Damaged Like Us (Like Us #1)(97)

Akara is on the mic. “Are you really using coms to help Jane cheat?” He assumes it’s Jane, but any way you toss it, Donnelly is Team Cobalt.

“I’m doin’ nuthin,” Donnelly says, accent thick on the word nothing. I spy him circling a wooded area, blue bandana on his tattooed forearm even though he’s not playing.

Maximoff sits casually on a tree stump. Stuck in blue team’s “jail” until one of his red team members tags him out. I relax for a second, propping my shoulders on an oak tree.

His eyes flit briefly to me, a smile in them.

He runs his fingers through the dark brown strands of his hair. Somehow, he appears a few years older with his natural shade.

I still can’t get over it.

And he found an alternative to lightening his hair. He’s wearing Thor camping socks right now. Plus, he had Luna draw Spider-Man figures on his Timberland boots. It’s his way of shouting I love my dad to paparazzi who’ll take money-shots and to anyone who’ll listen.

My lips begin to rise back at him.

“Quinn to security.” Another voice is in my ear. “I just overheard some girls talking about dragging someone. Should I intervene?”

“Nah,” Donnelly pipes in again. “That’s just fandom talk.”

“What?” Quinn asks.

I click my mic. “It’s not a threat. Don’t engage.” Did I just naturally “guide” Quinn right there? Fucking hell, I’ve turned into a teacher.

“Ugh, I forgot my snack,” Oscar complains. “Does anyone have anything on them?”

“Bro, you just ate,” Quinn refutes. “Like fifteen pancakes.”

“I don’t see your point. Snacks are an essential part of life. And you know what, if you haven’t learned that by now, we’ve encountered a real serious problem—guys, my brother needs fucking help, like a Snack Awareness Meeting.”

Voices pile onto one another.

I lower the volume.

Maximoff is out of “jail” and he runs into a safe zone. He slows down as a huddle of eighteen or nineteen-year-old girls in red shirts ogle him.

I don’t blame them.

He’s gorgeous. And my cock definitely agrees.

I’m more hyper-aware of people here who are apathetic towards him. It means they’re most likely at the CampAway for wrong reasons. Akara already red-marked twenty-three names for us to watch. Their motives for entering the charity event seemed suspicious.

Maximoff approaches the girls, and they squeal in glee, bouncing on their toes and grabbing onto his arms excitedly.

Easy there.

I raise the radio volume and catch the tail-end of Oscar asking for food.

I click my mic. “I have a protein bar. I’m by an oak tree.”

“There are trees everywhere, Redford.”

I roll my eyes. “Man, how badly do you want that snack? Because I’m not drawing you a fucking map.”

“…I see you.” Oscar sprints past a gaggle of green-shirted guys and then stops beside me. Curly pieces of his hair fall over a rolled blue bandana.

I grab a protein bar out of a first-aid bag. The medic stand is on the other side of the hill. So we’ve dropped a few emergency bags throughout the area.

“This is nuts.” Oscar bites into the bar. “Legitimately stressed right now.”

I shake out my crossed arms, my muscles tight. “Did you see how much money he made from the raffle?”

Oscar swigs his water. “The numbers are already in?”

“Seventy million.”

“Holy shit.”

Maximoff was glowing all morning. In truth, if he were stabbed in the middle of the night and wheeled into the hospital, he’d still declare this a success. Very few things can happen to where he’d call the CampAway a failure.

But him, being stabbed, would be my fucking nightmare.

“Quinn to security. They just said drag her again. And I know they’re talking about Jane. That’s violent.”

Donnelly answers, “Still fandom language.”

“I don’t like it,” Quinn says, making his opinion known.

“Bro.” Oscar clicks his mic next to me. “Get yourself a Twitter account.”

“You’re not on Twitter?” Donnelly questions.

“He’s only on Facebook,” I tell the team, grinning.

Donnelly lets his laughter filter through the coms.

“Facebook is where it’s at,” Quinn rebuts.

Akara says, “This isn’t the best use of the coms.” He pauses, then adds, “But Facebook is better.”

Oscar wolfs down the protein bar and laughs.

“They just said Jane and Sulli are cancelled,” Quinn adds.

“They’re just passionate stans,” Donnelly explains.

“What the fuck is a stan?” Quinn asks and adds, “Alright, I really don’t like this anymore. They just said Jane should go choke.”

I cut in, “Go talk to them.” That could be a threat. Or they could just be fans. When fandom culture comes into play, the lines blur.

Oscar knocks his arm with mine. “Look at you, helping my baby brother out.” He chews the protein bar with a wide grin. “You keep that up, Tri-Force is gonna put all the green ones with you.”