Cheating Time (17 page)

Under normal circumstances, Jayden would've
laughed his ass off at me and made some comment about a female
mudwrestling competition. My fall had not been a normal
circumstance. The pain burning my ankle had been so bad that,
screaming, I'd wondered if I'd broken something.

The MicroPharm had gone to work right away,
alleviating the pain, and even though the throb had quickly dulled,
Jayden hadn't been amused at all. He'd been so concern about me
that he lifted me into his arms and carried me back to camp as fast
as he could.

Jayden's normal reaction would have been
anything but extreme concern.
Animosity,
irritation, and anger, yes. Concern, no.
With him so out
of sorts, I, in my drug addled state, understood that the ankle
injury had been pretty severe. Before we made it to the camp, I
blacked out, something Mom explained had been from the pain and not
an accidental MicroPharm overdose.

When I'd awakened a few hours later, I was
in Mom's tent and every pillow in camp had been shoved behind me to
prop me up and every blanket in camp had been folded beneath my
elevated leg to minimize the swelling.

On one side sat a guilt-ridden Jayden, a boy
who looked like he'd just murdered someone. On the other side sat
Tawney. Smiling, she'd held up her reader, where her favorite book
was stored. I'd been trapped. My only option had been that of
giving in.

I'd groaned internally and knew there was no
getting away.

"Aunt Selma says you've been excused from
training. You're on bed rest until further notice, which means you
have plenty of time to fall deeply and madly in love with the
dreamiest fallen angel to ever be written about," she'd cooed as if
my injury had been the best thing that could have ever happened to
me.

Even then, long before I'd known her fate,
she'd been too excited and too sweet for me to utter the sarcastic
retort that had been itching to claw its way out of my throat.
Instead, I'd given in to her demands and bobbed my head. Delighted,
she'd tucked her most prized possession under my hip and glided her
way out of the tent, claiming she didn't want to be the one keeping
me from beginning it right away.

After she'd gone, I noticed Jayden's smirk.
It had been one he instantly wiped away when he'd seen my glare. He
understood I'd rather be actively involved in hand-to-hand training
than reading about Tawney's favorite book boyfriend, which meant
his satisfied grin had been the last thing I wanted or needed.

"You did that on purpose," I'd seethed.

"I've never hurt you on purpose before. What
would make you think I'd do that today?"

Because I'd not been able to tell Tawney
off, I'd misplaced my ire and acted as if Jayden had been solely
responsible for my having to read Tawney's stupid love story.

"Oh… I don't know. Maybe you did it so I'd
finally have to give in to Tawney's demands. You'll do anything she
asks, and you expect me to do the same," I'd grumped.

"Yeah. I made you sprain your ankle so
you
could fawn all over that damn
fictional angel the way she does. That sounds just like something
I'd do, Carles."

"At least you admit it," I'd said smugly,
picking up the reader and completely ignoring Jayden.

It had taken a full thirty minutes before
he'd left the tent, and during that entire time, he and I'd never
said another word. Before nightfall, I'd finished Tawney's book and
had fallen madly in love with an angel, one who when described in
the book could have been Jayden's doppelgänger. I'd suspected since
that day that Tawney had been secretly in love with our Surrogate
Soldier for a long time.

I'd never been sure what the fact that I'd
loved the book and its main character every bit as much as Tawney
said about me, but I'd been sure it had something to do with the
crush I'd had on him until I found out Dad made him spend time with
me.

The memories of the fallen angel and
Tawney's obsession with that book reminded me that Jayden wouldn't
be able to toy with her emotions. He was right that her mood had
lightened and she'd had a boost to her energy level, one that
couldn't be engineered through the MicroPharm, after Jayden began
flirting. Still, the short-term solution wouldn't be best for her
in the long term.

I was almost begging when I said, "You can't
make her think you like her just so she'll be able to make it
through this trip?"

"Don't look at me like that. I'm not
tricking Tawney. I love her. It's just that I love her more like a
sister than anything else. Right now, I'm doing what I have to do
to get her to the next safe house so she can be made comfortable,"
he admitted without one ounce of guilt.

"
Jesus
!
You're a bigger bastard than I suspected," I fumed.

"There's always something that can keep
people going when they think they can't take one more step. For
Tawney, it's the promise of a great love story at the end," Jayden
confided quietly.

My suspicions grew to an all-time high. "So…
this is how you've been dealing with us for years. Complimenting
and flirting with Tawney." I took a deep breath and widened my eyes
in unfathomable realization. "And me. You've been taunting,
criticizing, even challenging me, and now I know it was so you
could get me to do what you wanted me to do," I angrily
whisper-shouted.

When Gran's gentle snore hitched, Jayden put
his fingers to his lips, reminding me they needed to stay asleep in
order for everything to stay on track and for everyone to be as
rested as possible. I couldn't help but stare back at him and
wonder if he'd ever had a genuine moment in his life. Even right
now, he was trying to create the perfect situation for our trek
through these woods.

"You make me sick," I spat, getting up and
taking the few stomps necessary to make it to my tent.

Without a backward glance and despite him
saying, "Carlie… it's not like that," I dropped to my knees and
crawled into my tent.

I'd always given in to Jayden's taunts. In
some ways, they'd always been fun because he could give as well as
he took, meaning I've never had to censor my words or my thoughts
with him. The one thing that had never occurred to me was that he'd
been doing all of it as a form of manipulation.

