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“Fine, but if he starts anything, I’ll finish it.”
She blew her hair out of her face, and turned toward the front of the class.
Eli cleared his throat, and she glanced back at him. “Those girls, before you, they meant nothing.”
Staring down at her hands, she found it hard to not be a little upset. “We’ve always been friends, so I’ve known what you’ve been like before.”
“I’m not that kind of guy anymore. I’m changing,” he said. “You, us, it’s what kept me going. Tell me you don’t feel something.”
“I do. I mean, I care about you. I’ve known you my whole life. I know that you love coffee, hate spirits, and enjoy beer. You get bored easily with everything in life, and you want to make your father proud. Fighting is something you try to avoid, but you enjoy it. I know you do. You always look happy after fighting.”
“And I know that you like homemade pizza compared to the shit we buy in the supermarkets. You’re allergic to cats, and you hate running on the best of days. You love soppy romances, and action, hate horror. I know you, Aria. Please, trust me with this.”
She did trust him. It was just hard when every other girl he’d been with was looking at her with a gloating smirk because they knew how good he was.
“Let’s not talk about this right now.”
“I’m not going anywhere, and I’ll never give up on you.”
Chapter Six
“What are you getting her for her birthday?” Chris asked.
It was late, and while all of the girls were having a sleepover at Mary’s house, Eli was hanging out with the guys. School, life, had been going by pretty quickly. He was into his third week of school. He and Aria had been dating for three weeks, and even though they didn’t spend every available moment with each other, he was happy with how their life was going.
“I don’t know. I was thinking some jewelry or something,” Eli said, grabbing a stone and skipping it across the surface of the lake.
“Are we even talking about the same girl here?” Branson asked.
“Yeah, it’s Aria.”
“How have you guys been getting on, anyway?”
“Good.” He stared at the stone, and wished he could put the right words to what was going on between them. “I don’t know. It’s different now.”
“Do you still want to be with her?” Branson asked.
“Of course. We’re not different, but Aria is, you know? She’s … I don’t know. It’s complicated.”
“I heard Joanne and Tiffany cornered her on the way out of school. Went into some pretty graphic shit about what you’re like in bed.”
Eli cursed, and threw the stone too hard.
“I take it when you were planning on staking a claim on Aria, you didn’t think about the past loves of your life.”
“They’re screws. It’s different. They’re meaningless. Aria never cared before.”
“Aria wasn’t being compared to them. Look, Rachel was telling me that Aria’s worried,” Chris said.
“What about? I wouldn’t hurt her, and I’m certainly not pressuring her.” He made sure she had her space when she needed it.
“Aria’s never been with anyone. She’s new at everything, and dude, I think you kind of scare her,” Chris said.
Eli looked toward his friends, tossed the stone into the lake, and headed back to his car. It was late Saturday, and he needed to clear up some things.
“Where the fuck are we going now?” Branson asked.
“Mary’s!” Eli shouted the word, and got into his car. He started up the engine, and was about to pull out when Chris and Branson climbed in.
