18. Thursday Evening Week Six
Kasey said that the diner was quiet today and that I wasn't needed at work so that meant I had nothing to occupy my mind with. Except for the scene with Marcus from the cafeteria yesterday, it kept playing on a loop in my head and no matter how much I tried to push the memory away, it kept shoving its way back to the forefront of my mind. For this reason, and this reason only, I was glad that Eli had told me to come to the gym with him after school.
Max had a complete mess of an office, as in hurricane followed by a tsunami with a little earthquake on top, type of mess. Whilst it wasn't my top pick of things I wanted to be doing, it was certainly succeeding at keeping my mind occupied.
We had both been here for about an hour now and I decided to take a break and step out of the bombshell of an office and instead investigate the whereabouts of Eli. It took me all of about 30 seconds to spot him training with Maxon by the punching bags.
His grunts resonated through the empty gym as he followed Max's instructions; punch, kick, punch, kick. Eli didn't have as many tattoos on his back, just some vines which stretched from the dead tree printed across his abs and scripture on his left shoulder blade but it was foreign likely Romanian. He was shirtless, obviously, and his back muscles rippled with every movement he made, I had to make sure drool was running out of my mouth.
Quietly, I made my way towards them and took a seat on the bench which faced the boxing mats. My bag was on the bench already so I pulled my notebook out and began sketching Eli as he moved. It was slightly annoying, him moving back and forth, but I managed. I got so immersed in the sketch as I shaded in the contours and captured the light, completely losing track of time as I allowed myself to get sucked into my drawing.
At the sound of his ragged breathing, I looked up and slammed my notebook closed before he could see which caused him to raise a perfectly scarred eyebrow.
He squirted some water in his mouth from his bottle before asking, "enjoying the show, tigru?"
My cheeks burned but I refused to give him the satisfaction as I glared up at him from my perch, "no, it was actually quite boring."
"Hmm, is that why you've been sat here for 2 hours now?"
2 hours?! Trying to appear unfazed by his shirtless torso glistening with sweat inches from my face, I uncrossed my legs before standing in front of him. Like they always did, his eyes flickered to my boots and I felt a rush go through me as they darkened considerably.
I cleared my throat, "Well. I didn't realise, I was just so caught up in my work that I barely noticed that you had finished." I purposefully tried to make it clear that I wasn't watching him, he didn't need to know that I'd been intently drawing him instead. With that point clearly put across, I span on my heel with the intention of going back to the office to wait for him but he grabbed my wrist and tugged me back to him — he seemed to have made a habit of this.
Caught off guard, my hands flew to rest on his chest to catch myself and I dropped my notebook on the floor. Neither of us noticed though as we stood there, staring at each other. His chest rose and fell under my hands and my heart hammered so loudly in my chest, I was sure he could hear it. His breath caressed my nose as he panted still from his workout and he somehow managed to retain his smell of leather and spice despite the intense gym session.
"Eli," I sighed out. One of his hands wound around my waist in response and tugged me closer still to him. I gasped at the movement and looped my hands around his neck, my chest now rising and falling in time with his. His other hand came up to grip the back of my head and tangled into my curls, he gently tugged my head back so it was now angled fully towards him. My lips parted as my breathing quickened and his darkening eyes tracked the movement of my tongue as I ran it across my lips, wetting them.
"Tigru," he breathed out and leant slowly down towards me. My heart skipped at his murmur and I raised up on my tiptoes until his lips were a hairsbreadth from mine and I could feel the softness of them tickling my own, just a little closer.
"Well this is unexpected," someone declared from the gym entrance. Really?! Right now?!
"Fucks sake," Eli whispered, voicing my exact thoughts. We were still tangled together and his forehead dropped to rest on mine as his eyes squeezed shut in what I could only imagine was frustration. I gently pulled away from him and he released me allowing me to take a step back to try to catch my breath. The backs of my legs hit the bench and I ignored it as I attempted unsuccessfully to calm my racing heart.
"Are you gonna introduce me then Ryker?" The arrogant voice belonged to a man with dark blonde hair, his blue eyes were twinkling with amusement but despite the somewhat jovial look on his face, something told me this man was dangerous. My suspicions were confirmed when Eli stepped in front of me, blocking me completely from view.
"No. What do you want?" Eli's voice was hard, the one he used when he was speaking to someone he disliked.
