The Last Thing She Wants (Chestnut Hills #1)

14

ellie

Lil’ Wayne's “Get Low” reverberated through my car speakers as I meticulously maneuvered myself into a parallel parking spot on Main Street. Luckily, I arrived just before the Friday night rush started.

Having sweetly secured my spot, I made my way into Slay )

Before I could react to Daisy’s concocted message, his reply filtered in. Immediately followed by a location pin.

Graham

Next Saturday, my place. This is the address.

Silently, I turned the phone to show Daisy his response. “What does this mean?”

“What does this mean?” she echoed my question. “This means shopping! But first, nachos.” Grabbing my hand, she laced my arm in hers and led us out of the store onto the sidewalk.

After a round of margaritas and two rounds of nachos at Salsas, the local Mexican restaurant a five-minute walk from Slay and the G-string would sit between my plump ass cheeks just like the good lord intended.

Yet, in all that confidence, I heard Shane’s voice in the back of my head telling me I needed to cover up.

You have too much cellulite to show off your butt like that.

I wish your tits were perkier.

As I replayed those instances, rage coursed through me. Fuck him, and fuck every other boy, yes boy, who had ever made me feel less than sexy. Only a man could handle me, and a man would never say those things.

“Fuck it, wrap this bitch up,” energetically caught up in my anger, I snatched my size in the flossy two-piece. Daisy pumped her fist in the air out of the corner of my eye. She shimmied behind, following me, as I beelined for the cash register.

Exiting Honey the idea of being alone with Theo, however regular, made me a little more nervous each day. Especially now, as I clutched the velvety black bag—despite my embarrassment, though, I was excited to get my two minutes with him today.

Justas I reached the opposite sidewalk, I slowed. Waiting for him to join me, I gave my hands a shake to loosen the silly excitement that began building when I saw him. Between work and the gym, I’d seen him nearly every day for almost a month. If anything, we should want a break from each other, or at least, he should want one from me.

“Can I carry that for you?” he offered, taking the shopping bag from my hand before I could vocalize a response.

“Thanks,” shyly, I crossed my arms. Unsure what to make of all my nervous energy, I did my best to dampen my demeanor.

“How was nacho night?”

“Good.”

“Looking forward to another night of the Assets?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” Oh geez, if anything, my behavior was calling more attention to me .

“Okay…it’s just that you’re giving me one-word answers,” he bumped my shoulder with his. “Very un-Ellie like of you.”

“Oh,” I chuckled, “I’m just a little distracted. Sorry.”

The last few hours had been a rollercoaster of emotions. I’d gone from confused by Graham’s message to excited by Theo’s. Then, from being anxious about Daisy’s message to Graham, to enjoying myself with my best friend. Then, in the lingerie shop, I went from self-conscious, to confident, to filled with shame by the memory of Shane, to excited again at the sight of Theo.

Disappointingly, my surprise at seeing Jake and Theo quickly turned to embarrassment as Daisy announced my recent purchase. Now, Theo was carrying my aforementioned lingerie, and I vibrated in his presence.

It was too much to make sense of.

“Want to talk about it?” Theo asked helpfully.

“No.” God no.

“Okay.”

Finally, arriving at my car, I took the bag from him and placed it on the floor of the front passenger seat. When he accepted my offer to hold his bag of chocolates as well, I placed his bag next to mine. The bright pink and black velvet bags sat in contrast. As I shut the door, I felt a heavy hand rest on my shoulder.

Guiding me to face him, he placed his hand around the nape of my neck and positioned his thumb to stroke my cheek. Electricity shocked me at the point of contact.

"Hey, I hope you know you can talk to me about anything.” I watched as his eyes moved between mine, from one to the other, then dipping to my mouth. Hyperaware of the attention on my mouth, I sucked my bottom lip between my teeth. The tip of his tongue peeked out, wetting his lips in response .

“Get a room!” A boy taunted as a group of teens walked past, behind Theo. The giggles that erupted from the group broke us from our trance.

Here moved his hand and I let out a long breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.

“Come on,” he said gruffly. Tilting his head in the direction of Street 7, he grabbed my hand and led us away from my car. Unable to respond, I didn’t remove my hand from his. Instead, I nervously followed, trying to decipher the preceding exchange.

Was he going to kiss me? Did I want him to kiss me? Why did holding his hand feel so good? Why were there underage children running amuck, ruining moments after dark?

Street 7 was already full and standing room only remained. Relieved, we spotted Daisy, Penny, and Jake at a tabletop against a far wall. The opening of the Beatles “Come Together” filled the space as the band started.

Approaching the table, we greeted each other with hugs. I planted myself next to Daisy, who was bopping to the music with her eyes fixed on the stage. “Apparently, the drums in this song are iconic,” she shouted over the music. “I see it now.”

What was she talking about? “Where’d you hear that?”

“Reid mentioned it was one of his favorite songs to play,” Daisy responded nonchalantly, but I picked up on the undertone of importance to her. Not even knowing her and the drummer of the Assets, and Brian’s fellow accountant, knew each other. I quired an eyebrow, but decided to dig further another day.

In that moment, all I could focus on was the man standing three feet behind me.

His presence demanded my attention.

Instead, I used all my energy to ignore the pull.