Chapter 56: Elevated Idiot "Does it hurt?" I asked, peeling my hand away. "At the moment, no." I smiled, and he did too. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺 "That’s a relief." Reed looked at my hand, concern flashing on his face. "I’m fine, never been better." "Why don’t I believe you then?" I opened my mouth to reply, but the door barged open, and Nico stepped into the room. "So this is where you were." He raised the plush slipper. "You have good aim, milady. What are you gonna do next, shoot me in the head?" "You were being impossible," I bit back. "A quick reset to the head would have been helpful." "I was following orders, something Reed can’t relate to." I looked at Reed, and he was obviously not pleased with Nico. "Reed follows orders quite well. Unlike you, who’s borderline rude," I defended. "You—" He paused when my stomach growled loudly, and both guys looked at me. Damn! Add this to the list of my top-most embarrassing things. I rubbed my stomach. "Seems like the sushi wasn’t enough. Pizza, anyone?" "It’s fucking 3 am," Nico said with a frown. "Have a snack or something." I glanced at Reed, giving the best puppy eyes I could muster. It took him off guard at first before he conceded. "I think we can do that." "The fuck?" "Mrs. King wants pizza," he finalized. "Order." Nico clenched his teeth, murmuring something under his breath as he left the room. "It was good having that smile wiped off," I said as I showed my palm. "Don’t leave me hanging." He chuckled, shaking his head as he slapped my palm lightly. ~☆~ I took a bite out of the yummy pizza. It’s a crime that this tastes so delicious at this hour. I tilted my chin and put the remaining slice down my wide-open mouth, chewing but halting when I caught Reed and Nico’s eyes on me. "What?" Reed smirked, taking a bite and choosing not to speak. "Maybe you should eat too..." I said to Nico. "I have all I need right here." He pointed to the joint. No wonder he looked so skinny. "Maybe food will be nice for a change, right, Reed?" "Nico loves his weed." "Huh... explains why he’s an elevated idiot." Nico blinked, and mouth hung, unable to form words. I smirked devilishly, reaching for another slice, but there was only so much I could do with one hand, and Reed helped. "Thanks." "Well, too bad you will have to deal with me from now on. Better get used to this elevated idiot, milady." "What?" I asked with a frown. "Reed here has been blacklisted." "Nico!" Reed hissed. "Blacklisted? What are you—" "He’s no longer your bodyguard." I gasped, glancing at Reed, who didn’t spare me a look. "This must be some joke." "I love my jokes, but this one isn’t..." "Then it better be, because Reed saved my life!" "But still put your life at risk." "I was the one who drove!" "And he shouldn’t have let that happen." "Nico, enough..." Reed pinned him with a look, and I suddenly got the message that these two didn’t mix well; he probably started this topic to get on Reed’s nerves. "You’re an asshole," I bluntly said. "An elevated idiot and asshole. What did I do to earn such awards?" he reached for the pizza, but I dragged the box away. "You’re clearly all set up." Reed snorted. I grabbed my phone and opened my contact list, channeling my anger to the max to send a raging message to Ares, but I couldn’t find his contact. I typed what I used to save it and hit search, but no results came up. Odd. With a perplexed expression, I typed his number directly since I knew it by heart and froze when it popped up. Husband. Tori told me my phone was already set before it was given to her. Does this mean Ares changed his name? The audacity of that devil! I opened the message box and typed, cursing at myself for my sluggishness, and I opted for calling him instead. I don’t care if he’s asleep right now. I rose to my feet and walked back to my room, banging the door shut. When he picked, I ranted. "Husband? Really? First, you changed your name, and then you put an asshole to guard me and fired Reed!" "..." "Keep silent all you want!" I ended the call breathing heavily as I dropped my phone on the bed. I didn’t want to call him, but I had to. I don’t care that he left me in starvation, but I won’t tolerate what he did to Reed. My phone rang, and the name popped up. I might as well add a ring and hearts to it! For the love of—! I grabbed the phone and ended the call. I switched off my cell and stepped out of my room. The guys saw me coming, and without a word to them, I grabbed the water bottle, shoved it in my armpit, and then the pizza box. "Good night!" I stormed back to my room. ~☆~ "Hey girl!" Tori pitched, coming in. "Sorry, I’m late. Can you believe there’s traffic so early? And—" She wavered when she caught my mood. "Are you okay? Maybe I should have stayed." When I said nothing, she gave me that look I recognised all too well. Spill. "I have had it with that... that Ice!" I exploded. I have been meaning to vent my situation and thank god she was here. "Ice?" Then her face sparked in realization. "Oh, did I miss something?" "Everything is a game, of course, it’s a game. But finally I agreed that I’m attracted to him and he just... just—" Wait... shouldn’t I be angry he messed with my phone and fired Reed! Why the hell did I bring that up? "Wait, wait, wait! Did the world end, or is there a glitch happening right now?" "I—" "Holy cow! Are you attracted to Ares King? What happened to ew?"