Page 76 of Made of Steel (Made of Steel 1)

I didn't say a word as we exited onto his floor. I was probably acting unusual too. He opened up his door.

Kins launched herself into Patrick's arms and they started making out.

I looked up at Eli and he shrugged his shoulders.

He really was cute. But my mind wasn't on making out with him. I was solely focused on figuring out if he was telling the truth. I needed him right now, and if I couldn't trust him, who else could I turn to? I felt as antsy as Kins. "So...this is your room?" I looked around the space that was laid out exactly like my room. Very similar to my own decorations, there were no photos of his family. It made sense for me. For him, it just added to my suspicion. He had mentioned that he missed them, so why weren't there any pictures of them?

"This is it." He leaned against his dresser.

I could feel his eyes on me. Not only were there no pictures of his family, there also were barely any decorations at all. Patrick's side of the room had Rolling Stone's magazine covers, posters of bands I had never heard of, and even a few of scantily clad women. Eli's...nothing. Even his comforter was just black. There was no emotion. That was suspicious all by itself. What if he was in the witness protection program too? I knew how ridiculous that was. What would be the odds of them sending two people to the same school? "You're very organized," I said.

"I like things simple."

I smiled. "Are you calling me simple?"

"You are anything but simple, Sadie."

"I'm starving," Kins said. "Did you guys order dinner yet?"

"No, we were waiting to see what you wanted, babe," Patrick said.

She beamed at him. "How about something meaty."

I tried not to roll my eyes. They really were ridiculously cute, albeit vulgar.

Eli laughed. "So...like...kielbasa?"

"Or hot dogs," Patrick suggested.

"Or sausage pizza," Eli said.

"Pigs in a blanket!" Kins shouted.

The three of them laughed. Apparently I had missed some sort of inside joke. Did the three of them always talk about phallic shaped food? I had never felt more awkward. Eli could have invited me over whenever he had wanted to. Instead, he had formed weird rituals with Kins and Patrick and left me out. If he liked me, he would have wanted me here. What are you hiding? I was now positive there was something here he didn't want me to see. Did he actually just like Kins? I didn't expect to feel jealous, but I did. He had fun with Kins, while all he did with m

e was fight.

"What were you thinking?" Eli said as he wrapped his arms around me.

"Umm...cucumbers?"

He winked at me. "Oh, I can give you that whenever you want."

Kins giggled. "Don't be gross, you perverts."

How were we being gross? She had started it. I looked up into Eli's eyes. When he looked at me, we were fine. It felt like he cared. It was the moments when we weren't together that were the worst. Mostly because I had no idea what he actually spent his time doing. I wanted to shove all those feelings aside and tell him I was in trouble. Maybe he'd know what to do. Instead I just bit the inside of my lip.

"But seriously...we want Chinese food from that place down the street," Kins said.

"Awesome, we can just get it delivered..."

"No." She swatted Patrick's hand which had already started dialing the number. "I was hoping you could pick it up. It'll be hotter that way."

"How about you two go get it, and we'll stay here?" Eli suggested.

"No." Kins gave everyone an exaggerated frown. "Sadie and I need a few minutes of girl time."

Oh my God. I had told her a million times that I wasn't going to go along with her horrible plan. "Kins," I mouthed silently at her. There had to be a better way to get them out of the room.

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