Page 10 of Crown of Death
She does this relieved groan, leaning forward and kissing my cheek. “This is why you’re the best, Lo. Thank you, thankyou!”
I laugh, shaking myhead.
She launches back into the shenanigans of her life, telling me about her upcoming semester this fall, continuing in her pursuit of going into human resources. And eventually, she turns to teasing me about wanting to work with dead bodies for the rest of mylife.
We finish dinner around nine and Tanner texts her, asking her which of two movies she wants to rent thatnight.
“Do you want to come over?” she asks. “I promise we’ll keep our hands toourselves.”
I shake my head with a laugh. “Go. Enjoy your boy toy. I’m beat. I think I’m just going to go to bedearly.”
“Fine,” she says. With a kiss to my cheek, she says goodbye and heads to hercar.
So, alone, I hop in my own, and head back home, feeling like a loner for being on my own on a Saturday night, heading homeearly.
I park and climbout.
And I slow as I approach the stairs up to myapartment.
Sitting on the bottom one, isEli.
An exasperated sigh slips between my lips. “What are you doinghere?”
He stands, his dark eyes fixed on me as he does. “I came to apologize for the way I acted before. And to…talk.
We stand there in the darkening light, in the parking lot of my seedy apartment building. Staring each other down, I can just see it there in his eyes. He doesn’t actually regret anything he said to meearlier.
“I’m not moving,” I say, folding my arms over mychest.
Though suddenly I realize—I am about to be homeless. I can’t afford next month’s rent, there’s no way I can back-pay what I owe. Moving back home really might be my only option rightnow.
Not that I’m going to breathe a word of that toEli.
“I’m sorry for how I presented it to you before,” he says, standing tall and rigid. “I should have been better with my reasoning and presentation. I didn’t mean to upsetyou.”
I just stare at him, because he’s making it very obvious that he doesn’t think the heart of what he was saying waswrong.
“Can we go inside?” he asks, his eyes drifting up to the secondfloor.
My fingers curl into fists. Heat rises in myveins.
Because if he’s requesting we go inside, he must think there’s going to be ascene.
“I think we’re good out here,” Isay.
I’m angry. On edge. Ready to throw verbal punches if I have to. Even if Eli is one of my best friends. Even if he isfamily.
“Okay, then,” he says with a little nod. “But can you just try to see that I only said what I did because I care aboutyou?”
“Sure,” I say. My blood is growing so hot. “You can care about me. But expecting me to just pick up my life and move, is a little over the top, don’t youthink?”
“No, Logan,” he growls, his tone rising. “I don’t. You might be an adult, might be working your dream job, might be living on your own, but you don’t know everything like you sometimes seem tothink.”
“Are you trying to sound like a condescending asshole?” I seethe, my tone rising. “Because you’re doing a pretty damn good job,Eli!”
A scream cuts through thenight.
Piercing.