Page 44 of Last First Love
I tense up waiting for him to hit me, but Elliott stays still and quiet. Almost as if the words didn't happen. Huh. Maybe he didn't hear me.
I clear my throat, readying myself to speak again but he interrupts me before I even begin. "Oh, I heard you. But I told you a long time ago what was going to happen to you if you ever even considered laying a finger on her."
"You were going to shave my head and my beard and draw a dick on my scalp with a Sharpie. I haven't forgotten." I reach into my back pocket and hand him a Sharpie. "Let's get this over with."
His eyes light up with vicious, petty delight for a moment. "Aw hell. You know I can't do that, but why did you have to do this? I love Lily more than anybody else. She's precious to me."
I nod solemnly, then wrap his hand around the permanent ink pen. "I feel the exact same way. I never expected this to happen, but I can't undo my feelings. Let's get this handled right here, right now. Like men."
I honestly feel okay about it, even when he goes running for his clippers with a decidedly evil glint in his eyes.
I sit stoically as he plugs in the clippers and turns them on. "I'm going to shave your eyebrows too."
I nod quietly. I mean, I did defile his little sister. He's got to get that vengeance out of his system somehow, and if this is what it takes for him to make peace with me and Lily being together, so be it.
He pauses then, the trimmer buzzing in his hand. "And what does Lily think about all this?'
I sigh. "She thinks I'm not worth it. She told me she wouldn't agree to be my girlfriend and nothing I was going to say was going to change her mind."
He blinks a couple of times, then turns the clippers off. "And you came over here to tell me about it anyway?"
I nod. "Damn right I did. Lily's worried about what people will say about us being together, and you and I both know the person whose opinion matters the most to her is you."
Elliott smacks the countertop. "Well crap."
"I know, I know. It's probably not enough to change her mind, but I needed you to know how I feel about her."
He shakes his head. "She's stubborn. If she's decided you don't get a chance to be with her, she's not going to back down."
I nod miserably. "I know. But I still have to take my shot at proving myself to her."
Elliott scrubs his face with one hand, the other still lingering near his clippers. "I can't believe you showed up here with a fucking Sharpie."
I shake my head at him. "I know you don't believe me, but I mean it. She's it for me."
He clears his throat. "Maybe I should shave your head after all. You'd probably have women crawling all over you if you were rocking that cue ball style." He reaches over and pats me on the shoulder. "She's not going to change her mind. I've known her for her entire life, and she's never once backed down once she gets her heels dug in on something."
I shrug. "Then I guess I keep trying. I can't not try with her. She's everything I didn't even know I was missing out on."
He sighs. "We should have gotten a drink first. I can't handle you when you're sad."
"I'm never really sad. If you looked as good as me, you'd never be sad either, meat wagon." I twist my head around far enough to kiss myself on the biceps.
He snorts. "You're still ridiculous."
I nod, suddenly feeling every bit as sad as he accused me of being. "Probably, but that's never stopped me before." I take a deep breath. "I'm going to do every single thing I can think of to win Lily's trust. And that started right here with you today."
Elliott tenses up again, and I can almost feel him taking a swing at me, but somehow it doesn't happen this time either. "If you hurt her, I'm not going to settle for cosmetic damage to your facial hair."
I shake my head. "Hurting her would be worse than hurting myself."
Elliott whistles, low and long. "You've got it bad."
My lips curl up a little bit. "I've never had it this good. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go proclaim my love for Lily to the men at central station. They're a bunch of gossipy things, and I guarantee word will get all over town before the week is over. Then she'll see there's nothing to worry about on the small town gossip circuit."
Elliott sighs and gives me a shove that’s a little too hard. Yeah, he's definitely still pissed. "I hope this works out the way you want it to. I'd like to see her happy, and given the way you came to me on this, man-to-man, I think you might be the right guy for the job."
I shake my head. "I don't mean to be an asshole, and I do hope you approve of our relationship, but this isn't about you. Me coming to you today is about Lily. She deserves a man who will stand up for her, whether she's there to see it happen or not."
