Page 13 of Safer Together
Ben’s eyes are pulled away from Elliot towards Jenny. “Of course, honey. Elliot you want to come grab a beer?”
Elliot not wanting to be rude, answers him immediately “Sure, what would you like, babe?” he asks me,
“A glass of white wine please. The house one is fine,”
“A glass of wine for both of the ladies, coming right up.” Ben winks at Jenny before he and Elliot make their way across the room.
“What a catch.” she voices. I smile, looking over at my man. I couldn’t agree with her more.
“It’s probably a good thing he lives in another state, you know.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Imagine if he lived here, you would never get any work done, too much temptation right there.”
“Well you’re right. It certainly lessens the temptation,” I reply.
She snickers, “Girl, he is the best kind of temptation.” Turning to look at me I see she has her lips pursed, trying not to giggle.
I can’t help myself; I break out into a fit of quiet laughter. “He certainly is.”
“What’s so funny?” I look up and see Elliot with a grin on his face. Hoping he didn’t hear those last few comments, my mind goes blank and I’m not sure how to reply.
“We were just remembering a joke that one of the clients who came into the office yesterday told us,” Jenny saves me. I’m so thankful I could kiss her. Ben looks at us both and rolls his eyes, offering Jenny her glass of wine. Elliot returns to my side providing me with mine and then links our free hands.
“So, Jenny. How long have you worked with Angie?”
Jenny looks up at Elliot “Just over two years. We have been friends since day one.” The fact that Jenny mentioned we were friends warms my heart. Even though we aren’t especially close, I do in fact confide in her a little, and technically she is my only female friend in Nashville.
“We certainly have been.”
“What do you do for a living, Ben?”
Clearly happy to be involved in the conversation, he jumps right in. “I’m a computer programmer. I create websites mainly for new businesses.” Proud of his job, Ben puffs out his chest a little.
“My best friend Drake dabbles in computer programming, mainly software engineering though. Me, I can make my way around most platforms, but I’m certainly no techie.”
Ben laughs with Elliot, not at him, which makes me incredibly happy. Elliot and Ben seem to get along easily.
At the mention of Drake, I wonder if this is the same one who also knows Liam. Of course, Elliot could know many people with the same name, with all of the people he meets day to day in his line of work. Not wanting him to know that I know about his conversation with this Drake in question, I decide the best course of action is to remain quiet, and to keep this little tidbit tucked away safely for another day.
I look in between Jenny and Ben and see James a few feet away, he is looking toward us but not directly at me. Instead he is staring at Elliot. Not wanting to drag this out any longer than it needs to be, I decide to get the next introduction out the way quickly. I pull my hand free from Elliot’s, raise it in the air and wave at James. This gets his attention, and his gaze moves from my boyfriend to me.
I give him one of my biggest, genuine smiles and wave him over. He starts walking over to us, making it within ten strides. Ben greets him first, “James, right? I’m Ben, Jenny’s partner.” My free hand quickly gets filled with Elliot’s once more, then I feel a gentle squeeze, James and Ben shake hands. I give James an awkward one-armed hug and a kiss on the cheek.
“Hey, Orchard,” I say to James as he wraps his arm around my lower back, dangerously close to my ass, pulling me towards him in a hug being careful not to spill my wine.
“Hey yourself, Snow White”
From behind me Elliot’s voice breaks through. “James, is it? I’m Elliot, Angela’s boyfriend.” The tone of his voice is different, no louder than usual, however it’s firmer, deeper, and more authoritative. I detect something in it that I haven’t heard before. James notices it too, as he quickly releases me and offers his hand to Elliot that moments ago was wrapped around me.
“Hey man, nice to meet you.” They too exchange a quick handshake. Once Elliot’s hand is free, he pulls me toward him, wrapping his arm possessively around my waist, leaving no doubt that he was with me.
This reaction by Elliot confirmed what the new tone in his voice was. It was jealousy. He had asked me earlier if he had any reason to be jealous of James and I had told him he didn’t need to and yet, here he was, staking a claim on me, wrapping his arm around me, showing James that I was his. I had two conflicting emotions running through me:
1 - How dare he take claim on me like I am a possession
and
