“Don’t give me that bullshit. Tell me the truth.”
“It’s this. You,” I snap.
“Whoa, I said don’t lie, not don’t sugarcoat,” he jokes.
My eyes find his with an irritated huff.
My phone pings again, and in my need to remove myself from Alex’s penetrating stare, I move toward it.
“Why are you here, Alex?”
“To do our English assignment.”
“And that involves you having your shirt off, why?” I mean, it’s no hardship looking at him half-dressed but that’s not the point.Having him here looking so much like… No. I slam those thoughts right now.
He shrugs.
“Are you actually serious with all of this, or are you just doing whatever you can to rile Nico up?” I ask, gesturing between us.
He hesitates, and it’s all the answer I need.
“You can leave if you’re only here to play games. I’m not interested in your cock-measuring contest with the boys.”
“No, that’s not… This isn’t what—”
Finally, I pick up my phone and my stomach drops into my feet, Alex’s words drifting off to nothing.
Daemon: Careful, Angel. You seem to be forgetting who owns you.
My gasp rips through the air, my hand trembling as my grip on my phone tightens until it hurts.
“What is it?” Alex asks, but I’m too lost to my panic to be able to respond.
He’s watching.
Without thinking, I walk toward the wall of windows. The closer I get, the more my skin prickles with awareness.
But I don’t see anything.
It’s almost dark, the last of the sun peeking through the trees, sending orange-tinted shadows dancing all over the garden and vast patio beyond my little haven.
“Calli?” I barely hear Alex’s voice or his footsteps as he closes the space between us. “Calli?”
Giving up on finding him in the shadows, I spin back around to Alex. My hackles are up knowing that not only is he potentially here with an ulterior motive, but that we’re being watched too.
“Let’s just get this assignment done. Then you can go home.” I don’t mean for it to come out as harshly as it does, and I hate that it makes hurt flicker through his features, but it’s too late now.
All the good that had come from waffles with the girls has been firmly obliterated by my mum and the Deimos twins.