Deity (Covenant #3)(24)

The door opened again and the soft murmur of two male voices floated through the room. There was a deep, husky chuckle as the mats dipped under their feet. I could’ve said something, but I was too lost in my own thoughts to even utter a single word.

A second later, feet tangled with my legs and a surprised yelp sounded. The mats gave way as a body crashed down, half-sprawled atop me. I let out an “oomph” and pushed the hands off my chest.

“Gods, Alex!” exclaimed Luke, rolling off me and sitting up. “Holy Hades, what are you doing in here?”

“How’d you know it was me by just feeling up my boobs?” I grumbled, throwing an arm over my face.

“It’s a superpower.”

“Wow.”

Luke snorted. I felt the mats roll as he faced his silent, mystery partner. “Hey,” Luke said. “Can you give us a few minutes?”

“Sure. Whatever,” the guy responded, dipping back out the door. The voice was super familiar, but as best as I tried, I couldn’t place it.

“Pervert,” I said. “What have you been using these rooms for, Luke? Naughty.”

He laughed. “I’ll go with something a hell of a lot more entertaining and normal than what you’ve been using them for. You’re the one lying in a dark sensory room like a little freak. What are you doing in here? Plotting to take out the Covenant? Meditating? Self-pleasuring?”

I made a face. “Don’t you have something better to do?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Then go. This room is already occupied.”

Luke sighed. “You’re being ridiculous.”

I thought that was funny considering he had no idea why I was being a “little freak” in the sensory room. Luke had no idea what had just gone on in here. He probably thought I was hiding from everybody or having some sort of mental breakdown. That last part was still up in the air and could be a strong possibility. If it’d been Caleb who’d stumbled upon me, he would’ve known. I sucked in a sharp breath.

Missing him wasn’t getting any easier, I realized suddenly.

“It sucks not having any friends, doesn’t it?” Luke asked after a few moments.

I frowned. “You know, it’s a good thing you can’t become a therapist, because you really suck at the whole ‘making people feel better about themselves’ thing.”

“But you do have friends,” he continued as if I hadn’t said a damn thing. “You just seem to have forgotten us.”

“Like who?”

“Like me.” Luke stretched out beside me. “And there’s Deacon. And Olivia.”

I snorted. “Olivia hates my guts.”

“She does not.”

“Bullshit.” I dropped my arm, facing him in the darkness. “She blames me for Caleb’s death. You heard her the day at his funeral and in the hallway yesterday.”

“She’s hurt, Alex.”

“I’m hurt, too!” I sat up, crossing my legs.

The mats shook as Luke rolled onto his side. “She loved Caleb. As impractical as it is for any of us to love someone, she loved him.”

“And I loved him. He was my best friend, Luke. She blames me for my best friend’s death.”

“She doesn’t blame you anymore.”

I smoothed back the tiny hairs that had escaped my ponytail. “When did that happen? In the last twenty-four hours?”

Undaunted, Luke sat up and somehow found my hand in the darkness. “The day she came up to you in the hallway, she wanted to apologize to you.”

“That’s funny, because I remember her saying something like I needed to rein in my grief.” I didn’t pull my hand away from his, because it did feel kind of nice for someone to touch me and nothing freaky happen. “Is that a new form of apology I’m unaware of?”

“I don’t know what she was thinking. She wanted to apologize, but you wouldn’t stop to talk to her,” Luke explained softly. “She lost it. She was a bitch about it. Olivia knows that. Then you owning her ass in front of everyone didn’t help, either.”

The old Alex would have snickered at that, but it didn’t make me feel good.

“You need to talk to her, Alex. You both need each other right now.”

I pulled my hand free and came to my feet swiftly. The room suddenly felt stifling and unbearable. “I don’t need her or anyone.”

Luke was standing beside me in an instant. “And that was probably the most childish thing you’ve ever said.”

I narrowed my eyes in his general direction. “And I have something even more childish to say to you. I’m like two seconds from hitting you.”

“That’s not very nice,” Luke teased, stepping around me. “You need friends, Alex. As hot as Seth is, he can’t be your only friend. You need girl time. You need someone you can cry to, someone who isn’t trying to get in your pants. You need someone who wants to be around you not because of what you are, but who you are.”

My jaw hit the mat. “Wow.”

Luke must have sensed my stunned response, because he laughed. “Everyone knows what you are, Alex. And most people think it’s pretty damn cool. What they don’t think is cool—the reason why everyone is avoiding you—is your attitude. Everyone gets that you’re hurt over Caleb and what happened with your mom. We understand that, but that doesn’t mean we have to tolerate your constant bitchiness.”