How Sinners Fight - Eva Ashwood Page 0,80
on the pavement from when it flew out of my hand. By some miracle the screen isn’t cracked; there’s only a small dent on the side of the case as proof of what happened.
My hands shake as I unlock it and pull open my contacts, dialing the most recent open contact. It’s Elias, and he picks up on the first ring.
“Hey, Blue.” I can hear the grin in his voice. “You coming over? We’re all hanging out at Gray’s right now—”
“Elias.” My throat constricts. “Someone is trying to kill me.”
The line goes dead for half of a second.
“Where are you?” he says, and even though his voice sounds calm, I can tell it’s laced with panic.
“I’m fine right now,” I tell him, explaining where I went to eat dinner and what happened. “I’m walking back right now, I’m almost there—”
“Gray is leaving right now to pick you up,” he says, “but keep walking. Don’t hang up on me.”
I stay on the phone with him, and less than ten minutes later, I recognize Gray’s car pulling up. I flinch slightly as the headlights illuminate the darkness around me, pushing aside the memory of another car speeding toward me. He gets out and rounds the hood, his gaze intent on my face.
“Gray’s here now,” I tell Elias.
“Let me talk to him.”
I hand Gray the phone, and he assures Elias that it’s him before hanging up. I go to get into the car, but Gray pulls me against his body, pressing a kiss to my lips. His heart thuds against my chest as he kisses me deeply, and I can practically feel the relief pounding through my body and his.
“We’ve got to get you back,” he says, his voice low and dark.
He helps me into the car, and for once, I don’t try to stop him. Usually, I’m not one for men treating me like I can’t do this shit myself, but I know that’s not why Gray’s doing it. He’s doing it because he can barely bring himself to stop touching me, and he wants any excuse to prolong the contact.
And if I’m being honest, so do I.
Inside the car, he grips my hand tightly, navigating the car away from the curb with one hand on the wheel. On the drive back to the campus, both of us are quiet and somber.
I try to call Max, but she doesn’t pick up, so I leave her a message telling her to meet up at Gray’s dorm as quickly as possible. I know she wanted to hash shit out with Aaron, but I also know she’d be pissed if I didn’t tell her about this.
When we get back to Gray’s room, Elias and Declan spring up, their eyes roaming over my body, checking for injuries.
“I’m fine,” I say, letting them pull me into their arms, hug me, kiss me—as if by touching me, they’ll know I’m truly okay. “Just a little freaked out, that’s all.”
They make me tell them again everything I remember about the party and being pushed down the stairs, then how the car nearly hit me.
“I know it could have just been an accident—” I start to say.
“No,” Gray cuts in firmly. “We’re not treating it like that, even if it was. Do you think it was Cliff?”
“I’m not sure.” My throat feels scratchy and tight. I’m scared, and that pisses me off. My urge to fight my way out of danger is rising up inside me as always. “I didn’t get a good look at the car, but it didn’t look like his. At least, not the one I’ve seen him drive on campus. Maybe he’s got others.”
“As far as I’m concerned, he’s the most likely suspect,” Elias says seriously, “considering we just threatened him.”
“But why would he try to fucking kill me?” I demand, my hands curling into fists.
“Because he wants to shut you up for good.” Declan’s voice is low, dangerous. He looks like he’s about to go beat the shit out of someone. “Because he’s a weaselly little coward who’s scared of what you could do to him.”
“But what about the stairs?” I question, speaking my thoughts out loud. “Could it have been him who pushed me down the stairs?”
Gray guides me to the couch, and I’m thankful for his solid body next to mine. He settles next to me and turns to face me, running a hand over his chin. A little hint of stubble seems to shadow his jaw, but I’m not sure if it’s