13. Elias
‘Goddammit, Levi.’ Elias shrugged out of his brother’s hold. ‘You don’t need to manhandle me.’
‘I think I do,’ Levi replied as they stepped into the elevator.
Levi had made good on his promise to physically march Elias to dinner. He’d managed to avoid Alexis and her inevitable questions for the past three weeks, but she’d obviously put her foot down with Levi. He could not get out of dinner with them, as much as he’d tried.
Part of him was relieved Levi had come to personally fetch him. He’d been caught in the spiral of wanting to avoid everyone but also needing some social contact. Levi had taken the decision out of his hands by escorting him tonight, and part of him was grateful. A tiny part. An incy-wincy part.
‘Alexis and I have been cooking all day,’ Levi informed him on their ride upward.
Elias grunted in response. A home-cooked meal would be nice. He’d been subsisting on takeaway and instant noodles for the past few weeks. If he didn’t shop, then he didn’t need to leave his house, and if he didn’t leave his house, he had less chance of running into the doctor who shall not be named.
Or his mother. But he refused to give her any mental real estate.
‘Theo and Sarah are coming?—’
Elias groaned loudly.
‘What? You like Theo and Sarah.’
‘Yeah, and I’m like the little kid that tags along with the big kids. It’s bearable when it’s just you and Alexis, but add in Theo and Sarah and I feel like the side character who dies first in the horror movie.’
Levi slowly turned to give him a flat stare. ‘Dramatic much? Want some cheese with that whine? Do you need me to call the whambulance?’
‘Fuck off.’
‘Were you always this whiny? I don’t remember you being this much of a whinger.’
Elias sighed. He had to admit he was kind of sick of himself as well. He’d always been the happy-go-lucky guy. The one who was always up for a laugh or a joke. More and more lately, he’d felt himself spiralling.
He’d like to say it was because of Ka—the doctor who shall not be named, but truthfully, he’d already been on a downward slide before his exhibition and that night.
The whole family-being-criminals thing had obviously affected him more than he’d thought. He should probably talk to someone about that. He wouldn’t, but he probably should.
The elevator doors opened, and Elias followed Levi down the hall. His body felt like it weighed a million kilograms. Why the hell was he so tired? Oh, right. Sleep had been elusive, the capricious little minx. Maybe Levi could prescribe some sleeping tablets… but then he would have to explain, and that would open a can of worms and?—
‘Honey! I’m home!’ Levi called as he let them into the apartment.
Elias mimed gagging as he kicked off his boots in the foyer. Levi had a thing about mess, and Elias wasn’t exactly sure his boots wouldn’t leave scuff marks all over his brother’s precious floors.
The apartment smelled amazing, and Elias’ stomach growled in response. He hadn’t really been hungry lately—he’d just been eating for fuel not pleasure—but now he was ravenous.
‘In the kitchen,’ Alexis called back.
Elias didn’t want to admit it, but the familiar and comfortable domesticity of his brother’s apartment released some of the tension in his shoulders. Okay, fine. Levi had been right—not that he would tell his brother that. Levi had far too big an ego as it was without Elias feeding it.
Following Levi, he stepped into the kitchen and froze. Sitting on the stool at the kitchen counter, with her back to him, was the one woman he had both been hoping to see and hoping never to see again.
Dr Kate Croft.
Fuck.
Elias turned around to walk back out of the apartment, but Levi seized him by the arm and stopped him in his tracks.
‘You remember Kate, don’t you?’
Kate turned slowly to face them, and her skin paled. It was already pale to start with—a lot paler than he remembered her being—but when she saw him, she became deathly pale… almost green.
Elias forced a smile to his face. ‘Doc,’ he said, desperately trying not to clench his jaw on the moniker he’d given her. ‘What a… surprise.’
Kate blinked at him and then looked at Levi. Behind her, Alexis was beaming a mile-wide smile like a golden retriever who’d just dropped a dead duck at his feet.
Shit.
Alexis had done this for him.
Double shit.
‘Elias,’ Kate enunciated slowly. ‘I wasn’t expecting to see you here.’
That wasn’t half obvious, and by the looks of it, she wasn’t in the least bit pleased to see him.
Again, the desire to turn and flee gripped him, but he stopped himself. This was his brother’s house. If she was uncomfortable, then she should be the one to leave. She knew how to. She’d done it before.
