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For a brief moment, the Ella I first met appeared, and she flashed me a brilliant smile before turning her gaze to Blake where the smile froze and the brilliance died away. She glanced at me with a lifted brow, and the awkwardness hit again.
Blake stood and clapped his hands together. “Well, I better get going. Good to see you, Ella. Chan, we’ll talk later.”
Blake tried to brush against me on his way out even though there was more than enough space for him to get to the door. I moved a few inches nearer to Ella to avoid the contact.
Ella said goodbye to him, but I glared at his back as he left. As soon as the door shut behind him, I allowed my body to relax.
Avoiding eye contact with Ella, I looked at the mess on the dining table. Blake didn’t even bother to tidy the mess he’d made. Abel always picked up after himself here, and everywhere I’d been with him.
It was funny how I picked that up and how much I appreciated the quality.
Chapter 6
Chantilla
“Do you need to go and get your stuff?”
Ella turned around and already had a backpack stuffed.
“What were you doing with Blake here so late when you left with Abel from the party?”
There wasn’t an accusation in her tone, but something lingered in her voice. I tried to pick it out, but nothing came. I moved toward the coffee table, started cleaning, and offered Ella some pizza, and she shook her head.
“Abel left me here when he got a text saying he had to take care of something. I had gotten comfortable and hit the books when Blake showed up unannounced with pizza.”
Ella scrutinized me as I explained, and I wanted to shrink in on myself. “What else? You two looked a little chummy when I walked in.”
A little backbone fused, and I straightened my spine. “It’s nothing like that, or at least on my part. Blake started hitting on me, and I didn’t know how to turn him down. He wasn’t catching on to my physical cues. Honestly, I’m grateful you walked in.”
Ella entered the room, took her backpack off, and sat on the couch. The tension in her body eased a little. “Be careful, okay. Abel will kill the both of you if he finds out about Blake.”
Yeah, Abel’s anger was common knowledge. “I don’t plan on being alone with him anymore. He proved how bad that is tonight.” I sighed and fell onto the couch. It hurt to think somebody I adored and looked up to as a child turned out to be somebody who made me uncomfortable. “If he wants to hang out or come over, he can only do it when somebody else is with me.”
Ella nodded. “I think that would be best.”
It was late, and I glanced at the books and figured I’d have to choose one and take it into bed with me. I hoped to get a chapter done. Standing, I led Ella to Kailey’s old room. “Come on, let me show you to your room.” This made us both chuckle because it wasn’t like we were in a mansion or anything, but it was nice having the sense of being a hostess. I craved having my own home someday. One I didn’t have to leave.
Ella grabbed her bag and followed, smiling as she looked around.
When Kailey left, she covered it with the bed linens supplied by the school, so at least for now, Ella had a made bed to sleep in.
“Thanks, this is great. So much better than with my roommate.”
“I meant it. You can move in here.”
Ella’s smile froze. She tried to cover the moment by shifting to a grin, but I caught the reaction, though. However, exhaustion had me in its grasp, and I already had too many dramas happening in one day. When she wanted to talk, she’d talk.
“Well, I’m tired. Goodnight,” I said around a yawn.
“Night.”
The following morning, I woke up to my textbook covering my face. I groaned when I realized I hadn’t gotten further than the first chapter before I passed out cold.
Ella puttered around the kitchenette, making coffee, the only bribe to get me to drag myself out of bed and follow my addiction.
“You can definitely move in if you have coffee ready every morning.” I groggily walked in after using the bathroom and slumped into the bar stool chair.
“It’s a fair trade.” Ella laughed. “Want to head to the dining hall for breakfast? I’m hungry.”
