Page 12 of Knot Falling in Love
I follow, watching as she crouches down and pulls a couple of books off the shelf.
“This one is from your list, and I also threw in another about reptiles as well since you mentioned she wanted to get into herpetology.” She says, handing me the books.
“I’m sure she will love these. Thank you so much,” I awkwardly search for a name tag.
“Bea.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Bea. I’m Maisie.”
Bea glances towards the front of the store, her expression falling, “Is he with you or do I need to call someone?”
When I turn, Elijah is standing near the endcap filled with new releases, book in hand and his tail wagging, waiting for me to notice him. That’s the second time he’s partially shifted.
I’ve seen Hannah half-shift a few times in my presence, but mainly back around senior year when she first starteddating Jacob.
“No, that one is mine.”Mine.The word choice catches me off-guard. He might be my Elijah in a joking sort of way, but he’s never been mine.
“I’ll just ring these up for you.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be stealthy?” I ask, grabbing Elijah’s arm and squeezing it as we pass him on the way to the register, “C’mon.”
“I was a mechanic,” He returns the hardcover to the shelf and follows me, “We don’t exactly go on covert missions.”
“Would you tell me if you did?” I glance at him over my shoulder.
He shrugs, his demeanor changing as he smirks, “That’s classified.”
Bea smiles to herself, trying her best to ignore us as she finishes ringing us up. I thank her and take the bag, as Elijah continues trailing me out of the store and onto the sidewalk.
“What do you want?” I ask, spinning around to face him. The question comes out a little sharper than I intended, “I’m sorry.”
He tilts his head, shoving his hands into hisfront pockets, “I dropped your keys off at the shop. Mike is going to work on your car this morning.”
“Thank you.” I busy myself, putting my wallet away and fake rummaging around for my phone.
“Are you going to tell me why you snuck out of my house this morning? I had plans, I was going to make you breakfast.”
This is exactly what I was trying to avoid. Even if my job and living situation weren’t effectively up in the air, I still live at least 6 hours away. Then, there’s the other shifter in the room.
“Last night shouldn’t have happened. ” I regret the moment the words leave my lips.
“Why not?” The stern tone has me looking into those blue eyes.
I flounder, dropping my hands to my side, “I don’t know, because of Hannah.”
“What does Hannah have to do with any of this?”
The longer I look into his eyes, the more I want to leap and take that risk. “I?—”
“Maisie, you’re giving me whiplash.” He sighs, his gaze softening, “Talk to me.”
“Elijah.”
He’s right. I got scared, and when I’m scared; I run. I thought I had grown past it, but it turns out I am still that 18-year-old girl trying to reinvent herself and failing miserably. It feels like I’ll never find my footing, and he has it all figured out somehow.
He hooks his finger along the hem of my t-shirt, fishing out his dog tags, letting them drop back down against my chest.
“Last night felt like something special, tell me I’m wrong, and I will never speak of it again, but you can’t ignore that we fit together. At least give me the chance to show you.”
