Evangeline

36

"What is she doing here?" His eyes were on me as he spoke. I'm suddenly very sweaty.

"Thought you'd enjoy her touching you up more than me?" Jared said, sounding uncertain as he eyed Seeley for a reaction.

"What did you tell her?" Seeley kept his gaze on me, and it was making me uneasy. I shifted uncomfortably before realising I was still sitting on the backs of his thighs. And was holding a needle. And his back was still bleeding.

"Nothing, but you're bleeding so can you let the damn chick finish?" Seeley flicked his eyes to Jared who was smirking. "Now hold still so I can knock you out." My eyes widened.

"You're not knocking him out. Do you have any painkillers?" Shaking his head, his smirk dimmed. "I have some in the glovebox of the car, it's unlocked." The smirk dropped. Shoulders slumped in disappointment, he moved off the bed and headed out of the bedroom quietly.

We sat in silence for a few seconds, Seeley staring at me, me staring at the gash on his back. I leaned forward slightly and traced a finger over the scar further up his body, being as gentle as possible. The skin was warped and rough under my touch.

"How old were you when this one happened?" My voice was quiet.

"Ten." Eyebrows drawing together, I retracted my touch. "Are you okay?"

"I'm holding string I've just threaded through your..." I trailed off as my gaze followed the stitches to the waistband of his boxers that are riding dangerously low, "Skin, and you're asking me if I'm okay?"

"Yeah, you look a bit flushed." I was not imagining the smile in his voice.

"It's actually very warm in here, maybe you have a temperature? I'll ask Jared to open some windows when he gets back." Words were spilling out of me like vomit, and it wasn't until I was finished that I noticed the burning warmth heating my neck and face.

"Maybe you're just flustered because you're in love with me." A quiet mutter as he turned his head and buried into the pillows beneath him.

"Ex- In love? I barely know you, I don't even know if I'd call us friends, I-in love? You must have hit your head during your adventures today because that is seriously silly." The look on Seeley's face made me stop talking, just the bridge of his nose and his eyes visible behind his broad shoulder and floppy hair.

"You wouldn't call us friends?"

"Well I- I don't know, I suppose Molly and Evie are my only friends. Are we friends, Seeley?" The nagging feeling that some emotion slipped through my voice as I asked the question made my cheeks flame brighter in insecurity.

"Oh, we're far more than friends, Angel." My head tilted.

"Wha-" The thundering stomps of Jared's feet up the staircase made the question dry in my throat. Seeley hummed quietly, like he was musing over something absentmindedly, and turned back over, into the pillows once again.

"Dude, why do you have so many plasters? Your glovebox is like a first aid kit." Jared asked as he moved over to the bed, dropping an armful of bandage sachets by my knee, which was still bent as I sat straddling Seeley's thighs.

"Mum's a nurse, and my whole family is majorly accident prone." I tried to add a small laugh to the end of my sentence, but it just sounded wrong.

Jared nodded in acknowledgment before dropping into his seat by the window and pulling out his phone. As the radio buzzed quietly in the background, I got to work unwrapping some bandages and doing my best to patch up Seeley's back. My mind was flitting from one extreme to the other. What did this mean? Are we okay after the work retreat? Are Jared and Seeley just using me because they knew I'd come when called? Am I that predictable? Pathetic?

I finished in silence.

No thank you, from either boy. Just a look from Seeley who held a serious expression, as per, and a nod from Jared, who didn't even bother to look up from his phone. Seeley had made it seem like we might be friends earlier, but now I'm not sure what friendship means to him.

I drove home in silence. I didn't even connect my phone to the car. An itchy feeling started in my chest.