I was being a shitty boyfriend to Diane. I truly did have feelings for her, part of me always would because we had been together for so long. She was my first everything. Well, everything besides sex because she wanted to wait for marriage. I was waiting with her because I loved her. But, at this point, I was staying with her while longing for someone else. Maybe she knew it, maybe that was why she disliked Eli. It was not rightof me to continue with her, but I feared she would view it as another one of our breaks instead of us being over for good.
It was a huge mess.
"You're staring at me," Eli said, his voice barely above a whisper. A soft smile painted his lips, and it was refreshing to see. It sucked that I only got to see that side when he had alcohol in his system.
I knew that under all of that anger and defense was a sensitive but caring person. He was more sensitive than he wanted people to believe, and he thought he did a good job at hiding it. Others may not have been able to tell, but I could. It was proved to me that night I found him alone in the night, hurt and scared.
Eli’s knee brushed against mine and my eyes darted downward. Now our knees were resting against each other and neither of us made an attempt to move. His eyes were still on me, I could feel it without having to look. Soon enough, I let my eyes fall on his again.
But he wasn’t staring at my eyes anymore. No, his eyes had wandered down to my lips. Eli’s focus was intense in his drunken state. His lips were parted slightly and I watched as his tongue glided along his bottom one.
I felt my rival’s fingers on my bicep. His fingers carefully and gently ran along my arm before he squeezed. Somewhere in the heat of everything we managed to move closer to each other, and now his face was only inches away from mine.
I wanted to smash my lips against his, and it was obvious that he wanted it too. I hadn’t expected that from him. The naive part of me was thinking that his hate for me was just another way of masking his more complicated feelings.
But there was no way that was the case.
Either way, he wanted it right now. So did I.
My hand caressed his chin before I pressed my lips against his. Eli responded immediately, his lips matching the rhythm of mine with ease. His mouth tasted like straight liquor, but I didn’t mind it.Mierda, I was kissing Elias Richarson.
I sunk into the kiss as his hands found their way to my back. His hands felt around while my own found their way under his shirt and to his chest. Eli let out a soft moan, and the gentle sound sent a jolt through me.
That was when I remembered how incredibly drunk he was.
I carefully pulled away from him and when I opened my eyes Eli was staring at me with parted lips, lips that weren’t ready for the kissing to end. I did not want it to end either, but it was not right of me to let that continue when he was not sober.
I laid him down in his bed and tucked him in. He didn’t protest, and that told me that the moment his head hit the pillow he would be fast asleep. Once he was cozy under the covers, I squatted next to his bed and rested my head on my folded arms.
I wanted to stay to make sure he was okay. He was already drifting off, so I was basically staying just to watch him fall asleep. It was also my way of stalling. I had no desire to leave my enemy alone, but eventually I couldn’t justify my lingering any longer.
"Goodnight," I whispered as I stood on my feet. Every bone in my body wanted to kiss him once more, but I knew better than that. I shouldn’t have even kissed him in the first place.
Elias Richardson would be the death of me.
Thirteen
Eli
Iwoke up in my bed, head pounding and feeling more confused than ever. I remembered bits and pieces of the night before, but not all of it.
I remembered arriving at the party, drinking, seeing Benji, then ending up in the car with Javier. Now I was tucked into my bed safe and sound.
The first move I made was to grab my phone. I opened it to find multiple texts and missed calls from both Ricky and Bella. I must have ended up getting separated from them because all of their texts were asking if I was safe and alright. I shot them both a quick text to let them know that I was okay and would call them later in the day.
I winced when the lights in the room abruptly flicked on. It took a second for my eyes to adjust to the light, and when they did they revealed my siblings.
"You owe me twenty bucks, again." Emerson beamed as her twin sighed in defeat.
I ignored their obvious attempt to rile me up and I shut my eyes.
"We thought you got caught," Easton said, his voice much closer to me than before.
My brows furrowed. “Caught by who?”
“The cops. What, were you too drunk to remember?”
That caused my eyes to open. Cops? The police busted the party? I didn't remember any of that. He was right, I was too fucked to recall that huge event of the night.
