They should’ve scared me.
He moved his lips closer until they were hovering above mine and grabbed my hand, placing it firmly on his bulge. “Is this what you want, Dani?” he asked, lips grazing against mine.
“Yes.”
I rubbed a hand over my face and pulled my blanket over my half-naked body. Another stupid dream about Eros.
From my bed, I gazed out the window. My curtains were pulled back, and I could see the morning’s pink and purple clouds over the city skyline. Why couldn’t I have a normal night for once? Why was he haunting my every dream?
My phone lit up on my side table. One unread message from Kasey asking me about breakfast. No messages from Trevon.
After sending him a good morning text—and not receiving one back—I rolled out of bed, dressed for my internship, and walked out of the room, following the scent of bacon and eggs. When I reached the kitchen, I paused and gazed at the Eros who was sitting at the counter with Maria and his roommates.
“Dani!” Maria said, hopping off of a stool. Strands of her blonde hair hung around her face. “Come eat with us. We made extra!” She walked over to the skillet. “I’ll make a plate for you.”
“I have plans. Maybe next time,” I said. I grabbed my jacket from the coat hanger.
“Is Trevon coming with you or is he staying here until you come back? Because if he is, he should come eat.” She stuck her head down the hall. “Trevon!”
“Trevon isn’t here.”
She placed a hand on her hip. “Mhm, sure. That’s why you have that big bruise under your ear. You must’ve given it to yourself last night, if he wasn’t here.”
“Bruise?” My fingers grazed against the skin below my ear. It was tender, but there wasn’t a bruise there. There couldn’t be. I opened the camera on my phone, staring at the screen in disbelief.
A text from Trevon popped up, but I ignored it. My skin was dark purple and red. It looked like a hick—wait a second.
My gaze lifted to Eros. He was tossing an apple into the air, staring at me with the greenest eyes I had ever seen. I shoved my phone in my jacket pocket. “Eros, can I speak to you?”
I didn’t wait for his reply. I just walked out the front door and waited for him to follow. He shut the door behind him, leaning against the doorframe. The hallway was empty—thank God. Eros threw the granny smith apple from hand to hand. “You and Trevon must’ve had some fun last night.”
“Stop it.” I dug my nails into my palms. “I don’t know what you’re doing, but I know that you’re up to something and it needs to stop.”
“What do you mean?”
I placed my hands on my hips. “First, you steal my panties. Second, I have this huge hickey on my neck!”
“What makes you think I gave you that hickey?”
“Because you gave it to me in my dre—” I stopped. I sounded so stupid. I had no proof that he did this to me. And, besides, I locked all the doors and even pushed a chair in front of my door so, if someone came in, I would know. Nothing was out of place this morning.
He tilted his head, still tossing that apple.
“Were you in my room last night?” I asked.
“Do you think I was?”
If I was wrong about this, I’d make a fool out of myself. But I already made a fool out of myself the first day I met him when I was dancing around in that damn underwear. So, I swallowed my pride. “Yes.”
He cocked a brow, eyes flickering down my body for a moment, and kicked himself off of the doorframe. “If you’re getting breakfast with Trevon, I suggest you cover that up.” And, with that, he opened the door and walked back inside.
CHAPTER 7
Dani
“What the Heaven happened to you?” Kasey asked, staring at my neck with wide eyes. Coffee was brewing behind the counter, filing the room with the bitter scent of mocha. I was just glad that it wasn’t cinnamon.
I fiddled with Mom’s necklace and scooted into the leather booth across from Kasey at Ollie’s. Her lipstick was almost as bright as the blood red cushion covers. “Just-uh…”
I tried to think of a quick excuse, but what would explain this big, disgusting bruise? Burning myself with the straightening iron? My hair wasn’t even straight, just a big frizzy mess. No one was that stupid.
“I don’t know.” I slumped against the table and gazed out of the windows. People in suits were rushing down the sidewalks, coffees in hand. A woman who looked as if she just walked out of Hell itself—with zombie-like eyes and knotty hair—stumbled down the side of the street. She gazed in my direction, and I sucked in a breath. Her eyes—for a split moment, I swear—were yellow. I blinked once, and the color was gone.
Was I going crazy now? Seeing yellow eyes. Thinking Eros actually gave me a hickey. I needed sleep.
Kasey cocked a sharp brow. “Yes, you do.”
“No, I really don’t. I just woke up with it.”
“You have a suspicion though, don’t you?”
The whole thing was stupid. Eros. My dream. Him actually being in my room. But there was no other explanation for it. “There’s this guy…” And, so I told her about my next-door neighbor—about him stealing my panties, about him constantly flirting with me, about me—possibly—enjoying his attention.
She placed her fingers at the edge of the table, plump lips wrapping around the straw in her smoothie. “You think he’s doing more than just creepily staring at you while you sleep?” She wiggled her eyebrows.
“It’s not like that,” I said. But who knew? I wasn’t awake while—if—he was in my room.
The light in the mason jar above us swayed slightly. She leaned back in her seat, inhaling deeply through her nose, and giggled. “I bet he’s just waiting to dig his claws into you.”
“Claws? Jeez, Kasey, he’s not a cat. And, besides, I have a boyfriend anyway.”
Trevon had been my excuse for a few days now, and even that wasn’t doing it for me anymore. If I didn’t get my shit together before I saw Eros again, the past five years would be for nothing. I would hurt a man who had loved me even in my awkward middle school stage that I never seemed to grow out of; I would hurt a man who had helped me through every night that I woke up sobbing while thinking about Mom. I’d be a sinner, and Mom would be looking down on me with so much disappointment.
A waitress approached our table, and Kasey looked over. Her dark, natural curls rested around her glowing brown face. She pulled her pen from her pocket, cheeks flushing. “What can I get you ladies?”
“Eggs and bacon, please,” I said.
Kasey smiled at the waitress, fingers grazing against her forearm. “Can I have a strudel?” She leaned forward, her breasts pressing into the table, and brushed her fingers against the waitress’s name tag on her pink uniform top. “And, Mycah, make sure it’s extra creamy inside.”
The waitress blushed harder, her dimples appearing on her round cheeks. “I’ll put it right in.” Kasey’s gaze followed her until she disappeared behind the kitchen door. When she looked back at me, she pushed my hair away from the bruise, examining it further. “Speaking of your boyfriend, has he seen what your boy-toy did to you?”