Page 71 of Ecstasy
He meets my gaze, arching a brow. “I mean, only if it’s in my room and we’re alone.”
I bite my tongue, flicking my eyes up and down his body. He’s wearing black, fitted pants and a plain white tee. How such a simple outfit could look so damn sexy, I don’t know. This reminds me of when we first met. When I first fell for him. Before all the fighting and the shitty thing I did to ruin us.
This is—dare I say it—fun.
“I thought you needed space,” I remind him, but I keep my tone light. I don’t want to fight, and since he doesn’t really seem drunk, tonight could be peaceful between us.
His jaw clenches and I see his hands curl into fists. I wonder if he’s thinking about Jamal. I wonder if I should’ve reminded him of my bullshit. I wonder what he’d think if he knew just two nights ago Eli fingered me in their pool.
“I did,” he admits. “But this week, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you, Zara. And after lunch yesterday I just I needed to see you again.”
My heart skips a beat in my chest. I try to play it off. “You just wanna fuck me, huh?”
This seems to settle him. He runs a hand through his thick hair and flashes me a lopsided smile. “If I’m allowed to.”
I laugh a little. Force myself not to think about Eli. “Get me a drink and we’ll see.” I can’t tell if he’s already been drinking, but he doesn’t look messed up. Then again, I probably don’t either. Before I left Jax’s house, I used some eyedrops he had on hand, wiped away my smeared eyeliner—Jax told me I wear too much, I told him to shut the fuck up—and took a shot of vodka before I used Jax’s mouthwash.
I’m just in skinny jeans and a cream-colored tank top, platform boots on my feet, but I know I look good.
Not because my own eyes told me, but because Alex still seems nervous and I can feel Eli’s eyes on me.
“Yes ma’am,” Alex tells me and turns to walk down the hall.
But he holds out his hand.
I glance at Eli before I take it.
He’s still watching me, but his hand has moved further up the cheerleader’s thigh and she’s spread her legs wider on his lap. I wonder if she’d let him hold her underwater while he fingered her.
Motherfucker.
I take Alex’s hand as I stare right back at him.
The kitchen is thankfully empty, but I’m shocked as shit to see people swimming in the pool past those sliding glass doors, like not shit happened just two weeks ago. Like a girl isn’t dead. Like her body wasn’t just floating at the bottom of that pool.
Don’t think about it.
“You okay?” Alex asks me and I realize I closed my eyes.
I spring them open, pushing the memory of Rihanna away. I don’t know why it bothers me so much right now. I didn’t know her. I didn’t like what I knew about her. But for some reason it just pulls at me. Along with Alex’s word to her before she left the room with Eli. And Jax’s warning. Alex’s confession, “It was just a big mess, Za. It was just…a misunderstanding. I didn’t hurt anyone, okay?”
“Yeah,” I answer Alex, forcing a fake smile on my face as I look at all the bottles of alcohol on the island in the kitchen. Try not to think about him shoving me against it. That tequila bottle. The cut between my lips. “What’re you gonna make for me?”
He’s standing beside me and I realize he isn’t moving, his big ass hands resting on the marble of the island.
I turn to look up at him.
I don’t like what I see.
Something that looks far too much like pity. It makes me squirm.
“What?” I ask him, unable to help myself.
His dark brown eyes soften, and this is the kindest look he’s ever directed toward me. I liked it better when he was being an asshole. I’m about to tell him so when he just says, “You found a dead body the morning after a wild party.” His tone is so straightforward, I don’t interrupt him even though I feel all itchy and hot and I’m dying to grab the closest bottle and start chugging it. “It’s okay to be weirded out by it.”
I glance at the pool again. I see her again.
I hear Eli behind me. “There’s a body in the pool, baby girl.”
