LOGINShare
CHAPTER 3 - Paired
publish date:
2026-07-04 23:27:00Ezra's POV
For a moment, nobody spoke.
The entire classroom seemed frozen in shock.
Then the whispers started.
"Oh my God."
"That is brutal."
"Mr. Holloway definitely dislikes somebody."
A few students laughed.
Ezra sat motionless in his chair, staring at the desk in front of him. Surely he had heard wrong. There was no way this was happening. No path existed where the universe could be this cruel.
Unfortunately, when he finally looked up, Jace Ryland was already staring at him from across the room.
And judging by the expression on his face, he was not exactly thrilled either.
Mr. Holloway continued reading names, completely oblivious to the chaos he had just unleashed.
Beside Ezra, Sophie leaned closer.
"You have got to be kidding."
Ezra let out a humorless laugh.
"I wish."
"Maybe it will not be that bad."
They both knew she was lying.
The teacher finally finished assigning partners and dismissed the class. Students immediately jumped from their seats, eager to leave before the final bell.
Ezra remained where he was.
Maybe if he waited long enough, everyone else would leave first.
Maybe Jace would forget.
Maybe...
A shadow fell across his desk.
His stomach dropped.
Slowly, he looked up.
Jace stood in front of him.
Of course.
"Monroe."
Ezra resisted the urge to sigh.
"What?"
Jace crossed his arms.
"We need to talk."
Several nearby students immediately slowed down.
Eavesdropping.
Great.
"What about?"
"The assignment."
Ezra shoved his books into his bag.
"What about it?"
Jace looked irritated.
Actually irritated.
As though this situation was somehow Ezra's fault.
"We need to figure something out."
"What does that mean?"
"It means," Jace said slowly, "there is no way we are surviving an entire semester together."
A few students nearby snorted.
Ezra felt anger flare inside him.
"You think I asked for this?"
Jace did not answer immediately.
His jaw tightened.
For some reason, that tiny reaction made Ezra even angrier.
Years.
Years of being humiliated by this guy.
And now Jace wanted to act inconvenienced?
Unbelievable.
"You know what?" Ezra said. "Do not worry about it."
Jace frowned.
"What?"
"I will do the project myself."
The hallway outside was growing louder as students headed home.
Inside the classroom, however, the tension felt thick enough to choke on.
Jace stared at him.
"You cannot do the whole thing yourself."
"Watch me."
For the first time since approaching, Jace looked genuinely caught off guard.
Ezra enjoyed it more than he should have.
"Monroe..."
"No."
Ezra stood, slinging his backpack over one shoulder.
"I am serious."
Jace's eyes narrowed.
"Why are you acting like this?"
The question almost made Ezra laugh.
Why was he acting like this?
Really?
Years of mockery.
Years of humiliation.
Years of being treated like garbage.
And Jace was asking why?
Something dark twisted inside Ezra's chest.
"You would not understand."
Before Jace could respond, Ezra walked away.
This time, he did not stop.
Did not look back.
Did not care if people were staring.
All he wanted was to get home.
Away from school.
Away from Jace.
Away from the constant feeling that he was not good enough.
Unfortunately, escaping Jace Ryland was impossible.
Because twenty minutes later, Ezra looked out the window of his bedroom and saw the Ryland house directly across the street.
Just like always.
The sight made him groan.
Their families had lived across from each other for years.
A fact that felt increasingly unfair.
Out of all the houses in the city, why did Jace have to live there?
Why did fate insist on torturing him?
Ezra dropped his backpack onto the floor and collapsed onto his bed.
The ceiling stared back at him.
Silent.
Mocking.
His thoughts drifted back to the classroom.
To Jace.
To the project.
To that stupid question.
Why are you acting like this?
Maybe because I am exhausted.
Maybe because I cannot keep doing this.
Maybe because being your favorite target is draining.
A knock interrupted his thoughts.
"Ezra?"
His mother's voice.
He sat up immediately.
"Yeah?"
The door opened.
Monica Monroe stepped inside carrying a plate of fruit.
The universal sign that she wanted to talk.
Wonderful.
"How was school?"
Ezra almost laughed.
How was school?
The same way it had been every day for the last three years.
Painful.
Embarrassing.
Exhausting.
"Fine."
His mother gave him a look.
The one that said she knew he was lying.
Mothers had a terrifying ability to do that.
"Ezra."
"I am okay."
"You do not sound okay."
He looked away.
The concern in her voice only made him feel worse.
Because she cared.
Because she would be furious if she knew how students treated him.
Because he did not want to give her another reason to worry.
The election season was already stressful enough.
His father barely slept these days.
Every news channel seemed determined to turn the Monroe-Ryland rivalry into entertainment.
The last thing his family needed was another problem.
"I am fine, Mom."
She studied him for a long moment before finally nodding.
"If you say so."
After she left, silence returned.
Ezra walked toward the window.
Across the street, a light glowed in the second-floor bedroom of the Ryland house.
Jace's room.
He was probably in there.
Probably not thinking about Ezra at all.
Probably hanging out with friends.
Living his perfect life.
The thought should have comforted him.
Instead, it hurt.
Because despite everything, a part of Ezra still wanted Jace to think about him.
Just once.
Not as a target.
Not as entertainment.
Just... him.
Across the street, the curtain suddenly shifted.
Ezra froze.
A figure appeared behind the glass.
Jace.
Even from a distance, he was unmistakable.
For a second, neither moved.
Neither looked away.
The moment felt strangely intimate.
Dangerously intimate.
Then Jace stepped closer to the glass.
Ezra's heart immediately started racing.
And for reasons he could not explain, he found himself unable to look away.
He actually has a cute face, for a chubby guy, Jace thought.. What the hell!! Jace snap out of his thought.
