16. Elijah

Like an idiot, I took a detour to the coffee shop. It isn't until I pull up in front of it that I beat my forehead on the steering wheel. She's sick as a fucking dog and you want to bring her coffee? Real smart Einstein. You're a damn idiot.

Thankfully, there's a gas station two buildings down and I rush in and get her one of every variety of Gatorade they have and an extremely overpriced pack of saltines.

Six dollars for one tiny package. Are they insane?! Got to love price gouging.

When I step into her apartment building and see that her fucking elevator still isn't working, the anger in me builds. When Zeke told us it was broken the first day we came over, we discussed contacting her landlord and doing a little fire safety inspection, but still haven't gotten around to it.

I need to remind him about it. This place is a fucking death trap. Why in the hell is she still living here? Why does Sam allow her to? Does he even notice the state of the building? Not only Sam, but her mother, Julia. I wonder if the bitch has even been here to visit her daughter.

We had to go over to her house two days ago for yet another family dinner. But Selena wasn't in attendance. When we asked her about it, she blew it off, ranting about how upset she was at the drama her daughter created at the last meal.

At this point, I don't even know how she can call herself a mother.

I make my way up the steps, one at a time, excitement overwhelming me at seeing her and spending one-on-one time with her. I plan to make myself useful and stay as long as I can today, maybe even until we have to go to work.

Stepping onto the landing of her floor, I make my way down the hallway straight for her apartment. I lift my hand and knock once on her door.

There's no sound on the other side, but when she doesn't answer, I knock again. My heart races as sweat beads on my forehead. I close my eyes, as all the possibilities of why she's not answering flood the forefront of my mind.

Did she fall? Is she sick in the bathroom? Did she choke on her own vomit during the middle of the night? She lives in a crap building. Did someone break in and she's bleeding on the floor?

The door swings open just as I'm about to knock, and I stumble forward into Selena. Instinct takes over and I wrap my arms around her, cradling her close to my body.

"What the hell, Elijah?" her frightened voice screams in my ear.

"Shit, I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention," I plead with her, as I regain my footing just before we both tumble to the ground.

Her body feels amazing pressed up against mine. The only thing wrong is we're dressed and my cock's not buried deep inside of her. It's crazy the intense feelings I have for her, not even really knowing her. The only conversation we've truly had was when I came to plead our case. She only let me stay long enough to do that, then kicked me out the door.

That's not happening today.

Nope, I plan to use my time wisely and get to know my girl.

"You can let go of me now." Her voice cracks, and she sounds like she's out of breath. Fuck, am I gripping her too tightly?

Much to my dismay, I release my hold, already missing how she felt in my arms.

I remind myself it's not for long. Selena will be ours. It's written in the stars, you know, destiny and all that shit.

"Are you feeling better today?" I close the door behind me and turn the lock. This neighborhood isn't exactly the best, and no one needs to come barging in.

"Meh, but the day is still young. I still have time to die. What are you doing here?" She doesn't even fight, just shuffles back across the floor to the couch and drops down, pulling her feet up and covering up with the blanket. She rests her head on the pillow.

She's white as a ghost and I caught how badly her body was swaying as she was moving, even though she tried to hide it.

"Have you drank or eaten anything yet?"

She shakes her head, and my blood boils. One of us should've fought her and stayed, or better, took her home with us. I'm going to kill that low-life good for nothing boyfriend of hers.

"I got you some crackers and Gatorade. I didn't know which one was your favorite, so I grabbed one of each flavor they had." Moving over to the couch, I sit down on the arm and pull them out of the bag, setting them on the table.

She turns her head and looks at them. "You didn't have to." Her voice is so weak and my heart breaks for her. I should pick her up and carry her straight to the doctor so they can find out what's wrong with her.

"I know I didn't, but I wanted to. Now, which one is the winner?"

She cracks a grin for the first time since our time in the hallway at the hotel. "I like orange."

"Then orange it is. A woman after my own heart. It's orange or melon for me." I pick up the one she requested and twist off the top, holding the bottle out to her.

"Thank you, and I appreciate it, but I don't feel like drinking anything. I already know as soon as I do, it will come g back up"

"Drink!" I order her. "Or you're going to become dehydrated." My voice softens with the last words. She needs to know how important it is that she does.

Selena rolls her eyes, causing me to laugh, but she takes it from me and sips slowly.

"Don't drink it quickly or too much. It won't sit well on your stomach," I remind her.

"Thank you." She hands the bottle back and I replace the cap before sitting it on the table.

"Lie back down and give me your feet. I'll rub them."

"What?" flies from her mouth.

"You heard me, babygirl. Get comfortable and give me your feet." She just stares at me like I've lost my mind. When she doesn't make a move to do as I asked, I take the initiative and do it myself. Taking hold of her feet, I gingerly place them in my lap and begin to knead them, massaging every inch. She lets out a moan that has my cock twitching.

"That feels good." Her voice is so weak I barely hear her.

She looks at me with heavy eyes as she opens her mouth and then closes it.

"Why did you call me that?" she finally asks after a minute.

I cock my head to the side, smiling that she noticed. Do I tell her the truth? Or lie? She does have a boyfriend.

Fuck it. The truth it is.

"Because it's my name for you. I see you as my babygirl. It's what I want you to be."

"Elijah, we can'—" I hit a particularly tender spot on the bottom of her foot and she moans loudly. I want to move her foot, rubbing it up against my semi-hard shaft, but I don't want to scare her off. She's actually letting me in her space and I don't want to ruin it.

"Don't worry about what we can and can't do. Let's just let things happen. Do you work today?"

"Umm, I have some stuff I need to do, but I can do it anytime. Perks of being your own boss."

"Were you always self-employed?"

"Pretty much. I've been lucky. Word of mouth from my clients has helped." Her voice gets heavier with each word, each breath labored.

She doesn't speak anymore, her eyes fluttering before finally closing and her breathing levels out.

She's sleeping.

I use this time to take her in, memorizing each freckle on her body that's not covered by her clothes. The way her lips part slightly when she's sleeping. She's perfect, and she doesn't even know it.

Gently lifting her legs, I stand, placing them back on the couch, and pull the blanket over her.

I need to piss like a racehorse.

I softly step away from her, not wanting to wake her, and make my way down her hallway, looking for the bathroom. The wall is filled with pictures of her dad and only a few of Selena and her mom. In fact, the only ones of her mom I see are with her father in them. There are absolutely no pictures of just Selena and her mother.

The urge to piss is too great, so I continue walking until I see an open door. Thank fuck it's the bathroom. I quickly relieve myself and wash my hands, eager to get back and check each picture out, giving myself a little peek inside her world.

I take my time looking at each picture. There's a lot of her and Sam, and it looks like they do a lot of traveling together. I step a little further down and see a picture collage.

My eyes zero in on one.

Sam.

But he's with a man.

Not only that, he's kissing him.

And not in a brotherly way, but a lip-to-lip one, and if my eyes aren't deceiving me, they have their tongues down each other"s throats.

Stepping back, I examine all the pictures again. In all the ones of her and Sam together, there's not one of them kissing or gazing into each other's eyes. They look more like friends than lovers.

A smile fills my face and my heart races. My sweet, sexy babygirl is keeping secrets. I'll let her keep it for now. But once I tell my brothers, we're going to pursue her with all we have.