I crossed my arms over my chest and tried to make my face look as bored as his did. I think I failed because he frowned at me.
Whatever.
Maybe he was just wondering what I was doing behind the door. Yeah, that was it. Because it was only open an inch or two and he couldn’t exactly see me.
“Can I help you?” I whispered.
Shit.
I should close the door in his face and put myself out of my misery.
“Are you alright?” he asked carefully, and I noticed he no longer looked bored but concerned. He probably thought I was a moron.
Great. Just what I needed, one more reason for him not to like me.
“I take it there was no one outside,” I said to change the subject and take the heat off of me.
“No,” he said firmly, and his eyes bored into me making me fidget behind the door. “No one was out there.”
If he said so. I wasn’t sure I believed him. They hadn’t been out there for very long and we were deep in the woods. I would have to let it go. I fingered the doorknob without taking my eyes off of him and was relieved to find the little button to lock it. Not that it would do me much good, but it was better than nothing.
My pulse sped up as he continued to stare at me. What was this, some sort of test? I didn’t much care for being tested. I licked my dry lips and refused to be intimidated by him. I would not fail this test, and I would not blink first.
He shifted his weight from one foot to the other and pursed his lips, looking very displeased. Hopefully not with me because I hadn’t done anything wrong, not to him.
He cleared his throat and looked away first. Score! I won, not that I had the slightest clue what I was winning. No one had explained the rules or the name of the game to me.
“Dinner is ready,” he mumbled awkwardly before rubbing his hand over the back of his neck. He seemed nervous all of a sudden and would no longer look me in the eye.
These people were so freaking weird sometimes.
Without another word he turned and walked away. Down the stairs he went, and I was surprised by how quiet he was. He didn’t make a sound as he went down. Huh. He and Julian had sounded awfully loud when they’d gone down them earlier.
Dinner with Dash, Damien and Julian… I didn’t think I was ready for that. It was bound to be incredibly awkward. If I had known the other two were going to be here I don’t think I would have come.
My phone chimed from its place on top of the dresser. I practically skipped across the wood floor to get to it I was so thankful for the distraction.
I picked it up, swiped the screen to unlock it and opened up my messages. There was one from Tyson.
Tyson: Where are you? The house is locked up tight and it looks like no one is home. Are you over there?
I frowned at my phone. I probably should have told someone where I was going. I would probably have to do that from now on. That was going to get old real fast. I texted him back quickly before he could question me anymore.
Ariel: I’m at Dash’s.
I put the phone back on the dresser and, after a quick look through the room, I walked to the door. I didn’t bother to shut it behind me. There was no one up here and I didn’t think they would go pawing through my things so soon. And if they did, whatever, it’s not like I had a whole lot of things here for them to go through.
Trust was important when living with someone and if I was going to live with Dash fulltime then I would need to trust him. He had to be able to trust me too, that was important to me, which is why I didn’t open up the two closed doors and peek inside. Though, I very much wanted to. I hoped a bathroom lay behind one of those closed doors. It would suck to have to go down the stairs every time I had to go to the bathroom or wanted to take a shower.
I made it half way down the stairs when I stopped. I turned around and went back to my room.
I kicked my flip flops off and sat down on the edge of the bed. I put the light blue fuzzy socks on my feet even though I really wanted to put on one of the brand-new pairs.
Then I went downstairs, and I was just as quiet on the stairs as everyone else had been.
“What’s she doing here?” I heard Damien say when I made it to the bottom of the stairs.
I stopped cold at his words and my heart squeezed painfully in my chest. I did not want to hear this crap.