Page 10 of No One But Us

Elle laughs. “James, aren’t your parents still paying for all your shittoo?”

“Touché, Elle. The difference is that five years ago I was living in a foreign country alone while you were still writing Harry Potter fan fiction and arguing about which house the Hogwarts sorting hat would place youin.”

She laughs. Husky, again. I like the sound of it a little too much. “The fan fiction was necessary. It was just too painful to imagine Hermione ending up with Ron. In fact, it’s still too painful. I might just write somemore.”

“Let me guess,” says Ginny. “Hermione is withHarry?”

Elle shakes her head. “Harry’s too predictable,” she says. “I kind of picture her with Ron’s twin brothers.” There’s the start of a smile around her mouth that almost looks...dirty. Like she could say a lot more about what she envisions than she is at the moment. The look alone is enough to require that I subtly readjust myself, and I’m probably not the onlyone.

If I intended to remind everyone here how young she is, I’ve failedmiserably.

I’m even starting to forget itmyself.

Chapter 6

ELLE

When James comesinto the kitchen in the morning, he finds mescowling.

“This thing smells like ass,” I tell him, holding the coffee pot away from my face. “Are you using this as some kind of death chamber for rodents orsomething?”

He gives me a half-smile, which I think I like even better than his full smile. My reproductive parts like it better forsure.

“Max makes matcha in it. He says it’s healthier thancoffee.”

“Max has enough weed in his possession to fund the militia of a small-to-moderately-sized country, but he’s going to quibble about the health benefits of matcha versuscoffee?”

“Come on,” James says, with another grin. “There’s decent coffee down thestreet.”

I slip on flip flops and follow him out the door, taking a deep breath of humid air, thick with the smell of pine and sea myrtle. “I love the beach. When I’m here it feels like all the normal shit doesn’tmatter.”

He glances at me. “What normalshit?”

“I don’t know. Worrying about everything. About how I’m perceived and how I look and whether someone thinks I’m doing somethingwrong.”

“Why would you worry about any of that?” heasks.

I shrug. “I don’t know. Looking like my mom...everyone assumes things. Every awful thing she does becomes my awful thing. That poster? It’s as if I’m the one who did it. She’s practically naked, which means every guy who’s ever seen that poster thinks he’s seen me naked too. Sometimes it feels like I have an evil twin out in the world, destroying everything, and leaving me to pick up thepieces.”

“She did that poster a long time ago,” he soothes. “No one is going to think it’syou.”

“But they assume things. Like, there are these rumors about her. Everyone knows she broke up my dad’s first marriage, and I guess she didn’t have the best reputation before that. People assume the worst about me because of her, so I’m always trying to go to the other extreme. But here, it’s like I don’t have to do that. I can be anything I want, and it just doesn’t matter. Like I’minvisible.”

He stops in front of the coffee shop, frowning. “You’re never going to be invisible,Elle.”

I sigh. “I just meant...it’s like no one cares. No one’s watchinghere.”

We get our coffee and nab a table outside, and he picks up the conversation where we leftoff.

“I guess I get what you meant earlier,” he says. “Not that I feel invisible, but when I’m here, it just feels like time stops. Like it’s not counting againstme.”

“Why would any time count againstyou?”

“You know. You’re on a schedule. College, law school, work summers at the place you’ll end up for the rest of your life. Aside from being here, the only time I’ve ever felt like I’ve gotten a break from the whole thing was when I worked in France after undergrad. It’s just nice to be free of everyone’sexpectations.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t just stay inFrance.”

His shoulders sag, and he runs a hand through his hair. “The expectations remain long-term, whether I’m in France or not. No matter where I go, I’m still going to be disappointing someone if I don’t eventually do it all exactlyright.”

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