Okay, so I know that I said that I wouldn't be updating until next week but...SURPRISE!!
I managed to finish all my editing so I figured what the hell, let them read!!!!!!
I hope you like it ð
BTW, I am in love with this outfit^ defo one of my faves ð
19. Friday Night Week Six
I had been floating on a high since my kiss with Eli and I had no desire to sober up. The kiss invaded my mind, my thoughts, my dreams, my wishes â wishes for more.
And yet, despite all this, Eli still managed too: Piss. Me. Off.
Today was his next fight and he had sent me a rather rude text message saying that I wasn't 'allowed' to come to Staircase tonight to help him. How many times were we going to have the same argument? It was for this reason that I had convinced the whole gang that we should go to Staircase to party; I was a certified genius.
Eli's fight had just finished, he won of course and I had spent the whole twenty minutes of the fight hiding behind Noah in hopes that Eli wouldn't spot me in the crowd. But now it was time to face the boxer boy.
"Hey, I'm gonna go to the bathroom," I yelled at Kie, after declining her offer to come with me, I navigated my way to the locker room that Eli and Maxon had used before.
Max wasn't at his usual spot in the crowd during the fight so I guessed that he wasn't here tonight which meant that it was going to be just me and Eli once I pushed open the door. Nerves swam through my system, we hadn't seen each other since that explosive kiss yesterday. He was awol at school all day today, allowing me time to overthink and overanalyse my feelings which was just bloody perfect.
Taking a deep breath in, I pushed open the door and was greeted by empty silence. After listening closely, I noticed that the shower was running in the back room so I sat on top of the table in the centre of the room and swung my legs beneath me as I waited for him to exit the shower.
My head was tipped back, eyes closed, body weight leaning on my hands behind me when Eli opened the door. I heard him halt in his movements at the sight of me but I did nothing, kept my eyes closed and my legs swinging. An audible sigh was released from his soft lips before he advanced in my direction, stopping only when he was so close that my knees brushed his thighs.
"Do you ever listen, Reillyn?"
Being the petty bitch I was, I ignored him which he evidently didn't like at all. He released a growl before gripping my bare thighs gently and pulling me forwards till my bum was right at the edge of the table. Involuntarily, I gasped as my eyes flew open and my hands shot forward, finding purchase on Eli's annoyingly sturdy shoulders. His inked hands burned my thighs and tingles were travelling up and down my whole body with no definite course. With my eyes now open, I noted the bruises admonishing his handsome face and my chest ached as I desperately wanted to reach out and soothe him but I couldn't right now.
"What are you doing here, Rei? I told you not to come," he stated through gritted teeth, his azure eyes glaring straight into my murky green ones. I cocked my head to the side, raised a brow and crossed my arms across my chest.
When I failed to provide him with a verbal response, his eyes narrowed at me and if I didn't know Eli like I did, his furious facial expression would have surely intimidated me. Especially with the cuts and bruises, he made quite the sight and yet, all I felt under his gaze was the extreme need to comfort and nurse him. But I ignored those emotions.
"Dammit, Rei!" His hands left my thighs to run through his hair as he took a step back. "You need to leave right now."
The harsh tone and evident frustration made me furrow my eyebrows, what was going on?
However, just as I opened my mouth to voice my question, the door to the locker room swung open with violent force. My neck craned as I turned to see who had entered, Vincent of course.
"Fuck," Eli muttered under his breath, his eyes flickering between Vincent and me.
"Well, what a pleasant surprise Reillyn. I did not expect to see you here."
Not wanting to speak to him, I gave him no reply, only hopped off the table, crossed my arms and turned to face him, trying to make it desperately apparent that I had no regard for him or his opinions.
He smiled a smile which made my skin crawl and then proceeded to drag his eyes up and down my body which was sheathed in a skin-tight turtle-neck green dress. "Isn't that a lovely dress?"
My hand shot out to grab Eli's arm and stop him as he stormed past me in the direction of Vincent with nothing but violent intentions in mind, I'm sure.
Vincent tipped his head back at Eli's reaction as his deep laugh carried through the room, filling the air with a sickly tension â everything about this man screamed danger, and not the good kind. "Calm down there, Ryker. I know not to touch what isn't mine." The smirk on his face made me feel physically sick.
Eli's only response was a grunt and I noted that for the first time since we had met, Eli made no attempt to reach for me like he normally did in these situations. My heart felt dejected at the thought but I shook it off.
"You should know not to touch those who don't want you, regardless of whether they are spoken for or not," I raised my chin indignantly at Vincent as I said it, releasing my grip on Eli's arm.
"And are you spoken for Miss Cole?"
"I am spoken for," I paused as he took a step closer to me "by me. So I would appreciate it if you kept the pervert looks and disgusting smiles to yourself." With that, I stormed past him all the while focusing on not falling in my gold ankle wrap heels and acutely aware that Eli's eyes were burning holes into my back telling that he was definitely going to find me later.
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15 minutes. That is how long it took for me to get tipsy and start dancing.
30 minutes. That is how long it took for Eli to join the rest of our group claiming he was late because of something with his mum.
1 hour. That is how long Eli's gaze had been scorching me as he tracked my every movement on the dance floor.
