"Jesus…what happened to your face?"
In an instant, he's at my side, turning my face in his hand to better inspect the injury.
I smell his woodsy cologne even before he touches me. His curls are still damp, so he must have showered at the gym. I find everything about him soothing, and it doesn't make any fucking sense. It's like I can feel my brain chemically resetting. As he studies me, my gaze drops to his strong, tattooed forearms—the bright colors against his tan skin. One inparticular catches my eye—an anatomical heart in red with deep blue veins running through it, wrapped in barbed wire. I can't put my finger on why I like it so much, but the twisted urge to lean into him, to inhale him and mold my body to his, grows stronger.
I swallow hard, refusing to meet his eyes when I answer. "Nothing. I just fell; it's not a big deal."
"You didn't mention this in your texts," Elias says to Nolan.
"She said she just fell. I took care of it. She got some more texts, though."
And then he's standing over me, too, inspecting my injuries with notable concern—a look I haven't seen from Elias in nearly two years.
But I know it can't be concern for me. He's worried about the person following me and what they might know about him.
I jerk away from Dax, curling into the corner of the couch and crossing my arms in front of my body. "You can both stop looking at me like that now."
"Let me see the phone," Dax says, taking it from Nolan.
"Well, you know what? That's what you fucking get for not being back on time," Elias snaps. "Maybe next time you'll listen."
I want to tell him to go fuck himself, but after what he did and said to me this morning, I bite my tongue. He sees it, too, a smug smile slowly spreading across his face.
"Well, that's fucking graphic."
Elias turns his attention back to Dax, taking the phone from him.
But when Elias reads them, he looks intrigued…like maybe he'd like to do that to me, too.
"I think it's the girl she was with at the party that night," Nolan says. "The one who lives across the hall from her."
"It's not," I say.
Elias tosses my phone onto the sofa and then sets the alarm while Dax scrolls through my messages.
"Kira, right? That's the girl?" he asks, and I nod. "She says she wants to hang out; I'm sending her a text and inviting her to our party tomorrow." He must be reading our text chain, because he laughs and says, "Yeah, Ripley, why didn't you just tell her you're into me?"
"I'm not."
"She says she'll be here."
"Here?" I ask.
"Yep. By the way, we're having a party tomorrow, and it goes without saying that you'll be here."
"And you'll be back before dark to help us get ready and make sure the place is spotless," Elias adds.
"Spotless for a bunch of strangers to trash it?"
"Don't talk back, Saige," Elias says. "And don't be late. You're lucky I didn't feel like cutting my workout short to get you this time, but next time there will be consequences."
I roll my eyes, and he lowers his own to mine. "Next time you're late, I'm going to lay you across my lap and leave a handprint on that thick ass of yours. Do you want to roll your eyes like that again, Saige?"
I say nothing, but I don't roll my eyes, either.
His eyes fall to my tits again.
"Do it twice, and you'll be making breakfast topless. Understand?"
