Page 20 of Laila Manning
“Hold still, and I’ll make sure you get a sucker when you’re done.”
“Now you’re talking my language, Doc.” He closed his eyes, tipping his head backward like he was going to take a nap instead of enduring liquid fire sealing his wound together. “Praise and treats are the only way to make me behave.”
“I’ll have to remember that.” I mused, pinching his skin together with my fingers and wincing as I quickly poured the sealant into the wound. He jerked and hissed as it essentially cauterized the muscle inhis chest. The muscles in his neck were taut, but he remained still and passive otherwise, leaving me in awe of his strength.
“Don’t glue your fingers to my chest.” He said between clenched teeth before popping one eye open to look at me. “Unless you’re looking for an excuse to continue our friendship experiment.”
I laughed, pulling my fingers from his skin as the solution got tacky and dabbed at the bit of blood that escaped from the wound. It wasn’t pretty, but it was sealed, protecting him from infection and more blood loss. “Friendship.” I pondered, but the word didn’t feel right, though I didn’t offer any others in its place. “Are you actually friends with anyone?”
“Hmm.” He hummed, “Ryker.” He sat up again, looking down at the wound on his chest and then at me. “And occasionally your brother.”
“Just occasionally?” I questioned, entranced by him again as he stood up and towered over me. “When aren’t you?”
“When we’re arguing over you.”
Chapter 6 – Zeke
Her brown eyes dilated, and her nostrils flared as she stared up at me. “Me?”
“Mmh.” I nodded. “He gets possessive of you.”
“Why does that cause an argument?” she asked bravely, holding my gaze.
I smirked, fighting the urge to tell her how many times a day I thought about her. Or how many times a day I envisioned her naked in my bed, head tipped back in ecstasy. “Because he’s a cranky bastard to deal with when he wants to be.” To avoid a bloody mess, I bypassed her, washed my hands at the sink, and thus prevented a trail of blood on the doorknobs. I was far from patched up completely, but the biggest one was taken care of for the time being. I headed for the door again, stopping next to her where she stayed frozen at the counter and leaned down until I hovered right above her ear. “And he can’t stand the thought of someone like me, tainting you.”
She inhaled quickly, turning her head so we were face to face. “Good thing you aren’t interested in me then, isn’t it?”
I chuckled humorlessly, and tomorrow I’d blame it on the amount of whiskey I drank on the way back to the mansion to numb the pain radiating through my body from a job gone sideways, but tonight I was going to indulge.
“Good thing you’re the only one who doesn’t see me for what I am. Because then you’d know that’s a lie.”
She licked her lips, “And what are you then?”
“A monster.” I replied, leaning forward, and bending her back over the counter, without actually touching her. Because that was the flaw in everything. She couldn’t stand my touch. “A monster with a hunger for a sweet little innocent brown-eyed girl that lives across the hall from me, screaming my name in her sex dreams, tempting me.”
Her chest collapsed as I exposed her secret out into the open and exposed myself at the same moment. “Zeke.” She whispered, and I closed my eyes, savoring the sound of my name on her lips again.
“Don’t worry.” I sighed, leaning back away from her tense body. “I’ll never touch you.” I shook my head and took a step back. “I know you don’t want me.” Although it was difficult, I walked away, leaving her because it was the right thing to do, despite the turmoil in my heart with every step.
I didn’t just lust after Laila. That much was obvious.
There was something else inside of me that was drawn to her, even though I didn’t understand it. I didn’t understand the connection between us, especially considering we didn’t know each other.
“I’m incapable of giving you anything—that includes friendship, Zeke.” She called after me. “I thought I made that much clear when I bolted from your apartment after you tried to treat my burned hand.” She shrugged sadly, “I’m too broken.”
I stopped once again in the doorway, so close to leaving this whole situation behind me, but turned around anyway. “I don’t need you to give me anything, Laila.” I tightened my hand around the doorknob to keep the emotions I was feeling off my face. “And my friendship isn’t conditional on you giving me anything in return. I just want to get to know you. Help you.”
“I don’t know how to.” She shook her head. “I know nothing about you, and you don’t know anything about me, and I don’t know how to change that because I’m so fucked up, I can’t even converse with you like a normal person.” Her anxiety was turning into hysterics as she got worked up over her failures. “I can’t carry on a conversation with anyone for long before the weight of it literally exhausts me.”
“I need nothing in return from you.” I repeated. “You already have my friendship. When you’re ready to let me in, I’ll listen, however you decide to communicate. And I’ll return the favor when you’re ready.”
It had been six days since I had seen Laila during the late-night kitchen incident. Six days since I laid eyes on her with my own, and not on the other side of a security monitor.
Ihadwatched her plenty from the security footage around the mansion.
Obsession.
That’s the only word that I could put to what my fascination with her melted down to. Obsessed. I was completely obsessed with her, and she had no idea. She didn’t even think I was interested in her. Andin a way, that was exactly what I needed her to think. At the end of the day, nothing could ever happen between us. Not even counting the drama that something between us would cause for Jed, she didn’t stand to gain anything from letting me near her.
