Chapter 8
keep it in the family
Dax
Ijump back as the front door swings open, just about hitting me in the face. "Hey, honey," I say to Elias. "How was practice?"
He isn't amused, which is typical. "Where are you going?"
I narrow my eyes. "Why do you want to know?"
If he needs my sneaky spy skills to do some reconnaissance, he should really let me know ahead of time. I have a boyfriend and a girlfriend—I'm busy.
"I know you're going to see Saige. She told me."
"Then why are you asking?"
"Because she was saying a bunch of stupid shit today, and I need you to talk some fucking sense into her."
I purse my lips, considering his words. "Am I really the best person for this job? This seems like more of a Nolan thing. Can it wait until tomorrow?"
"No."
I sigh. "All right, well, what kind of stupid shit?"
"She said she thinks we should leave Miles alone, and just wait for him to come after her again. She thinks the best way to end this is to let him do it and catch him this time. She wants to use herself as bait, and says, I can't stop her if that's what she really wants to do."
Jesus. What a menace. "She doesn't mean it—she's not doing that."
"Eh, well, that's what I said, but it seems like she means it."
"Fine," I tell him. "I'll talk to her; don't worry about it. Anything else I should know? I really need to go. You didn't park me in, did you?"
I'm going to need to make another stop before I head over there now. I better text her so she doesn't freak out. Grabbing my keys, I head toward the garage door.
"Um…no," Elias says. "That's all. And I didn't park you in. Where's Nolan?"
"Library. He'll be back."
Saige's bed is much too small for the three of us; I mean, fuck, it's too small for just Nolan and Saige. I know sleeping in such close quarters must make him uncomfortable, but he did it for her, anyway. He rarely spends an entire night in bed with me, even with plenty of space between us.
I need a bigger bed—an Alaskan King, like the one I have at home. I wonder if they make anything bigger.
"Hey, we're cool now, right?" Elias asks.
I shrug. "I think so. You're done trying to turn Saige against me, aren't you?"
"Yeah…I think so."
That doesn't sound particularly reassuring, but I'm not really in the mood for his angsty bullshit. I'm still coming down from my own angsty bullshit; my fucking liver hurts. "All right. Later."
I pull the door closed behind me, get in my car, and then text Saige, letting her know I'll be there in about an hour. I run a couple of errands, and then pick up Thai food on my way back to campus.
When I walk up to the residence hall, Saige waits just inside the glass doors for me and lets me in.
I don't miss the way her eyes search the surrounding area as she pushes them open. Part of me is glad to see she's being careful, but it kind of breaks my heart, too. I hate that she has to live like this.
"Hey, baby." I kiss the top of her head as I step into the building. "You okay? Have you been out at all since you've been back?"
She shakes her head. "Not after dark. The only place I've been is to class."
I should have taken her out to dinner; I don't know why I didn't think about that. I know she hates staying in, and she said she always feels safe with me. Damn it—this is why I need Nolan. He would have thought of it for me.
"Well, we have Elias's game tomorrow. We should all go out after that."
A door opens to my left, and Kira steps into the hallway. "I thought I heard you, Dax."
"Don't tell me you missed me."
"Not at all," she says. "I don't really think Saige did, either."
"Kira—" Saige starts.
"Yeah, well, we made up," I tell her. "Guess you'll just have to get used to having me around again."
"You mean like the way she made up with her brother in her room this afternoon?"
Saige tightens her grip on my hand. "You don't know what you're talking about," she says. "Let's go."
"No, I think I do. After I ran into you guys in the hall, I got dressed and decided to go to your room and see what you were up to, and I heard you fucking your brother."
"I wasn't—"
"Oh, please. Moaning, panting, grunting, furniture slamming against the wall—the whole thing. At least be honest about it. That's why you were so weird about it when I told you I liked him. It's because you fuck your brother, too."
"He's not my brother…" Saige tells her.
"Hey, you know what? It's none of your fucking business. Let's go, Saige." I pull her around Kira toward her room.
"That's all you have to say about it?" Kira shouts at our backs. "Wow. You know, I got behind the whole two boyfriends thing and stuck it out for the sex tape, but fucking your brother and all of his friends is a little much, even for me. I mean, how many more are there?"
Once we're behind the door, I set the bags of food on the desk and sit in the chair. "So…" I start. "How was your day?"
Saige looks at me with tears in her eyes, and then slides down the door, hugs her knees to her chest, and cries.
