Page 67 of Hazel and Elijah Find Out: First They F*cked Around

“Okay, tell me what’s going on.” I held my hands palms up, but the cold rushed in and I wrapped my arms around myself again.

“I…” he started, then sighed. His eyes swept over me, then to the sparse parking lot. “Can we talk about this at your place?”

“What are you waiting for?” My irritation was flirting with rage, and I wasn’t even trying to hold it back anymore.

Scraping both hands through his hair, he glowered at me. “Is this what you want? To fight in your parking lot, while you’re freezing and anyone driving by can see us?”

“What fight are we even having?” My voice was pitched high and thin. “You haven’t said anything.”

He took a step closer to me. With his voice pitched low, he hissed, “You should break up with me before you start up again with Dennis. Or are we not serious, the way you werenot seriouswith him?”

I sucked in a sharp breath between my teeth. “Are you accusing me ofcheating?”

“Not consciously.”

“So, just unconsciously?Youknow my mind better than me?”

He let out a humorless laugh, his tongue tucked into his cheek. “That’s not what I’m saying.”

“Then what are you saying?”

“If you’ve realized he’s better for you, don’t string me along.”

“That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”

Dennis was sweet, but there wasn’t a reality where I’d pick him over Elijah.

“Is it?” He sneered. “For exes, you spend a lot of time together.”

For a few moments, all I could do was stare with my mouth open, before bursting out, “I’m his dog’s vet! Banjo has diabetes. We’ve been monitoring his insulin levels.”

I took a calming breath, but it didn’t stick. Anger still coursed through my veins. I cocked my hip and thrust my chin. “And how dare you compare my relationship with him with what I have with you.”

“Don’t make it out like what I see isn’t real. I’m not the only one; everyone in town sees it.”

“Well, if everyone in town sees it!” I took a step closer to him. “You think people didn’t warn me aboutyou?‘Be careful, you know his reputation.’”

He glared over my shoulder, but didn’t speak.

I gestured to the town hub just a few blocks away. “But I’m not listening to a bunch of busybodies over what you tell me.”

I’m just letting their picking tear me into shreds, I left unsaid.

“Maybe you should.”

My blood ran cold.

“This place—” his voice broke, cutting him off. When he spoke again, it sounded raspy. “My reputation—”

“I don’t care—”

“It’ll hurt you.”

“I don’t care,” I said again. But even as I said it, I knew he was right. And I knew I cared at least a little.

“Yes, you do. You hate the way everyone’s been talking about you, and it won’t stop. If you’re with me, it won’t stop.”

“I can handle it.”

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