Page 24 of Rumor Has It

Of all the people I’ve dated or thought about dating, none of them held a candle to Theo in terms of the ability to absolutely crush me.

SEVENTEEN

THEO

Maybe I should’ve gone home to change before heading to Ellie’s house. Then again, that would seem weird for me to do from her perspective. I suppose I didn’t get too dirty today, and I did make it a point to scrub the shit out of my hands before leaving work. So that’s going to have to work for now.

I sit outside in my car for a full ten minutes before walking up the front path and stairs to her door. I don’t know why I’m so nervous. It’s something I’ve done a hundred times before. But I also know this time is different, and I could leave here having completely ruined everything or… not. I don’t know which scares me more.

“Hey,” I say, stepping inside.

“Hey,” she yells out. “One minute.”

True to her word, not more than a minute goes by before she emerges wearing what I can only describe as the devil’s handiwork.

I follow the curves of her legs up, where they disappear into a powder blue sundress with daisies on it. While it’s perfectly flowy at the bottom, it hugs everything—and I do mean everything—from the hips up. Wow.

“Hi,” she says.

Her hair is curled into locks draped over one shoulder, exposing one side of her neck and collarbone to me. It’s been well-established and documented over the years that I like these parts of a woman’s body. I don’t know how to explain it except maybe I’m part vampire. Because the moment I see a neck or collarbone or even a shoulder, I just want to bite it. Though this is the first time I’ve seen hers and had that reaction.

“Hey,” I say. “How did the drop-off go?” Wanda seems like a safe topic.

“Good,” she says. “I’m sad she’s gone but happy she’ll get the care she needs and get released back into the wild.”

I nod in agreement, relieved she’s not too sad over the ordeal. Although, knowing Ellie, she’s fine now but will blubber about it after one beer on some random night in the future. But I love that about her.

“I should get my things.” I move toward my open duffel bag in the corner chair.

“You wanna stay for a drink?”

Booze might make the topic easier, so I agree.

As she grabs two beers from the fridge, I sit down on the couch as I have so many times before. Ellie sits down next to me with a little less space than we usually leave between us.

“I need to talk to you about something,” she says before I can get a word out.

“Okay,” I say, thinking nothing of it as I take a sip of my beer. “What’s up?”

“It’s about the rumors.”

I nearly choke as I set my drink onto the table next to me. “You know about those?”

“Of course,” she says. “And your response confirms you know about them too.”

“I don’t know who started them.”

“I don’t either but that hardly matters.”

“It’s a small town,” I say. “You know how people like to talk.”

“And you know that maybe they’re at an all-time high, but they’ve been in the air since we were kids,” she says. “So, um…”

I wait for her to continue, staring intently at her mouth—her beautiful pink lips I’d like to see wrapped around my cock.Jesus.

“Can you just promise not to flip out on me?” There’s an edge to her voice, a nervousness.

“Of course.” I rub my hand over the top of her thigh in a reassuring manner.

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