I think he's just trying to scare me, but it's working. I know he isn't attracted to me, but I'm not sure he wouldn't do it to hurt me.
"Yeah, I got it."
"Elias, Elias, Elias," Dax bemoans, shaking his head. "This is not what we discussed." He moves closer to me, wrapping his arms around me. "You want another drink, Ripley?"
I nod, and he presses his lips to my temple. "I'll get us the bottle."
Dax grabs the whiskey from the kitchen countertop, filling Nolan's glass and then mine before taking a pull from the bottle. "Sit on my lap, baby," he says, lifting me and then pulling me on top of him. My body calms, and I lean back against his chest, strong tattooed arms around the front of my body.
Dax exchanges a look with Elias that I don't quite understand.
"You can sleep with the dog tonight, Saige," Elias says. "Stay," he instructs her, and she curls up on the rug.
Then he turns and heads upstairs, slamming his bedroom door behind him. Heavy metal music blares from the bedroom, and Nolan turns up the television.
I take another swig from my glass, tipsy enough that it goes down a little smoother this time.
Dax reaches behind me and flips off the lights. "Was the rest of your day okay?" he asks. "Did you get anything to eat?"
He pulls the hair tie from my bun and begins combing my hair out with his fingertips.
I love it. It makes my chest hurt.
"I grabbed something at the food court earlier."
"Good," he says. "You know, I expected you to spend more than $1,500."
"I'm picky. I'll do better next time."
"You should take Nolan with you. He seems to have some moral objection to spending my money. Teach him your ways."
"It's easier for me because I also don't like you." I take another drink from my glass while he laughs, his breath warm against the back of my neck.
"I think we both know that's not true, Ripley."
After I set my drink down, he moves, lying across on the couch and pulling me down in front of him, our legs stretched toward Nolan's chair. He presses his lips to my shoulder, slipping his hand under my tank and resting it on my stomach after covering us both with a blanket.
"Do you always cuddle with people you hate, Saige?" Nolan asks.
"I try not to make a habit of it."
Dax laughs. "Yeah. She and Elias getrealcozy. Can you imagine? She'd eat his head like you ate that bird."
Nolan laughs, turning and burying it into his shoulder. But I can still hear it…and I saw it. A brief flash of his teeth—an actual smile.
He's alive in there after all.
The front door opens, and a girl walks in, barely looking at the three of us before making her way up the staircase. Not Blythe—this is a new one.
I'mnotmaking her breakfast.
After the football game ends, Nolan pulls out his laptop, and Dax flips the television to some crime drama I'm not familiar with.
My eyelids grow heavy, but I don't want to go to bed—not when I feel so much safer right here. Just as they flutter closed, his hand travels up my stomach, covering my breast, gripping it, but not hard enough to hurt, before he begins toying with my nipple, rolling it between his fingertips.
I glance over at Nolan, still focused on whatever he's doing on his laptop.
His hand moves slowly enough to go unnoticed under the blanket while he teases each nipple into hard points while his breath against the back of my neck grows heavier. When he pinches a little harder, I bite my lip to keep quiet and arch my back, feeling him rock hard against my backside.
