He needed to get out of that room. The tension between them was thick and awkward, and there was no way the others hadn’t picked up on it. It didn’t help that Elias could feel every time she looked at him, every move she made, even when he wasn’t looking at her. He was still so in tune with her, and while that had been a good thing when judging her comfort levels before, now he wished that shit would go away.
“Elias?”
So much for getting away from the tense atmosphere.
His eyes shifted to where Eri stood at the threshold of the kitchen. He said nothing, and the longer they stood in silence, the tenser the atmosphere became, and the more she seemed to shift with uncertainty. She came further into the kitchen, stopping when only the island separated them and those syrup eyes stared into his.
“I…can we talk?” she asked.
Elias rounded the island, and she turned to look at him. “Nah,” he started. “I don’t have anything to say,” he finished, turning to leave the kitchen. He retook his seat once he was backin the living room. “Deal me in,” he told Javier, while being all too aware of Avian’s disapproving eyes on him.
Elias was glad he’d left game night earlier than he normally would have when, twenty minutes after walking through his front door, a downpour started. The weather had called for clear skies all day and night, but he wasn’t surprised at the abrupt change. It was spring.
He’d just slipped into a pair of sweatpants after his shower when he heard what he thought was a knock on his front door, the sound almost drowned out by the thunder. He headed down the hall to check as another knock came a few seconds later. It was almost midnight, and he figured it might have been Jordan since he would crash at Elias’ on nights he’d gone out with friends and didn’t want his mom to know he was high, but he usually gave him notice first.
He looked through the security hole and considered not answering the door, but she was soaked. And while Elias wished he didn’t care and was good at pretending like he didn’t, he did, and he wasn’t an asshole. He opened the door and stepped aside to let her in.
“I didn’t think you would answer,” she said, removing the hood from her head. The jacket she wore was soaked, along with the rest of her. A shiver ran through her body from the chill.
“How long were you out there?” he asked because while he could imagine she would have gotten somewhat wet from her car to his front door, once on the porch she should have been safe from the rain. Eri shrugged.
Elias sighed before leaving her there and going into his bedroom. He got his phone off the nightstand and slipped it into his pocket. Then he grabbed a pair of boxers, a T-shirt, and sweatpants from his drawer. He made a pit stop in the hallbathroom to drop the clothes off before returning to the living room.
“Go shower and get out of those clothes before you get sick.”
He watched her shift from foot to foot before nodding and walking past him. Elias pulled out his phone and sat on the couch. He found he had two missed calls from Eri. Swiping them off the screen, he pulled up the weather. The storm was supposed to persist until seven the next morning.
Elias leaned back on the couch and rubbed his temples. He could send her home when she got out of the shower, but Avian was right. His mother raised him better than that, and regardless of how he felt or what happened between them, he’d feel like shit if he sent her away and she got into an accident in the storm.
He knew why she was there, but she should have just gone home. Took his dismissal at game night for what it was because what she was attempting to do was unfair to him, and while Elias had told his cousin he didn’t have a problem starting over if he needed to, he meant if he was the one at fault, if he fucked it up somehow. This had not been his fault.
Wasn’t it? Because you knew something was wrong, and you still let your dick win.
Elias sighed. Okay, so he was responsible in a way, but he’d done his part. She was the one being stubborn and refusing to talk to him. He closed his eyes as the sound of the driving rain grew louder.
He hadn’t realized how long he’d been like that until he heard the bathroom door open. Elias turned his attention towards the hall, and Eri emerged wearing his clothes.
“It’s going to rain for several hours,” he told her, standing. “You can stay. You know where everything is. Don’t forget to lock the door when you sneak out in the morning,” he finished, walking past her. He didn’t get far before she grabbed his wrist.
“Okay. I deserved that, but can we talk?”
Elias looked back at her. “I told you. I don’t have anything to say.”
“Then you can listen. Please?”
He wanted to tell her no. Should have told her no, but instead he said, “Fine. Talk.” He pulled his wrist from her grasp.
She walked over to the couch and sat. Elias followed a few seconds later, sitting at the other end. It was quiet between them, and he allowed it to hang in the air. She wanted to talk. She’d be the one to break it.
“I’m sorry,” she said after a moment. “I shouldn’t have left like that. I shouldn’t have ignored your reaching out.” She paused to look at him. “I was…overwhelmed. It’s been a long time since I’ve been with someone, and it wasn’t…I didn’t think I would get that emotional, that I would react that way, and I didn’t know how to handle it. I wasn’t sure how to tell you what I felt because it was sex, and I didn’t want you to think I was…I don’t know…strange for getting that emotional about it.”
“Is that it?” Elias asked.
“What do you mean, is that it?”
“Eri, you just sat here and told me a bunch of nothing. We had sex, you got emotional, and you left because you made an assumption. Okay, cool, but why? Why did you get emotional? Why didn’t you do the only thing I’ve ever asked you for?”
“My last experience with sex was horrible. It ruined intimacy for me. I hadn’t expected to feel anything other than trying to cover that memory, and I got so much more than that. I felt like you opened me up and looked inside and…I hadn’t expected that. You’re right. I should have talked to you. I don’t have a reason for why I didn’t, so I won’t make an excuse for it.”
