Page 78 of Merciless

“You barely ate,” my mother says.

I force a smile. “It’s been a long day. I’ll have leftovers when I have a bigger appetite.”

“Oh, did you forget, sis?” Elijah stands. “You promised you’d ride with me after dinner.”

My eyebrows furrow. “I don’t⁠—”

“I remember it clearly. We spoke earlier, and you said you’d like to hang out with me some more.”

Mom and Joe share the same surprised expression. It’s the first time Elijah has spoken to me in front of them. He and his brother always made it a point to ignore me. Even his friends share a look, as shocked as my parents.

I fold my arms across my chest. “I’m pretty sure we talked about other things.”

“Did we, now?” He smirks. “And pray tell, what did we talk about?”

Damn, why did I have to open my big mouth? I fell into the trap.

My lips pinch together.

Elijah’s smile widens. Checkmate.

Goddamn him.

Mom breaks the tense silence. “I just love seeing you two being so close now.”

She giggles. Actually giggles that Elijah and I are close.

“I’ve been wanting this for so long, and I’m glad it’s happening,” she continues. “All I ever wanted was for you two to get along.”

I shake my head. “Oh, we’re not⁠—”

“We’re very close,” Elijah says. “In fact, I’ve been helping her with her studies.” He winks at me.

Mom’s enthusiastic claps fill the room. “You two are bright students.” She glances at Asher. “And so are you, honey.”

Asher looks bored with the conversation, but his gaze never strays far from me.

“Please tell me you’re getting close with Asher, too?” Mom looks between us, her eyes glistening.

I awkwardly clear my throat. “Yeah, we’re close too.”

Maybe too close. I literally watched him masturbate and would kill to do it again.

A flicker of emotion crosses his features. It’s gone just as quickly as it came, and I can’t put a name to the emotion.

Elijah rounds the table and stops by my side. His hand settles on my lower back, and I look up at him, then at his friends who watch us with closed-off expressions. I can’t tell if they’re mad, shocked, or genuinely surprised by Elijah’s openness with me.

It’s just as new to me as it is to them.

“If you’ll excuse us, I promised Eden a night she’d never forget,” Elijah says, and he leads me out of the room.

“Jesus Christ,” I mutter.

“Hmm? What’s that?” Elijah chuckles.

I tilt my head and glare at him. “Our parents are going to think we’re fucking.” I whisper this, even though we’re no longer within earshot of everyone.

How could he be so bold? Right in front of our parents, too.