Cherry Red Summer (Emely and Elyas Book 1) (24 page)

Of course, I would need to have a boyfriend for that to happen, so pretty much 95 percent of my life was safe. But still.

Alex wasn’t Kevin. As sad as the story was, it didn’t surprise me, either. That’s exactly something I would have expected of Kevin.

“I always told you Kevin was an ass,” I said, sighing.

“It’s true; you did,” he replied, staring at the ice cream carton.

“Did he survive?”

“Kevin?”

I nodded, yawning softly.

“Just a few broken bones. Nothing that wouldn’t heal,” he said, only half joking. I abhorred violence, but putting myself in Elyas’s shoes, I could understand reacting in the heat of the moment.

“Was that very recent?”

“It was when we were in England together. Five or six years ago.”

I mused on Elyas’s experiences and then came to a conclusion. “Same old, same old,” I announced.

“Huh?”

“Same old story, I mean. A man falls in love—in this case you—is betrayed and made a fool of, and then mutates into a feelingless jerk who goes through women as though they were disposable.” It was so simple I was surprised I hadn’t seen it before.

“I don’t mean to call your pop-psych skills into question,” he said, smiling, “but it’s not as straightforward as that.”

“No?”

“No. First of all, I’ve told you I’m not feelingless. Second, as I’ve already mentioned, I’m not ‘getting my revenge’ on women or whatever. Quite the opposite: I like women, a lot. And third—” He paused. “Have you ever considered I might cast all those women to the wind the second the right one crossed my path?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Assuming it’s true what you say, then take it from a woman who knows a thing or two.”

He looked at me expectantly, awaiting my wisdom.

“There is no such thing as the right one. All you can do is decide who is the least wrong. So don’t wait for something that will never come.”

“You seriously believe that?”

“I
know
it,” I said with a yawn. Then I curled up into a ball on the sofa with my feet pointing toward Elyas.

“What if you’re wrong?”

“Then I’ll be happy to discover otherwise,” I answered, cuddling in. “Haven’t you ever deconstructed the concept of love, Elyas?”

“Like, my definition of it?”

“No, I mean what love is in general.”

“What is love in general?”

“A whim of nature, a genetic side effect—call it what you want. The fact is, love only exists so two people will stay together long enough to procreate and for the brat to make it to age eighteen.”

It took him a moment to reply. “I can’t imagine you see it so coldly.”

“I’m trying to,” I yawned. “It makes being lovesick a whole lot easier.”

“Do you often suffer from lovesickness?”

“Now and then, but thankfully only rarely an authentically broken heart.”
Once, actually, to be exact.

Elyas didn’t say anything, so I closed my eyes.

“Can
I . . .
ask you something?” he said, interrupting the quiet.

“Depends,” I mumbled sleepily.

“Back in high school
. . . ,
” he started. “I mean, how
much
did you love me back then?”

“What does it matter?”

“Just that I’d be interested in knowing whether it was a ‘Maid in the Meadow’ kind of crush, or something more serious.”

I decided it’d be better—safer—not to let him know he was the only person I’d ever loved.

“Let’s put it this way,” I mumbled, half asleep. “I had already found the perfect spot to ditch your dismembered corpse forever.”

I’d hardly gotten those words out before I drifted off to sleep.

C
HAPTER
16

C
ARE
B
EARS
, I
CE
C
REAM
,
AND
T
EXT
M
ESSAGES

A
pleasant sensation at my temple slowly roused me from my deep sleep. It felt as though someone’s fingers were tenderly stroking that spot. I sighed and cuddled into the pillow; I didn’t ever want to awaken from this dream. The rich, cozy scent of coffee filled my nose, and I inhaled it deeply.
Mmm, coffee.

How was that smell getting into my room? Eva and I didn’t have a coffee machine
. . .

Everything within me fought against opening my eyes, but I still carefully blinked. Bright light struck my pupils, and the contours of my environment slowly came into focus. As everything became clearer, I recognized a face. Then two beaming turquoise-green eyes.

