Page 5 of Knot Falling in Love
All eyes are suddenly on me, except for Maisie, who stares at her friend with a look of betrayal in her eyes. My tail slaps against the table one last time, hard enough to rattle the glasses on top of it and send a jolt of pain up my spine.
"What?!” Maisie and I exclaim in unison.
Chapter Three
Maisie
"Ihave to warn you," Elijah says over his shoulder while fishing his keys out of his pocket, "the house is kind of a mess."
I adjust my monogrammed duffel bag further up onto my shoulder and look back down the illuminated stone path leading up to his front door, over his perfectly manicured lawn where his shockingly orange Camaro sits in the driveway. The rest of the neighborhood is just as immaculate.
Which means his warning of a messy house falls under one of two categories. I'm going to be figuratively walking into the gates of hell,or he is trying to warn me about the odd pair of boxer briefs sitting on the bathroom floor.
"It's fine. I'm in the middle of redecorating. I'll be right at home."
Redecorating as in packing up all of my possessions to move into a smaller apartment since my ex left me high and dry with the final month’s rent.
He pushes the door open and steps aside, reaching for my luggage. I dodge, just like I did when he tried to grab it from the trunk and duck into the dimly lit house.
A flick of the light reveals a third option. He's barely unpacked.
There's a row of plastic bins lining the far end of the living room aside from the solitary couch and wide-screen TV hanging on the wall. Even more stacked waist high in the dining room leading into a large sparse kitchen.
"When did you move in?" I ask, watching him hang his keys on a little wooden plaque with a wolf's paw in it. A twin of the one Alexis gave me for Christmas.
“I think I closed on the house a little over four months ago, it was around the same time Itook over the shop.” He points down the hall, "You can put your stuff in the back bedroom."
"Thanks for letting me crash here for the weekend.”
"No problem. It'll be just like old times." He gestures towards the kitchen, "You hungry? I was going to make something, and I’d love the company.”
“I could eat.” I say, “I’m just going to take a quick shower.”
Not entirely sure where that came from. I’m supposed to be keeping my distance, right? I let this man break my heart and change the trajectory of my life. He’s the reason I left Ghostlight Falls without as much of a goodbye.
My traitorous heart wants to give in and find out just how much of the old Elijah is still in there.
Is he the same boy who blew all of his money from working part-time at the auto shop on a vintage hunk of junk and then spent the entire summer of his junior year to get it up and running? Does he still like to mix those chocolate-covered caramels in with his popcorn? Does he still make killer cinnamon Frenchtoast?
I reach the bedroom at the end of the hall and toss my bag at the foot of the bed, at once taking in the carefully folded sheets and the abundance of furniture along with the lingering scent of his cologne and sweat. Of course, this is his room.
I’m too tired to protest and feign outrage with an offer to sleep on the couch. With the day I’ve had, I deserve a warm bed. We can fight over the couch tomorrow.
After my hot shower, I change into the baggy t-shirt and sleep shorts I packed for the weekend then follow the sound of Elijah’s voice out into the hall and towards the kitchen.
I find him propped up against the countertop, his cellphone to his ear, nodding along to whatever the person on the other side is saying. Until now I’ve only allowed myself to steal glances in his direction, but looking at him at this moment feels like I’m staring into the sun.
Most of the boyish charm that I remember has melted away, replaced with a sharp jaw, faint indentations around his mouth and tiny wrinkles at the corner of his eyes. His darkbrown hair and five-o’clock shadow threaded with silver as a reminder of how much time had passed.
"Thanks again. Yeah, you too." He places the phone on the counter beside him, "Your car is at the shop, and I'll run the keys over in the morning so they can start working on it. Hopefully, it's something small so you'll be ready to go home on Monday."
“Great.”
I watch as he grabs his drink and lifts it to his mouth, wondering how in the hell I am going to survive this weekend being in such close quarters with him. This could easily end with me blowing up or blowing him.Fuck, I really probably should have put on a bra.
Elijah sputters, water spraying out of his mouth as he's thrown into a full-on coughing fit.
"Oh, my God." I rush over, patting his back as he takes shallow breaths, "What happened?"
