Hatred / l.h ✔️

10

~Iris' POV~

The next day, I sat on the couch with everyone else, awaiting the arrival of the guy that was supposed to be getting here today. Who Ernie was, I had absolutely no idea. In fact, I'd never even heard of Andy having a friend named Ernie, not once. Regardless, Luke made me wait downstairs with everyone else for this guy to arrive. Personally, I didn't give a shit. Why should I have to wait for him to get here? It wasn't like he was my friend.

"You think maybe he's a computer geek?" Cassie whispered, causing me to snort. "I think you're a computer geek." I snickered, glancing up at her. She scoffed, shaking her head as she lightly elbowed me in the side. "I am not." She muttered, pouting. I hummed, glancing away from her as I heard the sound of someone knocking on the front door. "You're right. You're too stupid." I teased, the two of us staying seated while a bunch of other people got up and raced over to the door like they were about to greet the president. She gasped in offense and harshly pinched me on the thigh, causing me to hiss and punch her in her thigh. "Ow, you shitty shit!" I cursed, causing her to laugh. I rolled my eyes, slouching back against the couch as I glanced up. My gaze met Luke's, who was glaring at me like I had done something wrong. I just raised a brow, unimpressed.

The front door opened and I curiously glanced over, wondering who this 'Ernie' was, but I couldn't see. Everyone was standing in the damn way. Even with them all standing there, I could see a top of a head of dark hair. I knew the guy must've been tall as fuck. Well, tall as fuck in comparison to me, considering he was probably a little over six foot.

When everyone got out of the way enough for me to see him, I nearly shat myself.

My eyes practically bugged right out of my head and my heart jumped into my throat, choking on my spit in shock. "Jesus!" Cassie blinked at me, surprised by me. I coughed, quickly turning my entire body towards her. My reaction had caught Luke's attention, his blue eyes locked on me in confusion and irritation. "What's wrong with you?" She asked, furrowing her brows. I cleared my throat once I could breathe again, shaking my head hard. "Not an Ernie. Eros!" I squeaked, refusing to turn back around. She paused and then her mouth slacked open, seeming to know now why I had freaked out. "That's Eros?" She gaped, and I nodded. "Mm. Abort! Abort mission!" I panicked, desperate to get out of here without being seen. She nodded, seeming to be in full agreement. "I got you." She assured, standing up abruptly.

Startled, I leaned away, looking up at her. "What are you—" I began, gasping when she did the opposite of what I wanted. Instead of drawing the attention away from our area, she did exactly that. Well, accidentally, but still. She went to move and loudly managed to knock an unopened can of soda onto the floor, where it then rolled onto the floor and under the chair. Everyone, even Eros, diverted their attention over to us and I tried not to, but I could feel his gaze on me hard and burning. Unable to resist, I lifted my gaze to meet Eros' one, effectively shaking me up all over again. His gray-blue eyes peered over at me, seemingly just as shocked at my presence as I was at his.

"S-Sorry." Cassie stammered to me awkwardly, causing me to look up at her and glare. I could feel the heat in my cheeks, in my neck, even my goddamn chest. "Just sit down." I muttered, giving up. He'd already seen me. My gaze raised back to Eros as Andy grinned, dragging the devilishly handsome man over. "Eros, you remember Iris." He said, which I was sure was plenty true. There was not a chance in hell he didn't remember me. "Uh, y-yeah." He stammered, still seeming shocked by me being here. The feeling was more than mutual. "Hey." He greeted, to which I just lightly nodded and stared up at him. I didn't trust my voice to not betray me. Eros and I stared at each other a moment before he cleared his throat, returning his gaze to Anderson. "Where am I staying? I need to put my shit up." He said, holding up the bags in his tattooed hands.