I wrinkled my brow, raised my head, and looked around.

Movie night, Elyas, pot, ice cream, sleeping on the couc
h . . .
I groaned, fell back onto the sofa, and pulled the blanket that was somehow now covering me over my head. I hoped either Elyas or I would vanish into thin air, but my wish went unfulfilled, as someone pulled the blanket off me.

I forced myself to open my eyes again—and saw Elyas sitting on the coffee table.

He was smiling. “Did you sleep well, my angel?”

“What time is it?”

“Ten ten.”

“You woke me up so early.”

“You mentioned something about wanting to study all day today. I thought I’d better wake you up.”

“Since when are you so attentive?” I asked.

“Since forever.” One corner of his mouth curled up.

As if
, I thought, rubbing a hand over my face. I struggled to sit up, because every second I lay there, I was at risk of falling back asleep. Once I was sitting, I drew up my legs, wrapped myself in the blanket, and yawned.

“Has anyone ever told you how cute you are when you’re sleeping?”

I moaned. It was too early to put up with Elyas’s advances. “Has anyone ever told
you
about this thing called privacy?”

“Yeah, sure. But I couldn’t pass up a moment when you weren’t being peevish for once.”

I closed my eyes tightly. “How long have you been sitting there?” I didn’t even want to imagine how long it’d been.

He shrugged. “A while.”

I sighed, but was too tired to engage in our typical repartee. “Well, then. Either you can fill me in on all the exciting developments I missed while sleeping, or you could be a sweetheart and bring me some coffee.”

He reached behind his back, and his hand reappeared holding a steaming cup of coffee. I wrapped my hands around the warm porcelain and looked at him, wide-eyed. “Wow! Thank you.”

He grinned. “This could be yours every morning, dearest.”

I rolled my eyes before taking a sip. It tasted extremely good. It wasn’t long before Elyas’s turquoise-green X-ray eyes started watching me again, and I watched him, squinting over the edge of my cup. Couldn’t he leave me alone so I could enjoy my coffee?

I set the cup down and glared at him. Only then did I notice the damp tips of his hair and the vague smell of shower gel in the air. There was something about a freshly showered man—even if the man was named Elyas.
Or maybe because
. . .

I silently growled at myself, trying to suppress my thoughts again. I had to change the subject. “Say, how is it that Alex isn’t bouncing around here like a rubber ball this morning?”

“I was wondering the same thing.”

“And?”

“I have no idea where she is. Her room is empty, and her bed hasn’t been slept in.”

“What?”

“Don’t worry. She’s in good hands with Sebastian,” he said. “You don’t think I’d leave my sister to someone I didn’t trust a hundred percent, do you?”

No, he would never do that. Besides, to the extent I had gotten to know Sebastian, he didn’t seem like a bad guy.

“Still, it’s weird.” I said half to myself. Our question soon found its answer when the door opened. With a dreamy look on her face and a blissful smile on her lips, Alex appeared, in the same clothes as yesterday. She closed the door behind her and walked through the living room.
Floated
might be a better word, since the look on her face meant she was currently in some kind of parallel Care Bear universe, unable to perceive Elyas or me at all.

“Alex?” I asked as she strode past us, hypnotized.

“O
h . . .
hi
!
” she said, so calmly but melodiously I got worried. What on earth had happened to her?

The almost-nauseating happiness on her face didn’t lapse for even a second as she gradually flitted over to us like Tinkerbell and sat down on the couch with a satisfied sigh. Elyas and I looked at each other.

“Did he drug you?” I asked but got only a wide smile in reply. “I’m betting morphine, Valium, or some kind of serious antidepressants,” I said, turning to Elyas, who seemed to be wondering the same thing. “Could you check her pupils?”

“No drugs
. . .
” Alex breathed. “Just happy
. . .
”

“I know happy Alex,” I said. “The last thing she’d do is sit calmly with a stupid grin on her face! So whoever or whatever you are: If you’ve eaten Alex, spit her right back out!”

