Page 70 of Ecstasy
I flick my brows up, impressed with that metaphor. Jax is a smart dude.
My phone buzzes again and I flip it back over, read Alex’s texts. He’s clearly drunk as fuck, because there are a lot of typos and question marks. That means I should probably stay far, far away, but…
I never can resist making a damn scene.
“What’s he want?” Jax asks me.
“Wants me to come over.”
A pause, and then, “Well, I’m going to bed soon. You wanna go? I’ll drive you.”
I glance up at Jax, see his squinty eyes. He’s high as hell, but Eli and Alex’s house is like, a thirty minute walk from here, and I’m high as hell, too.
“Yeah, but you got anything I can take before I go?”
Jax narrows his brows, no doubt thinking about the offer he just made me. “You sure that’s a good idea?”
I shrug. “No,” I say honestly, smiling. “But I’m sure they’re having a party and this conversation with you was kind of a buzzkill.”
He laughs, shaking his head. “All right, give me a sec.” He stands to his feet and goes inside, and I tell Alex I’m on the way.
I open up Eli’s text while I’m alone on Jax’s steps. All it says is,I want to see those scars, baby girl.
22
Zara
I assumed consideringRihanna just died two weeks ago and her funeral was just last weekend, there wouldn’t be an abundance of her friends at Alex and Eli’s house.
I thought wrong.
The music is so fucking loud, I know no one would hear me knock, so I let myself inside. And as soon as I glance around, I see Eli Addison. Almost as if he’s waiting for me, and he’s positioned himself in the living room chair that faces the front door.
He’s got a drink in his hand, and a girl on his lap.
My body flushes hot with anger that I know is completely unwarranted. I came here for Alex. I can’t be mad.
I shouldn’t be mad but I am. I stare at that girl for far longer than I should too.
I know for a fact that she was friends with Rihanna. Her name is Kaitlyn or Ashley or something like that. And right now, she doesn’t seem to be thinking too much about her dead friend, the way she’s got her legs splayed over Eli’s lap as she smokes a joint, talking to another chick beside them on the couch.
He has his hand on her thigh, and he lifts his cup up to his mouth, keeping his eyes on me.
Before I can think about his text, abouthim, about how weird it is that we’re both here, someone touches my arm.
I flinch, turning my head.
Alex.
“You came,” he says, sounding pretty damned surprised. And more sober than I thought he’d be, which is good.
I swallow, push Eli from my mind even though I can feel his eyes on me as I look up at Alex.
“You didn’t think I would?”
Surprisingly, he looks nervous, and on a giant like Alex, it’s cute. He rubs his arm with the opposite hand, grinning, flashing that one dimple in his tan face. “Nah, I didn’t,” he admits. He swallows, looking down at the floor.
I bump my hip against him, smiling. In the moment, a horrible thought occurs to me. I don’t know if I’m doing all of this for Eli’s reaction, or because I want to flirt with Alex. “You planning on flashing my tits again, Cardi?”
