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“It’s nice to meet you, Ellery is it?” Marcus asks.
“Yes.” She smiles brightly and sticks out her hand. “Nice to meet you….”
“Marcus,” he confirms, while giving her hand a shake. ”And this is Cal,” he nods to his right. “Looks like you already know Jake.”
She looks at Cal and Jake, giving them both polite smiles, then sets her Walkman down and reaches for a white marble canister on the counter behind her.
“Nice to meet you. Would you three like some coffee?”
Cal rests one hand on the countertop, while draping his other arm behind the back of his stool.
“Only if you’re making it,” he grins.
My cheeks burn as I watch my friend blatantly flirt with my…what? What is Ellery? Technically, she’s my stepsister. But I’ve never thought of her as that. She’s always been Ellie.MyEllie.
“Since when do you drink coffee?” I push the thought aside.
“Since it’s all the rage,” she says with a little snort. “You can thank Seattle. Besides, nothing is better after a late night than a crisp, French roast.”
I drag my eyes down her petite frame. Shit, what I wouldn’t give to dig my fingers into her hips while watching her ride me like she used to.
Fuck, Cruz, stop. I can’t go there. Can’t think about what was. Only what is.
Except, being with her in this kitchen, I can’t help but remember the way it used to be. When it was just her and I,before anyone else was up, and I’d wrap my arms around her from behind, and breathe her in. Shit, just the smell of her used to drive me crazy.
“So Ellery,” Cal taps the counter, “how old are you?”
“Eighteen.” She shifts from one foot to the other while scooping coffee grounds into the filter. “I just graduated.”
He shifts in the stool, and leans forward, the smile on his face growing wider. “Is that so? And where are you headed in the fall, for college that is?”
She freezes, then replies slowly. “That’s undetermined at the moment.”
“Since when?” I slap my hand down on the counter. “You’re headed to Yale, like your dad.”
“Maybe not.” The way she says it stirs my curiosity. Did this new look she’s sporting come with a new future, too? One where she sat around drinking coffee all day, while wearing flannel, and listening to bad music.
No way. Fuck that. Ellery had a future ahead of her. A future I made sure she would have by staying away from her.
“What are your plans, then?” I lean in, wanting to know what changed. “Surely you are going to college.”
She chews the inside of her cheek and replaces the canister lid, shoves it back into its spot on the counter, then presses brew on the coffee maker.
“I don’t know,” she answers plainly. “Wherever it is, I hope they have coed dorms. I could go for more wake up calls like this. Say,” she slaps a hand down on the counter next to mine, then turns to look me square in the eye, “do you boys need a roommate?”
Clearly she’s trying to rile me up and it’s working. I’m gripping the counter so tight my knuckles have turned white.
She stares at me, smiling in that devilish way she used to, and when I feel the muscle in my jaw ticking, she reaches up andbrushes it with her finger.
“Better get that fixed, All American. Someone may think you give a shit.”
I have half the mind to yank her out of this room and remind Ellery just how much I once gave a shit. Then I remember whether I give a shit or not, doesn’t really matter. Ellery isn’t mine and never will be.
I swallow tightly, hating the tension between us. I wish I could be in the same room with her and not feel this ache. This longing. This fucking need to make her mine.
“I’ll be outside,” I bite out and turn to leave, afraid if I don’t, everyone in this kitchen will know just how many shits I still have to give about Ellery Magnolia Butler.
Chapter 4
