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Sickening and envy-provoking all the same.
Preston turned to face the panel once inside the elevator, and I stepped in to stand beside him. His freckles stood out from his paler than usual skin. He pressed the button for the ground floor.
“You okay?” I asked, nudging him with my elbow, wondering how badly he missed Nancy and if his stomach churned like mine.
Preston jerked his head in a stiff nod. Nostrils flared, he looked like he had trouble breathing rather than fighting off tears over Nancy’s absence. According to Preston, she used to take him to school every morning but hadn’t the previous two years. He’d kept how he felt about that fact to himself, but his face was an open book. It’d hurt like hell.
The elevator doors slid shut, and I swore I heard him whimper.
“Hey.” I nudged him again.
We started down, and he shuddered, his eyes closing.
I grabbed hold of his hand clutching at his backpack strap. “Preston.”
Another shiver wracked through him. “Hey,” I repeated, fighting his grip so I could twine my fingers through his. Tingles slid up to my shoulder as our palms squashed together, but I didn’t know what to make of them. “Did you finish that book last night? I saw your light beneath your door at one this morning when I went to the bathroom.”
“W-What?” He blinked his eyes open as I squeezed his fingers, tugging his arm down so the back of his hand pressed against my hip.
“That novel with the elf dude on the front.”
“Y-You s-saw what I was reading?” He sounded breathless and swallowed hard.
“Yeah. You left it on the coffee table a few days ago. Looks pretty cool. What’s it about?”
Preston rubbed his free palm down his slacks, his other hand gripping tightly to mine. “Uh…he’s a d-dark elf.”
“Does he have magical powers and shit? Like that Legolas guy?”
Blinking, Preston lifted his head to give me a rare, steady study with those emerald eyes of his. “You—You know who L-Legolas is?”
“The blond elf from Lord of the Rings. Yeah.” I shrugged like it wasn’t the big deal he seemed to think it was.
He blinked again like a cute baby owl. “You…wow.” A shaky laugh lifted his lips, and I grinned.
“I’m not a total jock.”
“L-Legolas doesn’t have magic,” Preston said, seeming to settle, his shoulders relaxing. “He just has natural abilities b-born to an elf. Exceptional eyesight. Endurance to t-travel for hours and d-days without tiring. Those sorts of things we mere mortal men could never do.”
I tried not to grin too hard. He was such a nerd and adorable at that.
The elevator slowed as we neared the fourth floor, and Preston yanked his hand from mine, once more clutching at his backpack strap.
I curled my fingers together, missing the feel of his sweaty palm against mine. As one, we moved away from the door to make room for others heading down. Smiling, I nodded a greeting at the man in a business suit with a cell pressed to his ear who stepped inside.
The asshole ignored both of us, turning his back toward us without a word like all the other assholes I’d seen so far in the city.
We descended again, and at the hint of a shudder from Preston, I shifted closer to him so our bare forearms touched.
He glanced up at me.
You okay? I mouthed as our elevator companion spoke into his cell about a midmorning meeting.
A half-smile curled Preston’s lips before he nodded. “I j-just hate enclosed spaces,” he whispered.
Behind our companion, I pressed my hand against Preston’s lower back.
He leaned in closer to me and sighed.
