I keep my voice light. “Since I did something stupid.”
Elijah’s gaze holds mine. “Is this about the Lockup?”
My pulse jumps. “What?”
He doesn’t smile this time. “Don’t play dumb with me, Brit. Folks talk.”
Of course they do. Hell would gossip at a funeral if it thought it could get a good story out of grief.
“It was a party,” I say.
Elijah’s eyes darken. Not with lust, not with hunger. With disapproval dressed up as worry. “You don’t belong in their world.”
The words hit me like a slap with a smile.
I stiffen. “I didn’t ask to belong.”
“You danced with one of them,” he says, voice low like he’s trying to keep it private even out here under buzzing lights. “That’s all it takes for them to decide you’re theirs, Brittany. Their property.”
My breath catches.
Ownership.
“You’ve seen the vests their women wear,” he adds.
I force out a laugh that doesn’t sound like me. “They don’t own me.”
Elijah watches me like he’s deciding whether I’m lying to him or to myself. Then he surprises me.
“Pearly Gates ain’t safe either,” he says.
My eyes narrow. “You mean your people?”
He flinches like the word stings. “I mean the men who hide behind scripture and act like God gave them permission to hurt what they want.”
I stare at him.
That ain’t the Pearly Gates line. That ain’t the polished Sunday version of Elijah. It’s something real. Something sharp. Something dangerous in its own way.
My heart does a stupid little twist.
And for one small breath of time I forget the club. I forget Oaks. I forget Bethany and whispers and gloves and eyes on me.
I just see Elijah, the boy I used to watch from across the cafeteria. A man now standing here like he could be my safe option.
He steps closer, voice softer. “If you need help, you can call me.”
I swallow. “Why would you help me?”
His gaze flicks to my mouth then away like he hates himself for noticing. “Because I’ve always liked you.”
A flush moves up my neck. My skin prickles. My stomach dips.
There it is.
The pull that doesn’t feel forbidden because it’s age-appropriate and sweet and clean. The kind of thing that would make my daddy nod approval if he was home long enough to meet anybody I brought around.
I open my mouth to say something, anything, when a shadow falls across the edge of the lot.
