Page 33 of Drag You Down
“I was getting worried,” she says, sounding defensive. “I was afraid something happened to you at the bodega.”
“No,” I say. “The line was long.”
Her eyes search my face. “Is that all, Levi? You know you can talk to me about anything, don’t you?”
Not about this. Not about this at all. “I know,” I say, forcing a smile. “But there’s nothing. Just a long line, and I bumped into someone and had to apologize.” I hold up my bag. “I have those potatoes you asked for.”
Eve doesn’t say anything. The silence stretches long enough for it to get uncomfortable. I itch to confess to her, but I know she wouldn’t understand.
I don’t want to put her in danger either. My soul might already be tainted, but I can’t risk bringing the Devil’s attention to Eve.
“I’m sorry it took me so long,” I say awkwardly, like that’s really going to help the situation. “I’ll chop them up for you. Okay?”
It’s not going to help. She was already concerned, and now that she potentially saw me with Gabriel — now that she potentially saw him pull me out of the way and closer to him — I don’t know what she’s thinking.
I will her to believe me, or at the very least, to let it go.
“Okay,” Eve finally says. “If you’re sure nothing happened.”
“I’m sure,” I reassure her, but my heart is tight in my chest. I hate lying to her. I can’t tell her the truth.
Ican’t.
She nods, returning to the couch to work on her latest crocheting project.
I watch her, half expecting her to press the issue, but she doesn’t. I go to the kitchen, trying to focus on potatoes.
All I can think about is Gabriel.
I have to hope he stays out of my life.
But I don’t think he will.
CHAPTER 8
LEVI
I’m having a hard time parsing the words in the book I’m reading. It’s supposed to be a mystery novel, but the descriptions seem lifeless, and the main character bores me. I have to reread the same page three times before I figure out that a second body has been discovered, and instead of the main character, I picture Gabriel standing over the corpse, extending a bloody hand to me.
I close the book quickly. The corpse in this book isn’t even bleeding. There’s no reason I should be thinking of him.
The running water from the kitchen stops. Eve must be done doing the dishes. A few moments later, Eve comes out to the living room, drying her hands on one of the dish towels.
“I’m going to Ruth’s,” Eve says to me as she drops the dish towel into the laundry hamper we have next to the bathroom door.
“Okay.” I sit up straighter on the armchair and try to look like I’ve had a productive time reading, and not like I’ve been thinking of the Devil kissing me and tempting me into sin.
She pauses, looking at me with a frown. “Is something wrong? Ever since…” Her expression falters. “Well, you know.”
I don’t. Ever since what? Has she noticed a change since the first time I met Gabriel? The fire alarm? The last time, when I’d returned his gift from him and kissed him again?
Or because she’d seen me talking to him outside the apartment:
I must look blank, because she goes on, “The fire alarm? You’ve been acting weird.”
“No?” I say, and of course that’s another lie. I smile, hoping to ease Eve’s worry. “I’m fine. My back feels good too. Do you need me to run an errand for you?”
I shouldn’t volunteer to leave the apartment. I’d only narrowly escaped Gabriel last time—it had taken all of my will to do so.
