Eri felt her cheeks heat as those intense eyes bore into hers.Was it possible for a person to have vibrant teal eyes?His were the prettiest mix of blue and green she’d ever seen. Not reallyleaning towards one more than the other. Pulling herself out of her thoughts, she cleared her throat and walked past him.
“I’ll rinse,” she said. She wouldn’t respond to his comment and wasn’t giving him another choice.
They washed the dishes in relative silence, and when they finished, they went into the living room to watch the movie he’d chosen. As he started it, Eri turned off the light and sat on the couch. She wasn’t sure what he’d picked but knew from the opening scene it was a horror movie. She was okay with those as long as there weren’t a lot of jump scares.
Eri jumped slightly as the first person was killed at the end of the opening scene. She’d been prepared for it, knowing it would likely happen, but that had helped little. Subconsciously, she moved into Elias’ side, and without missing a beat, he wrapped his arm around her.
They were forty-five minutes into the movie when a scene caught her by surprise, and Eri damn near ended up in his lap with the way she jumped. The ax that was thrown on screen looked like it was coming at them before taking the head off the next victim. Elias chuckled and pulled her onto his lap.
“You don’t have to pretend to be scared, Amate,” he teased. “If this is where you want to be, I won’t complain. This seat is always reserved for you.”
“I’m not pretending,” she said intelligently, which only drew another chuckle from him. Eri huffed and turned her attention back towards the screen.
She tried to refocus on the movie but was too distracted. His cologne surrounded her, and she was very much aware of their position—how he wrapped one arm around her waist and ran the thumb of his other hand up and down her thigh.
It was twenty minutes later when she jumped again from someone being stabbed through the eye with a fireplace poker,and from the deep rumble she could feel against her back as he laughed, she knew he was about to tease her again.
“Are you sure you’re not pretending?” he whispered in her ear. “Because it’s starting to seem like—”
“Shut up and kiss me,” she cut him off as she turned on his lap.
“Bossy little brat,” he smirked, gripping her chin, and when his lips touched hers, Eri no longer gave a damn about what was happening on the television screen. All that mattered was the way he kissed her like he was trying to steal the very air from her lungs, and she didn’t mind that at all.
14
“Do you like it?” Eri asked as she watched him closely.
“I do.”
She pursed her lips, crossing her arms over her chest. “Be honest. Don’t just say you like it because you think you’ll hurt my feelings if you don’t.”
Elias shifted his eyes from her laptop screen to her. “I don’t have a reason to lie to you, Amate.” He kissed her, and Eri wondered when she’d get used to the feeling of his lips on hers. “Okay?” he asked.
“Okay,” she responded. “Since you like it, you should probably send them out soon; your birthday is in a week. I can come early to help you set up and decorate.”
His birthday was just around the corner, and it had taken Eri longer than she would have liked to make the invite for him. Not that he really needed one. He said it would be small, so she assumed their usual group would be in attendance, along with maybe a few other people. However, she’d wanted him to like it and had scrapped almost everything she thought of for three days. She’d anticipated being able to complete it in one day once he gave her the information.
“Send it to me, and I’ll send it now, then we can go.”
Eri sent him the invite, closed her laptop and took it into her bedroom. She put on her shoes,then grabbed her crossbody and a jacket before exiting the room. Her phone buzzed in her back pocket, and she figured it was him sending the invite to everyone. It wasn’t like she needed it. She’d made it for him andhad all but said she’d be there by volunteering to arrive early to help set up.
She found Elias standing at the front door, and they exited the apartment. Eri paused briefly to lock the door, and once they were in his car, they headed towards his shop.
She was excited to see it. It was her first time going, and she was interested in seeing the type of environment he liked to work in. Sure, Eri had seen him working in the tattoo shop a couple of times when she’d gone with Avian to drop something off for Marco, but that was different. While they each had their own stations, the shop had a singular overall theme and vibe. This would be his curated space, and Eri had always been interested in seeing how others preferred to work.
They pulled up to a nondescript building twenty minutes later, and she was a bit disappointed. She wasn’t sure what she was expecting it to look like, but it wasn’t the plain warehouse-style building that sat in front of her. The address number sat above the door, but aside from that, there wasn’t even a sign.
Elias led them to the front door and unlocked it. Then he keyed in a code to turn the alarm off while Eri stood just inside the doorway. What the building lacked in presence from the outside, it made up for with the entrance alone.
A large mural of a motorcycle cruising down a scenic route with landscaping on either side was painted on the wall behind the reception desk. It was drawn so that the person standing in front of the desk felt like the rider.
“Did you draw this?” she asked, taking in the details.
“I did. Do you like it?”
Eri nodded. “It makes you feel like you’re there.”
“I’ll take you one day. It’s the route to Wheeler’s Peak.”
