Page 11 of Always Yours

Ellen giggles. “You started it.”

I grin, grabbing her hand. “Come on, let’s eat,” I say. “Before I’m distracted by thoughts of getting you naked.”

We head back to my car on the other side of campus, both of us freezing by the time we get there. Inside, I blast the heater to full and we sit for a couple of minutes warming our hands.

“What’s the verdict on your car?” I ask, glancing over at Ellen.

She rolls her eyes, shaking her head as she says, “The insurance company is coming to look at it this week. I’m pretty sure it’s gonna be a write-off with that stink inside.”

I laugh. “Yeah my roommate noticed the smell inside the apartment straightaway.”

“Shit, really?” she asks, eyes wide.

I grin, nodding as I start the car and head toward a diner near my apartment. “Yep, it’s not too bad though, don’t worry.”

“I feel like I’m going to be inhaling skunk for days,” she replies. “It’s fucking gross.”

Laughing again, I reply. “It wasn’t our finest hour.”

We pull up to the diner and head inside to grab a booth by the window. As we look over the menu, I can’t help sneaking a couple of glances at Ellen. She’s pulled the beanie off her head, several strands of her hair sticking straight up as though charged with static electricity.

Her cheeks are still flushed from the cold, although she’s taken her jacket off now, revealing a tight sweater underneath that’s doing nothing to stop those thoughts of her naked.

“Are you staring at me?”

I glance up at her face, see her watching me over the top of her menu. “Maybe,” I say, an eyebrow raised.

She grins at me, but says nothing as she shuts her menu, folds her arms on the table and looks at me.

“What’s the latest with your sister and her Aussie boyfriend?” I ask, mirroring her pose.

Ellen rolls her eyes. “Ugh god, she’s such a drama queen about it all,” she says. “You’d think the world was ending the way she’s going on and on about Jack getting all this attention from the girls in her class.”

I chuckle. “Yeah, I’ve seen my sisters go through that shit too. It’s pretty dramatic.”

“How many sisters do you have?”

I smile. “Two, twins, younger than me.”

Ellen’s eyebrows lift. “Wow, so you know all about this then?”

I nod. “Yep. Just be grateful you’ve only got the one. It was like hell on the earth the day my sisters decided they both liked the same boy. Fuck me.”

Our conversation stops for a few minutes while the waitress takes our order before disappearing again.

“I think Lauren’s problem is that she can’t believe Jack likes her when all he does is tease her,” Ellen continues. “I keep trying to tell her that boys are stupid and that’s how they roll.”

I burst out laughing. “Boys are stupid, huh?”

“Well,” she says, smiling back at me, “some are,” she continues. “And then some are just skunk-rescuing superheroes.”

I beam, even as I shake my head at this girl sitting across from me. “Good thing I fall into the latter category then, isn’t it?” I tease.

After we’ve finished dinner, we grab our things and head outside, the cold hitting us in an icy blast that has us both running for my car.

Inside, I switch on the ignition and crank up the heat again, realizing I have no idea what comes next.

“So, uh…” I start, hand on the wheel. “Do you want to come over?”

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