Ellison
“Does your father know you’re here?” Axle’s question causes me to rip my eyes off Drix and back onto his older brother. For the brief few minutes since I’ve arrived, Axle and I have exchanged pleasantries.
Hi, I’m Ellison.
I know. His “I know” the equivalent to “Go home.” I’m Axle, Drix’s older brother.
Drix has mentioned you before. He has a lot of wonderful things to say about you.
Drix has talked about you some, as well. Axle went out of his way to make sure he didn’t mirror my “and he said something nice about you.”
Is Drix here? Like I was six and knocking on a door for a playdate.
And that’s when Drix appeared, and my heart did a bit of a tap dance, but then that one question sent me crashing back into sick reality. Does your father know you’re here?
I see so much of Drix in Axle—the dark eyes, and I can spot the same blondish-brown even though he wears his hair shaved close to his scalp. But Drix doesn’t have tattoos, and Axle’s arms are covered in them, and he has small hoops in his earlobes.
At the beginning of the summer, being nearly alone with this man in a neighborhood that has a high crime reputation would have frightened me, but I have a hard time finding that fear. Drix is nearby, plus this is Drix’s beloved older brother. I may not be wanted, but I’m safe.
Protective. That’s what I overheard Cynthia call Axle, and I agree with her assessment. “My parents don’t know I’m here. I was invited and I accepted. If the invitation is no longer valid, I can leave.”
Axle scans me from head to toe. Not at all in a perverted way that’s been done to me by too many filthy men over the last several weeks, but he is taking in my wealth. The bracelets on my wrist, clothing on my body, sandals on my feet, then his eyes drift to the street.
“Nice car.”
“Thank you.”
“You leave it parked there, and it’ll be jacked in about fifteen minutes.”
The familiar anger creeps out from those doors I can’t seem to keep locked, and I lift my chin. “If you’d like me to leave, it would be polite to say it instead of inferring your passive-aggressive feelings.”
His eyebrows rise in this weird shocked motion, and I remain persistent in eye contact. I don’t do passive-aggressive.
“Is there a problem here?” Drix’s low voice is like a rumble of thunder. “Because from a distance, it appears like you’re pissing off my guest.”
Axle’s head falls back, then he angles his body to make me, him and Drix a neat little triangle. “Her parents don’t know she’s here. Do you think that’s a wise choice on your part?”
My lips squish to the side as I’m starting to feel like a yo-yo. “I’ve already explained to your brother I was invited, and I assumed you had taken our last conversation into consideration when you extended that invitation, but now I’m beginning to feel like maybe I should leave. But know that if I do, you are to never text or talk to me again. I’m not a toy, and you are not allowed to jerk me around.”
“Drix didn’t invite you. His sister did by stealing his phone.” Axle sharply tilts his head in my direction. “Tell her.”
I glance down to see if my skin is turning black-and-blue because my pride was just beaten and bruised. I’m a joke. I was invited here as a joke. It’s my birthday, and I blink repeatedly because there is no way in hell I’m going to allow them to see me broken.
Keys out of my purse and I spin on my toes for my car. All members of the male species are stupid. Each and every single one. A complete waste of my time and I’m the idiot who had the moronic belief one boy was different from the rest.
With a push of a button, my Volvo blinks to unlock, and when I touch the handle, a body presses against the door and becomes dead weight. I look up, and Drix is staring down at me. “You move extremely fast.”
My fingers wrap dangerously around my keys. “I highly suggest you move away from this car before I raise my knee and make your life extremely painful for the next two minutes.”
Drix’s lips twitch, and there’s a spark in his eye that’s informing me he’s laughing at me in his mind, and that causes my blood to boil. “Last chance to move, Drix, and I would take me very seriously if I were you.”
Instead of heeding my warning, Drix hitches his thumbs in his pockets in a too relaxed position for someone who is about to be nailed in parts he should be protecting. “I want you here.”
I hate the small part of me that melts with those words, and I still own enough pride to cross my arms over my chest, refusing to give.
“Axle’s right. I didn’t invite you. My sister and best friend stole my cell. I didn’t type the words, but I agree with what they wrote. I want you here.”
“I’m not a joke,” I say.
“No one thinks you are.”
“This feels an awful lot like a joke. Contact the rich girl, invite her over on her birthday and then laugh it up when she finds out she came running after a setup text. What’s wrong, Drix? Was not everyone here to see the big reveal? Or is it a joke that doesn’t get old?”
“Then I’ll go with you,” Drix says. “If you don’t want to hang here, then we’ll go someplace else. I don’t care where. I’ll leave that up to you, but don’t walk, Elle. Just—” he lowers his head and when he lifts it again, his brown eyes bore into mine, and I’m close to hypnotized “—don’t.”
“You’re confusing.”
“I don’t mean to be.” Drix inhales as if he’s struggling. “A year ago, I would have said as many pretty words as it took to convince you to do what I wanted, but I don’t have much prettiness inside me anymore. I’m raw, and I’m telling you the truth. I want you to stay.”
I pull at the ends of a strand of my hair, and I welcome the pain over the conflicting emotions crashing into each other at every pressure point in my body. “What about your brother? What about what you said the night of the fund-raiser? What about—”
“My sister made you a cake.”
It’s like someone pushed pause on the treadmill I was running on. “What?”
“My sister. Holiday. You met her on the midway. She made you a cake for your birthday. Two cakes, actually. Big ones. Sheet cakes. One chocolate. One vanilla. My best friend, Dominic, has promised pizza and chicken wings. He doesn’t offer to pay often, so I’d jump on this train. They want to meet you, and I...I want you here.”
“What about your brother?”
“Axle’s only concerned about me. Same way your family is concerned about you. Give him a few minutes, and he’ll warm up.”
“Why should I stay? Why should I believe you?”
Drix shrugs. The same heart-stopping lift and lowering of his shoulder from the midway. “Why did you come?”
My mouth pops open, and no sound comes out. I came because of Thor. I came because it’s my birthday, and I didn’t want to be alone. I came because...because it’s Drix.
“Stay, Elle. Just stay.”