Chapter 9 #2
He throws back the contents of his glass, sinking further into his chair and propping one foot on the coffee table before flipping the television to a football game.
I sip my whiskey slowly, watching him, knowing he must be able to feel it, but he's ridiculously still.
Thick black hair falls in front of his face.
If he were a friend, I'd reach over and brush it away from his eyes.
But he isn't a friend. And I'm not sure what that touch would do to him, but I don't think I want to find out.
"Will you tell me why?" I ask. "I won't tell anyone."
There's something behind those cold eyes now. But it's only for a second, and whatever it is doesn't make me feel any better.
It's nauseating. It makes my skin crawl.
"No," he says flatly before turning away. "And don't ask me again."
I consider apologizing before my phone vibrates again. Nolan turns back, cocking an eyebrow as he watches me pull it from my pocket.
Another unknown number. I open it, finding a photo of a knife on a dirty countertop. The messages come in after that.
I think I'll shove this in your pussy first.
I'll tie you up, fuck you with the blade, and then I'll start cutting off pieces.
If you make it easy, I'll start with your toes. If you make it hard, I'll start with your face.
"Saige? Who is it?"
But I barely hear him over the blood pumping in my ears.
"Saige? Give me the phone."
I hand it to him and turn in the other direction, hugging my knees to my chest.
Nolan sighs. "Okay, I blocked them, but…I'm sure it'll just pop up with a new number again. Don't text them back—ever, okay? You have to let this starve. Don't give them what they want."
"How do I know what they want if I don't ask them?"
"They want to play a game. Don't play it. Promise me, okay? You could get us all in trouble, and I don't think you want that."
I think there's a threat hidden there somewhere. "Okay…I promise."
"Saige, did anyone see you that night? Did the two of you stop to talk to anyone?"
I shrug. "No. I mean, people may have seen me leave the party with him and this girl who lives across the hall from me, Kira."
"Then it's her."
"No," I insist. "It's not her. Why would she care? Why would she do all of this?"
"Maybe she really saw you."
"And she wants revenge? She wants to kill me?"
"Unlikely. Whoever it is, they're probably working their way up to asking you for money."
"What—"
"Miles isn't the kind of person people miss, Saige."
"I don't even have any money."
"Dax has money. Has she seen you with him?"
"I…Kira is not a criminal mastermind. She's a party girl from Calgary majoring in fashion merchandising and peace studies. And she was trashed that night—I put her to bed myself. She didn't see anything."
"Has this person ever told you what they know you did?"
"I don't think so…"
The garage door opens before I can argue further. I throw back the rest of my drink as the Maserati's engine shuts off and, wincing, force it down just before Elias steps inside, Dax following behind him.
"Heard you were late," Elias grumbles without looking at me.
I narrow my eyes at Nolan. "You tattled on me."
He shrugs.
"Hey, princess," Dax says, flashing me a smile.
Seeing him does something to me—something I can't quite explain. I feel relief. I know what he's done; I know it isn't right, but I feel safer now that he's here.
But it's not just that. I feel this longing…right at the center of my chest. I want him to hold me like he held me in bed last night; I want to melt into him.
It makes me sick. There's something wrong with me.
I quickly look away before he sees it, that sense of longing replaced with shame.
"Jesus…what happened to your face?"
In an instant, he's at my side, turning my face in his hand to better inspect the injury.
I smell his woodsy cologne even before he touches me.
His curls are still damp, so he must have showered at the gym.
I find everything about him soothing, and it doesn't make any fucking sense.
It's like I can feel my brain chemically resetting.
As he studies me, my gaze drops to his strong, tattooed forearms—the bright colors against his tan skin.
One in particular catches my eye—an anatomical heart in red with deep blue veins running through it, wrapped in barbed wire.
I can't put my finger on why I like it so much, but the twisted urge to lean into him, to inhale him and mold my body to his, grows stronger.
I swallow hard, refusing to meet his eyes when I answer. "Nothing. I just fell; it's not a big deal."
"You didn't mention this in your texts," Elias says to Nolan.
"She said she just fell. I took care of it. She got some more texts, though."
And then he's standing over me, too, inspecting my injuries with notable concern—a look I haven't seen from Elias in nearly two years.
But I know it can't be concern for me. He's worried about the person following me and what they might know about him.
I jerk away from Dax, curling into the corner of the couch and crossing my arms in front of my body. "You can both stop looking at me like that now."
