Property of Drex (Death Chasers MC 2)

My eyes narrow on his knuckles when he takes another sip of beer, and I notice they look hurt, possibly even bloody. But my attention is back on Elise when she drops to his lap and spins to face him, grinding herself against him.

Drex stands abruptly and she drops from his lap. Cackles break out across the room as Elise slowly gets up. I see his lips moving, but I can’t hear any words. Whatever he says has her backing away quickly and moving toward another guy instead.

He looks up just in time to catch my eyes, and he tenses all over. I back into the room and close the door, sighing as my mind spins too fast for me to catch up. Catching up is bad anyway. It means facing all of this and what it’s doing to me.

Drex isn’t Prince Charming and I’m not Cinderella. Drex isn’t a hero, and I’m not a damsel in distress. Well, not at the moment. I wasn’t in distress ever until this club.

The door opens and he steps inside, leaning against the door as it shuts, and his eyes meet mine. I can’t tell if he’s drunk, stoned, or just tired.

“You okay?” he asks quietly.

I snort derisively, and he nods like he understands the stupidity of that question.

“I meant physically,” he adds. “How’s your head?”

He brings his beer up to his lips, sipping it casually as though his room isn’t trashed. I don’t think he even bothers to notice all the damage I caused during my momentary breakdown.

“Headache is gone. Dizziness and nausea are gone.”

“You were sick?” he asks, pulling his beer away from his mouth.

“Are we just going to pretend we’re having a normal conversation after I accused you of being responsible for my father’s death, made it look like suicide, which kept his insurance from paying out and ultimately led to me landing my ass here?” I try not to sound angry, but it’s not possible.

He shakes his head. “I was just checking on you.” He exhales harshly while walking toward me, and I sit down on the bed just as he does.

No words are exchanged for several long minutes. He drinks his beer until it’s gone, and he tosses the empty bottle to the floor. It just clanks around but doesn’t break, and I absently watch it roll in an arched pattern, back and forth until it stills completely.

“I don’t know if what Ben said is true or not, but I do know I had nothing to do with it, and I sure as hell wasn’t told about it.”

At this point, I don’t even know what to believe, and I’m exhausted with trying. I feel like I’ve been here for years.

My eyes fall down to his knuckles, and they are definitely scuffed like he got into a fight with a concrete wall. That damage wasn’t caused from that one punch to his wall. His other hand looks just as bad.

“What happened?”

I touch his hand, but he pulls it away like he doesn’t want me touching him.

“I should get back down there. Some of the guys are riding out tomorrow for a few days. You should get some sleep.”

It sort of pisses me off he’s just going to leave me up here after all the shit I’ve dealt with. But then I remind myself about this toxic relationship we’re in and how I brought it all on myself.

He stands like he’s about to leave, but then he turns suddenly, bending over and shoving his hands into my hair before crushing his lips against mine. I’m a little stunned and startled, so I don’t react immediately. Not even sure if I should react.

He kisses me anyway, tasting desperate and starved as he roughly devours me. But it’s over as abruptly as it started and he walks away before I can decide whether or not to kiss him back.

The door shuts behind him, and I lie back, staring at the ceiling for hours, waiting on him to return and tell me what all that was about. It’s not like I can sleep right now.

As much as I wish I could not care about Drex, the simple truth is that I do care about him. I also don’t even want to think about how he makes me feel things on a level I never even knew existed. I feel alive when I’m around him.

Maybe it’s the danger or the excitement, or maybe it’s the fact I don’t just get overlooked by him. He sees me.

Yeah… I’m stupid. Really stupid. I keep thinking Drex’s feelings are as strong as mine. And I keep falling harder for a guy who could very well be toying with me.

When the sun starts to rise, there’s a knock on the door.

Frowning, I glance at the clock, seeing it’s past six in the morning, and I get up to answer it, but it’s Axle on the other side. His expression is grim, and he’s holding the bag I came here with.