Page 5 of Fated to Her

“Yes. If that is what you want, I will take you home after you shower,” he says, looking over at me. “So, can I take you to our place?”

I nod, and he turns off toward the highway.

“What about my sister and niece?”

“They won’t remember, I promise. Cyrus will meet us at home, and everything will be taken care of.”

The drive takes around twenty minutes before we pull off the highway and down the dirt road heading toward their place out of town.

Eli pulls into the driveway. The place looks the same, except the grass needs mowing. Eli hops out of the car, as do I. Eli waits for me then walks up the veranda stairs and opens the door. The place is dark, all the curtains closed, letting in no light, but Eli navigates his way around, pulling me with him as he flicks on the lights. We stop in the kitchen, and he grabs the AC remote off the counter, turning the heat up. The vents in the roof push hot air around the house.

“Come on,” he says, pulling me toward the bathroom in their bedroom.

He flicks the light on, looking under the sink for a towel, but there isn’t one. I stand there as he turns the shower on, adjusting the taps and holding his hand under it, waiting for the water to heat.

His white shirt has blood smeared on it from me hitting him. His scent fills my nose as he leans around me, the warmth seeping off his skin. I fight the urge to touch him and lean in to smell his skin. He steps back, wiping his hands on the towel on the sink basin before looking at me.

“Hop in. I’ll grab you a towel,” he says before leaving the room.

I take off his jacket, dropping it on the floor before kicking my heels off, the tiles cold under my feet, making me shiver even more. My hair stands on end as goosebumps cover my skin, and my hands shake terribly as I undo the buttons on my blouse. Eli brings back a fluffy black towel. As I struggle with the tiny buttons, Eli intervenes, pushing my hands away and undoing them, his teeth clenched as he pulls my blouse off then reaches behind me and unclips my bra.

I slide it off only to struggle with the button on my pants. Eli undoes it before pulling down the zip and lowering them along with my underwear. I grab his shoulder, sparks rushing across my palm, easing the heat slightly with just one touch. I step out of them, and he picks up my clothes, checks the water again, and nods toward the shower. I hop in, wetting my hands to find the water hot, and I step under the stream. Eli leaves out, taking my clothes with him.

I can’t stop shaking. Even with the water boiling hot, I’m still cold, then hot. No in-between, just freezing and boiling. I scrub Troy’s blood from my hands with the loofah to remove it.

After a while, all the blood is gone, and the shaking stops. My heart rate is slowing.

They will take care of it. Cyrus is dealing with it, I think, willing myself to believe it.

“I put your clothes in the wash. Bella, Taylor, and Maya are fine and at home,” Eli says, coming in and leaning against the sink basin, his white shirt gone, but I can still see blood on his chest where it seeped through his shirt.

I nod, then realize he doesn’t say anything about Troy.

“Troy?”

“Alive and memory wiped. Cyrus got rid of the footage from the foyer as well.”

“He will be fired tomorrow when he comes in for work, Addie. He won’t be there to harass your sister anymore or Bella.”

I hop out of the shower, and Eli hands me the black towel. I wrap myself in it and head into the bedroom. Eli strolls into the walk-in, grabs one of his shirts off the hanger, and passes it to me.

“I need to shower. Cyrus should be back soon,” he says before going into the bathroom.

I dry myself before slipping the shirt on and wrapping my hair in the towel.

In the kitchen, I turn the kettle on before hunting around for coffee. The heat has died down considerably just being near them, and I dread going home because I know it will get worse with them away from me. As overwhelming as the urge is to touch them, at least that is more bearable than the agony of them not being nearby.

I find the coffee on the top shelf. Gripping the shelf and standing on the bottom one, I take it down before grabbing the sugar, only to turn around and see Cyrus standing behind me, making me jump. The coffee jar falls from my grip. Before it hits the ground, he catches it, sitting it on the bench.

“Geez, you nearly gave me a heart attack; don’t sneak up on people,” I tell him as my heart rate settles.

He smiles before taking the sugar from my hand, turning around, and starting to make coffee.

“Eli’s in the shower,” I tell him nervously.

“I can hear that,” he says, tapping a finger to his ear. “How do you feel?”

“Fine,” I tell him, and he raises an eyebrow at me and stirs the cup’s contents. He hands it to me.