I thought about fighting him, but I was so tired, and honestly, it was nice to be off my feet.
“More like I’ll kill you for this tomorrow,” I said, my words coming out muffled as I lay on his shoulder. “Do you have some sort of white knight complex?”
“Whatever you want to believe, Princess.”
He lifted me into his car and placed me gently in the passenger seat. I flopped down like a rag doll, readjusting my purse strap to avoid sitting on it. As Elliot walked around the hood and settled into the driver’s seat, the overhead light came on, causing me to squint at the unexpected brightness.
Once my eyes adjusted, I turned to look at him—really look at him—for the first time tonight. His expression was tense, brows slightly knitting together as he rummaged through his pockets for his keys.
My gaze drifted downward, following the sharp contour of his arms. The veins protruded from his skin, causing me to bite my lip in order to stop myself from blurting out something I’d definitely regret. Shoving away the intrusive thoughts clawing at my mind, I forced my attention to his hands instead. Silver rings adorned his fingers, glinting in the faint sparkle of light.
Did he always wear those?
I questioned how I had never noticed them before. His tattoos were always so eye-catching, and because of them, I guess I failed to see all the other aspects of his style. Now that I was really paying attention, I caught all the little details—the silver rings, the black nail polish, the smudged eyeliner on his waterline. My gaze continued lower until it settled on his red checkered pajama pants.
“Are…were you sleeping?”
“Uh.” He glanced at his lap. “Yeah. I was.”
Without another word, he fixed his gaze straight ahead and started the car. As we cruised along the winding road, Iconcentrated intently, searching for the perfect words to express the whirlwind of thoughts swirling in my mind…though thinking straight was nearly impossible in my drunken haze.
“It’s late. Why are you helping me? You hate me,” I muttered.
“If you get in trouble, I get punished, too. I need to graduate, remember?”
“I hate being your tutor.”
“And you think it’s all sunshine and rainbows for me?” Elliot shook his head while letting out a sigh of frustration. “I didn’t think our arrangement with Mrs. Hawthorne meant having to babysit a spoiled brat.”
“I can take care of muhsel—mysefff.” I cleared my throat. “Myself.”
“You call getting wasted at a party with a bunch of jocks, ‘taking care of yourself?’”
Shit. I was so worried about Meredith being reckless that I didn’t even realize I was making the same poor decisions as her.Ugh. I hated that Elliot was actually right for once.
“Look, thanks for coming to get me, but you don’t need to watch over me like a child. It won’t happen again.”
“Sure, it won’t.”
Elliot forcefully shoved his hand into the center console and used it to sift through its contents. When he pulled his arm out, he was holding a pack of cigarettes. He flipped open the pack with his thumb and grabbed a single cigarette, placing the stem between his lips. He ignited the tip with a lighter and sucked in a breath.
Smoke pooled in the car, my lungs burning as I forced a cough. I waved my hands in front of my face in a futile attempt to clear the air of toxic fumes while I side-eyed him. He offered a casual shrug in response, rolling both of the front windows down. The wind caressed my hair back as we drove down the desertedback roads of Summerville. Desperate to feel the crisp air on my fingertips, I thrust my hand outside, letting it linger there.
“Do you get off on being a dick?”
“Me?” he asked incredulously. “What about your so-called friends? Where were they tonight?”
“Oh, fuck off.”
“You’re supposed to be smart, right? You still trust those fake-ass people?”
Elliot’s words echoed in my head over and over again.How many people do you think actually care about you?
“They’re my friends, Elliot.”
“Some friends…” he mumbled.
My neck grew tense as every muscle in my body stiffened. Something inside me snapped, my anger fueled by the alcohol I had just consumed.
