Page 3 of Chasing Elliott
“I only came up here to get some peace and quiet,” I answered curtly, trying to get thehint across that I wanted to be left alone.
“It’s the perfect place, really,” he responded, oblivious to the underlying meaning in my previous statement. “I mean, it’s beyond quiet up here and the waves are so calming. The moon also gives me a sense of ease, as well. Guess it’s something we have in common.”
I panned my eyes back to the sky, opting out of the twenty things I wanted to say, and instead responded, “I guess so.”
“You’re not much of a talker, are you?” He pondered, and to my surprise a laugh escaped my lips.
“I am when I want to be,” I told him truthfully. I put a hand on the rock I was sitting on, pushing myself to my feet. “Well, this has been lovely, but I have a party to get to.”
The man scrambled up to his feet as I began to walk away, falling into step beside me. “Iapologize if I came across a little strong, but I truthfully just wanted to make sure you werealright.”
“I’m fine,” I responded blandly, continuing my walk to Kara’s car that sat in the parking lot a couple blocks away.
“You don’t have to tell me what’s going on, but you don’t have to lie to me, either.”
I stopped dead in my tracks and watched as he took a couple steps past me beforerealizing we were no longer side by side. He looked at me over his shoulder, turning his wholeattention towards me.
“At the risk of sounding like a total bitch,” I began to say, crossing my arms over my chest as I raised a brow. “Why do you care?”
“Sometimes we just need someone to listen,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders. “Who better than a stranger? No expectations or feelings involved.”
I kept my eyes on him, taking an easy breath as I studied his posture. He seemed carefree, honest, and that was more unnerving than the words that were coming out of his mouth - for me at least.
“Speaking from experience I presume,” I commented, dropping my arms and continuing my walk towards the car. “As sweet of you as this sentiment is, talking about my feelings isn’t something I will ever do willingly.”
“People change. Maybe you will one day,” he told me, a knowing in his words that I tried to ignore. “I think that day may just be today.”
I scoffed, smiling softly nonetheless at this stranger's blind faith or giddy optimism. “Iwouldn’t hold my breath if I were you. A leopard can’t change its spots.”
“That may be true,” he started to say as we broke through the tree line and reached the parking lot. “But you’re human. We adapt and change, learn from our mistakes. You might just surprise yourself.”
“And what makes you so sure?” I questioned as I stopped by the car, resting my back against the driver side door.
He looked at me and for a moment, an unreadable expression flashing across his facebefore he gave me a small smile. “Like I said before, we have something in common.”
Before I could respond, he turned on his heel and walked away, following the curb out of the parking lot and taking the sidewalk that looped around the bend and brought you back down to the beach.
I pulled open the door and slid inside, reaching for my phone that sat in one of the cup holders and dialing Kara’s number as I started up the ignition. I had to quickly turn the radio down, forgetting I had it up on full blast on my way over here when I heard Kara in my ear.
“Are you on your way back yet?” She practically barked out, clearly frazzled. “I need help picking out an outfit for this beach party. I need to impress Benjamin.”
“I’m on my way, Kay,” I told her as I pulled out of my spot and began the twenty-minute drive back to our townhome. “Do you have anything picked out yet? Any contenders?”
I heard her sigh followed by the sound of her closet door being torn open. “Nope, none. Not a single damn one, El. Why is this so hard?”
I finally approached the light that led me onto the interstate which would effectively cut my travel time down by five minutes. The music hummed softly in the background as the wind coming in through the cracked windows whipped my hair around my face.
“Because you’re trying to impress someone,” I told her honestly, thinking back on the days when I cared about trying to impress other people. “Always makes things a hell of a lotmore difficult. But I’m going to say this as your best friend who is going to be attached to your hip all night, find something cute but comfortable.”
“Those are never the same thing,” she grumbled while I pulled off our exit, groaning as Ihit the first of seven stop lights.
I rolled my eyes, leaning back as I lazily let one hand rest on the bottom of the steering wheel. “Believe me, babe, they are. I’ll prove it to you when I get home, which should be in a few minutes. Don’t stress yourself out too much between now and then.”
I hung up before she could argue, the light turning green as I hastily put my foot down on the gas. Thankfully none of the lights turned red as I sped toward our townhome, wanting to make sure I had enough time to get myself ready plus help Kara along the way.
Walking into the house, I kicked off my sandals by the front door and sauntered past thekitchen, heading towards the stairs to head up to our bedrooms. My room was on the left and hers on the right, each containing their own bathroom which was a big selling point when wepicked this place.
Stopping in the hallway, I glanced between our doors before quickly slipping into my own and heading straight for my closet. I grabbed a pair of ripped mom jeans off the shelf and ablack lace bralette out of one of my dresser drawers. Changing out of my hoodie and jean shorts, I slipped into the outfit and made my way to the bathroom.
