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“Knock it off,” Eli says, frowning. “Leave her alone, man.”
I ignore him. “Who are you?” I demand.
She blinks. “W-what do you mean? I’m Daisy.”
“How old are you? Where do you live? What do you do?”
“I told Eli. I’m a teacher.” She fiddles with the corner of the quilt. “I’m from London.”
“Yeah? What do you teach?”
She opens her mouth, then closes it again.
Eli stands up with a sigh, squaring off against me. “I’m serious. Leave her.”
I can’t believe him. We’ve been burned before by a lying woman. And Eli got hurt more than any of us. I can’t understand why he can’t fucking learn to protect himself. “You heard her, right? She practically admitted to hiding shit.”
He shrugs. “She doesn’t have to tell us anything.”
“But—”
“Stop,” he orders, staring me down.
I’m fucking speechless. Eli doesn’t pull shit like this. He’s usually far too easygoing to fight with me or Riv. He raises an eyebrow, then jerks his head towards the door.
“Seriously?”
“Yes.”
A few beats pass. He doesn’t back up.
Jesus. “Just keep it down,” I mutter, turning to go.
I stomp back into the kitchen. Riv’s sitting at the kitchen table on his computer. I set the kettle to boil and clatter through the cupboards for some coffee. My mind is whirring. This isn’t right. It can’t end well. Daisy’s clearly hiding things from us, and that makes her a threat. We should be treating her like a liar, not opening up to her.Certainlynot getting attached. I pour two mugs of coffee and bring them to the table.
“Eli’s made a move,” I mutter, setting them down.
Riv doesn’t look up from his screen.
“Riven.”
“And this surprises you?” He holds out a hand for his drink, still tapping at his keyboard with one hand. “Was there any chance of themnothooking up?”
“He’ll get attached.”
“The last time I checked, Eli ismorethan capable of having casual sex.”
I shake my head. “He’s not having sex with her. They’re like… kissing, and playing games, and shit. He looks really fucking happy.” Eli’s had plenty of one-night-stands in the last five years. He doesn’t usually act so cuddly with them. “He’s too trusting. It’s like he didn’t learn anything from the last time this happened.”
Riven hums.
I clench my fists. “Riven.”
He finally meets my eyes. “What do you expect me to do about it? Shall I lock her up in her room? He’s an adult. If he wants to mess around with her, let him.”
I drop into an armchair, looking out of the window. “I don’t trust her.”
“Shocking.”
