AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Most of the smokers and hippies were gone—only a few hung around in a tight circle sharing a joint on the lawn. The night was pitch black and freezing. I hugged my arms around my chest, struggling to take in another breath.
This was what I got for taking advice from a pothead.
“Kat?”
The world stopped.
I felt nothing—not the cold current of the wind, or the moisture on my cheeks or the tightness of my top.
Wiping the tears away from my eye, I turned to look to my side.
Him.
Elliot.
He was leaning against the side of the house on the opposite end of the porch, just like me, swishing a bottle of beer around in his hand. His hair had gotten a bit longer over the summer, but his amber-green eyes had stayed the same, cutting into me as he smirked.
He’d gotten a lip piercing.
“Wow,” he said, and let the word hang in the air there between us as his eyes traveled from my skirt to my bare shoulders. That one word, that one sound, was the second word I’d heard from him since that last day—and the first was my name.
Myname.
Fuck, it sounded good.
“I didn’t know you went to Powell,” Elliot said, his gaze staying in mine.
I had to suck in a breath of air before I could reply.
“No, I…” I said, laughing a nervous, weak laugh. “I’m at Freeman.”
Elliot nodded and took a swig out of his bottle. Casting my gaze back at the ground, I rolled my eyes. My love life was a mess. There was no point in sticking around. I couldn’t do this all over again. I just couldn’t.
After leaning my head back against the wall again, I let out a heavy breath and moved to head down the porch steps. Jason had said it was about a fifteen-minute drive. Walking for a little longer wouldn’t kill me. In fact, I needed the fresh air.
“Where’re you going?”
I stopped and turned to look back at him. “Home.”
Elliot pushed himself away for the wall and wandered toward me. He was already taller than me, but as I stood on the first step below him, he towered over me like a deity, and I had to raise my eyes high just to look at him. He raised his hand, and slowly, reached out to stroke a lock of my hair, and twisted it around his finger.
I swallowed and glanced toward the dark street. He dropped the lock of hair so that it rested across my shoulder, leaving me cold.
“You’re not walking back alone, are you?” he said, as if he was reading my mind. The gentle tone of his voice made me stare back at him. He’d never spoken to me like that before. Like he actually cared. Like he saw me as a human being. “Cause I could give you a ride.”
I looked down at the bottle in his hand. Elliot rolled his eyes.
“I had, like, two sips, I promise,” he said, his voice lowered to a whisper. He started walking down the porch steps, his shoulder brushing past mine.
Biting my lip, I snuck a glance back at my phone. No texts from Eric. Nothing from anyone else.
What choice did I have?
Elliot tossed the bottle onto the lawn as he walked onto the sidewalk and waited for me. After hesitating a moment, I followed him, keeping a fist curled at my side.
I’d do anything for this motherfucker. I really would.
But each time I’ve looked at him, I saw fangs hidden by a sexy grin, heard toxic words that sounded sweet, and gazed into soulful eyes that guarded a treasure trove of dirty thoughts. I hated him and he hated me.
