Spiral (Off the Ice, #2) (44)
When he steps back, I awkwardly fidget with my hair tie. The post-wash curls make it almost impossible to achieve a neat bun.
“Need help?” A lazy hint of humor touches Elias’s words when he sees my struggle.
“It’s not funny,” I say.
A lopsided smile stretches across his face. “Turn around. I’ll do it.”
My arms are tired after the fifth try, so I give up and hand him the hair tie. I’m sure he has no idea what he’s doing, and that much is confirmed when he yanks my hair.
“The hair pulling is really working for me, but your friends are in the next room.”
“Shut up, Sage.”
Elias concentrates, and I watch his expression through the reflection in the microwave. His mouth twists with every loop and tug, and then finally he reveals a satisfied smile.
He looks so damn proud of himself, I let the knotted mess be, even though I know it’s going to hurt tomorrow. “You’re a natural.”
“You’re beautiful,” he says suddenly, playing with a curl that’s slipped out of my bun.
“Are you drunk?” My gaze slips over to the can on the counter to check if it’s open.
His lips tip into a devilish smirk. “I don’t drink.”
Goose bumps riddle my skin, and his eyes are hooded in a way that tells me his thoughts might actually match mine for once. Minutes transpire, thick and syrupy, as I watch him.
“You guys better not be eating the pizza by yourself,” Kian shouts, and we both flinch away from the string that tightens between us. I help Elias take everything to the living room, praying the faint blush on my cheeks blends in with the natural flush from the heat.
“What should we watch?”
Summer brightens mid sip of her chai. “I have an idea.”
“No,” everyone says in unison, and she slumps back into Aiden’s arms. He whispers something to her, and she nods, a little happier now.
When I suggest a horror movie, everyone agrees, but Summer warns that she’ll fall asleep halfway through. Apparently, she only has an attention span for her Turkish dramas.
I must be suffering from the same problem because by the time I’m jostled awake, Elias is gently placing me in his bed. Then, when I think he’s going to go back to the living room, he lifts the comforter and gets in beside me. We’ve been sleeping together most nights since I tricked him into bed with me, and we keep our distance. But this time, I don’t miss the arm on my waist that pulls me tight against his body or the kiss he plants in my hair.
“Elias?”
I’m sure he thought I was asleep because he takes a minute before he responds. “Yeah?”
“Why do you buy me flowers?”
He answers after a beat. “Because I like seeing you light up, even if you say you don’t like flowers.”
Every time I see a touch of pink or a bright yellow in a vase, something akin to longing blooms in my chest. Something that shouldn’t be there.
“Wouldn’t want us breaking any other rules,” I say, half joking. But there’s one I’d love to break. Especially right now as he wraps me in the cloak of his warmth. There’s something about this connection. A transfer of something created in our own bodies that we’re willing to share. It’s small, minuscule even, but it sets my heart alight. I steal the warmth of Elias like it’s mine to have, and he gives it to me like that’s true.
“We won’t.”
When Elias slips his arm off of me, I barely refrain from pulling him right back. The response feels like a heavy rejection, and when he flips onto his side to face away from me, I know I won’t get any sleep tonight.
NINETEEN
ELIAS
IT’S A FUCKING zoo trying to get out of the apartment to go to the event. The guys and Summer head out before me, because I was waiting for Sage to get off work. She left early in the morning so I didn’t get a chance to talk to her about the party tonight or arrange to pick her up after my practice.
Now, she’s been in the bathroom for an hour, and I’m impatiently pacing my bedroom. I don’t try to rush her because she’s been apologizing since she barreled through that door.
“I’m so sorry. The line at the pharmacy was extra long today, and my payment for Sean’s meds didn’t go through, so it was a whole thing. I feel terrible for making you late.”
Sage never tells me about her financial problems, but it slipped from her so quickly that I’m sure she didn’t realize. Everything the insurance won’t cover she pays out of pocket, and I know her ballet classes don’t pay much. I doubt she has anything left for herself by the end of it.
She would never ask me, but I’m desperate to help her out. Just a little.
“Do you know where Summer put the purse she said I could borrow?” Sage asks from inside the bathroom. Summer left Sage one of her dresses, and a purse to match.
“Got it right here.”
I’ve been holding the bedazzled thing in my hand for the last hour or longer, but I don’t know because I stopped staring at my watch every minute. I move to sit on the bed so as not to sweat in my suit from all the pacing.
Then the door opens, and heels click on the hardwood floor. “If you hate it, just tell me.”