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Chapter Sixteen
Zadie
Likedéjàvu,Iarrived at the boys’ house early on Saturday. I was a little more trepidatious, but still hopeful, than I’d been the previous weekend.
The house was quiet. I didn’t know what I should do first. Despite the shift between us over the last week, I hadn’t gotten over the sting of the perfumed sheets to chance waking Amir up again. So, I killed some time by dusting the living room, which was really an excuse for me to sit at the piano and run my fingers over the keys. Touching them without playing a note only took the slightest edge off my yearning to play, but it was something.
I wandered back into the kitchen to brew a pot of coffee. Marco preferred his iced, so I poured him a mug and placed it in the fridge to cool so he could have it when he woke up. Then I set out the mugs I’d noticed Amir and Julien using most often so I’d have them close at hand when they were ready for their coffee.
Hadn’t I become the good little house servant? Jeesh. If my mom only knew she was shelling out big bucks in tuition for me to learn how to properly fold fitted sheets.
A creak in the hallway floorboard alerted me to someone approaching right before they appeared in the doorway. I flinched when the person turned out not to be one of my three boys.
“Oh.” Vanessa stopped short when she noticed me. “Hey.”
“Good morning,” I squeezed out. My throat had become tight at the sight of her bed head, smeared mascara, and bare legs—because she was wearing a T-shirt and nothing else. Vanessa, the girl from the fight who’d volunteered to take my place on her knees in front of Amir, had spent the night here.
She shrugged and continued across the kitchen to the coffee maker. I scooted down the counter, giving her access. She chose the mug I’d set out for Amir, filled it halfway with coffee, then moved to the fridge to add a heavy dose of creamer.
Taking a sip of her coffee, she propped a hip on the counter across from me, eyeing me over the brim.
“So, what’s your deal? Amir said you’re like his servant or something?” Vanessa took one long sweep of me with her eyes, then dismissed me by studying her fingernails.
“Or something,” I replied.
This girl’s presence made my stomach hurt. On one level, I understood what it meant, but I was having trouble accepting it on every other level. If I did, I wouldn’t be on my feet anymore. I wouldn’t be able to stand in this kitchen and hold my head up.
The shirt she was wearing was Amir’s. The same Savage U T-shirt he’d been wearing yesterday when he’d talked about taking me dancing. It shouldn’t have been a gut punch, but it was. Oh, it was.
Vanessa looked at me and curled her lip. “Stare much? God, don’t be a freak.” She rolled her eyes, taking a long pull of the coffeeIhad just made.
I wished I could have been mad. Mad would have been easier than scraped and raw. If I left now, I’d be okay. I just needed air and perspective. This only hurt because I was here, in this house. When I walked back into my life, this would shrink down until it was barely anything.
Resolved, I opened my mouth to tell Vanessa goodbye when Amir came sauntering into the kitchen wearing just a pair of lounge pants, rubbing his taut, golden belly, and yawning. His eyes landed on me, and his mouth morphed into a smirk.
“Hey, mama. I was disappointed not to see your face first thing like I did last weekend.” His voice was gritty with sleep and entirely without shame, even though his hookup was standing across the kitchen from him. “Seeing you in my kitchen makes up for it, though.”
When I didn’t respond, Amir stopped in his tracks to look me over. When he got to my face, his mouth parted, and a deep furrow ran between his brows.
“Zadie? What’s up with you?” His head whipped to Vanessa. “Did you say shit?”
I would deal with the consequences later. My feet became unglued, and I strode toward the archway that led to the hall where I’d left my shoes. I had to get out of here. I couldn’t stand to see Amir withher. How sad was that? Falling for my captor and being jealous when he didn’t fall back. I couldn’t believe myself.
Amir was faster than me, darting into the hall to block my path to the front door. “What the fuck?”
He reached for me, and I flinched, backing up a step. “I need to go.”
“No you don’t. You’re staying right the fuck here and talking to me.”
He came at me, arms out. I dodged, going right. I’d leave my shoes behind. Maybe that was crazy, but I just needed to leave. I had to get out of here before he figured out why I was upset. Before he saw the green-eyed monster riding me like a wraith.
“Let me go.”
He didn’t. As soon as I moved, he was there, coming at me, and I knew he would never let me leave. Panic took my logic and ground it into dust. I whirled around and ran in the opposite direction, taking the stairs as fast as I could. Heavy footsteps beat the wood behind me, but I didn’t falter. My only endgame was to get away.
I rushed through the first doorway and shoved the door closed. Only, it didn’t close all the way. Amir came crashing through, thenheclosed it, flipping the lock to drive the point home that he’d caught me.
I backed up until my legs hit his mattress. The second I took my eyes off Amir to check for an alternate escape, he pounced, driving me onto the bed. I rolled to my stomach, clawing at the comforter to pull myself to the other side, but Amir landed on top of me, straddling my hips and leaning over my back. I tried to get my knees under me, but he had me pinned to the bed.