Ooh, burn. A pity he couldn’t say it out loud.
He smirked at his own sarcasm. ‘How goes the vacation? Done anything interesting?’ Or done anyone interesting? he implied.
‘Nothing memorable,’ she replied.
Ouch. That stung.
‘Then maybe you aren’t hanging out in the right places.’
‘Maybe.’ She turned her back to him and picked up her glass. Did her hands tremble?
Levi crossed to the fridge and opened it, helping himself to a beer. He cracked it and took a swig before grabbing one for Levi and handing it to him.
He looked at Alexis’ wine glass and then at Kate’s. ‘Refill?’
‘Yes, please,’ Alexis said, holding out her glass.
Elias topped it up and then went to pour some into Kate’s glass, but she covered it with her hand.
‘Kate’s not drinking,’ Alexis said.
Elias raised an eyebrow. ‘Oh?’
‘I’m back at work in a few days. Need to have a clear head so I don’t make any stupid mistakes,’ she said.
The. Fuck?
He smiled serenely and took another long drink from his beer. Just for good measure, he grabbed a second one out of the fridge and went to walk across to the couch when the doorbell rang.
‘That will be Sarah and Theo,’ Alexis said. ‘Do you mind letting them in?’
‘No problem,’ Elias said.
He tucked the second bottle of beer under his arm and went to answer the door. Theo saw the beer and stole it, frowning.
‘Were you trying to warm this up for me?’
‘I’ll have it back if you have a problem,’ Elias said as he reached for the beer.
Theo swiped it out of his reach. ‘I’m good.’
‘Where’s mine?’ Sarah asked.
‘Alexis is drinking wine, Kate is abstaining, or there’s beer in the fridge,’ Elias said, leading them into the kitchen.
‘Wine for me,’ Sarah said, hopping up onto the stool beside Kate. ‘Hey, Kate. Good to see you again.’
‘You too,’ Kate replied, giving Sarah a big smile. A smile she had neglected to give to him when she saw him.
Elias turned away and grabbed a glass and the wine for Sarah. After pouring, he swallowed the rest of his beer and grabbed another one, earning him a raised eyebrow from Theo. Theo’s eyebrows were nowhere near as opinionated as Justin’s. Thank fuck.
Elias once again headed for the couch but was stopped by Alexis’ voice.
‘Dinner’s ready. Come and grab something to take to the table.’
Elias gritted his teeth and once more turned back to the kitchen, nearly running into Kate in the process. They stared at each other for a long moment.
She still smelled the same.
Her sapphire-blue eyes were still just as piercing.
Her lips… her lips were still just as kissable.
Damn it all to hell.
He broke their gaze and stomped past her to pick up a bowl of pasta and took it to the table. He didn’t know how the hell he was going to get through dinner. Alexis had done this on purpose, which meant she would have arranged the seating so that he and Kate would be near each other. He wouldn’t be able to escape. By the looks of Kate, she was realising the same thing.
Elias took a moment just to breathe. He could do this. He was a grown adult who knew how to control his emotions. So, she had rejected him? It wasn’t the first time, and it wouldn’t be the last. It was not the end of the world. He could deal with it. He’d remained friends with a lot of his exes—not all of them, but some of them—so he knew how to be friendly and polite and not let his hurt feelings get in the way.
What was the point of being an arsehole to her? Didn’t she have the right to reject him? She didn’t owe him a goddamned thing. He was being petty and immature because his feelings got a little hurt. He needed to grow the fuck up.
Plastering a pleasant smile on his face, he returned to the table with a basket of garlic bread. He took his seat across from Kate and was determined not to take his bad mood out on her. Before they’d slept together, they’d actually gotten on pretty well. He just had to find that again.
‘Are you looking forward to going back to work?’ he asked, keeping his tone even and light.
‘Um… yes and no,’ she replied, looking at him suspiciously.
‘They haven’t thrown you back in the deep end by rostering you on night shift, have they?’ Levi asked, and Elias relaxed, letting his brother take over the conversation.
See? He could do this. He was a grownup. He could behave like an adult. He might even enjoy the evening… he didn’t think so, but miracles happened. At the very least he could not make it awkward or uncomfortable for anyone… including Kate.