For a moment, I had thought that perhaps Harry cared, as if his gentle touch was some attempt to redeem himself from the words exchanged downstairs, but it wasn't anything like that. No, he wanted information, and Harry Styles knew that he was persuasive enough to gain the knowledge he wanted through his charm.
I was disgusted with myself for falling for such a petty trick.
"You used me," I said. My voice came out in a feeble mumble, much different from what I had hoped it to be. I winced at how truly broken my tone was, as if just these small actions had completely turned my world upside down for the thousandth time.
Harry sighed deeply. "Who were you calling?"
"Finn," I answered honestly, my gaze shifting back to his. His eyes darkened noticeably, just as I presumed they would. Jealousy was not something I particularly paired with Harry, but it had never really been necessary before.
I waited, staring up at Harry. I expected some sort of blowup reaction, something that would have me regretting admitting the truth, but he surprised me with a nod before moving past me. I turned, watching his movements closely as he moved himself up onto the bed and laid down against the pillows. Carefully, he picked up a hairbrush from the bedside table and began to fiddle with it, his long, thin fingers twirling the plastic around.
He only stopped when he noticed my gaze on him, his eyes meeting mine before he raised an eyebrow. "Don't let me stop you from calling him," he said calmly.
His words startled me. It was so unlike Harry to just allow this sort of thing. Before when he had been 'protecting' me from Seth, contacting anybody or even leaving the house was out of the question. Sykes was a much bigger threat than Seth had ever been, and Harry's odd form of protection was beginning to confuse me.
Nonetheless, I brought the phone up closer to my view and tapped across the screen, my finger once again hovering above the 'call back' button before finally pressing down on it. My gaze flitted to Harry once as I brought the mobile to my ear, only to find him looking fairly preoccupied with my hairbrush again.
I blew out a shaky breath as I heard someone pick up on the other line, followed by the worried sound of Finn's voice. It was no longer relieving or refreshing like I had imagined, and I knew Harry's presence in the room had tainted those feelings.
"Alice, where are you? Why weren't you at work today? Why haven't you been answering my calls?"
I immediately felt overwhelmed by his questions and a humorless laugh slipped through my lips. "Slow down, Finn," I requested quietly, attempting to make my voice sound light, though it sounded strained anyway. "I'm fine. I'm... visiting a sick relative out of town and I just forgot to tell anyone. Would you mind telling Vera?"
Vera Moon was our boss. She was a stunningly gorgeous woman and had a wonderful personality to match, unlike my previous employer. I practically bowed down to her simply for her obviously caring nature, generosity, and pure genius when it came to the magazine she ran.
"Oh, sure," Finn replied slowly, and I sensed that it wasn't due to what I had asked of him, but because he was wary. My excuse wasn't completely believable and I knew that, but I had never been the most brilliant person under pressure. Of course, I could have told him something along the lines of: 'a murderous gang leader is out to get me so I'm under another gang's serious protection' but I highly doubted that conversation would go over very well.
"You're okay though?" he questioned further, his voice hesitant.
"Perfectly fine," I replied, hoping that I sounded at least a tad reassuring.
