Page 9 of Had To Be You

“If I’m ever in the mood to play Frisbee golf or shotgun beers, I’ll give him a call,” I say, with an amused smile.

“That all sounds like a good time to me. You should try rolling up the sleeves of your fancy dress shirts and having some fun for a change.”

I smirk. This is one of my favorite sides of Ellie, the one where she pushes me back. There aren’t too many people in my life who will go up against me. She enjoys it. She’s good at it. I like how she challenges me and I’m aware of my heartbeat picking up, of the surge in my veins.

“Are you interested in that guy?” I ask her, needing to know. Curiosity getting the best of me.

“What guy?”

“The guy with the hair.”

“He has a name, Liam. It’s only two syllables. It can’t be that hard to remember. Lo-gan.” She enunciates each syllable to really drive her point home.

I’m pissed and it shows when I ask her, “Are you going out with him?”

“Would it matter if I was?” She looks me directly in the eye. Her posture stiffens. I do too. How does this girl have the ability to get me hard with just a look? The air between us is thick. This back-and-forth thing is grating on me, the push and pull is suffocating.

“I wouldn’t have asked if it didn’t,” I admit.

“Wow, Liam, so many questions for a girl who seems to be completely forgettable.” What did she just say? Does she think I could ever forget anything about her? “Is that what you really think?”

She looks away. She’s fidgeting with the ends of her hair. Uncertainty passes over her face. It’s an emotion I’m not used to seeing on her. She looks almost vulnerable. She looks afraid.

“Answer the question, Ellie. Do you really think you’re forgettable? To me?” I push.

“It doesn’t matter,” she says finally.

“It does to me.” I watch as her eyes narrow on mine. I keep going. “I remember everything about that night. Every single thing,” I tell her, my voice low. How could I forget? The way her eyes, those fucking goddess eyes, looked at me, the way her skin felt against mine. And her mouth. That mouth that I couldn’t get enough of. I wanted all of her that night, but I wasn’t going to have sex with her in my brother’s bathroom. Not with Ellie. There was something different about her. I knew it even then. I wanted to do things right.

For the first time, I bet, in her entire life, she’s speechless. Her gaze softens with my admission, the energy between us sizzling. I look her right in the eye, my heart pounding. I nod, so she absolutely understands that I meant what I said.

“Liam, I’m not doing this with you. You give me an inch and then backtrack a mile. You’re just like all the rest.”

“What exactly is that supposed to mean?”

“It means exactly what I said.” She straightens.

“Not fair, Ellie. You don’t know me.”

“How could I? You’re closed off, you’re surly,” she says, answering me almost instantly, starting to gain her confidence back.

“I think you like my surly,” I say. She furrows her brow.

“I hate to break it to you, but I don’t. I don’t know anyone that would.”

“I bet you do. I’ll even take it one step further. I bet you think about me all the time. Nonstop.”

Her cheeks flush and there’s a flicker in her blue eyes. “You’re insane.”

I smile. “You probably even dream about me.”

“You really are crazy.” Her eyes sparkle in the moonlight. They’ve come alive again, back to the bright, playful eyes I’m so used to seeing. I wish I could figure out what she’s thinking.

“I’m not crazy, Ellie. I’m confident.”

“I believe ‘arrogant’ is more accurate. So arrogant. That’s what you are.”

“Is that so?”

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