It was around their third match that I decided to put my jacket it on. They both seemed a bit wore out so I had a feeling they were going to part ways soon. They had one more match before they decided to head out.
Elijah slipped his jacket on and I headed out the door. I needed the cold air to cool be down from all the internal madness that was consuming me.
Elijah ran out of the gym and followed closely behind me. "Morena," he chuckled. "You were out of there pretty quickly."
"Yes, I'm tired. I want to go home and sleep," I said, annoyed.
"Did you want to go eat? There's a nice bakery-restaurant around here."
"Not hungry. Unlock the car, its freezing."
He unlocked the car and opened the door for me. "Well, you are wearing shorts."
"You're saying it as if you don't appreciate it."
"I do, very much."
He turned the heat on and leaned over to give me a kiss. I didn't reciprocate the kiss. It was just two cold lips brushing each other.
"Hey," he cooed, looking at me attentively. "Are you okay, baby?" He was still leaning over, his warm breath dancing around my face.
I leaned my head against the cold window to give us some distance. "Not really. Can we just go?" I mumbled. I knew if I had spoken just a tad louder, my voice would've choked up.
"Morena, talk to me. Did I do something?" He reached over to brush my hair away from my face but I had stopped him.
He exhaled deeply and placed his hand on the center console. "Okay, I did. Tell me, what did I do? Then I can fix it and we can move past it."
I closed my eyes and chose not to say anything, only because if I did, it wouldn't have been pleasant words.
Elijah gently placed his hand on thigh and whispered my name.
"Elijah, I don't want to talk. Please, just drive me home."
"Okay," he sighed and started to pull out of the parking spot. We were driving for about five minutes when his phone lit up again. I was too far away to see if it Karina but my gut told me it was her. Though, Elijah paid no mind to his phone.
"Aren't you going to answer that? It could be important."
"I'm not interested right now."
I lifted my eyebrows up and then looked away.
"Morena, I'd really like to talk about what I did before I drop you off home. I was hoping we would go eat and then head back to my place."
"Oh, you wanted me to stay the night again?"
He looked at me with a baffled expression. "Is that even a question? I've missed you the past few days and now, I'm getting anxious again because I did something wrong and have no clue what I did."
Why did he have to act like such a good guy? It made it harder to stay mad at him. Plus, looking at his gorgeous face didn't help either.
"Who's Karina?" I asked, crossing my arms and looking at him. "And why is she so excited to talk to you tonight?"
He gripped the steering wheel and gritted his teeth.
"And I didnt look through your phone," I clarified. "A notification popped up and I happened to see it."
"She's an ex girlfriend who happens to be working with me and Felix on a case."
"Okay, why her?"
"She is qualified to work on the case and brings a lot to the table."
"You would know," I groaned.
"Morena, this is work. I'm not interested in her at all, especially romantically."
"That's a bunch of crap, Elijah. You two had a relationships and I doubt it's easy to look past that."
"I can because I have a girlfriend who I'm madly in love with and that's you, Morena."
I glared at him. "Does she know that?"
"Yes," he said as he tilted his head to the side.
"What?" I asked, noticing that he was getting uncomfortable.
"She wasn't too happy when I told her I was in a relationship. She broke her phone."
"Okay, so clearly she's hung up on you. She broke her own phone and that speaks volumes."
"We broke up about three years ago and supposedly she's been in a relationship for 3 months. I don't understand why she would act like that."
I cupped my forehead in disbelief. "Does it matter why she would act like that? It matters that she did and that its clearly not going to be easy working with someone who is still attached."
Elijah parked the car in the parking lot of my apartment complex. He took his seat belt off, faced me, and held onto my hand tightly. "Baby, I'm keeping it professional. I ignore her over friendly text messages. I only talk to her if it relates to the case. I'm not interested in being her friend or anything more."
"Have you met up with her?"
"No, I haven't but I was going to meet her tomorrow around noon to discuss details about the case."
I flailed my hands and shook my head. "What is this case about? I'm so tired of this damn case!"
"I can't tell you that, you know that"
"Of course," I exhaled and opened the passenger door. "I'll talk to you later, maybe after you finish her call. I mean, unless you're going to talk all night." I slammed the door and fast walked towards the apartment complex.
I heard his door slam shut and I ran up the stairs as fast I could but being sore all over the place didn't make it easy to run. Elijah caught up and held onto the door knob before I could placed my key inside it.
"Elijah, stop."
He placed his hands on my cheeks and slammed his lips onto mine. I balled my hands into fists and tried to push him away from me, but he wouldn't budge. He grabbed my arms and pinned them over my head, and continued to kiss me feverishly.
There were so many thoughts running through my head. Everything Felix told me made me not want to be mad at Elijah, Elijah assuring me made me not want to worry, but I was still so hurt.
Elijah continued to kiss me and after another attempt of pushing him off, he was no longer on top of me. I slid down the wall and began to sob uncontrollably.
"Morena," he whispered. "I'm so sorry..." He kneeled beside me and pressed me against his chest. "Baby..."
"I'm scared," I admitted through my sobbing.
"I didn't mean to scare you," he apologized. He ran his hands through my hair and down my back.
"No," I cried. "I'm scared of losing you, Elijah."
He pulled me back to look at me and shook his head. "Morena, you're not going to lose me."
"I know I messed up by letting you go and I'm sorry, but I dont want to lose you again."
"You're not going to lose me. I'm all yours. It's just you and me, baby. I promise."
I felt like a complete idiot by having an emotional meltdown near Elijah, especially when it related to him. I usually tried keeping my daddy issues on safety because it would be chaotic if I didnt contain them. Though, it was moments like these that triggered those issues and once triggered, I didnt know how to control the havoc.
I took slow, deep breaths and lowered my head when I noticed Elijah staring at me with concern. He lifted my chin up with his finger and kissed me tenderly.
"Let me stay the night with you," he asked. "Or come home with me. Pack a bag and stay with me for a few nights. I need you with me."
I bit my lip down and looked at his pleading blue eyes. "Okay... let me go pack a bag quickly."
I opened the door and didn't see any sign of Pia. She must've been at her parents house. I ran to my room, grabbed my weekender bag, and tossed in a couple outfits along side some cute lingerie pieces I had bought a few days ago.
I felt like the dark storm of emotions cleared and thinking more about the situation, I probably didnt have to worry. For now, the lingerie outfit was going to be a treat. It would be a great reminder of what he had.