The Red Lounge

Chapter 37

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?"