started with a lie ➳ raura revised

Chapter Thirty-One

After the whole Cody thinking he's king of the world and that he could mess with people's feelings, Ross takes a hold of my hand and we walk. He's gentle but has a firm grip, swerving past people that are smoking or people that are dancing in the living room. My nose twitches from the smell of alcohol on everyone we pass by. Ross seems unfazed and takes me to Joel's "man cave" in the basement.

"Out," Ross says to the one couple that's making out feverishly downstairs. I think I recognize them as Alisha and Aria from Calculus. They smile sheepishly before hopping up the creaky stairs. I'm surprised they're the only ones down here though. Even though Joel tells everyone that if they go down here he'll cut their legs off, people usually go down to smoke quietly or other reasons.

I take a seat down on an orange bean bag. I try to sit as ladylike as possible because, well, I'm wearing no pants. Cody kind of got there before I could put them on.

Ross glances at me and lets his eyes wander for a second before reaching over for his suit jacket and placing it on my legs.

"So...," I start, folding my hands on top of my legs.

"I didn't expect your lingerie show so soon," Ross jokes—I think he's joking. He sits down on the bean bag next to mine, our knees almost touching. Almost.

"Ha-ha, very funny," I say in a sarcastic tone.

"Well, that was fun," Ross says, running a hand through his hair. "Kind of forgot what it feels like to be at an actual party instead of some business meeting or charity event." I notice something on his hand.

I stop his hand in his hair and take it in both my hands to examine it. His hand is so but rough around the fingers—from work probably. Signing a billion contracts and whatever he does must do that to you. What caught my eyes were the bruises on his knuckles. They're a bright purple, some even blue. Stupid Cody.

"What?" Ross says and we're sitting closer now, me huddled over to see his hand.

I run my fingers over the bruises to see how bad they are and when he winces, I know it's bad enough. "Does it hurt?" I ask.

"No."

"Liar."

I stand up and the jacket slips to the floor. There's a bright blue fridge in the corner of Joel's room. I hate to admit but Joel's man cave is actually nicely designed. Splashes of color and just the right texture for everything. I guess he got his artistic side from Mom. It's a shame the room's always messy.

I need to see Mom tomorrow—to check up on her and see if she's okay and to tell her I'm okay. I want to tell her about Ross and Madam Jong even if she can't hear me.

I have to tell her there's a boy I like.

"What're you doing?" Ross asks when I open the fridge. To see him here in Joel's den and being swallowed up by a purple bean bag, it's surreal.

I have to tell her there's a boy I love.

"Getting you ice," I mumble as I reach into get the ice pack that Joel has. In fact, it's the only thing there. There's no food even though Zac literally bought the entire Walmart store yesterday morning. The ice is cold in my hands as I sit back down next to Ross. He's looking at me, bemused.

"I don't need ice," Ross says. He reaches over to pick up his jacket and places it over my legs again. He pats his jacket down and I start feeling tingly.

"I don't need this jacket," I say, pushing off his jacket.

Ross quietly gasps before setting his lips in a firm line. He picks up the jacket and adjusts it over my legs again. This time, he tucks it under, too. "Yes, you do. I need you to."