Page 23 of Hazel and Elijah Find Out: First They F*cked Around

Of course, Elijah knew. Why wouldn’t Ransom tell him?

My shoulders tensed toward my ears.

After a few more moments of my mind sputtering, I answered, “I don’t have a good reason. I just kept typing out messages, then deleting them. I couldn’t send them.”

A brush of his finger hooking my pinkie made some of the tension leave my body.

Quietly, he asked, “Why couldn’t you send them?”

Focusing on our hands slowly intertwining, I found the bravery to say, “You’re way cooler than me.”

“Not true.”

“I don’t know what I’m doing here, and it makes me nervous.”

“You make me nervous, too.”

I snorted. “Really?”

His smile did things to my heart, made it behave erratically.

“I could jump out of my skin at any second.” His thumb rubbed along my knuckles.

“Because ofme?”

“I want to get to know you.”

Butterflies took flight in my stomach, fluttering wild and frantic. “You could have called me. I’m easy to find, and you knew I had your number.”

“It felt… creepy to call the office—you didn’t give me permission to do that. I almost messaged your Instagram profile a couple of times… I don’t know, I probably should’ve. I just figured there was a reason you weren’t calling me.”

My ribs squeezed my lungs. I had to force myself to suck in air. He had been waiting to hear from me. I’d wasted time being too intimidated to text a few words, when really, he was the sweetest man.

He shifted in his seat to face me squarely. His eyes locked onto mine, capturing me entirely. “I can’t stop thinking about you, and I don’t want to.”

I tried to fight back the smile spreading across my face, but it was stronger than me. These fresh, light emotions blooming were such a sharp contrast from the disappointment that was still sinking in my gut.

“I want to hold your hand,” he squeezed our palms together, “all the time. I want to take you out or bring you lunch. I want to see what there is between us, because there is something here.”

Despite how good those words were to hear, there was still the issue of distance. “What happens when you go back to Detroit?”

“A couple hours’ drive is not insurmountable. I’m here for four more weeks. Let’s give this a try. See how we fit together?”

Biting my lower lip, but grinning like a fool, I nodded. “I want that, too.”

Holding my gaze, Elijah lifted our joined hands and brushed his lips across my knuckles. My breath caught and a rush of my blood whooshed in my ears. That small touch of his mouth to my skin was enough to invoke sensations and memories from our one night together—enough for me to consider asking him to take me home.

He pressed a kiss to the inside of my wrist before he whispered in my ear, “Not yet.”

“Why?” I sounded as desperate as I felt, and also completely unconcerned that he could read my mind.

“Did you forget that I want to get to know you?”

“Now?”

Laughing, he rested his forehead against mine. “Yes, now.”

“Fine,” I said with a giddy grin on my face.

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