Obviously, I was ignoring him and placing all of my attention on Kie and the music as we danced together, oblivious to the world around us. Or at least oblivious to everything but Eli.
"He's still watching you, babe," Kie informed me, eyes cast over my shoulder to the little table Eli was seated at with Arik, Tori and Jasper.
Acting indifferent, I shrugged, "I don't care."
"I do," her eyes flickered to the boy in question again, "what is going on between the two of you?"
The question was way too much for my alcohol-infused brain to handle so I instead grabbed her hand and spun her, completely ignoring the question and continuing to dance. But I was forced to release Kie when tattooed hands banded around my waist to rest across my stomach.
"I tell you to stay away and you invite the whole group out," his voice caressed the shell of my ear as he spoke. Responding to him, I tilted my neck back and to the side as his head lowered to place a soft kiss against my neck. "You've got to leave me alone, Rei."
Holding back a moan, I pressed my back against his chest, swaying to the music sensually. My arms swung up and wrapped around the back of his neck, pulling him closer before I replied breathlessly, "I have no idea what you are talking about Eli."
"Mmm," abruptly, I was spun around in his arms to face him, chest against chest, my arms looped around his neck, only now I felt the burning intensity of his eyes as he stared down at me. "Bullshit, Reillyn," he whispered into my ear.
My arms tightened around his neck at the feeling of his breath stroking my neck, I wanted so desperately for him to place another kiss right where his lips were.
"You need to stay away from me." He pulled his head back from my neck to meet my gaze, even in my heels he towered over me.
I pushed up onto my tiptoes and placed my lips against his neck. I kissed a line from his neck to his ear, delighting in how his grasp on me steadily tightened with each kiss. My kisses stopped when I reached his ear where I bit gently on his pierced earlobe. My lips then softly brushed against his jaw, the corners of his mouth until my mouth and his mouth were aligned and lightly stroked against each other with each of our breathes.
And then I whispered, "what if I don't want to?" Before pulling away with a smirk and strutting over to the bar for a much needed drink.
I had been sat on the barstool for mere seconds before Eli's scent invaded my nose again and I was spun around to face him. He made a magnificent image, eyes ablaze with desire, lips parted on a breathe. He had put his nose ring back in following his fight and it glistened under the strobe lights of the club.
"Now who's walking away from who all the time?" He questioned me whilst placing his hands on the bar on either side of me, effectively caging me in.
Unable to resist, I rolled my eyes at him, "I've walked away from you twice, Eli. You push me away all the time."
His eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "what?"
"Urgh," I groaned in frustration. My hands raised in an attempt to create some distance between us but I failed so they fell back onto my lap. "Push me away, Eli, that's all that you do, change your mind, run hot and then cold. It's so confusing," I raised my hands to press my palms against my eyes, "we agree on something and then you decide you don't want to. We come to an agreement and then you change your mind. I ask you a simple question and you shut me down." My voice had raised by the end and when I removed my hands to peer at Eli he had that annoying blank, impassive look on his face again.
"I'm doing it for your own good, Rei," he spoke softly.
"God, Eli! This is what I mean, you kiss my neck and hold me close but demand I leave you alone. You tell me to stay away from you but you follow me over here. You give me that blank unemotional look then call me by a foreign pet name. It makes no sense!"
"Stop thinking about it so much."
"Oh yeah, there's an idea. Let me just stop thinking," I paused in my sarcasm to raise a finger to my chin, "yup, all better, I'm just, no longer thinking anymore."
Eli rolled his eyes before pushing away from the counter and crossing his arms across his chest, face still expressionless, "there are some things you can't know, Rei."
"Can't know? Or you don't want me to know?"
"Does it matter? You have plenty of secrets of your own." Our voices were both fully raised now and we were glaring fiercely at one another.
"And when those secrets directly affected you, I gave you answers, Eli"
"Well if you just stayed the fuck away like I told you to then we wouldn't be having this argument."
"Right. And you would probably be dealing with whatever all this is on your own." I lifted my hands from my lap and placed them on either side of his face pulling him close before speaking softly, "it's okay to let people help you Eli. Especially when they want to help you.
Eli pulled away and let out a breath of air, "fine, ask a question then."
My hands fell into my lap and I paused for a moment, confused by his response but then I leapt on the chance for answers, "who is Vincent?"
Eli grunted but then said, "it doesn't matter Rei"
My arms rose then fell again in annoyance, "see! This is what I mean, that isn't an answer Eli."
"You don't need to know, Rei." Of course.
Dejected, I let out a sigh before turning in my seat to order another drink from the bar. When I turned back around, I was greeted with Kie's face rather than the brooding boxer boy who had been doing a great job of confusing the hell out of me.
"Hey," she said with a small smile of understanding on her face before opening her arms. I hopped off the stool and practically fell into her open arms, allowing her warmth and the comfort of one of my best friends to soothe me.
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2217 words^
edited âï¸
The argument isn't resolved at the end of this one but unfortunately, that's sometimes how it works ð
Be patient with Eli, he has a lot going on, any guesses...? I promise his behaviour will start make a lot more sense! ð¥°
!!!! I just want to say thank you for those of you who are reading my book. It means so much to see the number of views slowly increasing so know that I appreciate it â¤ï¸