Page 79 of Hazel and Elijah Find Out: First They F*cked Around

Elijah spread and flexed his fingers. “Him, but before that, I overheard a conversation between Sterling and Ben. And it made my worst insecurities feel real.”

“Sterling and Ben?” My mouth hung open in disbelief.

“Yeah… I haven’t talked to them about it yet.”

“That would feel terrible.”

“It did.” He kept fidgeting as if he didn’t know what to do with himself. It seemed to take a significant amount of willpower to meet my eyes. “But I should have told you… all of that. I shouldn’t have decided my paranoia was real, and that I should run away before you could leave me.” His voice thickened with emotion, and his eyes shone. “I’m really sorry for that.”

“Thank you. You should have talked to me, but it’s hard to say things sometimes.” I bit my lower lip and felt the tides shift—knowing it was my turn to be honest. “I was also feeling… insecure.”

A crease formed between his eyebrows.

“People love you—”

“Not everyone,” he pointed out.

I grinned. “No. But even the ones who don’t want your attention. I’m always going to be this awkward animal girl to them. I know they wonder what you see in me. And you were right, I don’t like their attention.”

Staring down at his hands, he said, “They’re idiots if they don’t see how great you are.”

“They are idiots, and I’m sorry that I let their opinions into my head.”

My world had shrunk to just Elijah and me. But not knowing what to say, or what all of this could mean forus, I rested my chin on my hand, taking in the rest of the bar. Nora lifted a questioning eyebrow, and I shrugged that everything was okayish. His friend in the ridiculous coat watched less directly, lifting a beer to his lips.

“Is that Sebastian?” I asked.

“He insisted on coming.” Elijah sounded affectionately annoyed.

“How was the drive?”

“Snowy and long. We went slow.”

“Good.” The fear that had gripped my throat eased slightly, even if it was technically too late to worry about him. Driving winter roads was a side effect of living in Michigan, but I would have liked if he hadn’t taken the risk. “You could have called.”

“I…” He sighed, and his shoulders lowered a fraction. Lifting his chin, he looked me straight in the eye. “I don’t want to be away from you anymore.”

His sincerity took my breath away. Inside the depths of his mossy gaze, I found what I’d been looking for. The promise I’d needed to see in order to trust him again.

“If you need time, I can give you that. But I hope you’re willing to… try again.” His jaw tightened.

“I want that. I’ve… I wouldn’t let myself hope that we could get back together, but it’s all I want.”

Little parenthesis pressed around his lips as lines drew from the corners of his eyes. White teeth bit into the flesh of his lower lip. I was pulled in by the magnetism of his smile—one pole finding the other. I was held in his field without being touched. Settling into the power of his draw was as natural as submitting to gravity.

I couldn’t have fought back the smile spreading across my face if I’d tried. Happiness flitted and soared inside my ribcage.

It happened in such slow increments that I didn’t even realize we were closing the distance between us. Both of us leaning over the table until our mouths finally met. I supported myself on my forearms, standing in a crouch. He had one booted foot on the booth while his palm rested against the sensitive skin of my throat. His thumb stroked from my jaw down my neck and back.

He sucked on my lower lip and I slipped my tongue against the tip of his. Exploring, remembering, reclaiming.

Someone let out a loud whistle, and we pulled apart to find Nora, Sebastian, and Ben clapping.

My face grew hot, but I giggled, sinking down in my seat. Elijah stayed where he was, confident in the attention with an adoring smile directed toward me.

I gasped when he put a knee on the tabletop and then the other. Supported on both knees and a hand, he sank his fingers into the hair at the back of my neck.

“Fuck ’em,” he joked. “Come here.”

---