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A soft moan left him. My body warmed at that tiny sound. “Keep that tongue hidden unless you want me to make use of it.” His voice was hoarse.Ah, right, okay.
I felt positive, content. Typically, that was when the bubble we’d created was pierced. His phone buzzed with a ridiculous sounding ringtone to accompany it, causing me to chuckle out loud. The noise spilled over into his phone conversation as he leaned against the pool table next to me. I couldn’t hear who was on the other end of the line, but by the tight clasping of his phone I sensed it wasn’t positive.
“Yep,” he murmured, features tensing as he looked at me before turning to look straight ahead at nothing in particular. He hung up after letting whoever it was know I was with him, and some more short worded answers.
Pocketing his phone, he turned to me. “That was Hollis. Advised me that I should drop you quickly before you do it to me, again.”Ouch, shots fired.
“Oh,” I responded, not having much defence to that.
In a way, I guess I sort of deserved that. They were his friends and were just looking out for him. Knowing they didn’t want me to spend time with Preston or even with them seared painfully through my chest. I swallowed hard, my throat tightening. I tried to keep the flicker of hurt off my face but one look back at him ensured he’d already seen it. He shoved his hands into his pockets with unease, clearly unsure how to proceed with me.
Clearing my throat, I mentally shrugged off the awkwardness that had fallen over us. “We should go,” I muttered flatly. He bobbed his head in agreement. “Can you drop me back to my building?” A heavy weight settled on my chest, feeling the urge to just lash out at something, anything.
“Am I now your personal chauffeur?” he joked, trying to steer us to a lighter mood. I flashed him a small, polite smile, hoping to reassure him. He narrowed his eyes, studying me; I felt like I was under a microscope, before he tilted his head in the direction of the exit and we made our way back to his car silently.
Thirty minutes later, we pulled up to my dorm building and made our way inside. Preston followed my lead. The laughter and moment we’d shared earlier had been wiped and clouded with awkwardness instead.
I pressed the button for level four and the doors closed as the elevator whizzed us up. I took my bag off my shoulder in the hallway and unzipped a few compartments before finding my keys while Preston looked on.
“Want to come in?” I sputtered, wishing I could reel the words back in.What the fuck, Milla? The tension is so strained you could cut it with a knife. Why prolong this?
Studying me with a puzzled expression, and clearly thinking along the same lines, he nodded. “Just let me sweep your rooms. I’ll grab a drink, then go.”
No idea why he needed to sweep each room in my dorm, but he did. Going from room to room checking nothing or no one was there, I didn’t ask. It was bizarre, but I let out a deep breath that I felt lodged in my lungs, as if he’d just eased something buried within me that I didn’t realise I’d needed soothed.
“Nice place,” he observed as he grabbed two cans of lemonade from the fridge knowing exactly where it was located, and handed one to me. I perched on the couch across from the one he’d chosen to throw himself in. The fizzy drink hissed as he tipped his head up, downing half of it, then placing it on the coffee table and gawked at me.
“What?” I muttered, uncomfortable with the intense spotlight he shone on me. I took a sip from my can and the cold flavoured drink wrapped round my tongue, tempering my apprehension.
“How come you got one of these rooms?” I shrugged, dismissing his words. “Bet he hooked you up. You know he’s got a thing for you, right? Always did.” He smirked, but there was no hint of amusement; he was just stating the facts he believed.
Knowing precisely who he’d been talking about, I cut him off before his name was spoken, not wanting this discussion or thoughts like that swirling round right now. Not everything was what it seemed.
“Nope,” I declared, slicing my hand through the air. “He’s a friend,yourfriend, to be precise. I don’t want to hear it.” I injected laughter into my voice while slapping on a smile. “Don’t go spreading rumours about me,” I jested, lightening the mood as he joined in. It cut that conversation down, which I was thankful for.
I watched him as he stood draining the last dregs in the can. Placing it on the island, he walked to the door to leave, calling an end to our time together. Pulling open the door, he turned, his body half facing me. “Broke a part of me when you left with no goodbye. It’s gonna take time for you and me to find our rhythm, if we can.” My chest tightened. “I need you to tell me why you left…please.” His hand held onto the door handle in a bruising grip, with the other hung down by his side flexing.
“I want to,” I told him openly, hoping he saw the honesty.
“But you won’t?” he confirmed bitterly, holding firm on a part of that resentment towards me.
I couldn’t, more like. He wasn’t reading through the obvious lines, and I was unsure why I’d even lead him to figure it out. Not waiting to hear a reply I didn’t even have to give him, he stalked out and slammed the heavy wooden door.
I shook my head. What a complicated mess.
Chapter7
Milla
Itamed my hair back into a sleek ponytail. My makeup was flawlessly blended. I had chosen black skinny jeans that moulded to my body like I’d painted them on, with a dusty pink sweater with the catchphrase ‘I don’t want to human today.’ It reflected my mood, even at this early stage of the day.
Finishing the outfit, I threw on black, heeled biker boots with silver studs covering them, making them one hundred percent stab worthy. But my eyes… there was a hollowness to them. A deep, dark abyss with no beginning and no end.
It had been roughly a month since I’d arrived at Coldharbour. The time had passed swiftly, yet slowly at the same time. I’d managed to have a small bit of fun in my life outside work andhim. I revelled in it, feeling semi-normal for the first time in years was a blessing in disguise.
I’d swerved any awkward conversations with Lizzie and any others who dropped vague hints presented as questions to why I was back and why had I originally gone away. In all honesty it was grating on my nerves that people just couldn’t leave it alone, build a bridge and get over it. I had to deal with it. Why couldn’t they?
Even Lizzie interrogating me had formed a fractional dent in our friendship. I believed she would leave it alone, but I needed to bring it up with her to do just that before we lost the bond we shared. It wasn’t something I wanted to lose; I’d selfishly do anything to keep her with me as I had done by not being candidly honest with her. So, pushing her to shelve this was on the top of my to do list.
