Page 50 of Christmas off Script
He broke off as Ellie touched his arm. ‘Look. You’re a really sweet guy, but I can’t see us being anything more than friends.’ Withdrawing her hand, she took a deep breath. ‘Honestly, I don’t know why you agreed to this date.’
What?‘Er, why not?’
She gave him the kind of sympathetic look you might give a toddler who’d just dropped his ice cream on the floor. ‘Leo, I think you need to be looking for a girlfriend closer to home.’
He frowned. ‘You mean someone who lives nearer to Bath?’
Ellie rolled her eyes. ‘I mean Ella.’
‘Ella? But she’s just a friend.’
‘Maybe, but whenever you mentioned her, you lit up like a Christmas tree. You said you loved her more than your sisters, so maybe you need to ask yourself if that’s because your love isn’t actually platonic?’
He shook his head rapidly. ‘Not a chance. She’s my best mate. That’s all.’
‘If you say so.’ Leaning forward, she pecked him on the cheek. ‘Thank you for the date and good luck in the future.’
Without waiting for a reply, she turned and walked up the street away from him.
Leo watched her go, his head still moving slowly from side to side. Ellie may have been a maths genius, but she was dead wrong about his relationship with Ella. And even if his feelings for her might change in the future, he would never do anything about them. He didn’t want to jeopardise their friendship, and she was still grieving the loss of Oliver.
Anyway, you’re not her type, he thought to himself as he made his way back down the road towards the car park. Ella went for tall, dark and handsome, not tall, blond, and… the best-looking Foxbrooke? The boy next door? The guy whose primary residence was in the friend zone?
Sudden irritation scratched its nails down his mental blackboard. Why did he keep bothering with these dates when they only ever ended the same way? And besides, he didn’t have time for this right now. Ella, the panto, the quiz. Christmas in general. He needed to makethemhis priority. Dating just got in the way.
Pulling out his phone, he deleted his dating app, feeling lighter as the icon disappeared. He could reactivate it in the new year.
The manor wasquiet as Leo entered, so he padded up the stairs towards his room, his stomach tensing at the thought of seeing Zach again at the panto rehearsal the next day. An apology to Ella was one thing, but if he followed it up by asking her out, Leo was going to lose his shit, no matter who was around to witness it.
He smiled to himself at the thought of turning the story of Cinderella on its head. Buttons, the lovesick best friend, grabbing Prince Charming’s sword and running him through with it. Maybe he could suggest the idea to Libby?
Reaching the corridor with his bedroom, Leo’s ears pricked up at a sound.Moaning? Crying?Was someone having sex far too loudly? If anyonewashaving sex, then he needed to get into his room as quickly as possible and find a pair of earplugs to block out the noise.
His senses on high alert, Leo stepped forward.Please let it not be Ella and Zach. She deserves so much more.
‘Stop! No!’ Ella cried out from up ahead.
His heart pounding, Leo sprinted forward and pushed the door to her bedroom open.
The room was dark, but the light from the corridor illuminated her alone on the bed, thrashing wildly and tangled up in the sheets.
‘Don’t do this! Please! No!’
Jesus Christ. Flicking on the main light, he leapt onto the bed and took her hand. ‘Ella! It’s me, Leo. Wake up.’
She turned towards him, her eyes wide open but unseeing, her breath panicked as if struggling to stop a monster tugging her down to the depths.
‘Wake up, love. It’s just a dream. It’s okay. You’re okay.’
Ella suddenly stilled, and Leo knew she was awake.
Then she burst into tears.
‘Hey, hey.’ He drew her trembling body into his arms. Her pyjamas were damp with sweat, tendrils of hair wet against her forehead. ‘I know it felt real, but you’re back now. It’s just your mind playing tricks on you.’
She nodded as she wept, clinging to the front of his shirt.
Leo rocked her gently until her sobs lessened. ‘Was it about the accident?’ he asked quietly.
