Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 39424 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 197(@200wpm)___ 158(@250wpm)___ 131(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39424 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 197(@200wpm)___ 158(@250wpm)___ 131(@300wpm)
“I’ll go with you,” I answer excitedly. There’s no way I’m letting him out of my sight now. I know I’ve missed him, but I didn’t realize how much until I saw him standing on my porch.
“No!” he says, and I physically shrink back from him.
I cross my arms over my chest and search his face. “Elias, do you not want to be seen with me? Is that what this is?”
He rolls his eyes. “That’s not it, and you know it.”
I throw my hands up. “How would I know that? Up until a week ago, you went out of your way to avoid me.”
His jaw tenses, and he stares back at me. “And you know why.”
I can’t hold back the surprise. “I do?”
He matches my stance and puts his arms over his chest. “You don’t want to be associated with this… with me.”
I gasp in surprise. How can he think that? “You don’t know what I want, Elias Majors.”
We have a sort of stare-off, and he’s the first one to break eye contact and shake his head. With a smirk, he says, “Well, tell me then.”
This week without him, worrying about him, has been hell. I told myself that when he came back, I would keep my guard up. I know he can break my heart, and I can’t imagine going through that again, but as soon as I saw him on the porch, all my thoughts on self-preservation went out the window. I reach for his arms and unlock them from around him before looping my arm in his. “I want to go pick up something to eat, come back here and eat, maybe talk a little, and then I’m hoping we can have a repeat of the other night.”
His eyes, which were hooded only a moment ago, pop open wide. “A repeat?”
I shrug. “I mean, if you’re up for it.”
I don’t give him time to answer; instead, I pull on him until he falls into step beside me and we start walking toward town.
“So I know you can’t really talk about it, but was your mission successful?”
He nods his head, and I’m watching him instead of where I’m going. All of a sudden, he releases my arm and then wraps it around my shoulder and pulls me closer to him as we pass a man coming toward us on the sidewalk. He’s about to let me go, but I put my hand on his that’s over my shoulder. I almost feel like I have to beg him for his touch, and when he does things like this, I don’t want him to stop.
He clears his throat. “Where are we going?”
“Red’s Diner. Is that okay with you?”
His jaw tightens, but he nods his head in agreement. I enjoy the feel of being in his arms, but the closer we get to the restaurant, the more quiet and tense he gets. As he opens the door for us to walk in, I ask him, “You okay?”
He grits his teeth. “Yeah, let’s get this over with.”
He enters the restaurant with his head down and hood up. I point to the back. “We have to go to the bar to order to-go.”
I lead us to the back, and we both sit down. He has his head down, and it’s fuckin’ killing me. I can’t imagine the hell he’s been through, and in a lot of ways, he still is. I turn in my seat and crowd against him. “I’m getting a burger and fries, and I think I’ll get the cake.”
With that, he smiles. We’ve talked about the cinnamon Blaze cake before and how much I love it. “Can’t skip that, can we?”
I nod, and when Katie comes to take our order, she keeps watching Elias. I order first and then wait for him to follow suit. It makes me uneasy the way she’s watching Elias, and even though I don't have a right, I reach over and put my hand on Elias’ on top of the counter. I expect him to freeze up, but he surprises me by turning his hand and lacing our fingers together. Katie looks at our entwined hands, rolls her eyes, and mumbles something about our food being up soon.
Elias is looking at our hands, and I do the same. Mine is smaller and pale compared to his. There’s a few scars on the back of his hand, and the way he’s frowning, I’m wondering if I messed up. “I’m sorry,” I start. “She kept looking at you, and I know you hate being here anyway and—”
He cuts me off. “You may have messed up and didn’t even know it, Chloe.”
He brings his other hand up and brushes his thumb over the sensitive spot on my wrist. I startle. “What do you mean?”
He tilts his head to where the waitress was standing, but he doesn’t look away from me. “Well, that woman tried to give me her number the last time I was here…”