Page 56 of Make Me Bleed
“Sorry.” I reach up and clasp his hand, hating how warm and right he feels as I’m jerked to my feet. I stumble and fall into him, but Peris catches me, like he always does. I let out a small breath of excitement feeling his arms around me again because this is absolutely crazy.
I mean, really, what the hell are we doing?
“Good question, runt. Good fucking question,” Peris answers aloud, and I snort.
“Can I get some of that?” I ask, and he passes it over without thought, and we share the rest of his cigarette until it reaches the butt, then Peris stubs it out and flicks it somewhere beside him.
“Come on. I’m sure you’re freezing your ass off—not that you have much of one to begin with.”
I rear back as I stumble my way up the steps. “Hey!”
“Just saying,” he mutters, and I swat at him.
“My ass has definitely gotten bigger since the last time you fucked it.”
“Oh, you mean since yesterday?”
“Technically yesterday was in the bathroom cause it’s definitely past midnight now,” I counter, being a smartass, and Peris growls.
He steps closer and backs me against the front door. “Don’t fucking push me, runt. You know what I meant.”
“Yeah, yeah.” I try to shake him off. “Whatever.”
“You’re gonna fuckin’ think ‘whatever’,” he mutters as he shoves me aside and puts his key in the door. While he unlocks it, I take a look around. It’s a smaller, two-story house, but it’s cute. It’s painted dark green with some of the paint chipping off. The porch definitely needs redone, but it’s nice enough.
Peris gets the door open and steps inside, gesturing for me to follow. It’s dark, but it smells clean, which surprises me. I kind ofexpected it to stink like old socks or something, to be honest, but it doesn’t, which is nice.
“Who all lives here?” I ask.
“Me, Gabe, and one of Gabe’s friends,” Peris replies quickly as he ushers me through the living room. It’s dark, so I can’t really make anything out, but then, we round the corner and we’re headed up stairs. Peris pauses and looks back at me and up the staircase, then he wraps his arm around my waist and hauls me against him before starting the trek up the stairs.
I stare at the side of his face, a gasp stuck in my throat, as Peris practically carries me up the steps. His body is flush against mine, and I feel the movement of every muscle with each step, and it makes me burn hotter and hotter.
By the time we make it to the top, my skin is on fire. Peris sets me on my feet, and I mourn the loss something great. He glances over at me for a moment, his eyes dark and clouded with something before he shakes his head and makes his way down the hall. I stumble after him, hand smacking against the wall to catch myself.
“Would youwatch it?” he snaps. “Before you?—”
A door creaks open. “Peris?”
“Oh great. Just what I fucking need,” he mutters, glaring daggers at me, and I wince, mouthing,I’m sorry.
“Do you need help?” Gabe says as he stumbles out of his room, rubbing one eye pretty harshly, while the other remains closed.
“No, I’m fine,” Peris spits through gritted teeth. He reaches over and wraps his fingers around my bicep. I hiss as he pinches my skin but let him maneuver me behind him.
“Fine? What’s going on?” Gabriel seems much more alert now and blinks through the haze in his eyes and brushes his curls out of his face. When we make eye contact over Peris’sshoulder in the shadows, I watch recognition flare before something unnamed settles across his face.
“Peris…”
“Shut the fuck up, Gabriel. Go back to bed.”
“This is a bad idea,” he says, and I wince. I mean, I already know that, but damn. I’m standing right fucking here.
“I know!” Peris shouts, and I flinch. “I know,” he repeats again, softer, and my heart clenches at his low cadence, despite the fact that he’s callingmea bad idea.
I’ve always been bad; there’s nothing new there, especially when it comes to Peris Baxter. But hearing him admit it so easily kinda fucking sucks a lot more than I thought it would, honestly.
“I am standing right here,” I mutter from behind Peris, feeling petulant. If I could huff and cross my arms over my chest, I probably would.