"…Saige?"
"I'm sorry," she says. "I was going to tell you. I didn't mean to; I don't even know why I did it. I hate him."
Hmm, I'm not so sure about that last part.
I'm not sure how I feel about it, either.
I mean, I figured it would happen again when I saw her on the couch with him this morning, and it didn't really bother me.
I don't mind the idea of sharing with Elias.
We've done it a few times, and actually, I think it's pretty fucking hot.
But if Elias wants to take her away from me—from us—well, that's going to be a fucking problem for me.
I take a deep breath and then join her on the floor in front of the door. "All right, where's your head at?"
"I think she's right. I feel disgusting. And dirty. I showered for like…an hour. You can leave if you want to; I wouldn't blame you."
"Hey, look at me." I place a hand on her cheek. "Fuck her. You are not disgusting, you're not dirty, and I don't want to leave. It's okay."
Her expression twists with confusion. "Why?"
"Because…he's family." Saige's lip turns up. "I mean, not your family. I know he's not really your family. I just mean that he's Elias, and he's always been like a brother—not your brother, though—and so, I don't know. It just doesn't bother me the way you'd think it would."
"You know, that really didn't make me feel any better."
"Yeah, I think I said brother and family too many times. Let me try again. Are you going to leave me for him?"
She shakes her head. "No. I love you."
"Then it's really not a problem for me." I stand and then take her hands, pulling her to her feet. "Come on. I'll get the food; you find our show."
"Okay."
I open the bag and start taking out the food. "Oh, but Saige?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't fuck anyone else. Keep it in the family, you know what I mean?"
"Please stop saying it like that."
"Sorry. Just…if you want dick, you can get it at home. Nowhere else."
"Dax…god, that's somehow worse."
Laughing, I hand her a container of pad thai and sit beside her. "Sorry." I kiss her quickly, but when I pull away, she looks upset again. "What? What's wrong?"
"I don't like him," she says.
But I see it; she's lying. Maybe she didn't before, but she does now. "Who are you trying to convince?" I grab a spring roll and take a bite. "Push play."
We eat in bed and watch TV together, leaving it on after Saige falls asleep. She says it's helped her lately; it doesn't help me at all, but that's okay. I needed to stay awake, anyway.
After slipping out of bed and slowly unzipping my backpack, I take out the tracking devices and start hiding them in her things.
I put one inside the wheel well of her car on the way in, and now, I hide one in her backpack and inside her wallet.
Then, I superglue another inside one of her boots, at the top of the toes.
For the last one, I cut a small hole inside the lining of her jacket and then drop it inside.
Bait my ass. She won't be going anywhere without me knowing about it. Isn't that romantic?
The girl in the bed stirs and then rolls onto her stomach, making those cute little sleep noises I love so much while reaching across the bed, as if searching for me.
I stand over her, watching for a minute, but then something flips, and those sleep noises sound more like crying before she's thrashing around in the covers.
"No! Leave me alone!"
I quickly slide under the covers and hold her against my chest.
"Stop!" she yells. "Don't!"
"Hey, it's okay," I whisper, running my fingers through her hair. "It's okay, Ripley. You're safe."
"He's cutting me!" she cries.
"No, baby. No one's cutting you. You're okay; it was just a dream." Finally, she stills. "No one will ever touch you again. I promise."
She sits up, breathless and sweating. "It didn't feel like a dream."
"I know. You're safe, though. I'm here. Go back to sleep."
She sniffles a few more times before her breath slows, and she drifts off to sleep.
"Jesus, I'm freezing. Is it always like this?" Saige asks as we join the line stretching around the block. "I thought they were terrible."
I pull her into my side, hoping to warm her up a bit.
It is cold as fuck. Wind whistles through the campus, pummeling us with ice cold rain as wet leaves fall to the ground. If it were raining just a little harder, it would probably hurt. "They are terrible, and I have no idea if it's always like this or not. I haven't been to a game."
Of course, Nolan stands at her other side, completely unfazed, in black sweats, Timberlands, and a black bubble coat.
He fucking lives for this winter bullshit; he always tells me that, someday, he'll move somewhere the sun barely rises in the winter, which sounds pretty fucking depressing. I don't think I could do it.
But then again, he's kind of too pretty to say no to. I stare at his sharp jawline, already showing a five-o'clock shadow, then at his full lips and down to his hands.