Chapter 16
Patrick
Thecouchbeneathmeis somewhat stiff as I find myself sitting in Ellie’s living room.
Rustling sounds come from her bedroom, and I’m not completely sure if I should stay or go. I know that I’m not going to do anything inappropriate, but I also don’t know how she can be comfortable having a person, who is practically a stranger, sitting in her living room. Unfortunately, it was impossible to say no to her plea for me to come in, especially when she looked up at me with those eyes. She doesn’t know this, but I would find a way to give her whatever she wanted just to see that look again. I am completely powerless to her, and I don’t think I mind. She is somehow able to—
Before I finish that thought, she walks out of her room and flops down on the other side of the sofa in an oversized t-shirt that is barely long enough to cover her ass. I have no idea if she is wearing shorts underneath, but it is in my best interest to assume that she is. While I was waiting for her, I grabbed her a glass of water, so I pick it up off the coffee table and hand it to her.
She takes a couple big sips and holds it close to her chest. “Patrick, you’re such a nice guy.”
“Thank you, El.” I smile at her, but she has her eyes closed.
“I love it when you call me El.” She hums in response. Her voice sweet and dreamy when she says, “It’s like my own special nickname fromyou.”
We sit in silence as she drinks more of her water, and when I look back at her, I notice that she is watching me with the same intensity from earlier in the bar.
“Patrick—” She bites her lip and looks shyly down at the glass in her hands. “I was wondering…are you a nice guyallthe time?”
Cocking my head to the side, I feel more confused than anything. “I don’t know what you mean, El. I would like to think so.”
By the way she reacts, I know I somehow gave the wrong answer.
“Hmmm…” She looks at me with those big, innocent doe eyes that could manipulate me with a simple stare. “What about in the bedroom?”
I choke on the air, and my cheeks feel like they are bright red. “W-what?”
I don’t know what to say, but it doesn’t matter because she starts her semi-drunken-stream-of-consciousness rant before I can say anything else. “Well, it’s just that when you asked me to sit on your lap at the bar, I couldn’t stop thinking about what it would be like,you know? I don’t know if you could tell how turned on I was, but—” I attempt to readjust myself, trying not to reveal how her confession is making me hard. “You are such a nice guy, but I was kind of hoping you would—I don’tknow how to say it. Oh god, I probably shouldn’t be telling you any of this, but who cares?”
I feel like I’ve overstepped a boundary here. There is no way that she realizes the gravity of what she is saying to me, but I can’t get myself to leave. An invisible weight is pinning me down to this spot, and I am not strong enough to push it off. She leans back into a pillow and stretches her arms up. Her t-shirt lifts up and the hem comes way too close to revealing something it shouldn’t.
Yep, she is definitely not wearing shorts. Fuck me.
I expect her to stop talking, but she doesn’t. “You know, Ilovewhen a guy talks dirty. Like I think it’s so hot, and I like it a little rough too. It’s been a long time—” Ellie yawns and starts to drift off in the middle of this conversation. “And I don’t really trust men to respect meandfulfill my sexual preferences, so I fantasize a lot about—” She mumbles something I don’t catch and closes her eyes, and there's nothing to do other than sit here in shock.
I was not prepared. I was not prepared at all. I’m not going to lie, I’ve had some seriously filthy thoughts about Ellie, but to know that she wants this too is too much. Despite all of that, I know that this confession was not an invitation. Ellie was drunk and will probably have no idea what she said when she wakes up, and I am going to do the gentlemanly thing and pretend like I did not hear it.
Once I manage to calm myself down, I carry Ellie to her bed and wait on the couch for Nick to get home.
Chapter 17
Ellie
Myheadispounding,and I cannot think without it hurting. A sliver of sunlight stretches across my bed, and I swear the light pierces directly through my brain. I have never hated the sun more. If I had any motivation to move, I would sink further under my covers and never come out.
Trying to gain some semblance of normalcy, I gulp down lukewarm water from a glass that I don’t remember putting on my side table and fight the sickness permeating in my stomach. I think I’ve closed my eyes for a second, but when I open them, it feels like I might’ve fallen asleep again.
“Morning, sunshine.” Nick greets me as I walk out of my bedroom. He is way too chipper, and I contemplate his murder for the second time this weekend. “You gotsoooodrunk last night. I haven’t seen you like that in a long time, but you seemed like you were having a lot of fun. ”
He adds a wink, and I rub my eyes, trying to get accustomed to the lights in the apartment. “I don’t know why I feel this shitty. I only had four drinks, and I was there for a couple hours.”
Nick lets out a hearty laugh that makes me want to crawl into a hole and die. “Six. You had six drinks and a shot. Hopefully, you don’t feel as bad as you look because—”
Grabbing a pillow off the couch, I chuck it at Nick’s face before he has a chance to finish, and it hits him dead in the chest before he has a chance to stop it. “I am never visiting you at work again, and I am never drinking again.”
Both are threats that I will not stick to, but it feels right to give Nick a hard time.
“I think your fake boyfriend liked it, especially when you were sitting on his lap,” he teases, and my brain goes into overdrive, trying to fill in the blanks from last night. “Are you sure you don’t likehim? Because you were whispering in each other’s ears all cuddled up together. It was super cute and kind of hot.”
