“Look,” I said, then stopped when I heard footsteps approaching, and I went rigid with annoyance.
“Um, Dad?” Jude asked, and while my irritation faded, I felt a new sense of worry. “Reggie?”
Marc’s jaw tightened. “Yes?”
Jude looked nervous, glancing over his shoulder as if making sure no one else had followed him, but the other guys were still a few yards back. They were a pack of hooligans and sometimes idiots, but they were still grown men who understood something was going on that didn’t involve them. Bless them, they were even trying to act as though they didn’t know Marc and I were on the verge of an argument. Sometimes I thought they were idiots, but they were good-hearted idiots and I felt a wave of affection.
“I, uh…” he looked between us as he shuffled around his dad. Marc and I snapped to watch Jude’s footing; he was stillat least half a foot from the edge so our attention went back to his face. I almost wished I hadn’t, because I could see something dangerously guilty there. “Are you…what is this?”
“A disagreement,” Marc and I said, and I didn’t know whether to be irritated or amused when he flashed a smirk in my direction.
“Okay, that was creepy,” Jude muttered, looking between us and biting his lip. “Look, I-I gotta ask you something…what exactly…are you guys? Like…more than friends, or what?”
“We…” I began, but Marc sighed.
“I don’t know what we were, but we’re more than friends right now, yes,” he said, surprising me with his candor.
That was replaced by a flash of horror when I saw the same emotion mirrored on Jude’s face. “Oh, Jesus, seriously?”
Marc stared at him with a frown. “I don’t know why it would be your business in the first place, but it’s certainly not enough of your business for you to get upset.”
Jude looked at me and I knew what he was thinking; the moment that was at the forefront of his mind. “Reggie, I?—”
“Don’t,” I warned him.
Don’t take this on yourself, kid, I wanted to say. Don’t blame yourself now any more than you should have when you kissed me. You didn’t know, just like I didn’t know what you were feeling, even though I should have been paying more attention. And definitely don’t bring it up now, not when Marc and I’s emotions were already running high and there was a whole group of people standing only a few yards away.
“Reggie,” he repeated, and then ducked his head when I gave him a dirty look.
“What…is going on?” Marc asked slowly, looking between the two of us suspiciously.
“Nothing,” I said and winced at the lie and how obvious it was. “Well…something, but this isn’t the time or place to get into it, Marc. We just need to finish this trip up and we can?—”
“I think something that’s bothering both of you feels more important than getting back to Arete peacefully,” Marc said, and I groaned when I could see him getting stubborn. It wasn’t often he became unreasonable about something, but I didn’t think even God himself could make Marc back off when he was determined to get what he wanted, and he was getting that look on his face.
Jude’s fear turned to panic, and he took a step away from his father. “Look, Dad, it’s… Reggie’s right, it’s nothing we need to talk about right now.”
“I think we might need to,” Marc said, his jaw tightening. “Because it sounds to me like there’s something you haven’t been telling me, most of all you, Reggie. You agreed that if something happened with Jude that?—”
“Youneededto know about, I would tell you, yes,” I interrupted quietly. “And while I was going to tell you, I didn’t think this trip was the right time. So, stop getting pissed off and listen to me, please.”
“So, youwerekeeping something from me,” Marc ground out, and I could see the anger spreading behind his eyes like a wildfire. “How long have you been doing this?”
Panic clawed at my chest as he took a step and then another away from me. Marc never retreated when he was angry, and the only reason I could think of that he did now was because he couldn’t stand to be near me. God, if he thought he was mad at me now, I couldn’t imagine how livid he would be when I told him the truth.
“I’m sorry,” Jude whispered frantically, and I could see the panic I was feeling reflected and magnified in his eyes. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to, Dad…I didn’t?—”
Marc growled and turned to face the rock wall, staring up toward the top. “So, it was both of you then? Okay…okay.”
He was trying to get himself under control, which was a good sign because it might mean he realized he could be overreacting and needed to listen to us before he committed to his reaction. The problem was, Jude wasn’t seeing it that way, and I could see his panic rising as he took another stuttering step back and?—
“Whoa, watch it!” I barked as his heel hit the edge of the path, and it crumbled under his weight.
Electricity shot through me in a painful jolt as time slowed to a crawl. Jude tipped back, his arms pinwheeling as he struggled futilely to bring himself back to his feet. Gravity was going to win, and I could see Marc snapping around at my cry and Jude’s yelp of fear.
I moved before I realized what I was doing, snatching Jude’s arm and yanking him toward the wall. It was more strength than I meant, but it successfully brought him back, and I didn’t see it, but I was sure he hit the rock wall with an unpleasant force.
I didn’t see it for myself because, well, physics was an uncaring and sometimes cruel mistress. I had saved him, using my weight and strength to bring him back, but it meant that I had also flung myself forward. Instinct twisted me around, desperate to grab hold of something, but there was nothing but air as I tilted over the edge that had almost claimed Jude.
