The Last Thing She Wants (Chestnut Hills #1)

9

ellie

The last two and a half hours were a blur. In the swirl of panic and emotions, I knew two things: Theo thought I was hot, and Theo asked me out. Thinking further, though, I also knew that I had committed a physical assault on his poor, sexy, unassuming head and that in return, I wasted no time stripping down.

Sure, it was in my hectic attempt to stop the stream of blood from running down his face, but the fact remained that I had hit his head. Then, he proceeded to bleed from said head, and I…ripped off my shirt. I could practically hear Mrs. Hudson scolding me, have some class, girl.

Thinking over the events, I undressed on my way to the shower. As the water warmed, I looked at my image in the mirror. Taking a moment to pause and fully examine the woman facing me in the mirror, I appreciated my body and what I had done for myself. Sure, I hadn’t really been losing weight, but that wasn’t the point of working out, for me, anyway. It didn’t hurt, though, that I could see the definition of my biceps begin to peek through. My shoulders seemed a bit more sculpted, and I felt physically strong.One could make an argument that I needed a conceal carry permit for these guns. The urge to flex and kiss each arm was strong.

But what really stood out was the glint in my eye. I saw a spark, a bit of self-confidence. I flashed myself a smile and, for the first time in a long time, I felt truly beautiful.

A florescent pink heap behind me caught my eye. In the small hall from the bathroom to my bedroom lay the leggings I had quickly tossed in a panic as I changed to take Theo to get stitched up. That right. Stitched up. Because I gave him a gash the size of Tennessee on his poor, sexy, manly, forehead.

Lightly swearing to myself, I swiped my phone off the vanity and shot a text to Daisy.

Ellie

I wore the pink set today. I think it’s cursed.

Daisy

What happened?

Ellie

I busted Theo’s head open.

Daisy

I knew you would! Did his brain explode when he laid eyes on you?

Ellie

No Daisy. I literally busted his head open. There was blood. I took him to get stitches.

Daisy

Oh shit

Ellie

Then he asked me out!

Not a second later, my phone was ringing with Daisy’s name lighting up my screen.

“Hello?” I answered, full well knowing the interrogation that was about to ensue.

“He asked you out?” Daisy’s voice carried through the receiver loud and clear, more in an exclamation than a question. I had to pull the phone away from my ear to avoid hearing damage.

“Care to bring it down a decibel? You almost blew my eardrum.”

After giving her a play-by-play of the afternoon, ending with the awkward hallway exchange where Theo asked me out, she laughed to herself. “Point Daisy for making you buy that outfit.”

“You would focus on that,” I let out a weighted sigh. “What do I do now? Do I stop going to the gym with him?

“Absolutely not, woman. You keep going and dressing to kill.

“I turned him down, Daze.”

“For now.” I began to protest, but she continued. “You like him. I know you’re scared, but you like him. He’s cute; he works out, clearly; he’s a professor, so he’s smart; he has tattoos; he is loyal to his friends. Not to mention, he thinks you’re hot. ” Daisy’s sing-song voice made me roll my eyes. “He who shall not be named was a total piece of shit, but that doesn’t have to mean every man is like that.”

Looking up at the ceiling, I contemplated Daisy’s logic. “Okay, I’m going to take a shower and go to bed early.”

“Ellie,” Daisy warned.

“I’m going to think about what you said, Daze. I promise. Love you. ”

“Love ya, bitch.”

Ending my call with Daisy, I sulked into the shower and rehashed the events of the evening. As the water washed over me, I thought about the look in Theo’s eyes as he saw me take my shirt off, so hot. Did he really think that?

Compulsively, my mind wandered to my time with Shane. There were good moments in the beginning, of course. He complimented me, made me feel wanted, then at some point it just stopped. I couldn’t pinpoint when, exactly, but it did. Towards the end he even shifted towards downright critiquing me.

He often questioned if my pants were too tight, or if I’d feel better in a larger shirt, being sure to call out how he could see my “rolls” or “fat.” Once he even called me his “chubby queen.” That was until I broke down in tears. Naturally, he felt I was overreacting, as was usually the case according to him.

It left an impression on me. When it came to my midsection being on display, it was my first instinct to cover up. It was foreign to feel desirable to someone again, let alone someone like Theo. I may have declined a date, but I wasn’t ignorant of his shining qualities. Apart from the ones Daisy listed, she forgot to mention he had the tightest of asses. Groaning at my self-loathing, I let the scalding water wash away my shame and stood in the stream until the water ran cold.

