And his lock screen is the extra broody photo of Nolan.
Maybe it's not so bad that his brain works in a way that isn't exactly conducive to falling in love. Nolan said his works violently, and mine…
I picture myself as one of those comic strip characters with a rain cloud following them wherever they go. While the sun shines on everyone else, I'm soaked and shivering, desperate to feel its warmth against my skin, but fully aware it isn't meant for me. And that if I did, it would only make it worse once it's taken away again.
That's how I work. It's always raining in my head.
The sun shines on Dax, though. He wakes up happy, and he doesn't let anything hurt him. Maybe I could learn something from him.
"I didn't get any of those."
"Oh, you know what?" Nolan says. "If you didn't have his number saved in your contacts, they'll go to that other folder, Saige. Did you save his number?"
"Oh…no, I don't think I did."
"Man…" Dax says, shaking his head. "You're the background on my phone, and I'm not even in your contacts. That feels like a punch line of a terrible meme."
"Sorry," I tell him. "I'll save it."
"You better. How many times did I make you come yesterday, and I can't even get a text back?"
I try not to smile, but I can't help it. "Mmm…I lost track?"
"Exactly. Stop trying to break my heart, Ripley."
"Not sure you have a heart, Hawthorne."
Dax frowns, sets his phone on the table, and then rolls onto his side and threads his fingers through my hair. "You had a bad day, didn't you?" he asks. "What happened?"
"Nothing. It was a regular day. Just me and my rain cloud."
"Baby, I don't know what that means."
I shake my head a little. "Nothing. Don't worry about it."
He looks over my shoulder at Nolan. "What happened to her?"
"I think Elias got in her head."
"About what? What did he say?"
"I don't know. She wasn't specific."
Dax looks at me again, raising his eyebrows. "You need to fuck him and get it over with, Saige."
"What? I don't want to have sex with Elias; that's never going to happen."
"I'm just saying—that's the only way he's ever going to leave you alone."
"Mmm, I don't even know if that would work," Nolan says. "Once he got a taste of her, he'd probably build some kind of underground bunker to keep her in."
I turn to Nolan, my lip curled and nose crinkled in disgust. "Would you both stop? That'screepy."
"I told you, Ripley—his obsession with you is really abnormal. And we've known him our whole lives."
"I don't care! It doesn't matter to me what's normal for him because I don't care about Elias. And as much as I want him to leave me alone, I don't want it enough to try sleeping with him."
"You know, now that I think about it, this is kind of like your underground bunker. It was Elias's idea to put you here, give you a curfew, and—"
