Page 70 of Fall for Me

I locked the phone as Eli moved my way, shoving it in my pocket before he sat.

“Et voila,” he said, handing me a chip-cracker combo.

Ben rolled his eyes. “Really, you speak French now too?”

“Incredible, right?” Eli said.

“Mmm hmm,” I said. But I barely tasted the food. All I could see was Chelsea’s perfect tits. Her face, the look in her eyes, the frankness. The challenge. That was her response to my text this morning. She wanted to know if I still wanted her—all of her. How could she ever have a goddamned doubt?

All my promises to myself; to Eli—they were like a distant memory; a joke I’d once made. I couldn’t not be with Chelsea, not after this.

“Dude, you’re up,” Ulrich said.

I blinked. The cards were in front of me. It was my deal again.

My phone buzzed in my pocket, but all eyes were on me now. And Eli was looking at me strangely.

“Here,” Winona said, shoving the glass in front of me closer. “He’s got dry mouth with your salty monstrosity,” she said to Eli, and Ben hooted.

I let out a breath. Thank God for Winona. She gave me the smallest smile.

It was still too risky to check my phone with Eli next to me—and in the middle of dealing—so I dealt the cards and played the hand. I didn’t hear any of the conversation around me. All my mind could do was run through all the ways I might make my excuses and leave. I wanted to run straight to Chelsea’s place, right now. But it was tricky: she lived in the same building as Eli. Kevin’s old truck was distinctive, and he’d absolutely see it in the lot. Plus, what reason could I have for wanting to leave my own place?

The hand took an eternity. When that and the next hand were over, I mumbled something about skipping the next round, needing to take a leak, and strode as casually as possible toward the bathroom. My cabin’s two bedrooms and bathroom were off the hallway behind the kitchen, with the foyer at the opposite end, so luckily, I could be quickly out of sight of the others. The moment I turned the corner, I pulled up the text.

CHELSEA: I’m coming over.

I froze. The text was from twenty minutes ago. My hands almost shook as I hammered out a reply as fast as I could.

SEAMUS: No. Eli’s here.

But the response was instantaneous.

CHELSEA: I’m currently driving my vehicle and not responding to texts. I’ll see this when it’s safe—

An automatically generated text. Fuck me. Panic overtook me. This was bad, very bad. Eli would know something was up.

Maybe it wasn’t the end of the world? We were adults, right? But I’d promised to look out for her. I’d promised, and Eli trusted me.

Then my heart dropped. Gravel popped in my driveway. She was already here. Why the hell did she rush over so fast?

But she didn’t have to—it took less than ten minutes to get here from the Rolling Hills. She’d waited, and I hadn’t responded, and because it was me, she took the lack of a response as a yes.

I realized I’d been sitting there in the hallway panicking without moving, and practically sprinted to the door. Maybe if I caught her before she rang the bell I could stop this from happening.

But she didn’t ring the doorbell.

The trucks—she’d have seen the three extra vehicles in the driveway. I let out a breath, crossing to the foyer, praying no one at the table noticed the brief flash as I walked by.

I swung open the door. Chelsea’s car was on, her lights shining right at me. I held my hand over my eyes. I needed to tell her to come back later, or I’d come to her later. I needed to—

Eli appeared by my side, lit up as bright as me. Then he squinted at the car in the drive. He didn’t turn to me when he said, “What the fuck is my sister doing here, Seamus?”

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