Broken Bonds (The Bonds that Tie #1) - J. Bree Page 0,51

Sage’s warning enough for you to let it go?”

“I will never let this go, Fallows. How can I when you’re supposed to be my Bond and instead you’re draping yourself over any other guy on campus? What the fuck went wrong with you that you can act like this?”

He’s lost his mind. My voice comes out like an outraged squeak and I sound fucking stupid, “Me?! All I’ve done since getting dragged to this shithole of a campus is play by your little rules. What, were you hoping I’d come back and just bend over for you all? Lay back and take it so you could get your bond with me and all the power that comes with it? I’d rather die. Seriously, Gabe, look me in the eyes right now and accept it because I’d rather die than do that.”

His lip curls up and all of his usual flinches are gone as he leans down until he’s right in my face. “And I’d rather die than sit around and watch you work your way through the freshman class. If your Bonds aren’t good enough for you, then you’re going to be alone and miserable, I’ll make sure of that.”

I scoff at him and turn on my heel, ready to sprint to the training center if that what it takes to get away from his crazy today, but he grabs my arm and turns me back to face him, snarling in my face, “You left, you did that, whatever shit you’re having to deal with now is because of what you did. You hate us, that’s fine, deal with the consequences.”

I roll my eyes at him and pull away but his hand tightens on my arm. “Let go of me—”

“What are you going to do, break my arm? How exactly are you going to manage that? Gryphon seems to think you’d be able to do some damage if you wanted to but I’m not seeing it.”

Huh. I didn’t think Gryphon had taken enough notice of me to know what I was capable of, but clearly I’m doing something right in TT if he thinks I can take a football player on and survive it.

I don’t need my gift or training to best Gabe though, he wears all of his feelings on his sleeve too much for it not to be easy.

I step towards him, pressing myself against his chest and watching as he startles. Whatever was going through his head before to stifle his reactions is long gone now and he tenses up at the feel of my body on his.

“Get your hand off of me before I prove Gryphon right. I might be playing by the rules for now but if you push me, you’ll figure out exactly what I’m capable of.”

“We’re headed to the basement today, so plan your workouts accordingly.”

The entire room groans like we’ve just been told we’re about to be sent to hell to fight the devil himself but, like always, I have no idea what Vivian is talking about. Everyone moves onto the gym equipment, dragging their feet more than they usually do, and I stay close to Vivian, preparing myself for whatever circuit he’s going to throw me onto today.

He doesn’t immediately move over to me like he usually does, instead he watches the other students for a second, like he’s taking note of what they’re choosing to do. It’s confusing enough that I turn and watch it too but I can’t figure out what’s so damn interesting for him.

They’re all choosing the easier machines, the stuff they all find the easiest. I’ve spent so goddamn long on the treadmill and elliptical machines watching all of the other students go through their paces while I attempt to forget the pain I’m in that I know that Gabe and his buddies always end up on the weight machines after a particularly rough game of football. Vivian usually barks orders at the guys to move on to cardio and get the hell on with it, but he just stands and watches them all.

When he finally makes his way over to me, he jerks his head at the treadmill and says, “Take it easy today, this is just a warmup.”

I frown back at him. “What’s so terrifying about the basement? If the Boogey Man is down there I’d like to know now, so I can kill myself instead of heading down there. I was already planning on throwing myself off a bridge, I’ll just move it