𝐃𝐞𝐛𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 | 𝟏𝟖+

25. jealous

GABRIEL DALTON

✥

"Come in, Gabriel. I promise I'm not making moves on your girl. She's hurt." Zane's voice is lazy. As if to tell me I'm stupid for thinking anything could possibly be going on.

So I push back whatever ridiculous thoughts have invaded my brain and I focus on what he said. She's hurt. I step forward, letting the door shut behind me as Poppy's wide green eyes follow me as I inch closer.

"What happened?" My voice booms across Zane's office.

He's hunched over her, pressing an ice pack to her ankle. I flick my gaze between them both and when Poppy realises that Zane isn't going to say a word she releases a long sigh, dragging those eyes back to mine. "I slipped."

"You slipped?" I raise my eyebrows and fold my arms across my chest.

"Yes," she glances down. "It's fine. I'll be fine."

I open my mouth to speak but Zane's phone begins to ring. He clears his throat and places Poppy's hand on the pack and gives her a supportive smile. "You don't come back to work until it's healed. Not a day before. Alright? You need to give yourself time to rest. I trust Gabriel will get you home okay."

Zane stands from where he has been perching, digging into his jacket pocket to fish for his phone. His eyes cut to mine and he gives me a little nod before answering the call. I twist my head, watching as he shuts the door behind him, leaving us alone.

When I turn back to Poppy she has her thumb nail in her mouth, staring blankly at the wall. I perch on the arm of the chair she's sitting in but she doesn't even look up at me. I've wanted to speak to her all night, caress her flushed cheeks but duty with Zane's business calls.

"You need to be more careful. You could have broken something." My eyes cut across to her ankle as she raises the ice for a split moment. Her skin is deep pink but that could be from the coldness of the ice or the fact it's deeply sprained.

Poppy's lips twitch into a sarcastic smile. "Yeah, sure. Great advice." She dumps the pack onto the table and presses her hands onto the arm, attempting to push herself up.

She places her foot on the floor, her entire weight on her weak ankle. A hiss escapes her lips, there is no way she's making her way out of here without injuring herself further. Before she can topple over backwards I snap my hand out and grab her wrist, stabilising her for a moment. "Sit down, Red."

The way her nostrils flare tell me that she doesn't like being bossed around but I couldn't care less. Her head tilts up to find my stare but hers is just as intense. A glimmer of something I can't put my finger on rests there.

I narrow my eyes, watching how her lashes brush her cheek every so often. After realising that I'm not going to back down she huffs out a breath of defeat and pulls out of my grip so she can sit back down.

She's expecting me to say something smug in response because she's staring at me out of the corner of her eye but I don't give her that benefit. Instead I sit down beside her, grab the ice pack and hoist her leg back up onto the table again.

I'm aware that she's watching my every move as I replace Zane's spot and begin to ice her tender skin. I can feel her gaze burn into the side of my head as I finally give in and focus on her eyes. We stay like this for what feels like an eternity.

Her lips are painted a deep red, almost brown. It accentuates the fairness of her pretty skin. Gold specks of glitter coat her eyelids and framed with dark lashes that almost touch her perfectly arched eyebrows.