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Ella
Ella couldn’t believe she’d agreed to go on this ride with Lucas.
No, it wasn’t a date. It would never be considered as such.
And yet here she was entertaining the thought that there would be some women in town who would classify both their lunch and this little excursion as dates.
The horse she rode plodded along the trail just as the sky started to brighten. Lucas didn’t say a word as promised, and Ella was able to take in the scenery in peace.
That peace didn’t last very long.
After about a quarter of a mile, she found herself glancing over to him. She needed to stop allowing him to surprise her. The list just kept getting longer and longer. Lucas was proving to be a better person than she’d ever wanted to admit, which only made her look like the bad guy.
Shewasn’tthe bad guy. She was the girl who had been bullied so much that her shine had rubbed off. Those scars ran deep. Ella was allowed to be jaded.
And yet…
Those two words hovered in her mind. She tossed them around like a hot potato.
And yet Lucas might not actually be the guy she thought he was. He seemed sweeter than she had expected, even if only a little. If he was telling her the truth, then he wasn’t making assumptions about her. He wasn’t hitting on her.
Friends.
Thatword made her cringe for some reason. He wasn’t boyfriend material. That much was certain. But she didn’t like that he was so willing to put her in the friends category either. When he said she wasn’t his type, was he admitting he had no interest in her because she was plus-sized? Or was it something else?
He shot a look toward her—one that said this wasn’t the first time he caught her staring at him. Well, that was just great. Depending on how many times he’d noticed, it wouldn’t be hard for him to start teasing her about having a crush.
Perhaps putting him in the friend zone would be a good idea. They didn’t have to be close, but she could give him the benefit of the doubt. Would that be so bad?
She lingered on this thought process until they came to the ledge of a shallow valley. She sucked in a sharp breath. It wasn’t the valley that drew her attention; it was the glowing ember of the sun as it flickered behind the tips of the trees in the distance. Colors of red, orange and pink painted the sky, making the clouds appear almost silver.
Sunsets had always been her favorite part of nature growing up, but that might have just been because they were easier to catch. Apparently, she hadn’t known what she’d been missing.
“Nice, isn’t it?” Lucas murmured.
“Yeah,” she whispered. “It’s like a dream or a poem that you can’t find the words for.”
“That’s an interesting way of putting it.”
Ella smiled. Normally she wouldn’t care to share anything about her past, but it was the way Lucas made that comment that pushed her forward. “You know, once upon a time I thought I wanted to be an artist. I painted, drew, used every single medium I could get my hands on. I could say with paint what I never could say with words.”
“What happened?” The genuine tone of his voice threw her off her guard, but she maintained composure.
She glanced toward him. “I realized that sometimes you have to be realistic, and paintings don’t pay the bills.” She offered him an embarrassed smile. “So, I did the next best thing. I found a career where I could still draw and use my creativity. I just use it with buildings instead.”
They both looked toward the sunrise again, allowing the comfortable silence to wrap around them.
Ella’s thoughts returned to why she was out here—with Lucas. Friendship. Lucas wanted to be her friend even though she’d treated him like garbage. Perhaps it was time to bury the figurative hatchet and see just how much he’d changed. Ella let out a heavy sigh, blowing a deep-seated, frustrated breath between pursed lips. She glanced over toward him and then waited for him to meet her gaze before she muttered, “Fine.”
“Fine?”
Ella rolled her eyes. “Fine, you don’t have to be silent. And if you think small talk will make the days feel less…terrible… then go ahead.”
His grin should have been irritating, but it wasn’t. Instead, it filled her stomach with flurries and nerves. His eyes didn’t leave hers as his grin widened even further. “Okay.”
“That doesn’t mean we’re friends.” She didn’t know what it was that prompted her to say that. Perhaps it was the residual ache from the scars of her past. There was no taking it back now, so she left it as it was.
“It doesn’t?”
