Page 44 of Unspoken Words
“Why not?”
“Because he’s jealous of Tristan.”
Chris grabbed a screwed up piece of paper that was peeking out from under my bed and shot it like a basketball into my rubbish bin. “Should he be jealous?”
“No.”
“No from your point of view, or no from his point of view?”
I rubbed my face with the palms of my hands. “Why should that even matter?”
“Of course it matters,” he said, securing a rogue flip-flop from underneath my Cosmopolitan magazine. He slid it toward him before tossing it into my bin as well.
I furrowed my brow.
“So, does Tristan have a thing for you?”
“No. Well, maybe. Oh, I don’t know.”
“Ellie, you’re not stupid. You’re one of the smartest girls I know. If Tristan has a thing for you, you’d definitely be aware of it.”
“Okay, yes! I am aware of it.”
“Then so is Connor.”
Chris picked up my Cosmopolitan magazine and flicked through the pages before tossing that at my bin too.
“Hey!”
He ignored my protest and reached for Ruby—my stuffed rabbit—clasping his fingers around her tattered, floppy ears.
“Don’t you dare toss her.”
He pulled her onto his lap instead, a shit-eating grin on his face.
“I mean it.” I gave him a stern look before continuing. “And, anyway, Connor has absolutely nothing to worry about, so it doesn’t matter whether he’s aware of Tristan’s feelings or not.”
“Maybe, but Connor loves you. A lot—”
I scoffed. “How come he’s never told me so?”
Chris paused his pretend petting of Ruby. “What? Never?”
I nodded. “Never.”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe he doesn’t like saying it.”
“But why?”
“Beats me. It’s a fast track to greater things,” he said, closing his eyes as he practically molested poor Ruby.
I kicked his foot and snatched my bunny from him. “You’re such a jerk.”
“Yeah, I am. And that should tell you that your boyfriend isn’t, that he’s not fast-tracking anything.”
I opened my mouth to tell him he was an idiot, but the words wouldn’t come out because he wasn’t one. He was genius. “Oh my God! You’re right.”
“Why is this such a surprise to you?”