“It’s me,” she giggled. “You can be absolutely sure of that.”

“Might you then be so kind as to give us the scoop?”

“Oh, Emely,” she sighed. “I’m in love.”

I rolled my eyes. “We already knew that! What happened
last night
after Elyas and I left you two alone?”

She beamed, reveling in the memory, and then finally told us what had happened. “After you two left, we hung out for another half hour in the living room, holding hands. Then Sebastian asked me if I felt like going on a little trip.”

“Where did you go?” I asked. Alex was taking her time. Way too much time.

“Oh, it was so romantic, Emely.” She exhaled. “We took a drive through some woods—and I thought, where in the hell is he taking me? We came out onto a little rock ledge, with a view overlooking all of Berlin.”

“Up by that water tower?” Elyas asked.

Alex looked surprised. “You know it?”

“Yeah, Sebastian and I have been out there several times. It’s a nice place,” he said.

“Beautiful, even,” Alex mused, looking off into space.

“And then?” I prompted.

“Then,” she said dreamily, “we got out and sat on the hood of the car.” She stopped, looked at Elyas, and for a second I could detect the old Alex in there. “Sebastian isn’t as fussy about his car as you are, you see.”

Elyas made a face. “Well, if I had a BMW, I wouldn’t be fussy about it either.”
He hates BMWs, just like me? Huh.

“Hello? Do you think you could get back to the story?” I said. This whole aside with Elyas was profoundly unnecessary.

Alex turned back into a mush-brain. “We sat side by side, and he took my hand again.” The scene she described was so cute I got lost in her yearning.

“Then,” she said, smiling, “we gazed deep into each other’s eyes and the
n . . .
and the
n . . .
he kissed me.”

Elyas and I exhaled in unison with relief. We’d have high-fived each other, except the moment didn’t seem right. “He’s a crazy-good kisser, Emely!” Alex continued. I rested my chin on my hand and smiled.

“But it gets better,” Alex said.

“Better?” I asked.

“Yes.” She sighed. “We talked for a long time, and he confessed he’s head over heels in love with me and said he doesn’t want to rush anything because he’s serious about me.”

I hung on Alex’s every word, probably with as silly a grin on my face as hers.

“Eventually we got too cold and drove home,” she said.

“Hey—you’re leaving out a few details there!” I pointed out.

“Geez!” Elyas said. “Women are so indiscreet!”

“As though men are any different,” I replied.

“They are! You go into way more detail. Plus, I have no desire to hear how the sex was between my little sister and my best friend,” he said.

“No one’s forcing you to be here,” I said.

“Hello? May I continue my story?” Alex said, interrupting us. “We didn’t have sex!”

“No?” Elyas asked. He and I exchanged looks.

“No,” she whispered. I wrinkled my forehead. Considering nothing had gone on between them, Alex seemed way too happy. “We lay in his bed together, just cuddling and talking all night.”

“Just cuddling and talking?” I repeated. If it was true—I’m sure every freaking woman on earth would agree with me—Alex had found herself the
perfect
guy.

She nodded.

“How cute,” I said, cocking my head to the side as though I were a golden retriever.

She nodded again and smiled.

“Now we just need to find someone for you,” she said quickly, and I grimaced.

“People with little pink hearts for irises are always trying to infect everyone else with their disgusting disease,” I said with a smirk.

“Why are you still here?” Alex said. “By the way.” Her eyes shifted first to me and then to Elyas, whose lips had formed a one-sided smile.

“
I
,” I began, drawing her attention away from his smile, “am still here because we stayed up until three in the morning, holed up in Elyas’s room for fear of disturbing you and Sebastian!”

“Oh
. . . ,
” she said.

“Yeah, that’s right. You might have let us know you were leaving so I could have spared myself a night with your irritating brother.”