"Can't I come to check up on my favourite fighter?" I peeked around Eli's shoulder and noted that Mr Creepy had a shit-eating grin on his face. Although his face was merry, his eyes conveyed a darker emotion, they were a deep navy and not nearly as entrancing as Eli's but they expressed a certain malicious intent, an unknown one, but dangerous nonetheless. I noted that he had broad shoulders and looked to be in good shape, not nearly as fit as Eli, but good shape nevertheless. Eli said nothing in response to the man's words only uncrossed his arms to form fists at his sides but the man seemed unperturbed and continued speaking as he advanced slowly towards us.
"She's pretty Ryker. What are you hiding her for?"
Eli grunted at him and took a step forward but I placed my hands against his back in an attempt to calm him. It seemed to work as he unclenched his fists and instead reached back to pull me closer to the back of his body, almost as if he needed to feel me behind him.
Max stepped out from the office at that moment and spoke to the mysterious stranger, "What you doin' here Vincent?"
"Just stopping by, old buddy." His words sounded empty and fake, it was a patronising tone that he had adopted and I instantly felt dislike for this 'Vincent' blossoming in my chest.
"We have a deal, I pay you and you don't come round 'ere." Well, that sounds like a really dodgy deal, Max.
"Yeah, but if I hadn't popped by I wouldn't have had the chance to meet this pretty girl. Is she gonna come out from behind there or do I need to come pry her out of your grip Ryker?" Vincent flashed Eli a deadly smile as he provoked him and I pulled myself out of Eli's grip to come to stand in front of him instead in the hopes that I'd stop Eli from losing his shit.
"Well, aren't you lovely," he put his rather large hand out for me to shake, "I'm Vincent, darling, a pleasure to meet you." I reached out to shake his hand and Eli growled out his distaste from behind me but I paid him no heed.
"Reillyn. The pleasure's mine," I flashed him a fake smile which I knew screamed 'bitch'.
"And what are you doing in a neighbourhood like this? You don't look like you're from around here" I eyed his tailored navy suit and designer brown dress shoes.
"I could say the same to you." He tilted his head to the side and his eyes narrowed at me in question but I refused to be intimidated and narrowed my eyes right back.
"Yes," he said, "I guess you could."
"Alright, enough," Eli's arms were crossed against his chest again and he stepped forward to stand next to me now, "why are you here Vincent?"
"Bossman wanted me to check on you all, make sure it was all good down here," when no one said anything Vincent carried on, "and to talk books of course."
"Of course," Max grunted before motioning towards his office and telling Vincent to follow him. Vincent obliged but not before a disgusting wink and a cryptic, 'see you around'.
The second Vincent was in the office Eli grabbed my hand and snatched my disregarded book from the floor and ordered me to grab my bag. Quite roughly actually, he dragged me out of the building and to his motorcycle.
"Eli, slow down, damn it," I told him as I struggled to keep up with his long strides, he only moved faster, tugging me to his bike. He pulled my leather jacket on me and thrust my helmet onto my head before lifting me up into the bike and then climbing on himself, all without a single word.
Then as fast as he ever had with me, he zoomed out of the gym car park and sped off towards my house. The journey took half the time and to say I was confused when Eli stopped outside my house and practically shoved me off his bike would be an understatement but before he could get back on and drive off, I stopped him.
"What the hell, Eli?" I questioned him, "are we just not gonna talk about whatever that was?"
"What makes you think we would talk about it?" It was raining heavily and I only just heard his bullshit response over the violent downpour.
"Oh, I don't know? Maybe because it was weird, Eli. Really weird!"
"It's none of your fucking business Rei, stay out of it." He was shouting now, whether to be heard or because he was mad, I didn't know.
"Seriously?! We are back to this shit again? Why can't you just talk to me instead of storming off all the time?"
"For fuck's sake with your nosiness, just piss off inside your little house, okay?!"
"Are you being serious right now?" I screamed back at him, "what is with this hot and cold shit?"
"Hot and cold? Jesus Reillyn, you have got to stop living inside that fucking head of yours."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"It means you make this shit up and it drives me fucking mad. You drive me fucking mad. With your nonstop questions and your ridiculous fucking nosiness. The way you just insert yourself into peoples lives when they don't want you there!" He was pacing in front of his bike as he tugged at his hair in frustration, "I don't want you in MY FUCKING LIFE, Reillyn. Get that in your thick skull."
I was breathing heavily and I had no response to his outburst because what could I say? If he didn't want me, then he didn't want me; simple. How did we go from almost kissing to screaming at each other in the rain? He stopped pacing long enough to face me and I ended up giving him a weak smile.
"I guess you're right," I told him, "I'll stay away."
Just like that, I took a step back and turned on my heel to walk away from him and it wasn't until that moment that I realised how much he meant to me. How far he had sunk his claws in and how deeply I felt the burn.
