardly an expert. For all Mathew knew, this was going to be the only way for Jace to admit he kissed Mathew not like a bodyguard, but a man.

It wasn't like Mathew could avoid Jace forever. Jace was in all of his classes, but one. Mathew walked to the door of his biology classroom at the same time Jace did. They both reached for the knob simultaneously. Their eyes met, snagging each other's attention. I forgot to breathe, too busy trying to decipher every wrinkle, every blink, and the downturn of his mouth for a hint of his mood.

Jace slightly bowed his head and Mathew's worn thin patience dissolved completely. If he was going to pretend, all Jace was, was an upstanding bodyguard and nothing happened. Mathew was going to treat him like a bodyguard, like a part of the shadows. Mathew was going to ignore him until he broke Jace.

Without a word, Mathew withheld an eye roll and opened the door to breeze past Jace. And then, at the end of class, Mathew didn't acknowledge Jace again and simply walked to his next class. Jace followed several steps behind. Mathew could feel Jace's stare stay on him all day. It made Mathew's skin prickle and his hair raise.

Eventually, Mathew texted him.

Mathew: After class I'm going to the library. I want to look into the other missing kids and see if the Historical Society pops up again.

Jace responded promptly.

Jace: Understood.

He was so annoying.

It hit Mathew suddenly; that maybe he was doing exactly what Jace wanted. Maybe this was Jace's best-case scenario for Mathew to let it go. Jace wasn't like Mathew. He obviously didn't need to please everyone. It might not bother him at all that Mathew was upset.

Mathew broke. He tried to glance casually behind his shoulder to find Jace scribbling away in his notes. His attention had shifted to the teacher. Jace enrolled at this school, after all. He didn't come here for Mathew. He came for sister.

This wasn't about Mathew.

Jace tilted his head, glancing at something he wrote and then his textbook. He looked up suddenly and hit Mathew's face. Mathew wiped forward and pretended to write something down, but it was just swirls and nonsense. Mathew poked a hole through his notebook. So annoyed, it made his toes curl. All Mathew did was think about Jace.

#

Mathew took twice as long to read the library computer screen. Whenever he tried paying attention to the police reports, Jace's presence would drag his attention back, making his heart kick and scream. Jace sat closer than necessary, as if he was trying to cover him in order to prevent one of the old books in the library going rogue and giving him a paper cut.

All Mathew had available to start looking through missing persons cases was the state and the county. Jace had a stack of old yearbooks after telling the librarian that the dirtier the better. She laughed and Mathew was jealous of an old woman for the first time in his life.

"Going to the police directly seems like a bad idea," Mathew said, mostly to himself.

"Even if you Mesmerize them? Couldn't you make them forget you asked questions?" Jace asked and Mathew's heart ached hearing his voice, hearing him speak directly to Mathew and not say anything he wanted to hear.

Mathew was weak. He'd probably forgive him after the first apology.

"If people going missing is a pattern, I have a gut feeling that this secret cove already has the police in their pocket," Mathew explained, knowing Dante would've done the same. He clicked out of the missing persons database, switching over to the PDF version of the yearbook.