Chapter 5
Eli
“Let’sgo.”
“What? Where?”
“On our date,” I’ve got Summer’s hand in mine and I’m not letting go. It might have been a bit sneaky to ask her out in front of a crowd, but I had to do it.
One, it showed her how far I was willing to go to be with her—center of attention and all of that. Because honestly, I did not love all eyes on me for the duration of that gesture I just pulled. About now, I’d really love to put my shirt back on. The only times it’s off is if I’m swimming or working out.
Two, I know how much she avoids conflict and wants others to like her, so I banked on the fact that she wouldn’t reject me in front of so many people who love me.
We make it to my house on the family ranch where I tell her I just want to go inside and change. She follows me in, while I slip into my room to pull on jeans and a T-shirt.
When I come back out, she’s standing in the kitchen with my mug in one hand and her phone brightly lit in the other. Her back is to me, and from her posture, I’m guessing she doesn’t realize how close I am to her.
“What’s that?” I ask softly, so as not to scare her. But it didn’t work. She jumps, and the items in her hand go flying. The mug goes up and she catches it, but her phone crashes to the floor.
With a quick squat, I grab her phone, but instead of returning it to her immediately, I stare at the screen.
It’s me.
Shirtless.
“Umm…Summer?”
I’m still squatting when I look up at her gripping my mug. The mug that mirrors the image on her phone. The mug that says Most Eligible Bachelor on it. The mug that Finn gave me as a prank. How did Summer get this photo?
“Why do you have this picture of me on your phone?”
Her cheeks go red.
“And why are you looking at it right now?”
She tries to back away but I pocket her phone and place my hands on her thighs. From this perspective, I’m already getting ideas of what I’d like to do to her, but we were supposed to go on our date first.
“Um…ya…it’s just a picture.”
“Of me. Half naked.”
“Pffffft.” One of her hands awkwardly swats at the air. “It was just a beach day.”
“Well, then I want one.”
“Want one what?”
“Half naked picture of you from beach day.”
“That would just be weird, Eli.”
“Hmm…interesting.” My fingers squeeze her thighs and I draw up to my full height. “So you can have a picture of me, but I can’t have one of you.”
“I didn’t say that—”
“Great. I’d like to have mine now, then.”
“What? How?”
