Page 28 of Obsessions of the Heart

He huffed as he slouched in his chair, and I quickly flicked my eyes around when he made more noise than I wanted him to. “Oh ye of little faith.”

Something about his exasperation made me face him. “And you, Mr. Head-in-the-clouds, need to live in reality. Life doesn't always go your way.”

He surged forward, inches from my face, gearing up to argue with me, but a loud voice interrupted. “Ricci and Smith.” We turned to our professor, who grumbled, “You're working together. Stupid random generator.” Dread filled me, but it wasn't because I was scared to work with Elio… I mean, maybe I was a little, but it had more to do with having to deal with the fact that he was right. I had a sneaky suspicion he would never let me forget it.

Slowly turning his neck, a shit-eating grin plastered on his face, his eyes bubbled with excitement. Before he could say a word, I slapped my hand over his mouth and got in his face.

“Let's get one thing straight, crazy man. We are going to work on this project together, but you are not going to use this project as a way to get into my pants.” He tried to talk, but my hand muffled his words. “And we are most definitely not talking about how you were right about this one-in-five-million chance. Got it?”

He nodded, and I sighed, ready to take my hand off, before wetness slid along the palm of my hand. Did this psycho just lick me? I yanked my hand away, shaking it before rubbing his saliva off on my jeans. What the fuck? I’d dealt with a lot of different unsavory types in my life, like druggies, drunks, assholes, and even murderers, but not once did I have to put up with someone licking my hand. I didn’t know how to deal with a person like Elio, and it was throwing me off.

Propping his elbows on the table, hands up, he rested his chin between them and giggled. “I licked it. Now, I own it.”

Instead of fighting back, I felt all of my resolve, all of my hard-earned strength, melt away. I slumped my head onto my desk with a bang, already exhausted by just the thought of corralling Elio for this project. I’d just started the day, gone to one class, and now I was done.

“Oh, sweets, I don’t think banging your head is going to make anything better. I tried it, and all I got was a knot on my head when I woke up on the floor.” His concerned voice had me glaring at him. His response was to wink and blow me a kiss as he got up and offered his hand.

“We don’t want you to be late for your next class. Cin will skin me alive.” His eyes closed as he shivered. I felt marginally bad for him, so I got up.

Elio kept his promise and walked me to my next class, doing a good job of keeping my mind from wandering into that dark cycle of no answers. He offered to get me a coffee, and I took him up on it, telling him I would get the next one. I didn’t like owing people things, but I really needed something to pick me up.

Something clicked inside of me, and I realized that I’d asked him to get me a coffee without telling him what I wanted. My chest started to pound, and my breathing quickened. I moved around, watching Elio order the drinks and pay for them. My eyes narrowed on him with laser focus when the barista passed him the two drinks.

With each step he took in my direction, I felt better and better. It wasn't until he handed me my drink, when I curled my hands around the warm paper cup, that my muscles unclenched, and my mind felt more at ease.

“Layrin?”

I shook my head and looked at Elio. His face pinched as his eyes moved from my face to the cup I was clenching, then back to my face with a frown. Did he know? Did Cin tell him what happened? How could he know already?

“Do you want me to throw it away? No hurt feelings if you do.”

His kind words stopped all my thoughts. Why was I like this? I’d just watched him like a hawk, and he’d done nothing other than bring it to me. Why are you making a big deal out of nothing? I looked down, embarrassed by myself and what was going on with me. Elio was a bit weird, sure, and he seemed a bit extra, but he had done nothing truly ungentlemanly when it came down to it.

His hand snatched my chin, tilting it up as my vision blurred with tears. “Hey, hey. You're going to be okay. No harm, no foul. It's just coffee.” He looked around as I wiped my tears away. “Look, if I set the coffee shop on fire right now, would that make you happy or earn me a smile?”

My only excuse was that I was experiencing a bit of emotional overload, but I laughed. I laughed so hard that my tears probably looked like happy ones to passersby, and that was enough for me. He’d just saved me from a really emotional and traumatic event by being his psycho ass.

I lifted my drink, pausing for a second while I told myself to do it, to drink something given to me by someone else. Finally, I pushed past the barrier. Taking a long sip, I finished and looped my arm through his. “Come on. Cin will kill you if I’m late.”

“Don’t I know it.” Elio beamed at me and patted the hand that was in his as we walked down the sidewalk past the next few buildings.

We were laughing as we turned the corner, but then Elio stiffened up. Cin stood in a dark corner near the stairs, looking up at Luca with venom in her eyes. She was pointing at him, poking him in the chest. It looked like Luca was practically vibrating with the need to retaliate, but he didn't.

Elio tugged on my arm. “I know another way around—”

“No.” I tugged back. Feeling myself going into overprotective mode, I let go of him and marched over to the arguing siblings.

I couldn't hear all of their conversation, but as I got closer, I made out Luca’s words. “And maybe we could’ve if you were better than him.” Whoever this “him” was, Luca did not like them very much… but why was he comparing Cin to this guy?

Before I could hear anything more, Elio cleared his throat, making the siblings look our way. I wanted to yell at him for ruining this, but I waved instead, giving a small smile that I hoped said “sorry for trying to eavesdrop on your conversation.”

Cin’s face transformed with a smile, while Luca’s stayed exactly the same, almost like he was daring me to say something. Yeah, I was not about to do that. While Cin and even Elio seemed like they were hiding things, I could feel somewhat settled around them. Now, Luca, on the other hand, gave me the chills. That laidback, cool guy image was just a mask he wore when it suited him, and right now, it didn't suit him.

“Lay! Are you ready for class?” Cin ran up to me, her eyes excited. Then her gaze flicked to Elio, and her nose crunched up as she reached out for me. “All right, I got it from here. Bye, Elio.”

Elio was closer, so he snagged my backpack and yanked me toward him, just out of her grip. Her eyes narrowed on him when he whispered in my ear, “We need to meet up for the project. Tell Cin to give you my number.”

I nodded, and he let go of me. Cin’s gaze bounced between us, mouth open, before she asked, “Lay, what project is he talking about?”

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