I was so angry, so hurt, so betrayed that I
suspected I might never fall asleep. I couldn't have been more
wrong. Within minutes, I was dead to the world, in the middle of
the forest with an asshole Surrogate guarding my safety.

No matter how pissed I was, how much Tawney
liked him, or how much I wanted to throat punch Jayden, I couldn't
stop dreaming of his beautiful green eyes or the way I physically
longed for him to kiss me.

And I wanted it in the
worst way.

I have no idea how long I slept, but I do
know when I awakened, the sun was up, the camp was bustling, and I
was disoriented. I expected the soldier in Jayden to take over and
have us up and gone before the sun dawned over the horizon. The
fact that we still hadn't even left along with everything else
about the state of our camp was a surprise for me.

Wiping the sleep from my eyes, I crawled
from my tent and looked around, trying to figure out what was
happening. If Tawney wasn't kneeling in front of the fire with a
smile a mile wide on her face, I'd worry she'd gotten worse
overnight and we'd been forced to stay put.

"Carlie's up. Gran, breakfast is ready,"
Tawney melodically sang.

Still puzzled by the scene before me, one
that looked like we were in no sort of danger at all, I ignored the
fact that—just like she had her entire life—the wide-eyed Tawney
reminded me of a fictional cartoon character who was so beautiful
inside and out that she could enamor even the wildest forest
animal.
Or the most distant Surrogate
Soldier.

There was no denying that sleep had worked
wonders on her. She was back to the old Tawney, the one who was
happy, bubbly, and energetic. The last thing in the whole planet I
wanted to do after the fit I threw last night was to admit that
Jayden was a miracle worker, that his techniques might actually be
solidly based in facts.

I cursed under my breath. Over at the fire,
Tawney had a dozen eggs of all sizes and shapes in a pot filled
with boiling water. Obviously, we were having boiled eggs for
breakfast. What I didn't know was how, when, and where Jayden was
able to gather so many.

Good Lord, he really is
a miracle worker.
Speaking
of
…

I casually glanced around, and the tall
blond soldier was nowhere in sight.

"Where is Jayden?" I asked.

"He's at the lake, getting cleaned up," an
enamored and grinning Tawney said without skipping a beat as she
drained the water from the speckled eggs.

Separating the eggs by size, she grabbed the
largest three, cracked the shells, and peeled them before setting
them to the side. I suspected those were specially chosen for her
beloved Jayden.

When she offered the next largest three to
me, I shook my head and pointed to the three smallest ones and
said, "I'm not that hungry. I'll take those."

Tawney looked as if she were about to
disagree with me until I gave her a significant stare that dared
her to question me. I felt guilty the instant I did it because she
was too kind to stand up to any form of intimidation. Much like
Jayden, I was using her non-confrontational personality to get what
I wanted. Mentally, I justified my actions by admitting what I was
doing was in her best interests.

Isn't it the same for
Jayden?

After a long-suffering sigh, I said, "I'm
going to find Jayden. I need to know what the plan is for
today."

I waited for my cousin to point me in the
direction of the lake. Then I headed that way. I assumed it
wouldn't be far, but I was wrong.
Yet
again.
After a few minutes of walking, I was sure I was
lost. I cringed when I thought about Jayden having to come and find
me. There would be no end to the taunting I'd get then.

Oddly enough, the more I thought about how I
might actually be lost, the more anxious I became and the more lost
I felt. It was a vicious cycle that had my heart racing and my
palms sweating until I saw the lake through a tiny break in the
trees.

By that time, I'd forgotten all about
finding Jayden. My only concern was getting out of the cover of the
trees, looking around, and seeing where the hell I was. But when I
saw him come out of the water and climb up onto one of the many
rocks edging the water, I was relieved. At least, I was until I
realized he was absolutely and completely naked. Every bruised and
rippled muscle lining his chest abdomen and arms were on full
display for my viewing.

Before I could slink back where I came from
and pretend I'd never seen him or the pie-shaped tattoo on his
chest, I yelped and covered my eyes with my hands.

"Holy shit, Carlie! What the hell are you
doing?" Jayden shouted.

By then, I'd turned my back to him. I had no
idea what he was doing, but I could tell by the frantic movements
from behind me that he was working pretty hard at getting some
clothes on.

"I-I'm sorry. I-I was coming to find you," I
stuttered.

"Well, you found me," Jayden said. "What the
hell was so urgent you couldn't wait until I made it back to
camp?"

My face felt like it had caught fire again.
"Nothing. I-I should have waited. You're right."

When I felt a hand wrap around my arm and
try to twist me around, I resisted. I had no intention of looking
Jayden in the face ever again. I just couldn't because I would
forever be reminded of this moment.

"You can turn around. I'm dressed," Jayden
said, and the flash of anger he'd felt seconds ago had vanished. It
had been replaced by an easy laugh.

The last thing I could do was laugh about
what had just happened.
The last
thing.
I was uncomfortable and embarrassed, and I still
couldn't turn toward him.

"I'll meet you back at the camp," I said,
jerking my arm away from him.

Before I could take the first step, Jayden
ran around me and stood blocking my path and preventing me from
going anywhere until we talked.

"Tell me what you needed, Carlie," he
ordered.

I kept my eyes on his feet. They were still
bare of shoes, but the frayed edges of the bottom of his jeans
covered most of them.

"I was just… I was just wondering why we've
not packed up and left yet. I thought we agreed that we were going
to get to the next safe house as soon as possible… you know,
because of Tawney."