Page 111 of Deviant

No.

I refuse to believe that.

It was Elias.

It was him.

I’m certain of it.

Are you? Are you really?

I grab my pillow and start punching it with all my might, as a way to purge those awful doubts out of my head. I’m so consumed in beating it to a pulp, letting all my frustrations out, that I don’t even hear someone opening my tent.

“Keep it down. Some people are trying to sleep, you know?” Elias says as he crawls his way inside, leaving his backpack in the corner.

“Just what do you think you’re doing?” I half whisper, half yell.

“What does it look like? I’m getting ready for bed,” he explains nonchalantly, taking off his jacket and tossing it to the corner.

“You’re going to sleep here? Why?” I stammer, pulling my sleeping bag over my chest.

“Hmm, I wonder why I need somewhere to crash? Could it be because I spent most of the night pitching your tent and that of your friend’s and didn’t have enough time to pitch my own? Could that be the reason?” he states, annoyed, as he sits down at the edge of my sleeping bag to pull his boots off.

I bite my inner cheek because what can I say to that?

It’s not like I’d leave him out in the cold. I’m not heartless.

Though there are other alternatives available to him, and I make sure to remind him of that.

“Why don’t you sleep in Andy’s tent? You two looked like you were getting pretty chummy. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind you sleeping in his, since it’s obvious he’ll spend the night over at Harper’s.”

“Kid sure does have game, I’ll give him that.” He chuckles, but when he continues to take off his socks, acting like he didn’t hear me, I give him a good kick in the ribs.

“What the fuck was that for?” He turns to face me.

My mind goes blank for a second just staring at his full lips before I remember what I was about to say.

“I told you to go and sleep in Andy’s tent. You can’t stay here.”

Like an agile mountain lion, he crawls up my sleeping bag until he’s basically on top of me.

“Listen and listen carefully, Roe. This is where I’ll be sleeping for the rest of this trip. Nod if you understand,” he warns, those dark eyes of his silencing whatever excuse I could muster up to kick him out. “Good girl.”

My chest heaves at the unprovoked praise, swallowing down hard when he slithers off me and stands up to take the rest of his clothes off. My throat becomes parched as I watch him pull his long-sleeved shirt over his head, revealing hard abs and a Celtic sun tattoo over his left pec. The man looks like he was carved from marble stone—hard, cold, and absolutely breathtaking.

When his hand goes to his pants and begins unbuckling his belt, my heart stops.

“A little privacy, please?” He smirks when he catches me staring.

I quickly avert my eyes, hating how my cheeks flush bright red. But more than that, I hate how Elias always seems to have the upper hand when it comes to these types of awkward situations.

“I’m just fucking with you. You can look all you want. I don’t give a shit.”

I’m tempted to sneak a peek at the thing that almost split me in two last night, but I force myself not to, just in case this is one of his tricks.

“Are you done?” I ask after I don’t hear movement for a while.

“Almost,” he replies before pulling my sleeping bag off me.

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