Jax

Two days.

That’s how long I lasted before things started getting under my skin.

Levi knocked every time before walking into the room, like he lived here. Like this was his space. I didn’t say anything—I just glared at him until he got the message. But he always grinned, like it was a joke we were both in on.

It wasn’t.

The other one—the blonde with the smirk—his name was Micah. I found that out when the house supervisor said it in passing. He was always around too, trailing Levi like they were tied together. Sometimes they’d bump shoulders or lean in too close, and I thought maybe they were just touchy like that.

But sometimes, I caught a look pass between them.

Something quiet. Familiar.

It didn’t sit right.

Not because I cared. I didn’t.

I just didn’t like not knowing.

⸻

On the third night, I woke up choking.

Sweat clung to my back. The room was cold but my skin burned. My chest felt tight. Couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think.

There’d been a sound. A crack. A scream?

No. Not here.

Not again.

I pressed the heel of my palm to my eyes. Hard.

Forget it. Don’t remember.

Breathe. In. Out. Don’t think. Just breathe.

My hands were shaking.

I clenched my fists.

They stopped.

I laid back down. Stared at the ceiling like it owed me something.

The nightmares never said anything new. Just the same memories—played louder. Sharper. Like they needed me to feel it all over again.

But I didn’t. I never let them win. Never let them drag me under.

I got through it alone before. I’ll keep doing it that way.

⸻

In the morning, I skipped breakfast. Didn’t feel like pretending to be human.

I went for a walk instead. Headphones in. Music up. Noise so loud it drowned everything else out.

That’s when I saw him.

Not Levi. Not Micah.

Someone new.

He was standing at the corner of the yard, near the fence, looking like he didn’t belong anywhere. Small. Way too small to be in a house full of guys who’d been hardened by whatever shitty cards life dealt them.

Dark eyes, wide and wary. Fingers curled tight around the sleeves of his oversized hoodie. Like he needed to hold himself together.

He looked up when I passed.

Our eyes met.

And just like that—I looked away.

I didn’t stop.

Didn’t ask.

Didn’t care.

He didn’t say anything either. Just watched me like I was something dangerous. Something unpredictable.

Smart kid.

Still… there was something about him.

Something that scratched at the edge of me in a way I didn’t like.

So I ignored it.

I went back to the room. Closed the door. Pulled the blanket over my head like it could hide me from things I hadn’t even let myself feel yet.

They were already dating.

That much was clear now. Levi and Micah weren’t just friends—they were something else. And that new kid? The quiet one?

He looked at them like they were his whole damn world.

I wasn’t part of it.

I didn’t want to be.

Whatever the hell that was between them—

It was none of my business.

And it sure as hell wasn’t going to be mine.