Latest chapter
MINE TO BULLY CHAPTER 71 – TOGETHER
Add sex scene to this chapter Jace read the message twice before turning the screen toward me, and I watched something conflicted cross his face as I read Marcus’s words for myself.Not tonight, Jace typed back, thumb hovering before finally pressing send. Tomorrow. Somewhere public. I need time to think first.He set the phone down and exhaled slowly, shoulders dropping as though he’d been holding tension there for hours without realizing it.That’s the right call, I said. Whatever he wants to tell you, it’ll still be true tomorrow morning.Jace nodded, though exhaustion had clearly overtaken whatever urgency the message initially stirred in him.Thank you, he said quietly, glancing over at me. For staying steady through all of this. I don’t know how I’d have gotten through today without you.You don’t have to thank me for that, I said. That’s just what this is now. Both of us, steadying each other.He reached over and took my hand, threading our fingers together as we walked toward
MINE TO BULLY CHAPTER 70 – THE COLLAPSE
We arrived at the hospital just past midnight, the corridors quiet and dim, nothing like the chaotic energy of my earlier visit that same morning.Jace hadn't said much during the drive, still processing his own father's confession from only an hour earlier, and I hadn't pushed him to talk, both of us carrying separate versions of the same exhausting grief.A doctor met us near the nurses station, expression carefully neutral in the particular way medical professionals learn to deliver difficult news.Mr Monroe, he said. Thank you for coming so quickly.What happened, I asked. The message said his condition changed.He suffered a second cardiac event approximately an hour ago, the doctor explained. More severe than the first. We've stabilized him for now, but I won't minimize the seriousness of his current condition.Is he conscious, I asked.In and out, the doctor said. He's been asking for you specifically since he regained partial awareness.Has anyone else visited today, I asked,
MINE TO BULLY CHAPTER 69 – THE EVIDENCE
I stood frozen on the sidewalk, Vivian’s words echoing louder than anything else around us, the hospital, the traffic, Ezra’s voice calling my name from somewhere that suddenly felt very far away.Jace, Ezra said again, hand gripping my arm. Jace, look at me.I turned to face him slowly, my mind still catching up to what Vivian had just told us.That accident, I said, voice strange even to my own ears. I spent five years thinking it was just bad luck. Wet roads, a driver who fell asleep at the wheel. That’s what the police report said.Police reports can be altered, Vivian said quietly, still standing a few feet away. Especially when the person requesting the alteration has enough money and enough leverage to make problems disappear.My father tried to kill me, I said slowly, the words feeling foreign and impossible even as I spoke them aloud. Not just send me away. Actually kill me.Vivian’s expression shifted, something almost apologetic crossing her face.I don’t think he intended
MINE TO BULLY CHAPTER 68 – THE SISTER
I stared at the message, reading it three times before the words actually settled into something comprehensible.Someone else, I said aloud. Who else would he possibly ask for.I don’t know, Jace said, already pulling out of the parking spot despite neither of us having discussed actually going anywhere. But we’re not finding out sitting here.Wait, I said. We should call Helen back first. See if her mother mentioned anything about this.Ezra, whoever’s sending these messages clearly has real time information about what’s happening at that hospital right now. We don’t have time to wait for another phone call.He was right, and I hated that he was right, hated how quickly the ground kept shifting beneath every decision we tried to make carefully.Fine, I said. The hospital.We drove to the hospital in tense silence, my mind cycling through every possibility, every person my father might have connections to that I’d never known about, each option feeling more unsettling than the last.C
MINE TO BULLY Chapter 67 - The collapse
I stared at the message until the words blurred together, standing frozen in the middle of the crowded hallway while board members and staff filtered past me toward the elevators.Jace’s name flashed on my screen a second later, a call this time instead of a text.I answered immediately, voice unsteady.Jace.I’m downstairs. What’s wrong. You sound strange.I just got a message, I said, reading it aloud to him over the phone, my voice cracking slightly on the final line.Silence on the other end, long enough that I checked to make sure the call hadn’t dropped.They’re claiming someone specific called him, Jace finally said. Not just implying his heart attack was stress related. They’re saying they know exactly who made that call.Which means whoever’s sending these messages either made the call themselves, or has access to information about it that shouldn’t be publicly available.How would anyone even know that level of detail this quickly, I asked, pressing my back against the hallw
MINE TO BULLY Chapter 66 - The sabotage
I watched Ezra’s hands shake as he kept reading, each line of his father’s letter seeming to steal a little more color from his face.He arranged everything, Ezra said, voice hollow. Found out about my feelings for you somehow, maybe through the same household surveillance Weiss just admitted to, and decided exposing me publicly would be more effective than confronting me directly.Why, I asked. What could exposing you possibly accomplish that talking to you privately wouldn’t.Ezra’s finger traced down the page, stopping on a paragraph near the bottom.He says here that public humiliation would cure me faster than private discipline ever could, Ezra read aloud, voice shaking. That watching the entire school turn against me would teach me to bury whatever I felt for you more effectively than any conversation between us ever would.I felt something cold and murderous settle in my chest, five years of assuming a stranger had betrayed Ezra suddenly replaced by the much uglier truth that
You may also like
HIS RELUCTANT MATE
Granny13.4K viewsBreak Me Apart (MxM)
Dark Ocean29.9K viewsClaimed By The Mafia Boss
Anonymous Lee17.2K viewsOwned on the Ice M/M Romance
E L Simon57.6K viewsThe Hockey King I Hated
Joe Michael187 viewsCase Study: You (MxM Romance)
Skye Black428 viewsMy Rival Alpha Knows I'm an Omega
keery joe418 viewsMated to the Four Hockey Billionaire Alphas
Clara Simon 202 views
