Free Web NovelChapter 78: Not Cool...
"Peamah, hey..." I said. My voice was steady, but my heart was doing a nervous dance in my chest. He stood there like a statue of anger, looking as furious as I’d ever seen him. Behind him were two other guys wearing their basketball jerseys. One of them was spinning a ball on his finger, looking at me like I was something he wanted to step on.
"I told you to stay out of my head, didn’t I?"
He didn’t just say it; he spat the words out. I felt the tiny droplets of spit land on my cheek and resisted the urge to wipe them off. I didn’t want to show any weakness. Beside me, Malo shifted his weight. I could feel him tensing up, ready to bolt or fight, though I knew which one was more likely.
"I don’t know what you’re talking about, dude. I’m not in your fucking mind. I haven’t even thought about you at all," I explained. I tried to keep my tone level, hoping he would just realize he had the wrong person and leave us alone so we could finish our lunch in peace.
"Then explain last night. Why were you calling for me?" he said. His voice was flat now, which was somehow scarier than the shouting.
I just stared at him. I was trying to wrap my brain around what the hell he was talking about because none of it made any sense. I hadn’t even been thinking about him. In fact, I hadn’t thought about Peamah once since Monday. My mind had been way too occupied with Princess, Yuki’s date, my pups, my job not about some basketball player’s mental space.
"Seriously, I never called you," I said, shaking my head.
"You did," he snapped. This time he was loud. Really loud. It was enough to draw the attention of the entire cafeteria. The clinking of silverware stopped, and the general hum of conversation died down. Everyone was watching us now, waiting for the show.
"Peamah, we left you alone, so you should leave us alone," Sasha said. She tried to sound brave, but I could hear the slight tremor in her voice.
"Bitch, shut the fuck up. I’m not talking to you. I’m talking to her," he said. He didn’t even look at Sasha; he just pointed a thick finger right at my face. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
"Last night, I was out with my boys. We were minding our own business, and then you entered my head. You were making some fucking howling sound. It was loud, Faye. And at the exact same time you were doing that, this happened."
He slowly raised his left palm toward me.
I felt the air leave my lungs. There was a deep, nasty mark right across the center of his palm. It looked raw and angry, like a burn or a strike from something sharp.
"Look, you’re making false accusations. I don’t fucking know what happened to your hand. I’ve never howled before. I’ve heard howling during the full moons, sure, but... Peamah, I don’t know what to tell you. I was never in your mind. I was busy with my own life," I said.
"See, dude? Faye told you the truth. I think you should just leave now," Malo said. He tried to make his voice sound low and firm, but the second Peamah cut his eyes toward him, the brave act vanished. Peamah shot him a look that could have melted lead. Malo immediately zipped his mouth shut and went back to staring at his tray, pretending his lukewarm food was the most important thing in the world.
"Look, Faye Grande, I’m keeping my cool right now," Peamah said, turning his attention back to me. His voice was like ice. "This injury better be completely healed before Saturday. It’s the finals, and I need my hand to play. If it’s not healed by then... instead of a basketball, you three will be the ones I’m bouncing across the court."
He didn’t wait for me to respond. He just turned on his heel. As he started to walk away, he noticed Princess standing a few feet off with Beam. He didn’t say anything to them. He didn’t even acknowledge their presence. He just kept walking with his boys trailing behind him like a small army.
The cafeteria slowly started to buzz again, but my mind stayed stuck on his hand. I couldn’t stop seeing that mark.
Last night... when the waiter tried to attack me. I had reached out with my left hand to stop the blade from stabbing me. I remembered the flash of pain and the fear for my life. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
The mark on Peamah’s hand... it was in the exact same spot. It looked exactly like the injury I should have had.
Was it just a crazy coincidence? Or was he actually telling the truth about feeling what I felt?
But it didn’t make sense. I wasn’t trying to reach into his mind. I didn’t howl. All I wanted in that terrifying moment was to protect my pups. I did pray, of course. I prayed to the Moon Goddess for strength and safety, just like I always do when things get bad. I didn’t ask for Peamah.
"Faye... did something happen to you last night on your date?" Sasha asked. Her voice was quiet, barely a whisper. She was looking at me with those big, worried eyes.
"Just some unexpected curveball shit," I muttered. I didn’t want to go into the details of being attacked in a fancy restaurant.
"Oh... I thought something really bad happened," she said softly. She looked like she wanted to say more, like she was waiting for me to tell her the whole story.
I was about to ask her more questions because something clearly wasn’t right. The connection to Peamah was bothering me, and I needed to know if she felt anything weird too. But before I could get a word out, Princess and Beam started walking toward our table. The second Sasha saw them coming, she grabbed her tray and stood up. She didn’t even say goodbye; she just turned and left the cafeteria as fast as she could.
"You okay?" Princess asked as she reached the table.
"Yeah, I’m fine. It was nothing serious," I said. I gave a small nod, trying to act like Peamah hadn’t just threatened to bounce me like a ball.
"Yeah, nothing happened here. We were just eating," Malo added quickly. He was still looking down at his food, trying to stay invisible.
"We saw what happened," Beam said. Her eyes were fixed on me, unblinking.
I looked at both of them. A spark of annoyance hit me. If they saw the whole thing, if they saw Peamah looming over me and making threats, why didn’t Princess step in earlier? Why did she just stand there and watch?
"We need to focus on the championship right now. Coach told us all to lay low and stay out of trouble. After the game is over, we’ll deal with him," Princess said. She sounded so sure of herself. "But if he tries anything like that again before then, I’ll break his hand for real."
"He doesn’t look like someone you can break that easily," I muttered. It slipped out before I could stop it.
Princess stopped. She looked at me, her expression shifting. She looked clearly offended. "Are you saying I can’t beat him?"
"I’m not saying that. I’m really not. I just don’t want you getting overconfident. The guy is huge, Princess. He’s fucking strong, and he’s angry."
"I see..." she said. She gave a short, stiff nod. Her eyes went cold for a second before she turned around and started to walk away.
Beam didn’t follow her right away. She just stood there by the table, staring at me with that blank, unreadable expression.
What? I only said the truth. I wasn’t trying to be mean. I don’t know exactly how strong Princess really is when she gets going, but I’ve seen Peamah in action. He looks like someone who could snap a normal person in two without even trying. I was just trying to look out for her. I didn’t want her to underestimate him and get hurt because of it.
I didn’t know if what I said had actually hurt her feelings or if she was just annoyed, but I realized I didn’t want her to leave while she was mad at me. I wanted to talk to her properly.
So I stood up, left my half-eaten lunch with Malo, and walked out of the cafeteria.
The moment I stepped through the double doors and into the hallway, I stopped dead.
I saw Kiara. She was right there, her arms wrapped tightly around Princess in a huge hug. And then, right in front of everyone, she leaned in and kissed her.
