I blink back my own tears and tiptoe back to the living room as he comforts her. After wiping my eyes, I grab Arcadia's leash from the counter and take her out in the front yard. It's dark, and I wonder if I should worry, but I don't feel it the way I do on campus—the eyes on me.
When I go back inside, I plug in my phone charger, toss a blanket on the couch, and go to the kitchen for a glass of water.
When I turn around again, Nolan is behind me in the dark space.
"Jesus!" I cover my heart with my hand and set my glass on the counter.
"Still scared of me, huh?"
"No," I tell him. "But you are incredibly stealthy, you know that? You should be a ninja or a spy or something."
I think my snooping made me more flustered than usual. I'm definitely not built for the spy life.
He takes another step toward me and smiles. "I'll try to be less stealthy. You can sleep in my room, Saige; I'll sleep out here."
"I don't want you to give up your room for me."
"Well, I don't really want you this close to the front door. In a worst-case scenario, I want to be the thing between you and…whoever it is that's been following you. I won't be able to sleep if you're out here."
"Okay…if you're sure."
Nolan moves toward me, still leaving plenty of space between us, and then runs his fingers through my hair before resting his hand on my hip.
"Can I touch you?" he asks.
I nod. "Yes."
He steps a little closer, dipping his hand inside my shorts, his fingers finding my clit. I exhale slowly, letting my eyes close while he touches me, growing slicker by the second.
"You're so fucking beautiful, Saige," he whispers. "I can't stop thinking about last night. This is all I've wanted to do all day."
"That feels really good," I say breathlessly. Without thinking about it, I reach for him, resting a hand on his chest, and he quickly shrugs it off.
"I'm sorry," I tell him. "I didn't mean to."
"It's okay," he says. "I know it's weird; I get that. It's not something that anyone really wants to deal with. I don't even want to deal with it." He places a hand on my cheek, and I close my eyes, somehow trying to lean into it. "It's lonely. Istopped trying because people always leave, anyway, so what's the point?"
I swallow hard. "People always leave me, too."And I stopped trying, too."I don't think you're weird, Nolan. I'll do better."
"I have handcuffs in my room…if that's something you think might help."
"Yeah…okay."
"Are you sure?"
"Uh huh."
He smiles. "Okay. Come on."
I'm nervous as hell as I follow him to the bedroom, but I hope he can't tell. I've never let anyone do something like that to me before.
It seems like a lot of trust for me to put into someone who's practically a stranger—a stranger with dead eyes, who kicked some guy's body off a cliff and was unfazed afterward.
I shouldn't be surprised he likes to tie people up and fuck them.
I follow him to the back bedroom, and he closes the door behind us. The room is dark enough that I can't quite see what he's doing, but I hear a drawer open and close and what sounds like metal against metal.
Nolan stops in front of me, grabbing the bottom of my t-shirt and pulling it over my head, leaving me topless in just my pajama pants in front of him.
