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He’squiet,thesameas he’s been the entire drive back. Cole’s fingers haven’t unwound consistently tight since we left. Gripped, they wrap around the wheel like he wished it was his father’s neck and not the leathered fabric after he insisted on driving.
Now he moves, pacing, but there’s something off about it. He’s too calm, movements too robotic and standoffish.
He’s as focused as a beast locked in a cage. His tunnel vision making him ready to strike as soon as the gate opens. Deep in concentration, he shifts his weight.
No one had to say anything because we all felt it. It’s no longer a matter of if but when, the longer he moved. Like the pressure in a can of soda that’s been shaken up. There’s nothing for the rest of us to do but wait for impact.
We all have our limits but the longer he stays quiet the more I know he’s on the verge of losing his. His steps have grown heavier, much like his headspace.
He was stuck to his mind enough that he’d even forgotten to drop Madison back off at her house. She was smart enough to at least not point it out, and part of me was relieved by that, not for her sake but for Cole’s.
In the SUV we had limited space, which meant less area to escape if provoked. The eruption would have skyrocketed that much more lively. Here, back at the Caspers’ he at least has an entire mansion.
Here there’s more room to make ourselves sparse. Which is what everyone else has been doing.
Finn and Hailey had volunteered to grab snacks, but they were in the kitchen for over an hour. And then when they did come back, all they brought were a few bags of chips and some drinks.
Those, like Cole’s mind, have sat untouched since they were first placed down. No one has an appetite.
I’ve been on the couch alone for the most part after Eli volunteered to take Madison back home. She was standing in the threshold awkwardly before that.
Now everything except Eli—who’s still not back is doing what Cole’s been doing the entire time. Dazed, we all stay in our own minds. Stuck to our own battles.
The rings he’s creating I have no doubt will be permanent in the oversized rug after tonight. The tufted wool is no match for lethal-mode Cole.
Glancing around, the air is somber. It is then I realize how much we’ve all changed since the first of the school year. Whether it’s from abuse, death, divorce… control. All of us have lost something.
We’ve won hard but lost harder.
We are helpless participants in a game we didn’t ask to play in. Victims to a web of lies and deceit.
I grab a can of soda only because I want something to do not because I’m actually thirsty. It’s this or run my hand along my medallion pendant but if I keep up at this rate it will be thinned to a piece of satin.
The sound of Eli stepping back into the room causes everyone to rise from their stupor. Not literally, Cole is the only mobile one.
That is until Eli pushes his limits, and Cole’s irises blacken to the shade of midnight. “Hands off,mygirl,” he snarls venomously.
The hairs on my arms stand in attention and I’m not the one who’s done anything wrong. Not that Eli’s done much either.
Holding the bag of chips, Eli stays arched, stuck to his bent-over position across my lap. The iciness that stares back at him holding him in place.
“Not the chips, asshole,” Iceman fumes and he drops them back down onto the table.
Both of us look down at the same time. Only while I’m swallowing nerves, Eli’s face has grown into a shallow smirk.
The hand he’d put on my knee as he reached over had been innocent, I’m sure, leverage to grab the food. Something tells me—maybe it’s Cole’s murderous glare—that he wouldn’t see it that way, so I don’t bother to try and explain.
Eli could’ve just as easily put his hand on the cushion instead, or gone around, but he hadn’t done either of those things. That’s what set Iceman off. That and he hasn’t removed his hand yet.
Giving it a quick squeeze, he lets go, sinking back into his spot and I silently thank the heavens. Not that it’s caused Iceman’s nostrils to stop flaring.
“Got something you wish to share?” Eli provokes even though he shouldn’t.
My eyes close with a weighted sigh. He and Cole are too alike in this sense. Neither has ever been shy of conflict. Whereas Cole is bold and arrogant, Eli is more reserved but never one to be underestimated.
I wish at this moment he could be more like Finn but if that were the case, we’d have no fun-loving goofball to try and play mediator.
“Don’t ever touch her,” Cole warns. His rage provoking his temper.
