Page 121 of Dare To Live

Someone needs to be. And clearly that isn’t you right now.

“Shut up.”

I climb out of bed, search for my sweats and drag them on. I’m rummaging through my suitcase for a clean t-shirt when there’s a quiet tap on the door.

I stop and scowl.

What the fuck?

The tapping starts again the second I turn back to my suitcase.

I straighten and stride across to the door and look through the peephole. Blonde hair, blue eyes, a pensive expression—that’s all it takes for me to throw open the door. She’s standing there in my hoodie and a pair of pink pajama pants.

“Is everything okay?” I look down the hallway. “Has someone tried to fuck with you?”

Arabella blinks, and her expression clears. “What? Oh! No. Can I come in?”

I take a step back. She walks past me and stops just inside the door, looking around curiously.

“It hasn’t changed at all.”

“I know.” My voice comes out flat, and she darts a glance at me.

“That’s why I’m here.” She turns to face me. “I can’t sleep up there. Every single sound I hear, it sends me back to that night when …” She catches her bottom lip between her teeth. “I didn’t expect it to hit me quite that hard. It’s just a room and it was years ago, you know?”

I don’t say anything, but I close the door and then turn to lean against it, watching her.

“Anyway, it made me think … if I’m having trouble relaxing, how much worse is it for you … in here? So I thought …” She licks her lips. “If you don’t mind, that is, we could … not sleep … together?”

I rub my hand over my jaw. “You want to stay here … with me … tonight?”

“If that’s not okay, I could go and see if Miles and—”

“It’s okay.”

“You’re sure?”

I nod. Why the fuck wouldn’t it be okay? If she wants to stay with me, she’s more than welcome to stay with me. Haven’t I made that clear to her?

“There’s the spare bed …” I wave a hand, without looking, to Kellan’s side of the room.

“No. No, I would rather share with you.” She emphasizes that by climbing onto my bed, pulling off the hoodie to reveal a strappy top that matches her pants, and dragging the sheets over her legs.

I don’t move, staring at her from my place in front of the door.

“Eli?” She pulls back the sheets and pats the mattress. “Come to bed.”

I hit the light switch, plunging the room back into darkness and cross to where she’s sitting.

“What are you doing?” I ask her softly, stretching out beside her.

She slides across the bed, wraps an arm around my waist and burrows her face into my shoulder. “I just don’t want to be alone here tonight and thought you might feel the same way.”

She makes no mention of the games or the texts or the video I sent her. Closing my eyes, I tip my head back.

“Everywhere I turn, I see him. I hear him talking,” I confess quietly into the darkness. “I fucking talk to him, Ari. Every. Single. Day.”

The arm around my waist tightens and her lips brush against my throat, but she doesn’t speak.

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