I forced my gaze up, a warmth that had nothing to do with my brisk walk across campus heating my body. Eli’s black hair stuck up at odd angles, wet and sexy as hell. I wanted to brush it out with my fingers.
Finally, I dropped my gaze to his face. Eli had frozen, too, and was looking at me looking at him. Something vibrated in the air between us. The sweet, tingly memory of that one kiss overwhelmed my senses as if it had happened a moment ago instead of weeks.
A slow, mischievous grin stretched across Eli’s lips and the intense feeling broke. I let out the breath I’d been holding and felt my body relax. I could handle the playful Eli a lot better than the smoldering, serious one of a moment before—that version of Eli scared me. In all the right ways.
“Sorry,” he said. “But I had to squeeze in a quick shower. I was smelling a little funky.”
At the word smell, I took a deep inhale and immediately regretted it as my thoughts went fuzzy from the impact of his soapy, masculine scent. Nobody should smell that good.
I closed my eyes and shook my head, forcing my mind to focus. “Why’d you wait so long to take one?” I said, once I felt marginally in control again. I opened my eyes and dared another look at him. It proved to be bad timing as he was in the process of threading his arms through a T-shirt and pulling it over his head. The muscles in his arms and chest moved in alarming ways, all sinewy and popping.
He caught me staring again as his head emerged from the top of the shirt. I dropped my gaze from his bright, knowing eyes, my skin reddening from head to toe.
“I didn’t mean to wait so long,” said Eli. “But I had a dozen things come up when I got back and just now had a chance.” He turned and sat down on the nearby sofa. “Anyway. It’s no big deal, right? I mean, you don’t seem worried about it.”
Even though I knew he was only teasing, my temper flared. It had been a long couple of months of suggestive looks and tentative touches as we danced around what had happened and what this thing was between us. “No, what I’m worried about,” I said as I shoved my hand into my front pocket and withdrew Britney’s note, “is this.”
I stepped toward the sofa and chucked it at him. The action didn’t work as well as I planned, the lightweight paper floating toward him rather than dive-bombing. Irritated even more at my failure for good dramatic effect, I gave the note a hard shove with my mind magic. It smacked Eli in the face.
Whoops.
“Ouch.” He grabbed the note and shot me a glare. “You really need to work on your aim.”
“You need to work on your reflexes.”
He stared at me, his expression turning toward the dangerous side, like a panther contemplating a good chase. Then he shrugged and examined the note, pulling it open. “What is this?” His eyes moved across the message, then he flipped it over and read the Dream Team addressee. He raised his gaze to mine, his mouth open in confusion. “Where did you get this?”
I cringed at his choice of words. What I wanted was a clear, absolute denial, not an ambiguous response. “I don’t know. You tell me?”
To my dismay, Eli smiled. “Why are you pissed at me? Don’t get me wrong, I kind of like it, but…”
I flushed again, hating how easily he knocked me off-kilter. “I’m not pissed. I’m concerned. I’m pretty sure Britney wrote that note. Lance gave it to me at lunch, says he found it here in your dorm. Only he can’t remember when. His memory is all messed up because somebody cursed him last night. But the last person he remembers seeing is you.”
The playfulness vanished from Eli’s face. “What are you implying?”
I folded my arms over my chest and backed up, leaning against the desk that sat across from the sofa. I had to know for sure, paranoid or no. “Where were you last night between ten and eleven forty-five?”
Eli’s eyebrows rose. “You’re kidding, right?”
I shook my head.
He stood and took two steps toward me, close enough that I had to lean my head back to keep my eyes fixed on his face. “I was right here. In this dorm. And why the hell are you treating me like I’m Pa—”
He broke off, but I heard the rest of what he was about to say anyway. Like I’m Paul.
I swallowed, suddenly swimming in doubt. Eli’s anger came off him in waves. Why had I accused him so quickly? So tactlessly? I bit my lip, hating how crazy he made me. Or maybe I was just going crazy in general.
I exhaled, letting the air escape through my teeth slowly. “You were also in Britney’s dream.”
Eli craned his head sideways, frowning. “What?”
I brushed back strands of my red hair that had fallen in my face. “It’s true. I saw you with a wand in your hand attacking her while she tried to run away.”
“Let me get this straight.” Eli took a few steps back from me. “You think I first cursed Lance and then ran down to the library alcove and cursed Britney and then was stupid enough to leave evidence like this hanging about.” He waved the note in the air.
I winced. Spoken like that it did seem absurd and completely out of character for Eli. But it was too late to retreat now. “Something like that.”
“Oh, and I suppose you have a motive for why I would attack her, yeah?”
“No, but you’ve never been able to do magic until now and…” I trailed off, my suspicions about him weakening by the second.
Eli opened his mouth to respond then closed it. I held my breath, waiting for him to explode or, even worse, to transform into a stranger, the way that Paul had transformed right before my eyes from a caring boyfriend to a betrayer.
Finally, Eli said through gritted teeth, “I had nothing to do with what happened to Britney or Lance. I’ve never seen this note before, and I’ve never done any magic until this morning in English class.” He paused and drew an uneven breath. “And I can’t believe you’d think for a second that I might’ve done it. Dreams aren’t real, Dusty. You know that. Only my dreams have any meaning. The ones we share together.”
Another wave of guilt crashed over me, followed by remorse. He was right. And I was wrong. Even worse, I could tell I’d really hurt him. The tension in him went deeper than anger.
“I’m sorry.” I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose, unable to bear the weight of his stare. “It’s just so much has been happening. And it felt like more than coincidence. And I guess I’m just a little paranoid.” I let my hand drop and looked back at him, hoping he believed me.
He clenched his teeth. A muscle ticked in his jaw.
“If it helps, I didn’t tell Lady Elaine about seeing you.”
Eli put his hands on his hips. “Oh, yeah? And why not?”
“To protect you, and maybe because deep down I knew you didn’t have anything to do with it. And I really am sorry. I guess I’m having a hard time trusting these days.” I spoke the last sentence without really meaning it, at least not at first. But once it was out, I felt the truth behind it. I’d been denying it for months, but I was having a hard time trusting. And sleeping. And doing anything normal. I kept seeing Marrow’s face in every stranger. Kept remembering how much it had hurt to find out the truth about Paul.
Some of the hardness in Eli’s expression softened, and he stepped toward me again, vanishing the distance between us. He gripped my shoulders, his hands warm through my shirt. “It’s all right. I understand why you’ve got trust issues. But I’m nothing like him. Nothing.”