I curl my arms around his neck, so giddy with love and lust that I am about to combust, my body burning to ashes from the heat being generated between us.
“I love you, Elizabeth.”
“I love you too. Now shut up and kiss me,” I demand, tugging the hairs on the back of his head.
“Yes, ma’am.”
Chapter 23
Elizabeth
“Are we going to acknowledge the elephant in the room? Or are the two of you going to continue to act like Carthusians and not talk. That was mainly aimed at you, Meredith, since you’ve been uncharacteristically non-talkative most of the day,” Trevor says as he continues to type on his laptop.
It’s almost nine in the evening and Trevor, Meredith, and I are shut in our study room at the library, finishing up our English Lit project which we’ll actually get done tonight once Trevor finishes the final edits.
Meredith looks up from what’s she reading, her eyes like those of a deer caught in headlights, her mouth hanging open but no words coming out. Yep. Trevor was spot on with his observation.
“Yes, I’m curious about the whole Fallon brother thing,” I tell him. “But my mind has been elsewhere today for other reasons that have nothing to do with that. But by all means, let’s cage that elephant.”
Trevor doesn’t look away from what he’s doing, but I see the half-grin that tips his mouth.
My morning started off well. Daniel and I met Julien for our early morning run. Wanting to impress Daniel, I refused to whine and beg Julien for mercy after mile eight, even though my lungs were burning and sweat was pouring off me in sheets. Instead, I listened to Daniel and Julien talk. And boy, did they talk. The entire time. I see a bromance brewing between those two, despite the age difference.
After our run, Daniel and I went back to my place to eat breakfast and get ready for my appointment with Dr. Clairemont. That’s when my morning took a slight turn for the worse. Today’s session was intense. Dr. Clairemont explained that she was going to start pushing me more during our bi-weekly meetings. Daniel was not happy to find out about my “memory episodes,” the ones where I zone out and the ones where I wake up in the middle of the night screaming. I knew I would have to tell him about them eventually, but I also knew that when I did, he and Drew would go into overprotective mode, and that was something I was wanting to put off as long as possible.
So, instead of enjoying a nice walk with Daniel and showing him around campus like I planned, Daniel insisted we stay at my apartment to talk until it was time for me to leave for afternoon classes and evening study group. I was able to carefully deflect his suggestions of meeting with Dr. Clairemont more often every week, moving to a dorm on campus so I was around people, getting a roommate, having a personal bodyguard, getting a dog, moving back to Seattle — that was an immediate no — and asking Ryder to live with me. The last suggestion didn’t bother me as much, but I still declined.
I refocus my attention on Trevor. “Honestly, Trevor. I really don’t know Fallon. Whether you’re his brother or not is neither here nor there for me.”
“He seems to know you,” he replies.
Meredith is staring at me now, her eyes even bigger, and she mouths, “What are you going to say?” at me.
I decide to tell Trevor a partial truth. “He’s friends with Ryder and the other guys I went to school with. I guess he knows me from them.”
Trevor’s gaze flicks up from his laptop screen, his unnaturally blue eyes scrutinizing me. “My little brother gives about two fucks about anything. His life is all about hooking up, partying, and getting high. But you, Elizabeth, are a different story. He went apeshit over you. He threatened me over you.”
“I also remember you antagonizing him.”
“Fallon expects everyone to heel at his boot. I refuse to do so.”
“Fallon doesn’t seem to be such a bad person, Trevor. Yes, he’s a bit odd, and trying to have a conversation with him should be considered an Olympic sport.”
“I hear a ‘but’ coming,” Trevor comments.
“No buts. I think your situation with your brother is sad. Then again, I don’t know the history between the two of you, and I don’t really know either one of you that well, so my opinion isn’t that important.”
“Your opinion matters to me,” he mumbles.
Meredith kicks me under the table to get my attention. She’s holding her phone in her lap, typing furiously. My phone vibrates in the back pocket of my skinny jeans.
“If it were my sibling,” I begin and then out of nowhere I’m slammed with memories of my sister, Hailey. Memories of us running through a forest, memories of us snuggled in bed together as she reads to me, memories of bruises and burn marks.
“Elizabeth! Elizabeth!”
Meredith has her hands on either side of my face, shaking me. My fingers are clenched around the edges of the study room table, knuckles white, arms locked in a rigid position.
I think Trevor might be saying something to me, but I’m not sure. I hear a loud bang like the sound of a door slamming, and then a deep voice demanding, “Move.” Warm, calloused fingers grip the back of my neck and squeeze in a massaging motion.
