Page 183 of Ominous: Part 1
But the match hasn’t officially started, nothing but warmups for the away team now, the Rhinos not even out of their locker rooms yet.
I have a Trafalgar hoodie on because one of my shiny new bruises from Dad is just above the edges of my black singlet. Easily explainable, not least of all because news of my fight with Dominic spread when he showed back up at school with his nose taped up last week, but still, I’d rather not have eyes on the blooming red fist print if I can help it. The less I give people to talk about, the better. They already have enough as it is.
But when I intercept Eden at the bottom of the stairs, her eyes widening when she sees me before she darts a look to my dad, who is now, finally, paying attention and offering us both a wave, his eyes lingering a second too fucking long on Eden, I strip off my hoodie before she can say a word.
Then I thrust it into her hands. She takes it on instinct after offering my dad a polite smile that makes me want to yank her out of this gym and into a bathroom stall so I can fuck her with my hand clamped over her pretty little mouth.
“What’s this for—”
“You’ll be sitting on the bleachers,” I answer her, my hand circled loosely around her wrist, her fingers clenched in the soft fabric of my hoodie. Her eyes stay on mine, never once drifting from my face. If she just looked eye level, she’d see Dad’s handiwork, but she doesn’t. I release her wrist and drop my hand to her thigh, just grazing it, a touch that to anyone else’s eye might look accidental.
The flush on her cheeks tells me she knows it wasn’t.
“I don’t need to be distracted, and neither does the rest of my team.” I smile with the words, although I mean them.
“You sound like a boy right now.” She narrows her eyes, but there’s nothing but playfulness in her expression. Then, surprising me with so many people watching us, my dad included, she steps closer, standing on her tiptoes with one hand on my chest, the other holding my hoodie. She tilts her head and presses a deep kiss to my lips. “But I promise not to distract you if you promise not to lose.” She starts to pull away, the feel of her mouth nearly enough to snap all my self-control. But I grab her hand, still on my chest, and lean down, kissing herharder,my mouth fucking owning hers, our tongues clashing, teeth too.
I hear Coach Pensky clear his throat somewhere behind me, and I’m sure Dad’s lips are pressed together in a tight line.
When we’ve become a spectacle for everyone in this gym, and I know I’ve claimed her in front of all these fuckers, Dad included, I pull back, breathless just like she is.
“I never lose, Eden.” Then I gently pull her hand from my chest and turn away from her, rejoining Coach and my teammates, all of them staring at me, some in awe, some with knowing smirks, and a few who take this sport a little too seriously with narrowed eyes.
Coach is one of the latter, but as his gaze flicks to Eden, then back to me, even he doesn’t say anything about it.
* * *
Eden
At first, I don’t notice it. There’s something there, scratching beneath the surface of my awareness, but my thoughts are racing from the size of Eli’s opponent—he’s huge, with a shaved head—to the smell of Eric Addison’s cologne—peppery and dark—to something not quite right on Eli’s dad’s skin.
“Did he tell you he’s been wrestling since he was twelve years old?” Mr. Addison turns to look at me with pride in his eyes, his hands clasped together, his elbows on his thighs as he sits hunched over, ready for his son to win, like he always does.
It’s the angle, I think. The way Eric is twisted toward me, the fabric of his pale gray collar bunching up just slightly, enough to make a single wrinkle in the material of his dress shirt.
A fresh bruise, blooming red in spots, darker and nearly purple in others. It’s thin, layered against his throat in such a way I can tell immediately what it is, and I know, instinctively, where it came from.
Fingers wrapped around his neck.
It only makes sense while he continues talking about how Eli was really into swimming, until he suddenly wasn’t, then went into martial arts before settling on wrestling, everything would click into place inside my head. Like speaking of Eli’s aggression, his love for physical activity, at the same time I see the wound, makes it all come together for me.
“Yeah, he’s really good too.” The words come automatically. It’s like I can’t fucking shut up even as my mind jumps over the wounds, clicking with Eli’s bruises.They fight. They fucking fight.“Do you think it helps him? You know, like an outlet?”
His dad claps his hands together once, eyes wholly focused on the sparring stance Eli and the other guy are in.
I’m bouncing my legs, playing with the collar of my shirt, my pulse elevated and I’m not even sure why. I hope his dad isn’t thinking about the sounds I made in his son’s bedroom when I lost my fucking virginity.Jesus.
“I think so,” Eric says with a smile. “He’s got a lot going on inside that mind of his.”
“Yeah,” I say, turning to look down. Eli twists his head to look up at me as he tugs on his headgear. I open my mouth, ready to say something, words vomiting out of me tonight, but I see it then. The bleachers aren’t very high up, and with all of his smooth, olive skin, I can’t believe I didn’t notice before now.
A semi-circle of red and purple, just visible above his singlet.
He smiles at me, and I force myself to return it as I knot my fingers in his hoodie, draped across my lap.
All I can think about the entire sixty seconds of the match, in which Eli pins the guy by cradling him to his chest but ensuring his shoulders are on the mat, is what his house must look like when no one else is home. Does Eric start it? I want to blame him entirely. He’s the parent. It’s… his fault. But I cannot block out the facts of everything it means to be Eli Addison.
My stomach cramps as the ref lifts Eli’s arm, and Eli’s gaze is locked on mine. Eric is standing up, cheering beside me, along with most of the parents on Trafalgar’s side. I’m on my feet, too. I couldn’t stay seated if I tried, but my movements are mechanical as my thoughts loop.