"Let me see the phone," Dax says, taking it from Nolan.
"Well, you know what? That's what you fucking get for not being back on time," Elias snaps. "Maybe next time you'll listen."
I want to tell him to go fuck himself, but after what he did and said to me this morning, I bite my tongue. He sees it, too, a smug smile slowly spreading across his face.
"Well, that's fucking graphic."
Elias turns his attention back to Dax, taking the phone from him.
But when Elias reads them, he looks intrigued…like maybe he'd like to do that to me, too.
"I think it's the girl she was with at the party that night," Nolan says. "The one who lives across the hall from her."
"It's not," I say.
Elias tosses my phone onto the sofa and then sets the alarm while Dax scrolls through my messages.
"Kira, right? That's the girl?" he asks, and I nod. "She says she wants to hang out; I'm sending her a text and inviting her to our party tomorrow." He must be reading our text chain, because he laughs and says, "Yeah, Ripley, why didn't you just tell her you're into me?"
"I'm not."
"She says she'll be here."
"Here?" I ask.
"Yep. By the way, we're having a party tomorrow, and it goes without saying that you'll be here."
"And you'll be back before dark to help us get ready and make sure the place is spotless," Elias adds.
"Spotless for a bunch of strangers to trash it?"
"Don't talk back, Saige," Elias says. "And don't be late. You're lucky I didn't feel like cutting my workout short to get you this time, but next time there will be consequences."
I roll my eyes, and he lowers his own to mine. "Next time you're late, I'm going to lay you across my lap and leave a handprint on that thick ass of yours. Do you want to roll your eyes like that again, Saige?"
I say nothing, but I don't roll my eyes, either.
His eyes fall to my tits again.
"Do it twice, and you'll be making breakfast topless. Understand?"
I think he's just trying to scare me, but it's working. I know he isn't attracted to me, but I'm not sure he wouldn't do it to hurt me.
"Yeah, I got it."
"Elias, Elias, Elias," Dax bemoans, shaking his head. "This is not what we discussed." He moves closer to me, wrapping his arms around me. "You want another drink, Ripley?"
I nod, and he presses his lips to my temple. "I'll get us the bottle."
Dax grabs the whiskey from the kitchen countertop, filling Nolan's glass and then mine before taking a pull from the bottle.
"Sit on my lap, baby," he says, lifting me and then pulling me on top of him.
My body calms, and I lean back against his chest, strong tattooed arms around the front of my body.
Dax exchanges a look with Elias that I don't quite understand.
"You can sleep with the dog tonight, Saige," Elias says. "Stay," he instructs her, and she curls up on the rug.
Then he turns and heads upstairs, slamming his bedroom door behind him. Heavy metal music blares from the bedroom, and Nolan turns up the television.
I take another swig from my glass, tipsy enough that it goes down a little smoother this time.
Dax reaches behind me and flips off the lights. "Was the rest of your day okay?" he asks. "Did you get anything to eat?"
He pulls the hair tie from my bun and begins combing my hair out with his fingertips.
I love it. It makes my chest hurt.
"I grabbed something at the food court earlier."
"Good," he says. "You know, I expected you to spend more than $1,500."
"I'm picky. I'll do better next time."
"You should take Nolan with you. He seems to have some moral objection to spending my money. Teach him your ways."
"It's easier for me because I also don't like you." I take another drink from my glass while he laughs, his breath warm against the back of my neck.
"I think we both know that's not true, Ripley."
After I set my drink down, he moves, lying across on the couch and pulling me down in front of him, our legs stretched toward Nolan's chair. He presses his lips to my shoulder, slipping his hand under my tank and resting it on my stomach after covering us both with a blanket.
"Do you always cuddle with people you hate, Saige?" Nolan asks.
"I try not to make a habit of it."
Dax laughs. "Yeah. She and Elias get real cozy. Can you imagine? She'd eat his head like you ate that bird."
Nolan laughs, turning and burying it into his shoulder. But I can still hear it…and I saw it. A brief flash of his teeth—an actual smile.
He's alive in there after all.
The front door opens, and a girl walks in, barely looking at the three of us before making her way up the staircase. Not Blythe—this is a new one.
I'm not making her breakfast.
After the football game ends, Nolan pulls out his laptop, and Dax flips the television to some crime drama I'm not familiar with.