Page 47 of Ghost Ribbon

“Stop assuming that every time you move wrong I’m going to snap. I’m not that unstable.”

I swallowed, still twisting my sleeve. “It’s hard not to assume. Like right now. You’re mad. I can tell even if you don’t show it much. Your voice gets sharper and your hands get tight.”

Alexei turned his head to look at me fully and sighed. “I’m not mad that you waited. I’m annoyed that you stood in the rain for an hour. You’re shivering and your clothes are soaked.”

He pulled away from the curb. Rain kept tapping against the windshield while he drove, one hand on the wheel, the other resting on the gear shift.

The car pulled up in front of my small house, and I was already reaching for the door handle before Alexei had even fully stopped. My clothes were still damp and cold against my skin, and all I wanted was to get inside, change, and maybe hide under my blankets until the tight feeling in my chest went away.

But the second I stepped out, Alexei killed the engine and got out too. He followed me up the short path to the front door.

I stopped at the door, keys already in my hand, and turned to face him. My heart was beating way too fast.

“Um… thank you,” I said, trying to sound normal. “Now you can go.”

Alexei arched one dark eyebrow. Without saying a word, he reached past me, took the keys from my fingers, unlocked the door himself, and pushed it open. Then his hand landed lightly on my lower back. It was firm enough that I had no choice but to step inside.

He followed right after me and closed the door behind us.

My parents weren’t home. Mom had her treatment today, and she usually had to stay overnight at the hospital. Dad always stayed with her. Luca was probably over at his friend’s house again. That meant the house was completely empty.

Just me.

And Alexei.

He looked around the small living room, then turned his green eyes back on me.

“Where is your room?”

“W… what do you want with my room?”

He gave me a look, just a slight narrowing of his eyes and a tiny tilt of his head. I swallowed again and quickly pointed down the short hallway.

“It’s there.”

Alexei reached out, took my hand in his, and started walking, gently pulling me along with him. I followed because I didn’t really have a choice.

When we reached my bedroom door, he pushed it open and guided me inside. The room was small and a little messy, my bed unmade from this morning. He looked around once, then asked, “Bathroom?”

I pointed to the door across the room with a shaky finger. “There.”

He let go of my hand and disappeared into the bathroom for a minute.

He came back a moment later with one of the clean towels from the bathroom closet. He walked straight up to me, looked down at me and said, “Sit.”

“Why should I sit?”

His hands landed on my shoulders, and he gently pushed me down until I was sitting on the edge of my bed. The mattress dipped under my weight.

Alexei knelt down in front of me on the floor, the towel in his hands. Then he reached up and started carefully drying my hair.

His fingers brushed against my scalp through the fabric every now and then. I sat there stiffly at first, hands gripping the edge of the bed.

My heart was still racing.

“You don’t have to do this,” I mumbled after a few seconds, voice small. “I can dry my own hair. You… you can go now if you want. I’m fine.”

Alexei kept drying my hair without looking up. “You’re still shivering. And your hair is soaked. You’ll get sick if you leave it like this.”