In certain ways, I feel like we’re moving at light speed. He’s slept in my bed, and I’ve seen him every day since the night we met, but in other ways, he’s barely moving at all. He hasn’t really kissed me, and he doesn’t even sit beside me when we’re together. I know he’s comfortable in my apartment and around me. He cooked in my kitchen. That’s pretty comfortable in my book.Am I being friend zoned? This is all so weird.
“I’ll see you later. Be careful getting to work.”
“Yeah. I will.”
He turns and walks out the door again leaving me feeling confused, but this time there’s also an emptiness.
“Vaughn!” His voice rumbles through the door. I run over to the door and have my hand on the knob before I realize what he wants.Chain Lock. Deadbolt. Knob. Got it.My eyes are trained on the peephole throughout the entire locking process. As soon as the last lock clicks, Elijah winks at the peephole and marches down the stairs.
My forehead hits the door, and I silently swoon in peace.
The rest of the day and my entire shift seemed to drag by. Each minute feels like an hour, and each hour feels like an eternity. Jax and Marshall are off tonight, so it’s just me behind the main bar. Working alone keeps me busy enough that I at least don’t have too much downtime. Downtime makes even the best of nights interminable.
It’s finally time to clean up and go home. I put away the clean glasses and wipe everything down before tossing a salute to Amir.
“Good night, handsome.”
“Good night, Pyaari.” I looked this up once, and I’m pretty sure it means sweetheart.
Amir is from Pakistan. We hit it off on my first night working at Cornerstone. He’s my favorite bouncer, and he always watches me walk to my bike.
Schlepping toward my bike, I notice another bike in the space just past mine. There’s a hulking man, still wearing his helmet, leaning up against it. My steps falter, and I stop walking. Looking back at Amir, I see he’s gone. He never leaves the door until I’ve pulled out of the employee lot.Where did he go? WHY did he go?I turn back to the man to see him pulling off his helmet and I’m more than relieved to see Eli. I’m elated. It’s 12:30 a.m. and here he is.For me. He’s here....for me.
“Amir remembered me from the other night and let me back here so I could accompany you home.”
“Oh, so you think you’re coming home with me?” I use a playful tone, but his face falls anyway.
“No. Not like that. I’m not coming in. I just want to make sure you get there safely.”
I laugh as he fumbles over his explanation. “Kidding. I know what you meant. Although, I have been getting myself home in one piece for quite some time now.”
“I know. It’s more for me than for you.” He’s smiling again, and the smile reaches the inflection of his voice.
Together, we mount up and slide on our helmets.He’s a bike guy. Of course he’s a bike guy. I’m going to have to sample his food because there has got to be a flaw in there somewhere. There are far too many green flags for this man to be true.
Chapter 11
Elijah
She let me escort her home. That night and every night since that’s she’s worked for the past three weeks. On her nights off, we hang out. She reads more chapters of her book that’s stored impeccably in her wonderfully creative mind, we play Uno- she wins/cheats, and we watch cooking shows. All night until I see the first yawn.Even her yawn face is beautiful.It’s hard when I want so much more from her. It takes every ounce of self-control I possess to sit on that couch and not touch her. It’s even harder at the end of each too short night to simply kiss her on the forehead and leave. Each night when I hear those locks engaging, I pray that the door will swing back open and she’ll drag me inside for a real kiss. I’ll keep waiting though.I can wait. She’s worth it.I hadn’t expected for my heart to ever truly beat again after....that day. With Vaughn, it feels like it might beat out of my chest and run to her just to feel the smoothness of her skin and hear the melody of her voice.
My phone still rings several times a day or vibrates with a text. Answering or responding when I’m consumed by the bliss of just being with her are things I’m not capable of right now. Heartache of the past and the obligations of the present are things I don’t want to face while I’m with her. Vaughn is my escape from the devastating reality. She hears it. She sees me silence it. Still, she doesn’t ask.
Tonight is a working night. I’m driving there now. Seeing her walk out of that bar and light up at the sight of me is the highlight of my day. Hell, it’s the highlight of my life. V takes all the ugly and the hurt and melts it into armor. She makes me stronger. I’m better when I’m with her.
There she is. She’s as good as mine. This can’t go any other way. I’m already in too deep.
“Eli.”
“V.”
Sometimes we don’t speak much. We just enjoy each other’s company. It isn’t awkward, and it isn’t lacking.It’s...perfect.
The ride to V’s apartment is never long enough. I don’t go in on work nights, so that ride is all I have until morning. I always come back, what she considers to be ‘ridiculously early’, and bring coffee. I don’t want to keep her up so late that she sleeps through my knock, or what she calls the assault of her front door.
We dismount and quietly walk to her door. As usual, I stand outside the door waiting for her to go inside and engage the three locks that never seem like enough.
“My bike is getting serviced tomorrow.”
