Page 56 of Made of Steel (Made of Steel 1)

You're lying. He had stopped writing back to me five years ago. He had forgotten about me. But if he had, why would he have thought I was Summer when he first bumped into me in the Corner Diner? A forgotten person's name wouldn't come to his lips so easily. My eyes wandered to his lips. His perfectly kissable lips.

"Hey, Sadie," Eli said.

I jumped when his arm wrapped around my waist. And I cringed when he kissed the side of my forehead. I wasn't sure why his touch burned my skin tonight. There was no ice. Just fire. It was probably because I was mad that he was half an hour late to pick me up. But maybe it was because I'd rather have Miles' arm wrapped protectively around me. Maybe I had never stopped wanting that.

Miles was searching my face.

It took me a second to realize I was being incredibly rude. I cleared my throat. "Eli this is Miles. Miles, Eli," I said and gestured back and forth between them.

Eli let his arm fall away from me as he grabbed Miles' outstretched hand.

I watched the knuckles on both their hands turn white as they shook hands. What the hell are they doing?

Eli clapped another hand on the other side of Miles' before pulling away. "How do you two know each other?" he asked as he slid his hand back around my waist.

Fire. The way he was being possessive should have comforted me. But it didn't. I felt trapped.

"I'm her RA," Miles said.

"Oh, okay." Eli seemed relieved as he shifted even closer to me.

I felt like I was suffocating.

"And you are?" Miles asked.

"Her boyfriend."

I stood there dumbfounded. Eli wasn't my boyfriend. We had never talked about that. And I didn't like him making that assumption without asking me. For some reason, I didn't say a word though. It was easier this way. I needed to stay away from Miles. I had to. But I hated the way he was searching my face, as if he could still hear my thoughts. You can't save me. You have to stay away.

"We should probably get going, babe," Eli said.

Babe? He had never called me babe. That's what Patrick called Kins. This whole thing seemed unnatural and forced. What was Eli doing?

"We'll see you around, man," Eli said and pulled me away from Miles.

I glanced over my shoulder.

Miles' hands were stuffed in his pockets and he was scowling. Not at me though. He was staring daggers at Eli. The look made my heart race. He saw the way I flinched at Eli's touch. He saw the shocked look on my face when Eli said he was my boyfriend. He saw the way I cringed at Eli calling me babe. He saw me. He had always been able to see me.

I turned my head and swallowed hard. The only problem with that was that Miles was wrong. Eli was sweet. And kind. And good. So why did it feel like his fingers were digging into my hip, biting at my skin? Why did it feel like he was forcing me to walk forward. Why did all of this suddenly feel so wrong? This didn't feel sweet. Or kind. Or good.

"What was that?" I asked.

"I could ask you the same thing."

"He was just keeping me company while I waited for you."

"I was just a few minutes late. I told you I was coming."

"It wasn't a few minutes. It was half an hour. And it wouldn't have been the first time you stood me up."

"For a guy that was just keeping you company while you waited for me, he seemed pretty surprised when I walked up to you. Didn't you tell him about me?"

"I told him that my friend was coming to walk me home."

Eli laughed. It sounded strange. "A friend? I could have sworn we already talked about this. We both agreed that we wanted to be more than friends." His fingers seemed to grip harder at my waist.

You're hurting me. But my voice was gone. I blinked away the tears forming in my eyes.

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