"Fuck," I heard him say before I felt his hand wrapping around my wrist yet again and pulling me to a stop. I tugged my arm out of his grasp, not wanting to be close to him right now and kept my head down as I faced him, unable to look into his ocean eyes which were likely ablaze with anger.
"Dammit, Rei, look at me."
Feeling a spark of anger at his tone, I raised my head to glare at him but still ashamed of the unshed tears that I knew glistened in my murky green eyes. I didn't say anything because I didn't have anything to say.
"Jesus, tigru. I'm sorry."
When I made no response he walked back towards his bike and I felt my heart sink even lower in my chest as he walked away from me for about the 100th time but then he stopped and ran a hand through his hair before turning back around to face me.
"My life is a mess Rei," he was shouting to be heard over the rain and I found myself unconsciously stepping a little closer, uncaring that I was getting soaked, just to hear his deep voice a little bit better. "A big fucking mess tigru. Vincent, my fights, it's all the bad, messed up part of my life and I stupidly thought I could keep you separate from it whilst still keeping you close." I took another step and stopped about a metre away from him and his bike.
"You are," he paused for a moment before raising his head to look at me, something flashed in his eyes and he strode over to me. He reached out to me but instead thought better of it, letting his hands fall to his sides, "You are the only good thing in my life, tigru. The only good thing. And seeing you, around Vincent, it just," he groaned and ran a hand through his hair, "it pissed me off. You are too good for that part of my life."
His eyes had fluttered closed by the end of his confession and my heart contracted and expanded at an alarming rate as I stepped in front of him and lifted my hands to rest on his broad chest. His eyes opened at the movement and he moved his forehead forward to lean against mine. His breath caressed my lips and the rain spilt over his eyelashes making his blue eyes seem brighter than the sun. His strong arms banded around my waist just like they did the first time we met and I smiled at the memory. His hands travelled up from their place on my waist, leaving a trail of goosebumps in their wake. Up my arms, to my shoulders, until one cupped my face and the other gripped the hair at the back of my neck, gently tilting my head back for him.
"Fuck," he breathed, "so fucking gorgeous."
And with that he slammed his lips against mine, moving them feverishly. I let out a moan and rose up on my tiptoes to get impossibly closer pressing my lips hard against his. He tugged my hair more and tilted my head further back before swiping his tongue across my bottom lip, asking for entrance. I eagerly opened my mouth up for him and he delved his tongue in, allowing it to caress my own, drawing another moan out of me.
His hands fell down to my thighs and he groaned a 'jump' into my mouth. I complied, obviously, and I wrapped my legs around his waist all the while keeping our lips firmly melded together. I felt the wet seat of his bike under me as he placed me down, continuing his assault on my lips.
He pulled away and ran his hands over the bare skin between my boots and my jumper dress. "These fucking boots," he groaned with his eyes planted firmly on them, I saw the cobalt pools darkening with need.
At the sight, I impatiently tugged on his hair again and he looked back up at me, placing a fast but hard kiss against my lips before pulling away and instead placing light kisses along my jaw. I tilted my head to the side to allow him better access as his soft lips travelled down my neck, sucking, biting, licking. My hands rose to grip his hair and hold him close to me, my legs squeezing tighter around his waist as he sucked on a sweet spot on my neck that caused me to let out another deep moan. His lips twitched into a smirk against my neck at my response before they travelled back up the column of my neck. He placed soft kisses against the corner of my mouth, teasing me until I groaned and used my grip on his hair to pull him back slightly before pressing my lips firmly against his again. He groaned this time as I bit down lightly on his bottom lip and he forced his tongue back into my mouth in response.
His hands were leaning on the bike, either side of me, caging me in but I had never felt freer. I was instantly addicted to his touch, craving more even as he moved his lips violently against my own. I wanted him closer, but he was already so close. I wanted more but there was no more passion to give. It was overwhelming, he was overwhelming as he continued to place kisses along my jaw then back up to my lips again.
By the time he pulled away, I was sure my lips were bruised and swollen. We were both panting heavily but continued to stay wrapped up in each other's arms, foreheads leaning against each other.
Eli leaned forward and placed another peck against my lips, I smiled and he leant down to peck my lips again. Before he leaned down to peck them again but he was disrupted when he came back down and a laugh escaped me at his actions. I pulled away from him, keeping my arms wrapped around his shoulders but leaning backwards so I could see his face and he let me relish in his, rare dimple showing, smile.
"Well, that was a long time coming," he rumbled with a smirk on his face.
Yes, it was.
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3120 words^
Edited ✅
Um. That finally happened. What do you think? 🤷♀️
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