Gingerly, I cared for myself and prepared for an early night. The full skin care routine I learned from a teenage TikToker was complete, my silkiest pajamas were on, and my laptop was on the bed. The fluffy pillows and newly washed sheets beckoned me. I just needed to double check that the front done was locked before I could climb in without a worry.

Jiggling the handle, I gave the door a shove for extra reassurance there wasn’t an unlocked invitation to any night prowlers. My worst nightmare came true when I heard an exclamation on the other side of the door. I made a grab for the closest weapon I could find and held my breath as I braved a glance through the peephole.

I caught sight of a retreating, bandaged head and swung open the door.

“Theo?” He stopped dead in his tracks, halfway between our apartment doors, and slowly turned. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” he avoided eye contact for a moment, “I just forgot something.” He paused before bringing his gaze to meet mine. For a moment, his eyes dropped again, and I watched him scan my body. Suddenly, I was painfully aware of the thin silk tank and short set with lace trim I had chosen. “Why are you holding a jar of peanut butter?”

Looking down, I realized the life-saving weapon I grabbed in my craze was a jar of peanut butter I had forgotten to put away after my morning toast.

“I heard you out here and thought you were a night prowler.”

“So…you grabbed peanut butter?”

“It was the closest thing I could reach. Don’t be fooled, this thing could do some damage. Especially considering the night prowler in question is already at a disadvantage with a bandaged head.” I playfully tossed the jar in the air and caught it a few times.

He scratched his jaw and lightly chuckled while taking a step towards me. I took an audible gulp of air and remembered the reason he said he was outside my apartment.

“You said you…forgot something?” I became breathless, suddenly aware of how close he had gotten.

“Yeah.”

I could feel his breath as he stood toe-to-toe with me.

In one smooth motion, he slid his hands along both sides of my face and softly brought his lips to mine .

The tenderness of his touch and the contrasting spark of his lips rendered me speechless. Closing my eyes, I tilted my head and opened my mouth to him. Pleased with my granting of permission, he moaned softly into my mouth and played his tongue with mine. A quiet squeal of pleasure released from the back of my throat and I felt him instantly harden against my stomach.

I couldn’t resist running my hands over his hard stomach. Even through his shirt, I could feel the ripple of his abs. If I hadn’t been a total puddle of lust, I would have rolled my eyes, because of course he had an eight pack. I pressed against him firmly, and when my hands reached his strong, wide chest, I took a step back, willing my head to think straight.

At first, I stuttered, searching for the words. His soft, luscious lips—because I knew what they felt like now—widened to a blinding grin. “I’m confused where you think you left that after I literally just rejected a date with you?” I shook my head, more in disbelief of myself than anything he’d done.

Reaching out, he twirled a curl around his finger. “Apologies,” his voice had suddenly grown husky.

Nothing came out when I tried to speak. I could finally take a steady breath when he let go of my curl and my body was suddenly aware of the absence of his touch.

“Before you expel that thought,” he continued, putting his finger up to stop me before I could form words. “I have to tell you something…I think we might be soulmates.”

I’m sorry, what? Hot guy who walked in on my ex cheating on me, and whose head I busted, and who kissed me silly in the hallway, said what?

My eyes bugged so hard; I was convinced they were nearly separated from my head. With that thought, all I could do was keel over in laughter.

“Okay…not the response I was expecting.” Theo almost sounded dejected. I straightened myself and wiped a tear away. “You laughed so hard you cried? That’s just rude.”

I let another laugh loose and clutched my chest, wiping away another stray tear. “Theo, do you realize how ridiculous that sounds? One kiss and you think we’re—you think we’re—soulmates?”

“It’s more than that,” he continued before getting lost in thought, “just one date. Give me one shot. There’s something here. I know you feel it too.”

Stepping back into my apartment thanks to the door I left open in my cloud of confusion, I shook my head, declining. “Like I said, I’m just not there yet. Good night, Theo.”

Without waiting to hear his reply, I closed the door with a resounding thud. I locked the door and double, triple, checked before slinking into bed. My sleepiness that once was, was now replaced with anxiety, but also excitement.

He had only scratched the surface in getting to know me. How on earth could he believe we were soulmates? Theo Emerson had no goddamn clue what he was talking about. I had no goddamn clue what he was talking about. One thing I knew, however, was that I just had the best kiss of my life.

Lying in bed, I was left in a puddle of fear and lust.