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She wrapped her arms around his waist and even though she was so much smaller than him, he felt oddly safe there. Protected.
“Sounds good,” she said as she pulled away.
***
Chapter Seventeen
Several days after Ali returned to the prison, she and Eli sat around a bonfire. She hadn’t spoken about her time away, and Eli didn’t ask. He was too afraid to drive a wedge further between them.
The fire did little to combat the brutal temperatures that had fallen over Rysburg. Eli’s cheeks were bright red, and he thought he could see frost on the tips of his eyelashes. The skin across his knuckles had cracked from the dry cold.
It’s absolutely ridiculous that they make us eat meals out here while we freeze to death. Assholes, Eli thought.
It wasn’t right, the way they treated them. Ali shivered next to him and ate her soup in misery. Looking around the fire, there wasn’t a single face that was happy about their current situation. But they all put up with it. There wasn’t much they could do.
Surprisingly, the younger ones handled it best. They ran around the courtyard playing games, the movement keeping them warm and entertained. Eli caught the eye of the two kids who had lived next door, Jamie and Kristen, and waved to them. They waved back without a care in the world. He admired their resilience.
“Let me take your bowl back,” Ali said as she rose to her feet.
“I can do it.” He reached his hand out to take hers instead. He wasn’t sure if she was still feeling sick or not, though she had shown no signs of passing out again.
“No, really. I want to stand and walk. It might help me warm up a bit.” She gathered up their bowls and utensils and walked back toward the kitchen.
The air around them was still tense. He was tiptoeing around her. He didn’t know how to ask what was going on with her anymore. The last time he had brought up Nik, it hadn’t gone well. She seemed to be shutting him out, but it only made the situation worse if he tried to get her to open up.
She had been gone for days, though, and it had eaten him up. There was a bond between the two of them that he couldn’t deny. Ali was on a tightrope and the closer she got to Nik, the further she got from Eli.
Eli moved closer to the fire, its blaze flickering before his eyes. Ali’s absence chilled him in more ways than one. He hated that she was adjusting so well to this new home. She was strong and confident, and he was weak and second guessed everything. She was leaving him behind and he’d never felt more alone, even when she was sitting next to him. He was losing his best friend. He was losing everything.
Eli knocked over a piece of wood with his shoe and watched the embers glow. His hope of getting out of here was getting more bleak as the days passed. And if he did find a way, would Ali even want to go with him?
Of course she would. No one wants to be a prisoner. She wouldn’t choose this.
His stomach dropped when he looked up to find Ali talking to Nik near the entrance of the kitchen. A bitter taste filled his mouth.
This guy is relentless. What does he even want with her?
Nik’s words haunted him. He was so confident he could win Ali over, and Eli was starting to think he was right.
He watched them talk, and it rattled him to the core. She wasn’t afraid. She wasn’t nervous or timid. She wasn’t annoyed or frustrated. She was enjoying it. She was fucking enjoying their conversation. He hadn’t seen her smile like that in quite some time.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this. It was supposed to be him and Ali together against the world. She was supposed to confide in him. She was supposed to trust him. But there she was, touching Nik’s arm while he grinned like the smug asshole Eli knew him to be.
He felt sick. And depressed. And hopeless.
Eli stood and took a few steps in their direction. His body moved quicker than his thoughts. He had no idea what he was going to say or do, but he couldn’t sit still anymore. He couldn’t watch them…watch them what?
Are they friends now? Did Nik somehow weasel his way in? I expected more from Ali, but maybe I underestimated him.
Whatever this was, he wouldn’t sit by while they flaunted it in front of him. His hands shook as he got closer, and he clenched them into fists. Nik made eye contact first, and he mouthed something to Ali. She turned around and gave a feeble, unconvincing smile.
She would’ve walked to meet Eli, but Nik grabbed her by the arm, keeping her at his side. The rage that ran through Eli was indescribable. His eyes narrowed and he could feel his ears burning red.
“Get your hands off of her,” he hissed before he reached them.
Nik rolled his eyes and looked bored, which made Eli even angrier.
This isn’t a fucking joke. This is my life you’re fucking with.
