Page 87 of Ecstasy
His eyes are glued on me, his fingers pressing my hand against his thigh just a little harder. He’s in black slacks and a grey, fitted tee. A lock of dark hair is over one eye and he just looks so fuckinggood.
“I see you,”he told me. And I didn’t believe him then. But I do now.
“Yes,” he answers me, and I close my eyes tight.
“Hey,” he says quietly, “look at me.”
I don’t.
He lets go of my hand and grabs my chin between his fingers. I snap my eyes open.
“Does that hurt?” he asks.
For a second, I think he’s talking about his hand on my face, and that doesn’t hurt. But a second later, I realize what he’s really asking.
I nod. “Yeah,” I admit. “It does.”
He lets go of me, pulling back and blowing out a breath. “End things with him. For good,” he says without looking at me.
My insides squirm at that. “Even if I did, Eli, he would not be okay with this.” And would I? Do I want to give Alex up just yet?
Eli laughs, but it’s cold. He turns his gaze to me. “I don’t give a fuck what Alex would or wouldn’t be okay with. If you want me, if you want me to be just yours, end shit with him. If you don’t, fine. But until you figure it out, I want to experience everything too, baby girl.” And then he gets out of the car, slamming the door shut.
27
Zara
I’m late.
By two minutes, which is fantastic because people are already there, crowded around the private room reserved for Mom and Cory. It means Mom can’t blow up at me just yet and if I leave early with Eli, she’ll have to get me on the phone.
But it seems like Eli Addison helps soften her anger anyway. She has no idea he’s Alex’s roommate, and besides that, she’s only met Alex once before, over the summer when I was blitzed out of my mind and she had no idea. The whole exchange lasted five minutes or less, a run-in at the grocery store where Alex was buying me wine.
She was pretty mad I hadn’t told her I was dating someone. I lied to her and told her I wasn’t. I don’t need them to talk. It’s enough that Alex is using Kylie to keep tabs on me. I don’t need her talking to Alex too.
Mom’s big blue eyes light up when she sees Eli though, which is a relief. The pressure is no longer on me. Mom pulls him in for a hug, which is a little comical, I get my height from my father and she looks like a child in his arms, and she admonishes me for not mentioning I was bringing my “boyfriend”. She said she would’ve had a place setting for him.
I glance around at the private room of Crate & Egg. It’s a high-end brunch spot just outside of Monkey Junction, but place settings definitely aren’t fucking necessary.
“He’s just a friend,” I tell her quickly as Eli laughs softly to himself, slipping his hands into his pockets. “We’re just, uh…we just met for coffee this morning,” I add awkwardly. Despite myself, I almost laugh, too. Like, why the hell would I bring a friend to meet my future new stepdad?
“Well,friendof my daughter, it’s nice to meet you.”
Eli flashes her a grin and I think about him holding me underwater on Wednesday night. I think about his forearm against my throat. “You, too, ma’am.”
Oh, wow. There’s that Eli charm. “Where’s Cory?” I ask Mom quickly, looking around the room for him before she can question Eli about our non-friendship. I can’t think straight enough for questions.
My body is sore from sex with Alex I guess, and I’m feeling pretty fucking low after last night’s high, but I’m here. That’s what matters. I made it, and clearly, Mom doesn’t suspect me of using anything right now even though I swallowed an Adderall at the apartment in my bathroom while I changed.
Even Eli doesn’t know that.
I spot one of my cousins, Jessica, across the room, eyeing the pale pink cake on the banquet table. She looks up and offers me a little wave, her eyes going from me to Eli and back again, brows waggling. I roll my eyes with a smile and look away.
Many of the people here are Mom’s coworkers, a couple who I assume must be Cory’s parents because the man has his same sad brown eyes and the woman has his rather large nose. It occurs to me that this is a little elaborate for an informalengagement party from two people who have been married before and have already met the family more or less, but then Mom holds up her hand, wiggling her slender, manicured fingers and I see why this is happening.
Jesus Christ.
There’s the diamond engagement ring that Cory gave her two months ago, but there’s another ring, too.
