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“Actually, we were talking about Ellie,” Asher said, his eyes still locked on mine.
“Oh yeah. She’s a sweetheart.” Liam turned to Asher. “Definitely too nice for you.”
While Asher scowled, I smirked and tipped my beer to Liam’s. Damn straight.
“Too young for you too,” I said, voicing my own objection, as if our age gap was the biggest obstacle.
They watched me curiously, so I blurted, “What? She’s thirteen years younger than me.Him,” I added quickly.
Asher lifted his shoulder, his expression smug. “So?”
“Wren’s five years younger than me,” Bennett chimed in. “Age is just a number.”
Were they serious? I glanced around the table and realized none of my friends seemed to think this was an issue—the age difference. But Ellie was still in college.College!
Thirteen years might not sound like a lot, but our lives were in completely different places. Ellie’s was just beginning and mine was…well, when I’d lost Tessa, it had felt like my life was over.
Lately though, something had shifted. I felt hopeful. I smiled more. And I knew it was all because of Ellie.
The guys didn’t seem to think our age difference was an issue, so why did it matter so much to me? Was it because she was Tessa’s younger sister? Or would I have always thought it was a big deal?
“What about the fact that she’s only here for a little while?” I asked.
Earlier this week, she’d received her placement for JET. And while it was contingent on her graduating, I had faith that she would. Which meant that in a few months, she’d be moving to Naruto, Tokushima. It sounded as foreign and far as the moon.
Asher leaned back, stretching his arms above his head. “Even better.”
My stomach soured, and it wasn’t from the beer. Someone as unique and amazing as Ellie deserved to be spoiled. Loved. Not discarded after a temporary hookup.
“If it were anyone else,” Liam said to me, “I’d tell you to go for it. A short-term fling could be exactly what you need to get back out there. But—” he frowned “—she’s Tessa’s sister.”
I knew it was more difficult for Liam to imagine me moving on, especially with Ellie, because of his friendship with Tessa. He’d trusted Tessa with the secret of his pen name, and she’d been his beta reader for years. He might want to give his characters a happily ever after as Meghan Hart, but fiction was different from reality.
“Just be careful,” Bennett said. “If you do decide to pursue something, make sure the feelings you have toward Ellie are aboutEllie, not her relationship to Tessa. You don’t want to use her just to fill a hole.”
“I think he’d be the one filling a hole,” Asher said. “If you know what I mean.”
“I don’t want to talk about this anymore.” I pushed back from the table, my stool nearly toppling. I stomped over to the cage to throw my next round.
“Ellie’s hot. And if you’re not prepared to make a move, someone else will. Hell, I will,” Asher said from behind me.
The fuck he would.
I embedded the ax in the stump that served as a stand and stalked back to the table. “No. You will not.” My voice boomed out of my chest.
I told myself it was because I was looking out for her, but I knew that wasn’t entirely true. I didn’t like the idea of anyone else touching Ellie. Anyone who wasn’t me.
Oh fuck.
He lifted his chin, defiance in his eyes. “You don’t control Ellie.”
My nostrils flared. I wished I could control Ellie. The things I’d do to her.
“She wouldn’t go out with you anyway,” I spat. “You’re… Well, you’re all wrong for her.”Great.And now I sound like a petulant child.
He stood, stepping closer. Challenging me with a gleam in his eyes. “You wanna bet?”
My chest heaved, and I was so damn close to punching him. I was usually so calm, so in control, but hearing Asher speak about Ellie like that… I gnashed my teeth.
