Billionaires, Bad Boys, and Alpha Males by Kelly Favor, Locklyn Marx

want to
get back to the room.”
    “What’s wrong with
you?”
    “Nothing.   I just told you, I’m tired.”
    Caelyn grabbed his
forearm, and he finally slowed.   His
eyes met hers and now she could see the hurt in them.   “Elijah, something’s wrong.   Why won’t you just tell me?”
    He stopped
walking.   “So you got a job, that’s
cool.”
    “I thought so,” she
replied, wiping a strand of hair that had blown into her eyes.
    “But what was that
stuff about her showing you a room?”
    “She mentioned that
she has a spare room in her house—“
    He interrupted with
harsh laughter.   “Of course she
does.”
    “What’s that supposed
to mean?”
    He just shook his
head and started walking again, albeit a little slower this time.
    “Elijah, she
said.   “What’s wrong with her
showing me a room?”
    “For free?” he said.
      “She didn’t say.   But at least it’s something.”
    “And what do you have
now?   Are you sleeping on the
street?”
    “No.   You paid for a room, but—”
    “Oh, I guess it’s
nothing, though.”   He waved her off.
    “Elijah, I’m totally
confused.”
    “That lady is a
creep,” he said.   “The minute I saw
her, I got a bad vibe.   I don’t know
what her deal is, but I don’t trust her.”
    “I don’t see what’s
so bad about her offering to let me stay somewhere for awhile.   Maybe she’s used that for other
waitresses in the past.”
    “I’m sure she has,”
he laughed.
    “I don’t get it.”
    “Of course you
don’t.”   He didn’t elaborate.
    They walked in
silence until they got back to the room.   Once inside, the room felt small and almost claustrophobic.   Elijah spread out on the bed and turned
the TV on, while Caelyn sat in a small, rickety chair nearby.  
    She looked at him,
her leg bouncing up and down nervously.   “I don’t understand what I did to get you so upset.”
    He wouldn’t look at
her.   “I guess you’re happy with how
everything played out.   You don’t
have to try and smooth it over now, Caelyn.”
    She took in his words
and then a flood of anger jolted her to her feet.   “Happy with how things played out?   Do you think I chose any of this?   I’m just trying to survive.”
    His eyes met hers
briefly, then went back to the TV.   “That’s the thing.   You don’t
have to try and survive, because if things go bad here, you’ll always be able
to call Mom and Dad to help you out of it.”
    “I’m sorry I don’t
have enough street cred for your liking, Elijah.   And I’m really sorry that ever since we
got here, you’ve been acting like a total baby.   But please—please don’t try and
convince me that these are all my problems.   Because I know that you’ve got plenty of
your own.”
    His eyes hardened and
his jaw set in the way she’d become accustomed to seeing when he was
angry.   “You just keep telling
yourself that, Caelyn.”
    “No, Elijah.”   She was going to continue, but she knew
it was useless.   He wasn’t listening
anymore.   He was lost in his own world,
and she didn’t really understand how it had happened—but everything
between them seemed to have come apart in an instant.
     
    ***
     
    That night, Elijah
slept on the floor.
    She’d told him not to
be silly, that she didn’t mind sharing the bed—but he’d refused, and then
she’d given up.
    In the end, Caelyn
was too tired to keep fighting, especially when she had no idea what they were
even fighting about.
    Before bed, she’d
gotten another text from Alicia.
    I’m still worried about u.
    Sighing, she texted
back hastily: Don’t worry I got a job waitressing
on the island. It’s all good.
    But was it all
good?   She didn’t know anymore.
    She’d fallen asleep
sometime later out of sheer exhaustion, sleeping through until the next
morning, when she was woken up by Elijah talking on the phone.
    He was standing just
outside the motel room, but she could still hear him through the