“Ouch! Now she’s pretending she didn’t like it,” Elyas said, smirking.

“Now she’s pretending she didn’t like
what
?” Alex asked, looking back at me.

“Not what you think,” I said. “We just talked.”

“Just talked?” she repeated. She appeared more surprised by that answer than any other I might have given.

“Yes,” Elyas sighed. “We need a little more practice with the cuddling thing. Emely is still a little shy, you see.”

“I’d watch what I say if I were you,” I said, glaring at him. “Think of your ribs.”

“Do you want to see what you did?” he asked. He didn’t wait for me to answer, instead pulling up his T-shirt.

Elyas drew my attention from his abs when he pointed at a huge black-and-blue bruise.

“Wow,” I said, amazed and rather proud of myself.

He flashed me a coy grin. “I’m pointing to the bruise.”

“That’s what my
wow
was referring to, you jerk!”

Alex’s forehead was covered in wrinkles. “What
exactly
were you two up to last night?”

“Long story. But believe me, he earned that.”

“Well, that’s a story I’d like to hear,” Alex said, yawning. “But right now I’m going to bed. I didn’t sleep all night, and I’m beat.” She stood up and stretched. “Good night, you two, and have fun wit
h . . .
whatever.” She grinned and sauntered off to her room, little pink hearts practically wafting out of her ears.

I gazed after her, even after she was out of sight. “I think you should collect a sample of her blood and run some drug tests,” I mumbled.

“Well,” Elyas said, “by the looks of her, maybe there
is
such a thing as Mr. Right.”

“At least for some people,” I said softly, sipping my coffee while lost in thought. Elyas started watching me again, so I downed the rest of my coffee in one gulp, set the cup on the table, and went to the bathroom to freshen up before I left.

I returned to the living room a few minutes later, looking better—though not much—and said good-bye to Elyas. The mountain of work in my room couldn’t wait any longer.

He sulked. “Don’t tell me you’re leaving.”

“Yes, it looks that way. See you, Elyas!” I waved and walked to the door.

“Wait,” he said, getting up. “I’ll drive you home.”

“That’s not necessary. The next bus will be here in ten minutes.”

“You’re passing up a drive in the Mustang for a city bus?”

“Not really,” I sighed. “But I’m starting to owe you gas money for all the driving.”

“I would never take money from you,” he said, trying to look me in the eye. He succeeded for several seconds, unfortunately.

“Let me guess,” I replied. “You would accept another form of payment.”

He seductively raised an eyebrow. “Hmm, was that an offer?”

“No, an observation.”

“Too bad,” he said, slowly coming toward the door.

I stepped back and crossed my arms in front of me.

“One might think you were afraid of me,” he said.

“Definitely not!”

“Are you sure?” he asked, coming closer.

I held my breath. “I’m not so sure,” I admitted.

“Why are you always backing away from me?”

“I’m not backing away.”

“Yes, you are.”

I shook my head, but he nodded. He came another inch closer, and I moved back.

“See?” he whispered.

“That doesn’t mean anything!”

He laughed softly. “Yes, it does. You’re afraid.”

“Am not.”

“Then stop backing up for once.” He looked deep into my eyes. I tensed and stood my ground as he closed the gap between us even more.

“You see?” I said.

“Hmm, maybe I was wrong,” he whispered, looking into my eyes intently. He bent down toward me. My heart responded faster than any other part of me, instantly racing. I regained control over my limbs just before his lips touched my cheek. I moved back from him and glared.

He was breathing hard but stood back up and looked at me. “At some point you ought to try being more trusting.” He grinned, grabbed his car keys, and held the door open for me. “
Après vous, madame.
”

I suppressed the urge to decapitate him and stepped past him out of the apartment. I had expected more sarcastic comments during the ride home, but Elyas withheld them. He acted like a human being.

A few blocks from my dorm, he slid a CD into the sound system. A song started playing, and Elyas put his hand back on the steering wheel with satisfaction.