Knife in my Heart (Purple Devil Series book #1) #Wattys2016

Chapter 13

     "Man it's really coming down. Are you sure you want to go get coffee with your fake friend?" Eli says as he is throwing a pizza in the oven. 

"Oh crap what time is it?" I look at the clock.  "It's ten til where's my phone?!" Eli laughs and closes the oven door.  "What are you laughing at?" Eli walks over and hands me my phone. 

"It was on the counter and I wasn't laughing, I was just admiring your time management skills. Real impressive." He winks and starts the timer on the microwave. I grab a towel coil it up, and SNAP! Right on his shoulder. He jumps, and his face face is half stunned, and half smiling. 

"What was that for?!" 

Laughing I say, "For being a smart allec." My phone goes off. It's a text. 

"Hey girl it's me, I can't do coffee today. See you at school. Sorry! Em. "   

I set my phone on the counter when Eli says, "She cancelled didn't she?" 

"Yeah. Oh well, I really didn't want to go in the rain anyway." Eli lets out a exaggerated exhale and smiles. 

"You know what that means don't you?" He grabs a towel from the drawer and smiles like a five year old in a free toy shop. He starts coiling up the towel and walks toward me. 

"Eli, no." I put my arms out to try to avoid getting snapped. "You don't want to do that." I walk backward but I get stopped by a wall. He stands only inches from me. I bolt and head for another room. 

Eli yells after me, "Oh you better run!" 

I stand behind the long and heavy curtains in the living room trying not to breathe too hard or my cover is blown. I see Eli's shadowy figure just a few feet from my impressive hiding place. We have been playing whatever game this is for close to a half hour now. My stomach growls. And Eli turns toward me. 

"I know you're hungry since we burned the pizza. Why don't we call it true and we can order something." He walks slowly back and forth. "I know you are in this room somewhere. I'm putting the towel down." I peek through the one eye hole that I have and see him crouching down putting the towel on the floor like an officer with a gun. He backs away from it and stands in the middle of the room looking left to right. "C. I know you're in here." Finally, I step out from behind the curtains. 

"I won again." I say as I slowly make my way out of the curtains. Eli spins around and looks at me with satisfaction. 

"You're good C. I do have to admit that." I give him my fist and we pound fists like we've done ever since I met him freshman year. He grabs my wrist and smiles devilishly. "But I'm better." I slam my whole body into him and we both tumble to the floor. He gets on top of me and pins me down. He yells, "PIN!" His hands are on my shoulders and he moves his head so he is centimeters from my face. "I think I won." And then he does something that I have been wishing he would do all year. He closes his lips on mine. His lips are soft and sweet. He stops, looks into my eyes, then kisses me again. This time harder. More certain.   Like nothing can stop him from kissing me. At this moment, all I feel his eyelashes on my cheek bone, his hand on my neck and the other on my side brushing my ribs. Another crash of thunder booms and he lets me go. His eyes still on mine as he stands up and holds his hand out to help me up. His hand is strong and callassed. Probably from playing volleyball for so long. "I'm going to order some food." He says blankly before heading into the kitchen. 

"Ok." My heart is still beating so fast I have to breathe slowly to let it slow down. My body is cold from the emptiness of where his body was. Why did he kiss me? Does he feel the same way?  Before I could answer myself he comes back in.