Page 31 of Hazel and Elijah Find Out: First They F*cked Around

Leaning toward Elijah, I whispered, “You know I could really go for a pretzel right now.”

“Not that hungry?” he asked.

“Not really… I’m planning on a big dinner tonight.”

His smile was enough to break me into a thousand delighted pieces. “Are you?”

“Yeah, this really cute guy offered to cook for me.”

His eyes dropped to my mouth. “Lucky guy. Let’s get you a pretzel.”

We stood, and Dennis looked up to me. “You leaving?”

“Uh…” I nodded at the confused, and slightly sad, expression on his face. How had I ended up here? Me? Of all people. Was I breaking his heart? Was that what this was? It did not fit well. It bound too tightly around my ribs.

I’m not responsible for his feelings, I coached myself.I’m not doing anything wrong by being with Elijah.

Everything with Elijah felt right. But hurting Dennis felt very wrong. The two truths walked parallel with each other. Their contradictions did not make either of them less accurate.

“Den, what is the environmental impact of this research?” Remi asked from the other side of Dennis. Remi must have snuck in with everyone, and I hadn’t even noticed.

Dennis launched back into the subject, and I made a mental note to do something nice for Remi, too.

I tried to leave the discomfort behind as Elijah and I exited into the mall, the sounds of shoppers bouncing off the tiled floors and high ceilings. It was easier to do in theory than in execution.

We ordered our pretzels and waited while the teenagers behind the counter prepared them.

I searched my mind for something to talk about, but all I could think to do was apologize. As I hadn’t done anything wrong, I didn’t want to do that.

“You helped Dennis find some clothes?” Elijah finally asked.

“I did. He’s offered up carpentry work for the auction, so I found a nice fitting flannel and khakis. It’s funny, most of these men are going to be wearing flannel.”

“It’s a good look.”

“Yeah, you were rocking the hell out of it last night,” I said to my feet, my cheeks burning.

“Thank you.” He grinned.

“I’m actually kinda disappointed. I thought I’d see you try stuff on…” I trailed off as my tongue grew too large for my mouth, wondering if it was a weird thing to say. I really wanted to get back into our flirty rhythm, and this suddenly felt like the wrong route. “Of course, you don’tneedto. I mean, you look great in what you’re wearing right now—not that that’s surprising. You always look great.”

He looked down at his fashionably loose-fitting T-shirt and jeans as I continued to ramble about subjects that no longer seemed relevant.

My words cut off completely when he took a step closer. The heat of his skin pushed back the chill of the mall air. His low rumble lit sparks in my brain. “If you want me to try something on, all you have to do is ask. I’ll give it to you.”

Behind my shoulder, one of the attendants announced our order was ready. Elijah thanked them, then handed me my pretzel stick and cheese.

Taking a bite of his cinnamon sugar-covered twist, he jerked his head toward the row of shops. “What store do you want to go to?”

“Oh, you don’t have to… It’s fine. I didn’t mean to make a thing of it—” The protest died on my lips when his hand slid around my back.

His thumb dipped into the waistband of my jeans and his fingertips pressed against the curve of my ass. “What store, Hazel?”

I stared at a granule of sugar clinging to his lower lip, wondering if I could lick it off. “I guess wherever you normally shop.”

“You don’t want to dress me up like a sexy carpenter?”

I giggled. “No, you’re sexy just as you are.”

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