Chapter 27

AVERY

When a long time passed and it didn't look like he was going to be able to come up with something to say, decided to step up and help him. He was probably going to need some time to get used to Mariah anyway.

I caught myself when I thought about the implication of what I just thought. Was I already assuming that Cyrus was going to stick around? As in spend more time with me-with Mariah?

I shook my head hard. Lets not get crazy, Avery.

"We started talking the second time he came to the bar. It was a little conversation." Then, just to be bitchy, I added, "Doesn't even count as a conversation if you really think about it. Not even halfway. Barely lasted ten minutes."

Two pairs of eyes were on me now. One shocked, the other intrigued. The former danvced between me and the road while the latter, the sly, mischievous ones, belonged to Mariah. The light in her eyes told me that she had figured out he was the stranger I told her about.

The thing was, was she going to act oblivious or was she going to out me? If I had any money to spare, I would place my bet on the latter. But I didn't. So all I could do was wait and watch.

My guess was confirmed a moment later when she said, "Oh, I think I've heard about you."

Remind me to kill Mariah when we got back to our room. Cyrus was obviously good at disposing bodies. Might was well ask him to dispose off her body after I was done killing her. Only that his eyes had taken on a particular gleam in them-a good one if the curl of his lips was anything to go by-and asking him to dispose of his newly acquired friend's body would not be a great idea.

I ruled that out. I would have to kill her and take care of the body myself.

Hey, look at me talking(thinking) and joking about killing when I had almost lost my life on two occasions over the past month. Suddenly, I knew more on the topic of death than anyone else.

And why didn't the knowledge that Cyrus had effortlessly killed a man-and disposed off his body-freaked me out anyway?

I mean, hello, he was a murderer and it definably hadn't been his first rodeo. Which meant that it wasn't the first time he had taken a person's life. How on earth was I okay with that?

I had been attacked twice in the past month, on the verge of losing my life twice. That wasn't something a person dismissed easily. It wasn't something a person dismissed period. I had decided to be more careful. Cut back hours at the bar if possible, even if that meant less money, my life came first.

But why was I okay with Cyrus killing a person?

Not like I was okay with it, but why wasn't I outright freaking out?

I knew what it was like. The fear. The terror that came with knowing that you were about to lose your life at a persons hands and yet knowing that there wasn't a single thing you were going to be able to do about it. The pure, unadulterated fear.

It was like nothing I had ever felt in may entire life. Wouldn't want to be in a position where I felt it again and wouldn't even wish it on my worst enemy.

Knowing that Cyrus had taken a persons life not once, but many times-I was assuming but I was probably right-should fill me with fear. Trepidation. I should be running in the other direction, not towards him.

So why didnt he freak me out?

Instead, I felt safe around him. I remembered the ferocity with which he had fought for me that night. How he hadnt wanted to let that man go had I nit intervened.

Would he do it again? How would he react if he found out that someone had actually come close to killing me?

Not happily, I guessed.

"I think she drifted off."

Those words, uttered by Mariah, pulled me out of my thoughts.

What were they talking about?

My look must have conveyed my question because Mariah said, "Cyrus was asking if you wanted to order takeout here."

Where exactly was here? I turned and looked out of my window-which I had been staring at for the entirety of the ride, but this time actually focusing-and saw that an eatery was just off to the right of us and Cyrus was already slowing down, preparing to drive in.

I turned to him. "You want fast food?"

To be honest, he didn't look like a man that ate out much. What I was trying to say was that he didn't look like the kind of man who would just get food from a random place and eat it. Men with his kind of money tended to go through all the reviews on a place before they even set foot in. Maybe I was stereotyping, but that was what I had gathered from men like him. And it was hardly wrong.

"It's late." He said shrugging, "You might be too tired to make something so I thought it would be a smart idea to get food."

I could almost kiss him right now. His thoughtfulness turned me on to such an embarrassing degree that I would never admit out loud.

"Have you been here before?" I asked as he searched for a spot to park.

"No."

Hmm. So he hadn't been here before. But that didn't mean he simply ate at any restaurant he came across.

I unbuckled and got out of the car and Mariah did the same. Five minutes later, we came out with enough food to feed an army. I didn't know why Cyrus went all out but he insisted we got a lot. What pissed me off was the fact that the woman who had attended to us, had been unable to stop ogling him. It was like Mariah and I weren't beside him, and we could have as well as been invisible because she only turned to us when she wanted to dump all the food on us.

For the second time in my life, I had felt violent up to the point that I almost acted on it. The only thing that held me back was self respect.

Cyrus wasn't mine. I wasn't allowed to go batshit crazy over him.

And that realisation put me in a sour mood all the way from the restaurant to the car. I didn't say anything anymore, even pretended like I didn't see Cyrus every time he cut glances at me, hoping to catch my eye. Mariah was busy keeping him distracted with random talks so that it wouldn't be that awkward, and I was grateful for her.

No way I could do conversation right now. Not in my mood anyway.

All through the car ride, until we reached the university, I didn't say a single thing. Mariah kept sending me curious glances that said 'what the fuck is going on with you?'. When they were finally getting too much and the possibility of Cyrus seeing us increased, I gave her one that said 'we'll talk when we get home' and she finally dropped it.

At the end of the day, the both of them had more conversation in just one hour than me and him had ever had. And was I bothered? Nope, not at all. I was done. So done with him. I couldn't deal with his hot and cold attitude. He was going to have to pick a side.

Did he want me or did he not? He had no right to keep stringing me on like that. I wasn't that girl.

And how unfortunate was I anyway? What sort of fucked up timing did my feelings have? Why did they choose to go on hiatus for a long ass time and then pop up all of a sudden for this confusing man?

I hated that. I hated that he made me feel this way even when I didn't want it and that he just had to be so…. Unattainable. The man knew I wanted him for fucks sake. How many more hints could a girl throw?

When he parked outside the university, Mariah got out and I didn't even waste a second. I told him thanks for the food and the ride and I was just about to get out of the car when he held me back by my wrist.

The electricity that went through me was so instant and so shocking that it gave me pause. A pause that was long enough to make him assume that I had agreed to stay.

I was already shaking my head. "I don't think-"

"Please."

His tone, combined with the look in his eyes, had me saying okay and getting out of the car to let Mariah know that I wouldn't be coming in until later.

"Girl, I do not mind. Make out. Do everything. Just give me the meets when you-"

"Oh, shut up. Bye. Shoo."

She snickered all the way inside before I willed strength into my spine and got back into the car to meet a waiting Cyrus.